Chapter 6: имперский

Present:

"After the liberation of Fouzen, our squad was assigned to be the town's security detail until the military arrives"

"So that's why you guys stayed behind for a couple of weeks"

"Yep… I think you got along pretty well with Cooper, Flunky, Morris and, surprisingly, Sonia."

"Was Sonia really that hard to get along with?"

"It's not that she hated having friends… I think it was more off the fact that she doesn't know how to interact with people… But you were able to become friends with her faster than any of us in the squad"

"Hehe… I guess it's because I was only a little girl that time. Anyway, I read that the Empire still sent envoys into the mines around Fouzen to extract as much ragnite as they could."

"Yep… Losing Fouzen really crippled their military operations because it was the largest ragnite mine in the country. I think in desperation, the Empire began to send in squads into the mines around Fouzen and steal as much ragnite as they could. Of course, that was the reason why we were there. Our mission, other than guarding Fouzen, was to disrupt these operations… But there was this one particular encounter that I'd never forget…"

Flashback:

It was during the last week of our mission. We spotted an Imperial squad entering the abandoned northeastern mines. We quickly mobilized and reached the mines in a few minutes. The Imperials really wasted no time in extracting the ragnite. We were going to do our usual blitzkrieg ambush. The squad would be divided into 2 teams and both would attack the enemy squad simultaneously from the north and the south. It worked a lot of times and saved us ammunition and even the dangers of getting wounded. As always, it was me, Cooper, Flunky and Morris in one team and Elena, Sonia, Paul and Croix on the other. My team was positioned barely near the enemy squad and I could even hear the Imperial's conversations. Just as we were about to attack, I heard someone say:

"Looks like we've got company"

Next thing I knew, I heard someone shoot a pistol and a few seconds later, an explosion occurred just in front of us. I was sent flying in open ground and I was shell-shocked. The Imperials then began to open fire.

"Aster!"

Just like during the initial stages of the Fouzen assault, I was dazed and everything was in slow motion. I then saw Cooper and Morris run to me. With Cooper providing cover fire, Morris dragged my dazed body to cover. As we reached the safety of cover, Flunky quickly checked if I had any injuries. Luckily I only sustained minor cuts and bruises. After a while, I recovered from my shell-shock and quickly picked up my rifle and began to fight back.

Back to the present:

"As I was shooting, I could recognize the face of one enemy soldier. That Imperial woman I encountered back in Yuell."

"You saw her again?"

"Yep… Talk about fate playing the strings and all that…"

"So how did you react?"

"Well… The usual… I shoot, she shoots… You know… Enemy soldier things"

Flashback:

The Imperials learned from their past failures and really packed a lot of machine guns and ammo. Both teams were pinned down by heavy enemy fire as a result. I could hardly even shoot without bullets zipping past me, that was when I noticed a couple of explosive barrels are conveniently stacked behind the squad.

"I'm going for those explosive barrels!" I said

"What!?" Cooper replied "You gotta be crazy! We can't hit those barrels from here!"

"I know!" I replied "I need you guys to provide cover!"

"That's even crazier!" said Morris "We can hardly shoot back!"

"Well… It's better than getting pinned down here!" I said

"Fine…" said Cooper "We'll provide cover!"

On the count of 3, I made a mad dash to the pile of rocks on our right. I managed to get there without sustaining any wounds. I wasted no time in readying my rifle and shooting those barrels. My plan worked, I managed to kill quite a number of Imperials but the subsequent explosion caused the mine to cave in. In the end, I was separated from the rest of my squad and I was trapped inside the collapsed mine.

Back to the present:

"So you were trapped inside one of the mines?"

"Yep… and that wasn't the end of my memorable day…"

"What happened next?"

"… Well… Kid, have you ever watched one of those romance shows where two people are conveniently locked inside a closed space, say a storage cabin or something?"

"No way… Something like that happened to you?"

"It sure did! Hahaha!"

Flashback:

I began to wander deep into the mines, hoping to find a way out. I then heard a few gunshots. I quickly went to the source of the noise and saw that same Imperial woman fighting an Ursa. The Ursa clearly overpowered her as it quickly knocked her to the ground. As she struggled to shoot it, I saw that her pistol ran out of ammo. I quickly readied my rifle and shot the Ursa, effectively killing it. I then walked up to her and offered my hand. She quickly turned away and said

"Saved by a Gallian pig… How humiliating!"

"You're welcome…" I said in a sarcastic tone

In a not-so-surprising twist, she loaded her pistol and aimed it at me. I was dumbfounded. I saved your life and now you want to kill me?

"Well…" she said

"Well what?" I asked

"Aren't you going to raise your weapon against me?"

"Are you serious?" I said "We have bigger problems than each other right now"

"Are you stupid?" she replied "You're a Gallian and I'm an Imperial! We're enemies!"

"Your point?" I replied with a lazy tone

"What's wrong with you!?" she said

"What's wrong with me?" I replied "What's wrong with you? Are you guys always itching for a fight?"

"Gah!" she said as she scratches her head "Are all Gallians this stupid?"

"Hey don't be racist" I said

"Wha…?" she said in a confused tone "A-are you really that stupid!?"

"Look…" I said "… we may be enemies but we have bigger problems than each other right now… We gotta work together so we could get out this alive and fight another day. How's that sound?"

I saw how frustrated she was but she knew I was right and had no choice but to agree with me.

Back to the present:

"Wow… you managed to convince an Imperial to go with you?"

"Well… I guess she had no choice because she can't get out herself…"

"So… how did it go?"

"I can't really find a word to describe it… I'd say that it was a pretty interesting journey…"

Flashback:

We walked around the mines for a while and as we reached a wide area;

"Let's take a break" I said

But the Imperial woman still walked farther and stopped near a pile of rocks.

"You stay there" she said "I stay here!"

"Are you serious?" I said

"I don't trust you" she replied "Let's not forget you're a Gallian and not to mention that I am a woman. I don't want to give you a chance to do whatever you want to me!"

"…Fine…" I replied "But… I wouldn't sit there if I were you"

"Ha!" she said "You think I'd fall for your tricks!"

She then sat down and one of the 'rocks' suddenly begins to shake. The woman was surprised and saw that the rock was actually an animal.

"That's a stone crab" I said "Their outer shells look like big rocks and are confused as such when they are immobile. They eat ragnite and other minerals which is why there are a lot of them around Fouzen."

As the stone crab moved away, I saw that the Imperial was wounded in the left arm.

"Hey you're wounded" I said

She paused for a moment and said "I-it's nothing…"

"What do mean?" I said "Look at it!"

Looks like the stone crab may have pinched her or something when she startled it. Realizing all that, I slowly walked towards her. She took a few steps back.

"Y-you step back!" she said

"Don't overreact!" I replied "That injury needs to be treated"

"I said step back!" She shouted as she pulls out her pistol

I continue to ignore her protests as I walked towards her and she continues to step back. Eventually, she was against the cave's wall.

"Y-y-you b-better stay where you are!" she said

"I just want to help you…"

When I finally got to her, I quickly pulled out the first aid kit I had in my bag and began to dress her wound.

"I-If you do anything funny, Gallian, I'll kill you!" she said

I let out a short sigh and said "…Don't worry… I won't"

After dressing her wound, I sat against the wall and pulled out a few pieces of bread and offered it to her. She quickly rejected the bread I offered. The funny part was that I heard her stomach growl.

"I-I don't want your bread!" She said "for all we know, it could be poisoned!"

This woman never stops suspecting me! Although, I could understand it since we're supposed to be enemies but this is an entirely different story!

"It's not poisoned" I said

"Ha!" She replied "Why should I believe you?"

"I'll prove it!" I said as I took a bite of the bread I offered her "See? Not poisoned. Just perfectly baked normal bread!"

She pondered for a while before finally accepting the bread. After taking a very cautious bite on it, she quickly finished it.

"Told you it wasn't poisoned" I said

I could see her blush as she said "W-well… we're enemies and it's only natural for me to suspect you of such things!"

"So… what's your name?" I asked

"We're you even listening!?" She said "I just said we're enemies and you're asking my name!?"

"Yeah…" I replied in a casual tone

"You're really hopeless…" she said "I wonder how you survived until now…"

"Ok" I said "I'll introduce myself first then. My name is Aster Claes. Pleased to meet you!"

"Y-y-you idiot!" she said "I-I-It's not my fault if this eventually comes back to haunt you!"

"Haha! Well then I guess I'll have to take responsibility for my actions" I said "Anyway, I'm going to take a short nap"

Back to the present:

"Wow… you really took a nap near an enemy soldier. Do you really think that was a good idea?"

"Well… for some reason, she felt different. I felt that I could be safe if it's just her."

"Haha… That almost sounded like you were in love with her…"

"I wonder about that…"

"Wait… Were you? Is she your wife?"

"Let's not get too ahead of the story…"

"Aw…"

Flashback:

When I woke up, I saw her head in my shoulders; looks like she fell asleep too. After a few minutes, she woke up but I could see the surprised look in her face. She quickly stepped back from me and brought out her pistol. I was surprised that she suddenly drew her firearm.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah!" I said "What did I do!?"

She was shaking as she pointed her pistol at me.

"Y-y-you…" she said "What did you do to me!?"

"What are you talking about!?" I said "I didn't do anything! You fell asleep on me!"

It took a while but she eventually put her pistol down. I gave a sigh of relief. Honestly, I thought I was gonna get shot for something I didn't do…

After a few minutes, we decided to walk deeper into the cave. After a while, we felt a slight breeze coming from the north.

"There could be an exit nearby!" I said

As we neared the source of the breeze, 2 Ursas suddenly emerged from an adjacent cave and attacked us. She was knocked to the floor. I quickly readied my rifle and began to shoot at the Ursa attacking the woman. However, the 2nd Ursa was able to knock me to the floor. The force of the Ursa's claw was so strong that I dropped my rifle. I quickly tried to reach for my sidearm as the Ursa was about to attack me but I was too slow. I then heard a gunshot and I saw the Ursa was about to collapse into the floor. Thinking quickly, I rolled to the side to avoid getting crushed by its body. I looked to my front and saw the Imperial woman. She picked up my rifle and shot the Ursa in the head. She then walked towards me and offered her hand. I accepted it and as I was brought to my feet, she gave back my rifle.

"Now we're even" she said

"Yeah…" I replied "I guess we are"

We then continued to walk towards the source of the breeze. A few minutes later, we reached the exit. It was cold and the sun was hardly showing itself. I later found out that we were trapped in that mine for only 13 hours. It was hard to believe because it felt like we've been stuck in there for at least a day.

"I guess its morning already" I said

"I guess so…" she replied

"So… will you be ok from here?" I asked

"I'll be fine" she said "I'll just find an Imperial patrol and get back into the front"

"So… this means that we'll be enemies again?" I said

"Of course" she said

"Aw…" I said in a sad tone

"You're an idiot, you know that?" she said "…Emilia"

I was shocked to hear a name, I thought I simply misheard her says something else.

"What did you say?" I asked

"Emilia" she replied "My name is Emilia Lualdi"

"Wow…" I said "So the Imperial reveals her real name!"

"Sh-shut up…" she said. I saw her blush a bit as she looked away from me.

She then pointed her finger at me and said "That's because I want you to remember the name of the person who's going to kill you!"

Confused, I could only say "Huh?"

"Next time we meet, I'll land a bullet in your heart" she said

"Kind of a violent way to say goodbye, don't you think" I said "Are you falling for me?"

"Sh-shut up!" She said

I merely chuckled as I looked at her flustered face

"Don't forget Gallian" she said "We're enemies!"

"Yeah, yeah…" I said "We're enemies and we have to kill each other eventually…Blah, blah, blah…"

"Exactly" she said "But I want to be the one who's going to land that killing bullet into you! So don't you dare die until I get my chance!"

Back to the present:

"After that, we parted ways. I was able to reunite with my squad and I presume that she was able to meet up with hers."

"This Emilia… Were you able to see her again?"

"Oh yes I did… several times but if I tell you all those stories, it'll make my story even longer"

"Really?"

"Don't worry… I won't skip the important details…"

"But… you haven't answered my question… Who is this Emilia to you? Is she your wife?"

"Like I said… Let's not get too ahead of my story"

"Oh alright…"

Flashback:

As Emilia walked away, she took one final glance at Aster, who was walking in the opposite direction, and looked at her bandaged arm.

"Aster huh…" She muttered and smiled

She then continued to walk on the opposite direction…