- A good way to piss off Maximillian would have been to tell him that his mother would be disappointed in him.

- A good way for Mugen to manipulate Selvaria further would be to tell her about Maximillian's past and that if it weren't for that train 'accident' he would have grown up to be someone who truly loved her but because of his mother's death he became utterly consumed by that day and became obsessed with avenging her death to the point he became incapable of understanding true love and trust. Sob stories are a common way to influence people.

- Will the prologue for your VC2 story take place during Cordelia's official coronation? Since the Gassenarls were present for it as Audrey told Cordelia. You said that Richard would provoke the Gassenarls in chapter 8 by saying that openly worshipping the Valkyria would be suicide since it's effectively displaying signs of treason. Something like that would have more impact if it took place before Gilbert formed the Asgardian Council.

- Will Welkin play a more active role in the Gallian Civil War? Considering that Gallia was in a civil war and the GRA was engaging in ethnic cleansing of Darcsens, it was a bit vexing to see him so relaxed and inactive. While it may forbidden for the militia to participate in civil wars, a simple loophole would be for Welkin to just wear a regular army uniform or establish a special task force. I doubt anybody would be turned down from fighting the rebels because it was against the rules.

- Will Helmut be a student? His presence never made logical sense to me. Why in the world would Gallia allow an enemy soldier loyal to the Empire to attend Lanseal where he can learn and witness firsthand Gallian military strategy, tactics, and technology along with the situation in Gallia? And since he's meant to be a hostage why would he be allowed to participate in battle and risk his life?

In fact, a sizable chunk of Class G definitely don't belong in a military academy even if they are the lowest rung class; how some of them even got accepted into Lanseal in the first place is beyond my understanding. They literally seem to accept anyone with intelligence seemingly not even being a requirement. Most of Class G don't even pursue a military career after they graduate, which makes you wonder why they even bothered entering Lanseal in the first place.

- Your OC's should question the logic of a military academy that has a little over 200 students, many of whom are less than professional, being responsible for policing southern Gallia unassisted. Compare that to the regular army that still has 40,000 soldiers, being responsible Northern Gallia. Will your story be more realistic and logical in that regard?

- Unrelated to the story is that while reading a post in spacebattles forum, Maximillian was compared to Mcgillis Fareed, the Char Aznable clone of Gundam Iron blooded orphans and it's mind-blowing how Mcgillis who was a starving child who had to kill and steal to survive, forced into child prostitution and was sexually abused by his adoptive 'father' ended up being a better person than Maximillian who is also a Char Aznable clone as he physically resembles him, is manipulative, and seems to have his memetic association with younger girls (Himself: 29, while Cordelia: 16, Selvaria: 23)

- It was fun reading this. I especially appreciated how this story updated regularly unlike other interesting VC stories that just stops updating. I look forward to your VC 2 story!

- GJO1088 here, forgot to write this, but I'm guessing Richard lost a lot of respect for Alicia since she was still willing to blow herself up which would have killed not just her but also the entire squad and the Archduchess. I mean, just how in the world did she not take into account Squad 7's presence and how does she think they can outrun a nuclear blast? I'm guessing the only reason Richard doesn't do more than back-handing her across the face is simply out of pragmatism.

- Just to make it clear, when I wrote personal experience in my review, I mean Richard seeing firsthand how irrational Welkin acted as a result.

I wonder where Unmei Force will go next when this is over? Maybe Fairy Fencer F, or Super Neptunia RPG, or maybe Xenoblade Chronicles 2? Guess I'll wait and see for now. Till then, keep up the great work. Also wonder if Vyse and Aika will join the team because, well...Sky Pirates

- So which Unmei volume for Valkyria Chronicles are you going to write first after this one? VC4 or VC2?

- I'm guessing Fraternization rules is another lesson Richard will try to pound into the Lanseal cadets? Maybe you can write an event where Richard becomes irritated seeing a couple or a budding romance due to being reminded of canon events of Welkin's and Alicia's blatant disregard and its consequences along with his personal experience. As a result he aids the student council in cracking down on frivolity during the feast of all spirits as campus morals tend to go downhill fast during the holiday (Lanseal doesn't officially observe the feast of all spirits as a result. This tidbit is from the youtube video Valkyria Chronicles II All Cutscenes Only - Part 14 [Summer Memories Part 2] by Jettslayer 4:25-5:55)

- Cordelia has magic now? What's the story behind that?

- Wow, Just wow, you somehow managed to make Damon even more loathsome to me.

- You don't have to desecrate the canon as Isara II wasn't even born in VC2 canon. As noted in the trivia section of her wiki page:

"Isara was born after 1937 EC. The exact year and month are unknown, but the year is likely to be 1938 EC. In Valkyria Chronicles 2, which takes place in 1937 EC, Alicia discusses the trouble of being a Valkyria with Aliasse and mentions that she is pregnant (with a "little baby girl"). Since Alicia doesn't visibly seem to be pregnant, she is presumably less than three to four months pregnant in September (when Aliasse meets her), placing Isara's birth in January, 1938 EC at the earliest."

It should be noted that her being age 1 is in 1939 which is true if she was born on 1938.
More importantly, the artbook states that scene with Isara II takes place a few years after the war making it likely that cutscene showed Bruhl in the early 1940's

- Since Selvaria committed perfidy, wouldn't that put her troops in deep shit? Randgriz command certainly won't feel the same way as Sanae.

- Ironically, Welkin's behavior at this point in the game shows that Largo's and Rosie's less than positive impression of him was ultimately justified, just not for the reasons they thought. In other words, to quote tvtropes, Right for the Wrong Reasons.

- Will Faldio live? He could have done far more good if he didn't sacrifice himself for the sake of the game's screwed up morals. Maximilian would have been a valuable prisoner of war, Marmota and whatever equipments it had could have been researched and studied by Gallia, and his knowledge on the truth about the Valkyrur and Darcsens could have helped Cordelia and Darcsens as he's a decently respected scholar and his research most likely provides actual evidence of what he discovered about the Valkyrur, the Darcsen, Barious, Alicia, etc. Granted, like in real life, there are people who stubbornly believes only what they want even with undeniable evidence but having people like Faldio can provide a not insignificant step in the right direction.

- I half-expected Welkin to impulsively say yes, that Alicia's life is more important than Rain's which as a consequence would permanently damage the relationship between the two and Richard's group by extension and end up contributing to Rain's behavior in VC2.

- I'm surprised you added Aisha, even if she was a prodigy, I find it very hard to believe that her parents allowed to enlist and that her enlistment didn't cause a PR shitstorm. Especially at this point when the Gallian forces already reclaimed a majority of their territory at this point.

- There's a Valkyria Chronicles fanfiction called Second to none by militaryhistory. It's about Squad 2 who are more professional and disciplined compared to Squad 7 to the point that the Darcsen haters of the squad don't even cause an argument about the Darcsen calamity in Barious unlike Rosie. As such the main OC, the leader of Squad, and some other OC's are ticked off by Welkin's and Alicia's actions such as their refusal to use Alicia's Valkyria power for the last 1/3 of the game to the point he thinks Welkin dying is appropriate and only accepts him being alive because he thinks he will be able to do more by being alive.

Maybe you can use their reaction to Welkin and Alicia's questionable behavior and state of mind as an inspiration? It's in Chapters 23 to 26.

Guess Selvaria will die next chapter, oh well at least she'll take Damon with him in death

- Stabbing himself?...Richard is a very dedicated actor isn't he? If he's willing to go that far.

- Absolutely loved his speech towards Damon. You forgot about the feather he has atop his officer cap (which can be seen in the cutscene after completing chapter 15). Any snark about how Damon is 'compensating' from any of the characters? They could also snark to Damon how his wife and daughter deserves their utmost pity as being trapped with Damon in the same room as him and forced to hear him talk is practically a war crimes in itself let alone being married to him.

- Damon is also sexist, his quote in episode 7 of the anime "accepting women are the best" coming to mind. Bit of background information regarding sexism is that in the artbook, female officers are said to be a minority in the Gallia's military due to it being run mostly be men with stubbornly traditional ideas and according to Irene's design concept page, women don't have a prominent place in the workforce.

- That being said, Damon did make one sound judgement: his reason for his treatment of Selvaria. While he was being his usual jerkass self, Damon was actually being rational for once. While Welkin and Alicia act like Selvaria being hit with the butt of a rifle is the absolute worst thing but Damon's retort makes a LOT OF SENSE: she's a Valkyria, having her knocked unconscious is the only safe way to take her alive since she can't use her powers. When Selvaria regains consciousness, she uses the final flame to blow up Ghirlandaio and its inhabitants. Granted, he did ruin his argument by taking her in while conscious anyway just to gloat, but if Damon of all people has to point out a rational course of action to Welkin and Alicia you know something is seriously wrong.

- Here's more information on Damon, transcribed from the Artbook itself:

"Damon's family has served in the military for many generations. Well before EWI, when Gallia was still being ruled as an empire, one of the most prominent generals in Gallia's fight for independence was a Damon. Due to the respectable history of his family, Damon had always received special treatment. Unfortunately, Damon mistook all of the attention as an indication of his superior skill. After graduating from the university of Gallia, Damon enrolled in the Gallian armed forces. At first, many people went out of their way to become acquainted with Damon, as the Damon name of his grandfather's generation were known for their many accomplishments, but they soon learned that Georg von Damon was nothing more than pompous and thoroughly incompetent fool. Even during combat training, it is said that his lack of skill was plain for all to see.

During EWI, Damon was granted leadership of a militia company. but his poor sense of tactics and self-centered concerns resulted in many meaningless deaths among his troops. Damon's reputation quickly faltered, and many whispered conversations suggested that his success thus far was the result of his family's proud history. Damon did not seem aware or particularly concerned with the criticism, ad instead busied himself with listening to any praise that would come his way. Once it was decided that Borg would become the Prime Minister of Gallia, Damon was promoted to the rank of general. The Borg and Damon household had strong ties to one another, and Damon was therefore able to enjoy a steady climb through the ranks, contrary to what his military record might suggest.

In preparation of the imperial invasion of Gallia, Damon was put in charge of the entire central division of the Gallian militia. It was quite clear that this assignment was yet another show of favor from Prime Minister Borg, who was by then making all of Gallia's decisions.

The Empire arrived on Gallia's doorstep with an impressive and well trained army, whereas the Gallian militia were merely civilians who had been drafted into military service. With no regard for the safety of his troops, Damon once again gave many orders that put the lives of his troops in unnecessary danger. This resulted in more than a few complaints from the people in the militia, but the social standing of Damon's family coupled with Prime Minister Borg's influence ensured that such complaints were never officially heard. Damon's obsession with social status was one of the why some soldiers of the Gallian army were convinced that militiamen were of lesser value, Damon was the one who had lost the fortress of Ghirlandaio to the Imperial forces, and he had even resorted to using sulfurated ragnite in the form of poison gas, which was strictly forbidden by the treaty. As expected, the truth was swept under the proverbial rug, and Damon's official report states that the Imperial army was responsible for the use of the poisonous gas.

Damon is filled with pride when it comes to his noble bloodline. So much so that he looks down upon the common people, end even treats his most loyal followers as nothing more than tools. When it comes to battle, Damon's priority is victory and the preservation of of his position, no matter how many of his troops have to die in order to make it happen. Another of Damon's vices is his intense jealousy, which often rears it's ugly head in the way he behaves. Of all the military officers, Captain Varrot of the militia was the only one willing to speak her mind in Damon's presence. This displeased Damon very much, and is the reason why he is especially hand on Varrot's company, Though Damon may be foolish in many regards, he is fully aware that his position of power was given to him by Prime Minister Borg, and Damon is therefore very careful to curry the Prime Minister's favor at every opportunity. Damon also has a tendency to panic when he finds himself in undesirable circumstances.

Towards the end of EWII, Varrot's militia company succeeds in defeating the Imperial defense force stationed at Ghirlandaio, but Damon attempted to claim all of the glory for himself. Selvaria could see Damon for what he truly was, and when she lit her Final Flame, Damon and all of the regular soldiers of his mood were consumed by the blaze."

- So when is he going to run into the Gassenarls? Will he have Gilbert assassinated at some point before the events of the second game? Doing so will at the very least decrease the number of supporters to the rebel cause as he had a strong foothold in Gallia due to his connections with other nobles and with other countries and according to the artbook Gilbert had a talent for giving grand and confident speeches and accompanying performances which persuaded many nobles and commoners to support him. Also in a skit, Gilbert managed to persuade Marquis Westerfeld, formerly a loyal supporter of Cordelia, to defect to his side. Having him killed would also delay or prevent the formation of the Asgardian Council and consequently the artificial valkyria along with the possibility of not receiving the backing of the Federation.

- This is what the development team should have done with Report 6. In a number of revenge stories I've seen, the message of revenge being bad tends to fall flat due to hypocrisy (Like Aang in avatar or ends in a way that's a little too convenient for the perpetrator rather than the victim (any examples of easily forgiven or insane forgiveness in tvtropes). Though personally I would have also physically crippled him in some manner like shooting Geld in the shin. Also, can someone like Geld really bring himself to shoot himself in the head? I doubt he truly has the stomach for it. Considering he was willing to beg he definitely isn't too prideful.

- Isara's death in the game always came off as weak to me. Why didn't they make sure the area was secure? Or even call a Medic? Seems like a massive oversight for a strategist like Welkin. In my opinion Isara's death is one of the few things the anime did better. Maybe this can be a lesson Richard and his group teaches for Lanseal students? The Fridge Brilliance page in tvtropes quotes:

"Why was a group of Imperial Troops able to get close to the recaptured base at Marbury and kill Isara? Because the game scoring system (Which is based entirely on how many turns it takes to complete the mission) indicates that military doctrine in this game universe is based on doing a job quickly, not thoroughly. If Gallia's military courses had emphasized the importance of securing things properly instead of reaching one's objective as quickly as possible, those men would have been killed, captured, or driven off well before."

So you change Isara's fate, I wonder how the story will change next

- According to the art book, Juliana's family had strong ties with the Borg family and all of Borg's previous responsibilities were transferred to Juliana's father, maybe this can be mentioned offhand in a newspaper article? Juliana's father looks like this: #p17

- Any plans for Report 5: Squad seven's R&R? Welkin wearing old timey swimsuit whereas the female swimsuits are very out of place for the time period. Maybe your characters can point this out? Amusingly and ironically Squad E displayed more time period appropriate reactions to their swimsuits in their beach episode (Compare Minerva's reaction who's from the more liberal Atlantic Federation to Juliana, who flaunts her figure with a black bikini along with the Imperials who had the swimsuit in the first place, which in itself raises questions considering how Gallia and especially the Empire is more conservative)

- Report 6: what lies beyond hate takes place after chapter 10. A case of protagonist centered morality where a 2 decade grudge is conveniently resolved with a cringeworthy gender dynamic where the "Level headed guy" "saves" the "hysterical woman" from herself by hitting her and giving a cliche revenge is bad speech. Geld ends up being executed by the Empire who already knew and apparently didn't care that he had been torturing and murdering people since the first war, until squad 7 had a problem with it. So the Aesop of the report is that revenge is wonderful as long as you let someone else do it for you instead of taking things into your own hands.

- Related to what lies beyond hate, Maximilian respecting the rules of warfare is total BS to me. In the beginning there were Imperials shooting at civilians including an attempt on a pregnant Martha, and in the third game there was an Imperial squad infamous for cruelty in Giselle's fragment along with hostage taking in Elliot's. The fact that he abandoned Selvaria and his rear guard to die makes Maximilian caring about the rules and customs of war highly doubtful to say the least. To me, Geld's execution comes off more as an execution for failure (a "you have failed me" scenario) with the charge of torturing non-darcsen civilians being the formal official reason while failing his mission and making the Imperial army and by extension Maximilian look bad being the true offense. Maximilian seems to only respect the rules of war when it suits him and even then only the letter of the law not the spirit.

Well this was unexpected, I wonder how the story will change after this chapter? Will look forward to next chapter

- With Borg out of the picture, will this cause a domino effect where other corrupt nobles end up being arrested? Like Damon for instance, since Borg is the only reason why he became general and why he managed to get away with his incompetence, maybe you can make it so that he was also complicit in the kidnapping plot? Considering how status obsessed Damon is, his contempt for the militia, it seems strange he would entrust the rescue of the Archduchess to the commoner militia instead of wanting the glory of rescuing the Archduchess. Maybe he wanted them to fail and get killed fighting the Federation forces? What do you think?

- Relating to the above, he should also point this out to the Gassenarls to provoke them. Since Richard and Marisa exposed Borg, Richard should snark to the Gassenarls how they should be grateful since Gallia is still an independent nation due to finding the letter and that with Borg gone, Damon will end up being removed, resulting in saving thousands of soldiers and drastically improving Gallia's war effort. If a noble that has ties with the Gassenarls end up being implicated in a crime, Richard should point out how ironic it is that they slander Darcsens while remaining oblivious to the crimes of their fellow nobles. Furthermore to stick the knife further Richard should point out how he and his group, who never attended a military academy and never had any formal training until recently and isn't even native Gallians, contributed far more than the Gassenarls ever did despite their status, influence, rank and lofty ideals along with awareness and dismay at the corruption and incompetence (seen in the youtube video Valkyria Chronicles 3: Extra EditionAnxiety for the FuturePost-GameApe President between 1:00-3:30).

- According to the artbook, Selvaria's lance has heat sink fins at the rear part or 'pommel' and Alicia's valkyrian shield can be used offensively by making use of its point at its center part having it spin like a drill.

- I know you said it's unlikely for Richard to meet Calamity Raven but what would Calamity Raven, Borgia, and the Nameless think of him after reading the newspaper? In fact what would be the reaction of the Gallian public?

- Looking forward to see the waves Richard makes.

- In the Valkyria Chronicles: Iron Cross Alliance, the OC's exposed Borg as a traitor by bugging and recording his conversation with Townshend and present it as proof of treason (in the anime, Cordelia's kidnapping was a collaboration between Borg and Townshend, which makes much more sense than the Federation deciding to betray Borg after he was willing to make an alliance with them according to the artbook, all so they could kidnap a powerless figurehead with a slow, noisy vehicle in the cramped city streets of the capital full of guards and militiamen), is Richard going to do something similar?

- Is Richard going to run into the Gassenarls? It would be fun to see them being fooled into overreacting and make them take a hit to their image as a result along with dismissing the Valkyria as a idol or symbol Fullmetal Alchemist King Bradley style to Audrey and other Yggdists.

- Will you also cover Valkyria chronicles 2 in the future? It would be wonderful to see your OC's both figuratively and literally beat some sense into Avan, put the antagonists through a humiliation conga and bruise Juliana's, other jerkass student's and Förster's ego.

- Fritz dying and their meeting with the captain and his squad was a rather emotional event but it's too bad that scene got undermined if not ruined by having the Imperials go right back to being Nazis on Fouzen. The story would have been better if they pulled a bait the dog moment where Welkin and Alicia finds out that the Captain that let them go turns out to be a member of the Imperial equivalent of the Schutzstaffel stationed at the concentration camp or at least apathetic towards the death and enslavement of Darcsens even if he doesn't outright hate them. It would have been a good lesson for the two of them: just because they treat you nicely doesn't mean necessarily they're truly good people.

- In the manga (not the wish your smile manga I wrote in the review) the militia is suddenly under attack in Kloden shortly after Welkin and Alicia reunites with Squad 7, and Welkin who is alone surprisingly runs into the Imperial Captain and is forced to shoot him. Welkin walks up to the Captain who's bleeding and after exchanging words, the Captain commits suicide by shooting himself in the head, much to Welkin's shock, this also happens around the same time Isara gets shot for pushing Rosie out of the way (the manga skips the kidnapping, Fouzen and Marberry).

- Maximilian's not the emperor he's the quasi crown prince
- Loved the fight between Richard and Selvaria and his words towards Selvaria. I also loved how Richard told Welkin what he needed to hear on not letting sentiments get in the way of the mission.
- I'm guessing he's starting to take steps with dealing with Welkin's and Alicia's very questionable actions and behavior in the post Naggiar part of the story? Maybe he can point out Fraternization rules exist for a reason to them?
- Are you going to write the events of Report 04: Signs of Awakening?
- Is Squad E from Valkyria Chronicles 4 going to appear? Canonically they appeared they appear just before Cordelia's kidnapping takes place.
- I'm pleasantly surprised that you brought the possibility of a special Darcsen power. Only two other fanfics brought this up (Demon lord of the empire and Chronicles of the Darcsen brotherhood if you're curious) and I'm a bit surprised this concept isn't explored more. According to the glossary, it was said that by 30 BC that much of Europa was ravaged and that the ancestor of House Randgriz was a war hero during the war of the Valkyrur and built castle Randgriz in the 3rd century, meaning that it took the Valkyrur more than 200 years to subjugate the ancient Darcsens. If it took an army of Valkyrur that long to achieve control of Europa then that seems to imply that the Darcsens of old had more than just Iron Age technology. In fact, in my story my main OC Darcsen characters possesses a special power that allows them to fight off Valkyrias and resist their attacks.