It's been far too long since the last chapter, but I'm still not finished with chapter 9. However, I feel a bit bad about it and I've been anxious to put something up since I resumed working on it. Therefore I thought I'd at least post a preview of what I've got so far.

I hope you like it.

It took Christian a moment to register his surroundings as his sleep-induced daze slowly began to wear off. The surface on which he rested felt like it was moving, as there was a slight but noticeable rocking motion, and the humming of an engine certainly gave weight to the idea that he was resting in a moving vehicle.

"Looks like he's waking up, Welks," a female voice spoke as Christian started to better observe his surroundings. There wasn't much light, so the space was rather dark, and most of it was coming from a small opening, at what he figured was the front of the vehicle.

"So he is. I'd say it was just about time, too," a second, male voice responded with an amused tone.

"Wh… where am I?"

"This would be the Edelweiss, and I am your chauffeur for the evening, Isara Gunther."

"Evening? How long was I out?"

"A few hours. Fina got you patched up while we finished driving out the Imperials, and now we're heading home. We'll be at Kloden within the hour," Welkin explained.

"So… we won?"

"Indeed we did, and no small thanks to you. You might want to take it a bit easier next time, though. No need to overexert yourself, running around with a wounded leg and such."

"But… why put me in the Edelweiss?"

"Well, squads 1 and 3 lost most of their transports in the fighting, so we had to give them ours in order to get all their dead and wounded back to base. We had planned to send you back with them, but there was so little space left, so we decided to place you here."

"Alright, but why go through Kloden?"

"Squad 4 reported sightings of Imperials in the woods. We were asked to scout a section of the forest on our way back and confirm them." There was a hint of frustration in the commander's tone. "Personally, I'd have preferred giving the squad some rest after this ordeal… but orders are orders."

"Of course… Orders…" If Christian was beginning to trust Welkin, any such progress was sure to be back at square one. To him, this order was clearly an ill-thought one, if any thought went into it in the first place. Why else send a tired unit, fresh from a difficult battle, when there were other squads available that were rested and perfectly capable of carrying it out?

"Anyway, you just take it easy for the time being," Welkin resumed. "We'll get back to base soon enough, but try and get some strength back into that leg 'til then."

Deciding to take the lieutenant's advice, at least this one time, Christian rested his head on the rumbling floor. Still somewhat exhausted, the hum of the engine and the hull's vibrations were quite soothing, and Christian found himself drifting off before long.

"So," Erna turned to Christian. "What do you think, now that you've seen the sights?"

Erna had just finished giving Christian a tour around the academy grounds, with special emphasis on occasional "hot spots of history", as she called it, where she'd proceeded to hold her own little lecture on various historical facts regarding the spot in question. Christian was rather dumbfounded how she was able to recite everything from memory. Then again, some of her points sounded so absurd, he suspected she had been making some of it up on the spot.

"Well, I've definitely learned more about this place in the last 10 minutes than I ever did through 5 years worth of history classes."

"I make it a point to be as knowledgeable about historical landmarks as I can. It's something of a passion of mine."

"I share the same sentiments…Though not quite as passionately as you, it seems," Christian chuckled. He'd never known anyone at home who could match his knowledge or interest of history, which, or so he thought, was considerable. Yet here she was, a girl, who not only shared this interest, but seemed to surpass him in every way.

The two continued to wander the courtyard, talking of various matters, most historical, interrupted by the occasional debate that would flare up when their views conflicted. Thankfully there were no classes in session, or the penalties for attendance would've been astronomical. It seemed they both had a habit of forgetting time once they got caught up in a good argument.

It wasn't until a good time later that they found themselves outside the women's dormitory and finally realized they'd been wandering aimlessly for hours.

"Erna!" The pair turned to see a girl with brown hair, tied into a ponytail, running towards them. She had a rather petite but athletic figure, and a lively, if a bit childish, air about her. "Where the hell have you been? I've been looking for you for hours! You said you'd come train with me!"

"Ah, sorry! I completely forgot… I was just showing the rookie around," she motioned to Christian. "Lena, this is Christian. Christian, this is my roommate, Lena."

Christian didn't respond. He wanted to, but he felt inexplicably drawn to the girl's eyes, which, he noted, were a lovely shade of ocean green.

"… You all right there?"

"Huh? Oh, of course! I just… uh… ahm…" Christian tried his best not to make a fool of himself, but failed horribly. Instead he stood there like a moron with an extended hand, not quite sure what to do with it, and a nervous smile on his face. "Nice to meet you?"

The girls were visibly amused, but both had the courtesy not to overdo it.

"Nice to meet you, too, and welcome to the club," Lena returned the gesture with a cheerful smile. "Learn hard, train hard and you'll die hard!"

"Wha?" Christian turned to Erna, hoping she would have an explanation for the odd motivation.

"She'll do that. Don't worry about it."

"Right…"

"Well, it's getting late. They've probably closed the training field for the day by now, so no use going there," Lena sighed. "But tomorrow I'm dragging you there myself, Erna. The rookie's welcome to join us, of course."

"Well, I… appreciate the offer, but… I need to settle in first, before I start making plans."

"Suit yourself. The offer stands for as long as you need. Just let me know when you feel like letting off some steam, I'm always up for a race," Lena responded before turning her attention to Erna. "Now, come on, Erna! Maybe we can get in some sparring sessions at the dorm before lights out!"

Christian chuckled to himself as he waved the pair off. He remained in place for a while, watching the sun completing its descent on the western horizon. "If this is only one day, it'll be interesting to see how things turn out in one year," he smiled and headed off to his own dormitory.

When Christian awoke, the Edelweiss had halted. Upon closer inspection, it was in fact empty, but hushed arguing could be heard coming from outside.

Christian was greeted by the darkness of night as he climbed out of the top hatch. Surrounding the area was the familiar growth of the Kloden wildwoods, its trees looming overhead, grim and intimidating in the pale moonlight, yet strangely serene.

"How was it? Get a good sleep?" a voice asked. Turning his attention to the tank's rear, Christian noticed Isara looking up at him. "I hope the road didn't cause you too much discomfort."

"No, no… I hardly noticed anything." Christian took a quick look around. The tank was parked on a high cliff, perfect for surveying the surrounding woods. "Didn't realize it was this late, though," he continued. "Shouldn't we be back at the base by now? Why are we stopped in the middle of the forest?"

"Some of our scouts haven't reported in," Isara's face turned grave. "They were due hours ago but we've had no word. There is some concern that the enemy might be closer than expected, so we stopped here in order to observe the area." Isara gestured towards Welkin and Alicia standing by the cliff's edge, looking over the woods below. Not far from their location were Largo and Rosie, discussing something between themselves.

"How long have we-" Christian stopped mid-sentence.

"What?"

"… Did you hear something?"

Isara looked puzzled. "No, I don't thi-"

"INCOMING," a frantic shout came from behind them. Suddenly, the cliff's edge was ablaze in a violent blast of blue light. A scream could be heard for a split second, and then everything died down at once.

For a moment, everything seemed at peace, frozen in time. On the edge, where Welkin and Alicia had been standing, there was no one to be seen, only a smoking crater of scorched earth. Once realization set in, chaos ruled.

The surrounding woodland was like caught in a storm, with flashes of light and claps of thunder all over the place. Panic took hold soon after, as the squad scrambled to get into cover.

"Brother!" Isara called out and bolted towards the cliff.

"No, wait!" Christian was about to run after her when a mortar round landed just in front of him, the force knocking him back.

Though unscathed, his only thought as he regained his footing was that of survival. Afraid to look back to see if the Darcsen was unharmed, he clumsily began running in the opposite direction until his feet were carrying him through the forest at an almost unnatural pace. From the corners of his eyes he could see many of his fellow squadmates doing the same, with each seemingly running in a different direction.

The squad was in complete disarray, its members dispersing in every direction while being pelted by the enemy artillery. The deafening noise and widespread panic made any attempts at rallying extremely challenging, especially since the squad's main body was all over the place.

Just as Christian thought he was out of danger, he began to notice movement among the trees, and the occasional shimmer of something metallic.

"Imperials!" Christian immediately dove for cover, just before the enemy squad in front of him opened fire.

"Shit, shit, shit," he muttered to himself as he crawled along the forest floor. "Of course they'd have ambush parties waiting! How could I be so stupid?"

Propping himself up against a tree, Christian took a moment to breathe and make sure his M4 was good to go. There was no way he'd be able to hold out for long on his own, figuring his best bet would be to try and outrun the bastards.

"Okay, Christian. On three," he steeled himself and took a deep breath. "One… Two… Three!" He quickly turned to face the advancing Imperials, releasing a spray of bullets, then immediately bolted in the opposite direction.

His heart was racing as he ran through the woods once more, dodging both bullets and branches in equal measure. He kept running for what felt like an eternity, constantly trying to keep himself from looking back. Looking ahead was the only thing that mattered now. Still, the enemy remained hot on his heels.

Just then, there was a quick tug on his belt, and he was flat on his back. The woman looking down on him made a quick gesture for him to stay silent, keeping him down with a firm hand until the danger had passed, and the Imps' boots on the undergrowth grown distant.

The woman helped Christian back on his feet. She had dark hair, with bangs covering her left eye. Christian soon recognized her as Marina, the sniper he'd been posted with before their previous operation in Kloden.

"Come on, we need to get moving, in case they come back," she said, to no one in particular, and out of the bushes emerged another woman, visibly shaken. Her features were a stark contrast to Marina's; an innocent face with long, blonde hair, decorated with a bright pink ribbon.

"Hey, uh… Thanks… for the help," Christian mumbled, not being very good at expressing thanks. Marina merely glanced over her shoulder in response before continuing on.

"Are you alright?" the blonde asked as the pair trailed behind the sniper.

"I'm fine, just a few scratches."

"I'm-" the girl was interrupted by Marina, urging her to keep her voice down, and she continued in a lower tone. "Sorry… I'm Susie. I don't think we've met yet."

"I'm Christian, and you're right, we haven't officially met. Though I'm certain I've seen you around."

"It might be too much to ask, but were any of the others with you?"

"No, you're the first I've run into since the initial bombardment. What about you? Do you know of anyone else who made it?"

"Well, there was a friend of mine but we got separated… I hope he's okay…"

"Have you tried contacting anyone through the radio?"

"Yeah, but so far we've had nothing but static."

"Guess we're on our own, then…"