Code: ASSIMILATE

His name?

"Q-"

Silver choked on air for a moment as he attempted to absorb what he had just about said. Briefly his memories spiked in the back of his head, things from his life outside this digital nightmare. Several names crossed his mind, one in particular passing over his lips silently. Jay... who was that? Shaking his head, Silver got back to his senses and looked down to the ground for a moment. When he looked up he was much stronger than he had looked previously.

"SilverStorm. Silver for short."

His eyes then turned to Felicia who looked rather offended for whatever reason. The gambler suddenly took a couple steps forward, an air of annoyance passing over her. Silver stepped back in defense as if he didn't wish to be a part of whatever she was gonna start.

"Surely you recognize one of your own citizenry. Especially a noble such as myself. If you do so require it, I am Felicia of the Geminus family."

To everyone's answers the commander took note of, however he did appear rather confused at Felicia's response. He stared at Felicia, carefully studying her features.

"I see, then what might I ask are you doing with Landseal's rabble?" the man asked.

To Felicia's response Alexis also turned around, his eyes oh so slightly widened, "You're an Imp?"

"My party here was to escort me back to the capitol after my recent travels, their supervisor demanded we come here first. I came only to make sure they didn't die here and leave me to return home alone."

Felicia ignored Alexis, her face focused upon the man. Though these were obvious lies to the party, she said them with such determination it was as if she truly believed them. It was almost as if she was skilled at this sort of thing, for as her words sunk in, it was almost as if it was the truth.

"Now, assuming that what you are saying is true, why do you have such a pathetic escort party? And furthermore, why is the traitor with you?"

Alexis's eyes narrowed at the enemy commander when he mentioned the word "traitor". Obviously the two of them have met before, and neither of them seemed to like each other.

"And good day to you too."

"They promised to get the job done, I'm rather dissatisfied with their service at the moment. I should have been home several hours ago! As for this man, he's part of whatever task my party was assigned. I don't know much about it, nor do I care to."

Felicia looked over to her party with a slight look of agitation. She truly was selling this part, and for all the man knew, it was the truth. After all, he claimed to not know her, and as long as that remained in tact they would be in no danger. If this kept up, they may not have to fight. Felicia could hold him off until the Whitewings got there to pick them up.

The commander closed his eyes and nodded, apparently falling for Felicia's lie. And although Alexis wasn't exactly interested in agreeing with an Imp, even if she was his ally, he and Kuori decided to play along. They were here not to pull off a full-scale assault, so they just needed to stall time.

"I see. Very well then, if you dislike your current escort we can arrange a new group of far more talented individuals suited for the job."

"Thank you, but there's no need. I have paid them in advance to complete this job, I'm sure they will be able to complete it aptly. That is, lest they wish to deal with my family personally."

Felicia walked back over to the group, placing herself between Silver and Kee. Her expression didn't falter once, her green eyes focused on the man. She would keep feeding him this lie as long as she would have to. If only Marcia and Caroline could hurry up and get back to them. She wasn't sure how long he would continue to buy her story, and she was unsure of the party's ability to handle such a man along with this rather massive portion of the army.

The commander thought for a moment and nodded. He turned and spoke to one of his subordinates, something about showing them the way back to the capital. But before anyone had time to act a loud strong voice, possibly one with the volume amplified by some sort of technology, of a female called out to the Imperial soldiers.

"All units retreat! I repeat, all units retreat! The river bank is lost! Landseal's main army is on its way across the river! I will not have any unnecessary casualties! We won't make it to reinforce the front in time!"

And just at that moment the party heard the flapping of wings, and down came Marcia with Caroline, Fang, and two other Whitewing riders behind her. She promptly lifted Kuori up and onto her Pegasus without stopping, then turned to fly off as quickly as possible.

"What are you idiots waiting for?! A written permission?! Shoot them!" the commander bellowed angrily as soon as he realized what was going on.

The archers, slightly frightened by their commander, fumbled a little but quickly proceeded to fire arrows at the riders. But the riders, being the best of the Whitewings, knew how to maneuver to avoid these deadly projectiles. Meanwhile Marcia's on her Pegasus leading the way, laughing uncontrollably.

"Alright everyone! If any of those arrows even as much grazes you, your Pegasus, or your passenger, it's twenty laps for each of them when we get back!" she shouted back toward her subordinates behind her.

Felicia smiled as Marcia and the others arrived, taking them all upon the pegasi and flying off quickly. Her distractions won out in the end, and it would hopefully be smooth sailing from here on out. Clinging a little tighter to the rider in charge of her, she looked back down at the commander. She knew they would be seeing him again in the future.

Meanwhile, Fang skillfully, and without much problem, picked up Alexis. The wyvern she mounted rose up with a screech and began to fly away. Silver, Kee, and Caroline followed suit.

"Thanks Fang, that was a bit close." Alexis said, breathing a sigh of relief.

The fencer sheathed his greatsword on his back and wrapped his arms around the waist of the wyvern rider to better secure himself so that he doesn't happen to accidentally fall off the large scaly beast. However, he was still slightly worried, as the voice he heard through the megaphone earlier sounded familiar. But would she really be here, of all places?

As the group flew overhead, they saw the main army making its way across the river with nothing in their way. The enemy's forces occupying the other bank was pulling back as quickly as they could, things couldn't have gone any more smoothly.

Meanwhile...

Off a few thousand meters away, there stood an entire Imperial battalion, included in the battalion were also large hulking metal vehicles. Tanks, the Empire brought tanks. Inside the largest and most well-armed tank of the bunch sat a woman with a dark-ish blond hair and hazel eyes. She was dressed just as regally as the earlier commander, but the badge on her uniform signified that she was a general. She sat in the tank, staring at a screen which projected a digitally generated image of the river and the enemies' positions. She was tapping her finger on the armrest of her seat impatiently, until the perfect time came. The woman's eyes flashed for a second and she issued a command.

"Release the flood gates!"

The main army soon heard the sound of rushing water, lots of it, then a large wave of water from the nearby dam overflowed and washed over the army. Some of the soldiers lost their balance and was swept away by the fast and powerful currents, which eventually dragged them down into the water and drowned them. But most of the army managed to steady themselves and continued to wade through the now nearly shoulder deep river.

The army had expected the Imps to put up a last line of defense somehow, but what they didn't expect were support from these tanks. Because now that the main army was almost entirely in the river, except for its rear guard, the soldiers heard noises overhead. The last thing some of those poor soldiers saw were dozens of mortar shells falling toward them before they landed, creating a large explosion that then created in the water another tidal wave, washing away a few soldiers in the rear guard as well.

The Whitewings, who were just flying by overhead, were spared due to their position in the air, but they had the pleasure to witness the entire scene. From the flood to the explosions, all of it. Now roughly 90% of the main army was decimated from that one strike, from that one ingenious and well-executed plan, the timing was impeccable.

"I...I was right..." Alexis thought out loud and Fang could feel his arms, along with his entire body, trembling beneath that large suit of armor.

"Fuck..."

"That would seem to be the case. Marcia, what are your orders?"

While the Whitewings had their discussion, Silver and Felicia looked down at the destruction. Silver was horrified by the entire scene, yet Felicia seemed as though she expected this. In truth, she had. She knew who pulled off such a maneuver, and she knew that nothing good would happen if they ran into her. She too, was scared like Alexis, but her outward appearance showed nothing but neutrality. The scene reflected in her green eyes as she took in the scene.

As she witnessed the scene, Marcia's expression suddenly became stern, and she turned to Caroline, then Fang, then the other Whitewings and their passengers.

"Worry about getting back to camp in one piece. We can talk about this later."

Kuori took in the destruction, taking photograph after photograph of various areas of the river. Dead body parts were floating downstream, there wasn't even a single whole body, all of them had been torn apart from the force of the explosion. She felt no remorse for these people, she did not know them personally, and there was nothing in her programming that required her to feel pity for these nameless soldiers. She just blinked and waited for them to return.

Once the group made their way back to the Whitewings' camp, Marcia immediately called for a meeting in her tent. The common soldiers were excused. Once Caroline, Fang, Alexis, as well as the group themselves had gathered around the rectangular wooden table in Marcia's large tent, the pink haired commander began.

"I thought we had won this battle, but evidently not. The main army has suffered heavy casualties and will be requesting backup from the Eastern front, which means they'll be at a standstill for a week or so. Right now, they're in a very weak state and in no position to fight back if the enemy were to attack." Marcia explained, "So, I say we strike at them directly to distract them from the weakened army until reinforcements arrive."

"What?! I beg you reconsider Commander!" Alexis responded with a terrified expression, "We can't fight them!"

"Surprising words, coming from you Alexis. So then enlighten me, why can't we fight them?" Marcia asked.

Alexis paused, as if not wanting to admit weakness. But then, he must have felt that it was more important to try and convince his commander because after a moment of silence, just as Marcia was about to continue speaking, Alexis said something.

"Because of their general." Alexis answered, "I know their general personally from back when I was a soldier for the Empire three years ago. Her name's Audrey, the finest general the Empire has to offer. She was nicknamed the 'Goddess of Victory' on account of her never having lost a battle of wits, tactics, or strategy, whether it be on the battlefield or off it. She's a rather frightening individual, and I don't want to fight her."

Marcia narrowed her eyes, and then closed her eyes. She knew she wouldn't get anywhere just arguing with Alexis. She sighed and opened them again, turning toward the others.

"Well, it's your choice guys. Do you want to go and strike them? Or do you want to hold position like Alexis suggested?" Marcia asked, "We'll take a majority vote here."

"Kill them. I'm not afraid to deal with that bitch!"

Fang had seemed even crueler since they arrived back at camp, her entire aura sharpened and deadly. She wasn't even settling for petty glares between herself and Felicia. Instead she was completely focused on killing the woman responsible for this entire catastrophe. And it was one personal reason that only one other in the tent was aware of.

"Fang, please! We don't have the forces to take on such a battalion. As we face it, the people in this room are the only competent fighters we have at the moment."

Caroline's eyes had been filled with worry since the attack, she seemed very withdrawn. Anyone could tell she was against fighting the rest of this battle at all, but if she had to (and she knew she would have to) she would wait for them to arrive.

Meanwhile however, Silver had taken up to standing by Caroline and Alexis. He was shaking, quite visibly to all in the tent, utterly afraid of what had happened. He was unsure he could manage to fight them back if they were to charge in, much less if they stayed to fight.

Felicia stood off to the side, also not making any intention of glaring at Fang. She was indifferent to the entire situation, not caring for these people or their cause. She was only there to help out the party, her view on the affairs of the battles they fought was unimportant.

Just like Felicia Kuori was also neutral toward this issue. Either way they would have to fight the general eventually, it made no point whether they were to fight on their own turf or their enemies'. Although Kuori did take Alexis's side, because the parts of her that was still human was, just like Alexis and Silver, afraid of the enemy commander.

Marcia looked at the votes and nodded, knowing that if she forced her group into an assault against the enemies now would cause a drop in their morale. She would rather have a better chance at winning the battles they could fight than going and trying to win decisive battles.

"Very well. We'll wait out here for the enemies to make a move." Marcia said with a long sigh, "It should take them at least two or three days to mobilize such a large army. So go ahead and do whatever while we're waiting on them. I'll be outside with the recruits if you need me."

With that said Marcia left the tent. Alexis followed her out, his body still quivering uncontrollably in fear. He went to a small hill right outside the camp and sat there for a while. Looking up at the stars to try to help calm his fear, which didn't work very well.

At that moment Fang's eyes sharpened even further on Marcia and she quickly grabbed her lance from the rack. She charged outside without a care in the world for who got in her way. Though no one did, everyone knew better than to be in her way at this moment. Pure anger ran through her veins and there was nothing anyone could do to stop her.

Rather than heading for Marcia to talk some sense into her commander, she made way towards her Wyvern. If the others wished to wait and be slaughtered than that was their wish, not hers. Quickly taking flight, only one goal was in her mind, and would continue to be in her mind. She would take out whatever forces she could, or die trying. Retreat was not an option.

Caroline made no attempt to stop Fang, she didn't follow her out of the tent and rather looked upon the party. Pursing her lips, she was unsure of what to say, her eyes dull and unreadable. Shaking her head she sighed, there wasn't anything she could say honestly. The party would just have to be well rested and prepared and that was all things they knew. She left a moment later, not noticing that Fang had gone off to what was most likely her death.

Felicia said nothing, just closed her eyes for a moment and walked out. She disappeared over into a sleeping quarters and didn't leave the tent for the longest time. She was uninterested in conversing with the others and knew better than most others in this camp to be well rested for the rigorous upcoming battles.

Silver and Serenity, meanwhile, stood in the tent quietly. Looking both to each other and then to Kuori, they too said nothing. Both shaking slightly at the thought of fighting the upcoming battles. Sure Serenity wouldn't have to do anything, but to know that the bad might happen in the following days was scary. She didn't wish to have to complete this battle alone, the tears forming only emphasizing that.

Silver, however, was having other thoughts at the moment. While he was afraid of what was to come, he couldn't help but think of home. What happened if he died in this virtual world with no one to heal him or save him? Would he disappear from the real world forever? Would any of the people from his life notice him missing if they hadn't already? Did anyone care?

Tears too formed in his eyes and began to fall, his trembling continuing further.

Alexis was still rather shaken up at the thought of facing even Audrey's men in combat, knowing that she would be personally in charge of the forces. With Audrey there was no such thing as holding back. Even if her enemy was just one single unarmed child of not even age ten Audrey would still not even as much as to bat an eyelash when ordering her soldiers to unleash a rain of lead down upon the child. To be fighting her in the state they were in was suicide, maybe they would stand a small chance if the main army hadn't been almost completely wiped out, but unfortunately it did. So now if Audrey decides to attack before reinforcements arrive in roughly a week, things were going to get ugly.

As Alexis thought about this issue, he saw something large and with wings fly overhead. He couldn't clearly see what the flying beast was, but it seemed to have came from the camp. And judging from its silhouette it was much too large to be a Pegasus, which meant that was Fang's Wyvern, and it was heading for across the river.

"That idiot! She's going to get herself killed!"

Alexis immediately stood up and made his way toward the stables, where he led his Pegasus out to the fields before mounting up and chasing after Fang. He wasn't going to let the reckless girl go on a death march.

Alexis managed to eventually catch up to the Wyvern rider as they soared across the river. The flood of water showed no signs of receding, which made crossing the river impossible for both sides. It would buy them some time, but likely not enough. Alexis flew beside the Wyvern, turning his head to face its rider.

"Fang! What are you doing?! This is too dangerous!" Alexis shouted over the sound of wings flapping, "You won't stand a chance by yourself! We have to go back!"

Back in the tent, Kee was completely silent, as he usually was. But this time he didn't even attempt to say anything. He sat down and played his lute, as he always did. Kuori on the other hand, was a lot less calm but also did not cry. However she too, like Silver and Serenity, were shaking with fear. This next battle was going to be possibly the most important battle for the Whitewings to win, because if they didn't that would likely mean game over for Landseal. The Empire would then be able to easily march in and conquer the nation.

Kuori bit her lower lip and glanced toward Silver and noticed he was crying. Serenity was too, and so was Kee even though he made no sound. Seeing their tears made Kuori's own tears well up, but she quickly wiped them again and came up to Silver, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Silver..." Kuori started, although unsure of what to say.

"You think I care what happens to me?"

Though she wished to press onward, Fang pulled on the reigns, causing the Wyvern to perform a motion in which they could hover for the moment. She wasn't going to have Alexis dragged into her affairs, he would just distract her and get them both killed. And if there was anything she wouldn't stand for, it would be that. It made no difference if she died after defeating several empire soldiers, but if he died, the Whitewings would lose the closest thing they had to a tactician.

"Now turn back before you get yourself killed! I've got my own matters to deal with here."

Silver's eyes were slightly glazed over as more tears cascaded to the ground. He looked over to Kuori at a moment, more tears welling and falling. Though his physical form was with her in the tent, his mind and spirit was elsewhere. Drowned in surfacing memories from back home, he found himself crying even more. Jay... whoever he was... he was special. Very important. He had to be looking for Quinn... not Silver. The boy who lived beyond this nightmare, the one that mattered in that life.

Alexis also stopped his Pegasus once he noticed Fang slow down to a stop. Now they were in the middle of the sky over a flooded river. He needed to convince Fang to return to camp, if Audrey were to get her hands on the girl, there was no telling what she would go through. Being part of Landseal's army, even though the Whitewings was only a militia group, Fang would no doubt go through at least some of the worst forms of torture so Audrey could get as much information out of her as possible before being brutally executed. And knowing Audrey, she would then send Fang's decapitated head back to provoke the rest of the Whitewings.

"Fang, I beseech you. Please, just come back." Alexis begged, for the first time his voice cracking even if it was only slightly, "You may not care for your own life...but...someone else does..."

Kuori sighed, Silver was crying more and she had no idea how to stop him. This was one of the things her computer programming lacked, common sense and the knowledge of what to say to someone. She wanted to say something to help Silver, to comfort the frail boy whose only wish was to return home. But there was nothing she could do, only shut her own eyes to prevent tears from rolling down her face. She too was on the verge of crying.

"Don't worry Silver...we'll pull through somehow and get you back home..." Kuori said, an obscure promise that she didn't know if she was going to be able to keep.

At this Fang bit her lip so hard it was on the verge of breaking open. She knew who he meant, she knew it well. No doubt he knew she felt the same way for him, which was why she had to do this. He had to understand. Shaking her head, she looked over to the other end of the river.

"I have to do this Alexis. Please understand."

". . . We better... for his sake..."

Silver spoke in a low murmur, more tears spilling over. At that moment he gently removed Kuori's hand and left the tent. More tears followed as he made his way out, stopping as he stared up at the digital sky. It was much like home was.... but it wasn't home. He felt no comfort from the similarities between the two.

"No you don't Fang, you're going to die! Is it really worth it?! Audrey won't show you any mercy!" Alexis said, his voice cracking more and a few tears rolled down his face in a desperate attempt at trying to convince Fang.

Alexis didn't want Fang to go, he wanted Fang to just throw away her own life like that, she had to live, for his sake and her own. The girl still had her whole life ahead of her, it would be pointless if she just threw it all away just to take out a few Imps. But what did she mean? She said that she had to go and fight right now, but she didn't.

"Fang, why must you go now?" Alexis asked.

Kuori watched Silver walk out, leaving her with only Serenity and Kee. She didn't want to show weakness in front of Silver, fearing it would depress him even more. Now that he and left, she was allowed to not hold back. Biting her lower lip as she stared out at the direction Silver went, she too began to weep.

". . . You're the reason. If you can't understand that, then I'm fighting for nothing."

Fang continued to look onward, not wanting to look back at Alexis. For if she did, he would see something no one else had ever nor would see. Her weakness. The moment where she was most vulnerable, the moment where she silently admitted to being able to be torn down. The moment she would cry for the first time in a long time.

"Fang, you don't have to do this for me." Alexis said, "Fang, I beg you to reconsider. I don't want you to die, I would much rather fight alongside you. Please..."

Alexis's voice trailed off and he wiped his tears away, not knowing what else to say. If she was still determined to go after Audrey, Alexis could do nothing more. He knew Fang's personality, he wouldn't be able to stop her anymore if he couldn't stop her now.

"I-If you must go. Then...promise me, Fang. Come back alive. Promise me that..." Alexis said and turned his Pegasus around, whether Fang would follow him back or continue onward was her own choice now.

". . . I promise..."

With that Fang snapped the reigns and off she flew over the river at breakneck speeds. She didn't look back, teardrops breaking on the wind and falling to the river below. She was going to finish what they had started, and she was going to come back. If not for her sake, than for Alexis'. She wasn't going to leave him vulnerable for the upcoming battles.

Alexis did not look back either, for he could tell Fang was going to go through with this from the slowly fading sound of her Wyvern's wings flapping. Instead he looked onward, toward the camp, the place where Fang had promised return to the next day, alive and well. And she had better keep that promise.

Morning seemed to have came rather quickly for Kuori, as she sat up in the tent that she shared with Serenity. Silver and Kee were sharing a tent as well while Felicia was lucky enough to get a tent all to herself. She took a few deep breaths, trying to remember what had happened last night. She recalled weeping, quite a lot actually. It was the first time in her memory that she recalled ever even shedding even one tear, much less crying until her eyes were hurting.

She walked outside, stretching and saw that she was the first one up, that was, until she noticed someone sitting on a rock at the center of camp where the bell to gather everyone's attention was. There was Alexis, he was awake this early in the morning. She was just about to go and greet the man when upon closer inspection, noticed that he was in fact also sleeping. He had slept the entire night wearing his armor, sitting on this rock with his greatsword stuck in the ground to hold him up. He seemed to have been waiting for someone.

It was at about this time when Marcia exited her tent, wearing her usual outfit of a white linen shirt with a golden trim. She seemed in a rather cheerful mood, despite all that had happened yesterday. The pink haired commander came up to Kuori, flashing her a smile then began ringing the large bell to call everyone awake.

"Get up everyone! We can't have half of us sleeping if the enemy decides to attack!" Marcia shouted.

Silver groggily got up, rubbing his wet eyes as he slipped back into his usual outfit. He remembered every moment of the night, mostly because he hadn't slept for most of it. His mind had been plagued with thoughts of home and the one person he was sure was missing him. He had only slept the last half hour, and because of that, he was unprepared for the day. Not that he cared, Marcia had said something about the enemy not reaching their encampment today.

Serenity had stirred only moments after Kuori, having slept rather soundly despite the events of the previous evening. She was rather bright, like Marcia, though for some unknown reason. It was as if none of the bad things that happened and were happening ever existed and she found comfort in that. For it was not everyday in this world that it felt as such, and so she would cherish the feeling while she had it. If she had it for much longer anyway.

Meanwhile, Fang still hadn't returned from her battle. Though it was the early morning, she had had the entire night to return from almost certain death. Yet she still was missing to the encampment, and the only person that knew of this was out cold. Having waited for her the entire night, having wound up sleeping in his armor as he waited for her. It was unclear as to whether or not she would be coming back, and if that promise she had made was one that would be kept.