“So,” said Marie, “that looks like the new weapon that the East wanted to show us.”

Aziz nodded silently. The whole of Thunderbolt had fallen silent after seeing that single explosion, which had wiped out more combatants than the total strength of Thunderbolt. If the East had used that on the Southern Assembly a year ago, the entire Southern Continent would have seen a drastic shift in the balance of power. It was probably a new invention, one created to contend against the threat of the gods, but if it was ever turned against them…

All of a sudden, I feel that any military operations against the East might end up in an unmitigated disaster. Aziz shivered, his head swivelling to look at the members of Thunderbolt, who were pale-faced. No matter how much one trained, such an attack would put an end to them, without a doubt. Was there any point in working so hard then?

The colonel wasn’t sure.

“That attack,” said Marie, “doesn’t look exactly repeatable. If the East could use such attacks with regularity, they would have crushed Conrah by now. Which means that there’s probably a limit to it, or maybe it’s a one-off artefact that is hard to create.”

“I see why they call it a strategic weapon, then.” Aziz looked down on his right hand, which was gripping his Straight Shot tightly. “If they use it every battle or so, it’s possible that the East can only create one at a time. We should investigate the nature of this...Gaius-class strategic weapon.”

“When you say it like that, I can’t help but think that the name is odd.” Marie shook her head and laughed, her action catching the eyes of every member of Thunderbolt. The palpable tension that had taken hold of Thunderbolt vanished, and once again, Aziz found himself in appreciation of just how capable the Battalion Commander was in the business of providing optimism and hope…even if both of them didn’t know how that was possible.

“Good job, marshal,” Aziz whispered. “You got our men’s morale back up again.”

“I only wish it was a skill I could pass down to you and everyone else,” Marie replied. “Maybe the Republic would make a “Marie-class morale booster” or something.”

“Still, I didn’t know we used people’s names for weapons.” Aziz gestured at the battlefield. “No one in Thunderbolt is going to name their kids ‘Gaius’ anymore. And for people with that currently existing name…well, sucks to be them.”

“You have a good point there,” Marie acknowledged. “Still, our men must have been rattled by the power of that single attack. I should probably tell them our purpose here, no?”

“A good point, marshal.” Aziz looked at the battlefield, which was now shifting towards the annihilation of the blue towers that had sprung on the coastline of Eo-Seu. Evidently, the East had worked out how to bring them down slowly, and the colonel memorised the placement of the Eastern soldiers for his own reference, if relations between the Republic and the Worldshaper turned sour once more.

At the same time, Marie had relayed her purpose to the troops here. Aziz didn’t need to turn around to know that the brave soldiers of Thunderbolt were visibly excited at the prospect of the Republic gaining such weapons for themselves. It was funny how their perspectives shifted that quickly, but it seemed that many amongst Thunderbolt had realised that the sharing of such details indicated an alliance of sorts.

To them, an alliance of sorts was something infinitely better than an obscure state of relations. To date, the East and the West had never officially declared the end of hostilities. This wasn’t much of a security concern to the Republic, given that the Southern Assembly’s territory was acting as a buffer state, but it was still reassuring to know that a state of implied peace was now in pace.

Of course, Aziz reflected, it would be nice if the higher-ups had made this little bit of information known to the military, at least. At least the little kids wouldn’t be on tenterhooks the entire time.

“Alright, we have the all-clear.” Marie once again relayed a new set of landing instructions to the company commanders, and Thunderbolt was on the move once more. The soldiers grew visibly excited as they got close to land — most of them had been sleeping in on uncomfortable rafts on sea when night fell, eating pre-packed food. Thunderbolt Battalion hadn’t touched down on land for quite some time, due to their flight path.

It was Thunderbolt’s first long-range flight exercise that took place above sea. This trip to the East, other than helping them and learning about their new weapons and doctrines, was also about long-range flight over a vast sea — Aziz, Marie and some of the techies back at the Republic had spent days trying to work out how such a trip would go.

For the most part, their approach to handle long-distance flight had been proven to be functional, but improvements regarding warmth and cooking food in general had to be innovated. Issues like bodily waste were overcome through the fact that every member of Thunderbolt was a Squire, but even then, there were some…less-than-savoury methods of answering nature’s call observed throughout the flight, to Marie’s chagrin.

“Feng-Lang Control, I’ve received your directions. We’ll be making our way to the designated LZ now.” Marie lowered her Radio artefact and turned to Aziz. “We’re almost there. Relay my last pre-landing order: all troops to be on their best behaviour.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Aziz smiled. Marie raised her artefact again, while Aziz relayed her orders. A flurry of excitement was swiftly overcome by iron discipline, and Thunderbolt Battalion organised itself into straight, straight lines. He could sense pride emanating from their very bones, as they continued to descend with immaculate precision, led by Marie.

The landing zone they were assigned to was filled with people, to the point that the crowd was visible from afar. Most of them were holding up banners, and as the battalion drew close, Aziz could tell that most of them were civilians. He didn’t need to think that hard to find out the reason — Thunderbolt was here as a volunteer force to help the frontlines.

The colonel calmed his trembling heart as Thunderbolt landed in the middle of the joyful crowd, and wondered how many of his men would still be alive when they embarked on the return journey home.