“There are always some things you could learn from other people. Either take note of where they are better than you and use that as an example to strive for the better, or learn from their flaws so that you could avoid falling into the pits they have fallen into.” - Mian Tsu-Lao, philosopher from the Huan Confederacy, circa 12 VA.

Despite being the children of two of the most celebrated heroes of their homeland, neither Scipius or his younger sister Astra lived a pampered life. On the contrary, from their youth, they had chosen to go through various hardships that most people would have balked at in order to better themselves. Only then would they feel that they had not shamed their parents’ legacies.

It was a drive that originated from themselves, as they had so often heard praises of their parents from a very early age. Their parents – Publius and Anni – were actually far more relaxed and had specifically told the children that they should grow up to be what they wished to be, for themselves, rather than for anyone else’s sake. It was just that their two eldest children wanted to be seen as heirs that wouldn’t bring shame to the parents.

From a young age, both of them had gone through grueling training, closely supervised by their mother to make sure that their training wouldn’t interfere with their growth. Most of their free time outside training was spent studying in the library. That was where the siblings diverted a bit, as Scipius was more proficient with the physical training, while Astra was better at studying despite being younger.

Once they were of age, both siblings had joined the Republic’s armed forces one after another. They requested no special treatments, and worked their way up the ladder from the very bottom. If there was any favoritism involved, it was probably in how the two of them happened to be given several chances to make their mark over the years.

By the time Scipius was twenty and Astra was eighteen, the former had already risen to a thousand-man commander, while the latter already worked her way up to a two hundred-man leader. It was not that Astra was less skilled than her brother, but simply due to the fact that she had two less years of time to perform, since she joined the military later.

That was when the Republic agreed to a joint offensive with the Free City of Levain, targeting the northern areas of the Southern Coalition, a mutual enemy to both nations.

Both Scipius and Astra were part of the expedition, which was directly commanded by their parents. From that alone it could be easily seen how much value the Republic’s leadership placed on the success of the expedition. Given the colossal failure the Southern Coalition just suffered at Levain’s hands, the fighting was expected to be light, but as everybody knew, a cornered prey might strike out at a hunter still.

The thirty thousand strong army from Caroma made their way to Levain unmolested, and during the journey Astra took the chance to gloat a bit in one of the fields she was far better than her brother. Unlike Scipius, who at best was a passable rider that would only ride a horse for transportation purposes and definitely wouldn’t be able to fight from atop one, Astra was practically born for the saddle. She rode her mare as if she and the horse were one being, easily running circles around her much more restrained brother.

It was also one reason why Scipius always favored commanding from amongst the infantry, or failing that, from atop a chariot.

They had expected to be welcomed at Levain, and sure enough, when Astra and Sirius accompanied the Caroman delegation to the city itself, they were met by the welcoming party – which included pretty much everyone that mattered – by the gate. Curiously, Astra noticed that Levain’s side also brought what looked like the command staff of the mercenary unit they hired recently, the one she heard about from her brother.

She was somewhat interested in that company, as it was rather rare to see such a mixed company in former Clangeddin territory. While the former Empire welcomed all races, humans still formed the majority of their populace since the lands that composed the Empire’s territory were primarily human kingdoms and states in their past.

The Free Lances on the other hand, had just about as many non-humans – or those of mixed heritage – amongst their command staff as they had humans, and her brother also told her that they fielded a significant portion of other races amongst their numbers. That their leader was a therian man of a breed she had never seen before, even taller than her mother, lent further credit to that claim.

That said, it was not those things that piqued Astra’s curiosity the most.

What really interested her about the mercenaries was that two of their platoon leaders – as the therian man named Reinhardt had introduced them – were young girls around her age or even younger. She understood it somewhat when she heard that they were the Captain’s own daughters, yet at the same time doubted that a highly successful mercenary company would so freely assign a platoon to a girl barely of age.

Astra tabled her curiosity for the time being, and thought that she should ask for her parents’ opinion on the matter when they had free time later that night. One way or another, to sell the illusion that they were actually in Levain to have a friendly exchange, there were planned mock combats between the Levain forces and their own over the next week.

Other than to sell the illusion, that was also done to buy time for the Caroman army to prepare and check the supplies they had purchased from Levain.

If she asked, chances were that her parents might help her arrange a mock battle between their side and the mercenaries. Astra had quite a bit of interest in that, as she wished to see the mettle of these mercenaries for herself.