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Divertissement - The Occupation | Though Class VII had helped bring the war to an end, Erebonia’s fate remained firmly in Osborne’s grasp. Osborne, the man shot through the heart in broad daylight, had reappeared as though nothing had happened. By his side was Rufus Albarea, who was revealed to have been the Ironbloods’ primary member all along. Together, they presented Rean as the hero who had put an end to the war that had ravaged Erebonia.
Two months later, Crossbell once again suffered from its position between the continent’s two largest countries. An unexpectedly swift invasion from Erebonia left the city-state entirely under its control. Calvard, however, was not about to sit by and let its rival claim more land. The republic sent its own troops in as a counteroffensive. They stood little chance against Erebonia’s Panzer Soldats, however, and were forced to retreat. Rean, having been named the Ashen Chevalier, was sent into Crossbell to help fend them off.
During this time, a speech from the state’s new ruler had been scheduled at Orchis Tower. Chancellor Osborne began the speech with the typical formalities.
Following that, he named Rufus as Crossbell’s first governor general. Rufus’ first act was to announce that the formerly independent state would be annexed into Erebonia. Crossbell’s freedom had been stripped away. Yet, there were those who were working to overcome this new wall before them.
One was a member of the Crossbell Police Department--Lloyd Bannings. The other was Rixia Mao, a woman who led a double life as both a performer in a famous troupe and as the legendary assassin, Yin. They had made their way into Crossbell’s underground network of tunnels in order to keep the state’s top secret info out of Erebonia’s hands.
With the help of Heiyue, a mafia syndicate based in Calvard, they reached the Geofront’s E Sector. Their plan was to copy the information from the core terminal, then reformat the terminal itself.
Swiftly navigating the underground tunnels, it didn’t take them long to reach their destination.  Once they had set up the initialization unit they’d brought with them, all they had to do was wait for the process to finish. While relieved at first, that quickly faded when a voice called out to them from behind.
Turning to look, the pair came face-to-face with a black-haired boy and a girl dressed in black. They had received a special order to stop Lloyd and Rixia’s ploy. This was well within expectations, however, and Lloyd and Rixia decided to hold the mysterious duo off until the data wipe was done.
Though their adversaries proved much stronger than their ages implied, Lloyd and Rixia pulled through. The battle seemed to take little toll on either the boy or girl, however. What’s more, the girl pressed the boy to stop holding back.
Agreeing, the boy began to focus his power. Rixia immediately noticed an aura of negative energy surrounding him. Both she and Lloyd braced themselves for an even fiercer battle, but just as they did, the initialization device finished its process. Lloyd and Rixia’s strategy to buy time had been a success. In response, the boy’s menacing energy dissipated. Unable to prevent the reformat, the boy and girl switched their objective.
The boy raised his hand and called out a name, causing a huge machine to appear out of nowhere. He proceeded to board it, and without wasting a moment, he destroyed the terminal with one powerful swing.
Lloyd quickly retrieved the initialization unit as the terminal collapsed into pieces. However, he and Rixia were now cornered by a machine that boasted just as much power as the Aions they’d faced only a few months ago. Or so it seemed, until the boy allowed them to pass, telling them arrest warrants hadn’t been issued for either of them. With little other choice, Lloyd and Rixia swallowed their pride and made their escape. But before they left, Lloyd turned and asked the boy a question.
‘As I'm sure you already know, my name is Lloyd Bannings, and I’m a police detective with the Crossbell State Police Department.’ ‘What's your name?’
‘I'm with Thors Military Academy, Class VII... No.’ ‘I'm a provisional military officer with the Crossbell government. Rean Schwarzer.’
Watching the two of them leave, Rean called Lechter to report his failure. Lechter spoke as though he were familiar with Lloyd and Rixia, and accepted Rean’s report without reprimanding him. Having done what was asked of him, Rean stated his intention to return before cutting off the transmission abruptly. Following that, he bid farewell to Altina. Though Rean was concerned over the way Altina thought of herself as a mere tool, his concern didn’t seem to resonate with her.
Before he left, he took one final glance in the direction Lloyd and Rixia had fled. Somewhat jealous of their ability to push forward through impossible odds and believe in the future, Rean took his leave from Crossbell.
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