Even from a distance, it was quite clear to Yuriko that the commotion was between an Imperial squad and some sort of hostile group. The opposing side wasn’t in any sort of uniform, but the leather armour was quite telling. There were even a few wearing the same kind of cloak that made them harder to see, similar to what Edmund Sevier wore in Synkrasia. That, more than anything else, convinced Yuriko that it was a Federation troop against Imperials.

Ah, and the strongest warrior was on the Federation side.

She was still several hundred paces away when she saw the Knight equivalent cut off one of the Imperial warrior’s arms. She was less than a hundred paces away when she saw the Imperial Warder’s defences shatter.

But she was just within range of using it. Her mind seized a mote of ambient Chaos, one that had the potential to ignite into Radiant light. It was noon, and ambient Chaos particles with that potential were everywhere. She ignited that one mote and channelled it into a funnel shape using her aura, capped on one end. The resulting explosion of Radiant light turned into a burning lance that moved faster through the air than she could blink. It pierced through the Knight’s defences and carved a hole in its guts.

Fri’Avgi fell to her hand as she launched herself over the hillside, propelled by her prodigious strength and aura. She landed with an audible thud as she shaped the aura around her feet to absorb and vent the kinetic energy of her landing. Her Mien pulsed red as she let herself grow angry at the Federation’s aggression, though she held back from actually killing them. Not the time yet.

The enemy Knight, a woman, stared up at her in confusion. Yuriko spun Fri’Avgi around and let the artefact rest on her shoulder. The woman had a greatsword on her, too, though it looked exceptionally flimsy compared to her own weapon. Sunshards materialised around her as she funnelled her own reserve of Radiant energy into creating them. Her aura was held as close to her skin as possible, holding within her outer reserves and the layers of her condensed aura armour. She didn’t activate her Animus Armour just yet, as she was sure none of her foes would be able to penetrate her current set of defences.

The defused Anima was extended all the way to her maximum range of four and a half paces, though with how it was configured now, she could only determine that there were people within her vicinity. She could track movement and Animus concentration, but the details were rather sparse.

As soon as the sunshards finished materialising, she tethered them with Animus and sent them flying. Each and every one of the dozen sunshards ended up mere inches from a Federation eye, made possible only by the fact that they were still somewhat stunned by her arrival. Oh, the one Marron shot was down, though still alive.

“Surrender.”

She took a threatening step towards the Knight, even as the ground quaked with her antics.

The woman stabbed her greatsword into the ground and released the hilt. Her face was pale and covered in pained sweat. She answered in Wojan, the interplanar trade tongue, “We yield.”

A quick glance at the others showed them laying down their weapons. The shooters had a strange version of the Plasma Caster, Yuriko thought as they too laid their weapons to the ground.

She gestured for them to back up then turned to the Imperial squad.

“Yuri?”

A familiar voice. One that belonged to a girl running down the hill. Dark-haired and green-eyed, with her overcoat barely containing her expansive bosom.

“K-Krys?” Yuriko’s eyes widened as her childhood friend threw herself at her, and locked her into a tight embrace. The sunshards wobbled in the air, but thankfully, the Federation warriors didn’t try anything.

“It’s really you, oh Ancestors! What…what are you doing here? I thought…”

“Krys, that can wait.”

Another familiar voice, though now much deeper than before. Mikel. The redhead had grown several inches taller, though was still shorter than her. Krystal hadn’t grown that much taller, but Mikel was now taller than the other girl.

“Secure the prisoners.”

A voice spoke in her ear. Yuriko’s eyes traced the Animus and it came from another girl about a dozen paces from the frontline. She had dark green hair and freckles across her cute button nose. She looked familiar but Yuriko was sure she hadn’t met her before.

Her eyes skipped across the others, finding more familiar, yet strange faces. The warrior who had lost his arms stared up at her with the light of Aspiration behind his eyes. She didn’t remember his name but was sure she’d seen him back in the Academy.

Zeyn Strider and Danika Lorn. Two of the kids from her Atavism Ritual. Zeyn gave her a clipped nod, while Danika just plain stared. As for the Warder…

“Heron?” she muttered.

Heron was…tall. Taller than she was now. How? Er…obviously he grew up. Heh. That, hmmm, that’s rather annoying. Where before she was taller than he was by an inch, now the difference had swung the other way by at least six inches.

“Yuriko,” he said faintly. There was a similar light behind his eyes, one that was now imminently familiar to her.

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With a shudder, she looked away. Then, stared at Krystal’s and Mikel’s eyes. Was it there, too? Oh. It wasn’t. She heaved a sigh of relief.

“Krystal, Mikel, please secure the prisoners. Heron, see to Peyton’s injuries. Danika, Zeyn, are you injured?” the same girl said, obviously their squad leader. Peyton…huh. His injuries were grave; both of his severed arms were burned and cauterised. The same thing happened to the Knight she blasted with the Radiant Lance. On an Apprentice or even a Journeyman, that kind of injury would eventually prove fatal, but for Knights, or whatever equivalent spirit binders were called, while a hole in the gut could prove enough to kill, only a little bit of outside healing would be needed to ensure survival, and perhaps complete recovery.

The Imperial squad busied themselves by securing weapons and binding the prisoner’s arms. Yuriko caught a glimpse of their Caster. Aside from the shape and length, it had little in common with the more elegant Plasma Caster.

“What’s this?” she asked one of the shooters.

The boy looked like he swallowed his tongue, but eventually managed to stutter out an answer, “A-a, steam, er, personal steam cannon.”

The device was about a pace long, though it was connected with cables into a backpack unit. The interface was filled with dials and knobs and weighed several times more than a Caster. A quick inspection with her aura told her that the contraption held little jade, and was mostly made of mundane steel and copper. How did they channel Animus into this thing? The runescript etching was unfamiliar to her too.

“Miss Davar, thank you for your aid,” the girl in command said as she walked up to Yuriko.

“You know me?” Yuriko asked in surprise.

She snorted. “Very few people in our Academic year don’t know you. I’m Asami Lawson Devi.”

“Oh, a pleasure,” Yuriko said. She looked back towards the north and could see Marron, Gwendith, Desire, Saki, and Niamh were slowly approaching. “What about these people?” She gestured towards the prisoners.

“I sent a messenger crane to the Watchtower,” Asami answered evenly as she looked up at Yuriko. “I must say I’m more than surprised to see you here. The last news I had of you was that you had been captured by the Northern Barbarians.”

“I wasn’t,” Yuriko answered curtly.

Most of her focus was on the enemy Knight, who had settled into a seated meditation pose to stabilise her wounds. The entire lot of them were silent, with blank faces. However, their eyes betrayed their fear and trepidation.

“What happened here?”

Yuriko noticed Heron lingering nearby, though when she glanced at him, he gulped and looked away. Was he…?

Duh.

Oh. Really?

“Yuri!” Gwendith called out to her as she ran up the hill. Asami turned to look, then she froze with her mouth agape.

“G-Gwendith.”

Gwendith blinked at Asami, then grinned. “Cousin Asami. I bet you didn’t think you’d see me again huh?”

“I, uh, well.” Asami gulped again. “Uh, excuse me,” she managed before giving Gwendith a short bow, and she hurried to the others.

“Interesting,” Marron said as he came closer. “Federation rangers?” He repeated the question in Wojan, staring expectantly at the woman Knight.

“Yes,” the woman answered.

“Name?”

“Malise Campbelle,” the woman answered as Marron bound her wrists.

Yuriko eyed Malise, noting the toned physique and tanned skin. She and the others wore loose clothing under their shimmercloth cloaks and their leather armour.

Many of the Imperial squad looked like they had bruises on their limbs, the forceweave clothing prevented them from being cut, though it did nothing for the force of the blows.

One of the Imperials, another familiar face but one she couldn’t quite name, headed towards the hilltop, then called out, “The field raptors are here.”

“Why are you here?” Marron ventured, but Malise didn’t answer. “You know you’ll be put to the question.”

“I will answer then.”

“Very well.”

Since they surrendered to Yuriko, the rules of engagement meant that they were now to be turned over to the Empire’s representative in the region, which in this case was the commander of the Watchtower. That would have been her Da, but now, it was probably the Vice-Commander, Theo Rani Stuart. Afterwards, they would be ransomed back to the Federation. Though why were they up here anyway?

“They’re spies,” Krystal said as approached. “Ancestors, Yuri, how you’ve grown.” She punctuated that with a giggle.

So has she. Hmmm-hm!

‘Lecher.’

So are you. Hie hie hie!

Yuriko fought the urge to roll her eyes and returned her focus to the conversation. She reapplied her resistance training now that Malise was secured. As for the others, they didn’t really represent a threat to her. Neither did Malise for that matter, now that she thought about it. She took the woman’s greatsword, which also contained her bound spirit. Animus rolled off the hilt and lashed against her hand, but it couldn’t penetrate her protective aura.

Gwendith, soon after her interaction with her…cousin, hurried towards Peyton. The boy was delirious, and he kept blinking and trying to run from her. She took the severed limbs and encased them in ice, but couldn’t do anything about the cauterized stumps. Yuriko wondered if the limbs were still salvageable, but it was better to try and preserve and find out that it was impossible rather than the opposite.

“Spies?” Yuriko asked, “What do you mean?”

“Since the entire Federation declared war, well, they actually sneak attacked us, but hostilities had been going on long enough for the usual rules of engagement to begin.”

“We’re at war with the Federation?” Yuriko squeaked.

“What, really?” Marron yelled. Then he frowned at Malise. “Huh, I guess that answers a few things.”

“But, why?” Yuriko shook her head as her thoughts reeled. Haveena City had been a peaceful trading partner of Faron’s Crossing for decades now, why would they..?

“Who knows.” Krystal shrugged. “We’ve been fighting the Ivalans under the city’s tunnels for Seasons now.” She sidled up to Yuriko and glomped her. “Ooh! It’s wonderful to see you!”

“Zorin,” Gwendith said as she approached.

“Oh! Gwendith Sharine.” Krystal tilted her head. “I heard you were a prisoner… There was that huge stink back in the city. I guess those were just rumours?”

“No, I was captured alright.” Gwendith said grimly, then she smiled at Yuriko. “But Yuri rescued me.”

“Oooh.” Krystal smirked, “What do I see here?”

“Word from the Watchtower,” Asami said stiffly.

‘All of them seemed to want to talk around me.’ Yuriko thought. “Yes?” she asked.

“They will send flying shuttles and a troop transport to bring the wounded in. We’re to head towards the road. Cadet Squad, let’s go.”

“Aye, aye!” Krystal said flippantly while firing off a casual fist-to-heart salute. Asami’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but she gave Yuriko and Gwendith a side glance and didn’t say anything.

With all the prisoners secured, they began the trek through the hills. Only Peyton was delirious. Yuriko picked him up with her kinesis and carried him along.

The moment Desire came close, Krystal yelped. “Ashley! I thought you were dead! Oh my! Wait…you’re…”

“This is Songstress of Heartfelt Desire,” Yuriko said quickly, though she noticed everyone else’s ears twitch. “I believe she was once Ashley Gin, but she’s forgotten everything when she was turned. I…I bound her, and I’m bringing her to her family.”

“I see. What have you been up to, Yuri?” Krystal asked. “Your letter barely said anything.”

Yuriko grinned at her friend, “Well, quite a lot, actually.”

A little bit of the weight against her mind shifted. She was nearly back home, and her friends were with her.