Aziz, a full colonel of the Republic’s military, felt a bit bad whenever he looked at his underlings, who were working at a pace that superseded even Aziz’s own when they were fighting at the East and in the South. All of them were flipping through books and talking haltingly towards their Radios, their eyes on the verge of turning red.

The reason?

The lack of unity within the defenders of the Five Lands.

The defence lines…or rather, the huge fortress with multiple walls and defences, were currently giving his subordinates a major headache. The approach of the First Aerial’s advance party was currently being challenged by not one, not two, but by five separate nations, and Aziz’s little group was on the verge of being overrun by too much work.

“You know,” said Marie, who was also slacking off by the side, “wouldn’t it be better if these guys used a single nation’s SOP?”

“Well, the argument is that if only one nation’s SOP was used, troops from other nations would either mess it up, or get too used to the SOP here that they’ll forget how to use their own one,” Aziz replied.

“What about making it on a rotation basis?”

“Your face tells me that you already know why, so don’t go asking such questions for no reason,” Aziz replied.

“Meanie.”

The two laughed, and then returned their attention to the poor kids who were getting beleaguered by foreign, unfamiliar questions. Only the fellow who had been thankfully assigned to the Republic’s attaché at the Heaven-cleaving Fortress had gotten off easily, but that didn’t stop him from helping the others.

“I feel bad just floating here, though.” Aziz looked at his subordinates. “And yet, this is one of the times when I feel that I’m lucky to be a colonel…or at least, someone high up in the ladder enough to avoid these things.”

“Let’s get a bit real, though.” Marie shrugged. “The only reason why the two of us aren’t going down to help them is because you forgot how to speak on the Radio.”

Aziz glared at Marie. “How did you know?”

“Because I also forgot,” Marie replied, a grin on her face. That fact that she had gotten away from her little slump after their exchange earlier was nothing short of good news for Aziz, so he decided to play along.

“That is an issue, isn’t it?” Aziz murmured. “Marie, this is Aziz, message, uh, over.”

“Don’t we declare our identity first?” Marie asked, the grin on her face widening.”

“Wait, we do?”

“I’m just kidding. I still remember the basics,” the marshal replied. “It’s more of…a lack of confidence, if you ask me. And the propensity of making some careless mistakes. The unit commander cannot afford to make even the smallest of mistakes, so it’ll be better to let some who can.”

“Besides, you aren’t going to punish anyone for some lapses, right?”

“I don’t think I’m qualified to,” Marie answered. “And besides, this whole talking on the Radio thing was something we adapted from the North to begin with.”

“Wait, really?” Aziz asked.

“While you were busy being shocked by the North-Central war, I was actually working. Took down lots of interesting details and procedures, which was then used by the Republic,” Marie replied. “I wonder if I should get the Republic to send a copy to Ark City, however.”

“There’s probably no need,” Aziz replied. “But on the topic of Ark City…what’s our legal status? You know, since we were technically abandoned here when Ark City left all those years ago.”

“You don’t want to know, Aziz.” Marie’s smile turned gentle. “You don’t.”

“Just spill it.”

The two of them locked gazes for a moment, and then Marie shrugged. Before she could continue, however, an officer from Avalanche approached. With strands of auburn hair fluttering in the wind, she saluted, the edges of her eyes wrought with lines of fatigue.

“Ma’am, we’ve been given a green light to descend.”

“Thank you, Altaria. Can I count on you to handle the descent?” Marie asked. “I have something I need to discuss with Colonel Aziz in private.”

“No problem, ma’am.”

Saluting once more, Captain Altaria turned away and relayed Marie’s words to the other officers. After some bubbly discussion, they began to descend slowly. Guards from the fortress were staring at them warily, for some reason, but Aziz knew that it was probably a show of sorts for some people.

“So, our legal status.”

Aziz turned back to Marie. “Yes. I imagine it’s rather bad news, given your expression and your words.”

“Officially, we don’t exist anymore,” Marie replied. “Ark City’s records were destroyed in their flight from the Wildlands. Those who were present at the creation of the new Ark City are recorded as their new citizens. No one else will be, unless they can be independently verified by ten other citizens as a resident of the old Ark City.”

Aziz’s face flickered. “In that case…there’s probably no one that can vouch for us.”

Marie made a little grunt. “Unofficially — and when I say that, I mean that this is a blunt response from Ark City after we opened communications between the Republic and Ark City — the two of us are persona non grata.”

“Is that even in English?”

“Well, the legal guys over at the military tells us that we’re not welcome in Ark City.”

“What? I’m sorry, but did you just say that we’re not welcome?”

Marie’s little smile turned into a grimace. “Yes. Apparently, the fact that we are considered founding parents of the Republic has not gone down well with Ark City at all, who are—”

“Hold up. Hold up. Hold up. We’re considered founding parents of the Republic? Along with Pauline and the others?”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Because I didn’t know about that?” Aziz rubbed his head. “So, we’re founders of the Republic of Francois…how?”

Marie cleared her throat. “It’s based on how much we contributed back during the war between Camp Napolean and the Southern Assembly. We were effectively the premier forces of the battlefield back then, remember? And our status right now — second only to Minster Eventide and Pauline — reflects that, no?”

“Let’s put that aside for now. So why are we not welcome in Ark City?”

Marie sighed. “Politics.”