Disclaimer: I own nothing. Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2, along with the entire Legend of Heroes franchise and their plots and characters are property of Falcom and XSEED.

Hello there, this is Apex85 with yet another one-shot for you to enjoy.

Was thinking over possible ways the conflict in Crossbell could go when this idea popped up into my head. So here you go, my personal thoughts on a possible ending to the Crossbell-Erebonia conflict.

Warnings for spoilers, gore, and character death.

Just a heads up, I haven't played the Crossbell games so don't be surprised if there are a few mistakes and some characters might be OOC. Feel free to point out any discrepancies you find. In a preferably tactful manner of course.

Please read and review, but remember NO FLAMES ALLOWED!

Narration: Nice

Dialogue: "PAYBACK TIME!"

Divine Knight Dialogue: [[Damage sustained. Recommend strategic withdrawal.]]

Dialogue spoken through radios and communications device: [[This is squad 2 in pursuit, requesting assistance!]]

Thoughts and Emphasis: I am going to enjoy this.

(3rd Person POV, Crossbell Province, Erebonian Empire, Autumn 1206 of the Septium Calendar)

"DAMN IT THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" A member of the Railway Military Police screamed as he fired his assault rifle in the direction of an escaping vehicle.

"DAMNED, REBEL SCUM!" Another RMP member yelled as he mimicked his compatriot's actions.

"That's enough!" A curt female voice declared, silencing the squabbling soldiers."Continue the pursuit and cut off all possible routes and exits from their lane at once." The female officer ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!" The soldiers chorused, before leaving.

Once left alone, the blue-haired female RMP officer, Major* Claire Rieveldt of the Ironbloods, rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration.

Several days ago, the RMP received word of rebel activity from an inside source. Several higher ups of the continued resistance in Crossbell were due to attend a clandestine strategic meeting.

After said information was verified by Lechter and the Intelligence Division as true, Governor-General Albarea had assigned Claire and the RMP, as well as a sizeable contingent of elite soldiers, with Governor-General Albarea himself leading the ambush personally to storm the meeting in hopes of putting an end to their activities once and for all and finally bring some measure of order in Crossbell.

It had started off well enough. The ambush squad managed to gain an extensive list of checkpoints, entrances, and exits to the meeting place from the informant and sealed them off. No expense was spared, as numerous soldiers, military monsters, modified combat shells and vehicles ranging from armored cars, airships, and Panzer Soldats surrounded the meeting place. Every possible entrance was blocked as dozens of soldiers eliminated the look outs while the bulk kept the area surrounded.

The ambush started off almost without a hitch as many of the attending members were caught off guard. Soon enough, they regained their bearings and fought back valiantly but in the end were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Imperial soldiers brought to bare.

Now nearly an hour later, the chaos had mostly been quelled. Most of the members had been captured, chief among them she recognized as investigator Alex Dudley of the Crossbell Police Department, CGF commander Sonia Bertz, and former SSS chief Sergei Lou all of whom were apprehended after a swift yet brutal battle with Governor-General Albarea.

As decent a haul as it was, there were still several unaccounted for.

Such as the escaping vehicle which was identified as the personal transport vehicle of the defunct SSS, which had allegedly held the resistance's de-facto leader Arios McLaine amongst its passengers.

Not wasting the opportunity, several soldiers already followed the car in pursuit, only to be disabled by a series of dangerous traps, no doubt set up by one of its other occupants, the Red Constellation heir Randolph Orlando.

Several minutes later, the remaining traps were cleared and the pursuit began anew, however, their significant headstart did not bode too well.

Claire's thoughts were interrupted as her ARCUS rang. With practiced ease, she brought it open and responded to the call. "This is Rieveldt speaking. Identify yourself," she curtly responded

[[Major Claire, ]] Came the voice of a familiar young man from the other end, which made Claire's expression soften subconsciously. [[This is First Lieutenant* Rean Schwarzer, I have sighted the targets on a nearby highway. Requesting permission to bring out Valimar.]] The Ashen Chevalier quickly stated in a practiced quick yet professional tone acquired from his many missions as an Ironblood.

"Very well, permission granted." Claire responded. Hopefully he'll be able to corner them so they can be captured.

After all, just what use would a Divine Blade on foot be against a Divine Knight?

(SSS Vehicle, further down the road)

"Did we lose them?!" The driver, Noel Seeker yelled, as she took another steep turn at a rough corner.

"There aren't any behind us yet, try and keep it that way." Came the curt reply of one Arios Maclaine, who looked out the window and saw the mostly clear streets behind them.

Seeing nothing for the moment, he took a quick glance at the other passengers. "How are they?" The former Bracer asked.

"Their lives aren't in any danger, but they're in no condition to fight or move on their own. We should get to a safehouse with proper facilities soon." Came the flat reply from the petite Tio Plato as she casted healing arts on the prone, injured forms of Randy Orlando, Lloyd Bannings. The two were the first to try and fight off the Imperial soldiers and while they did well to hold them off, the sheer numbers eventually overwhelmed them and forced them to retreat.

Unfortunately, the two were caught off-guard by a surprise attack by Albarea and were wounded, forcing Arios and Rixia to drag them into the car.

"Lloyd, please wake up." The young girl, KeA bit back a sob as she clung to the aforementioned detective's side.

The young girl continued to sob even as the armored hand of an older, more voluptuous female patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry," Came the warm, reassuring tone of the assassin-turned performer, Rixia Mao,"He'll pull through. He's far too stubborn to stay down from something like this." The young woman reassured her as the noble hound Zeit barked in agreement at the far corner of the car.

Despite the dire situation they were all in, Arios could not help but give a slight chuckle at the sight. Its almost criminal how similar he is to Guy sometimes with how much attention from women he gets.

His thoughts were harshly interrupted by a bright flash of blue light, then was overcome by a feeling of unending pain.

Then there was nothing.

(Rean's POV, seconds earlier)

The tall dark haired youth, Rean Schwarzer, known mostly as the Ashen Chevalier to many, grimaced as he caught sight of the escaping vehicle.

When the ambush had started, he had been given orders to remain on standby to summon Valimar in case of an emergency or in need of additional brute force.

Realizing, that the escape vehicle contained not just the detective and assassin he met at the Geofront a year prior, but the Divine Blade of Wind, Rean couldn't help but feel conflicted on whether or not he could make a difference.

No, stop. This is not the time for doubting yourself, The Ashen Awakener shook his head to clear his thoughts, You decided to continue this path long ago, so don't start looking back now.

Taking a deep breath to steady his resolve, Rean shut his eyes and brought a closed fist to his chest.

In his free time, he had tested and experimented with Valimar's Spatial Translocation ability. He had wanted to test the limits to see how far away from himself he could summon Valimar for more strategic positioning, or perhaps a reverse case to warp himself to wherever the Divine Knight was for imminent escapes.

While he hadn't tried to summon Valimar in the path of a high-speed vehicle before, it appeared he would have a chance to practice either way.

"Heed my call," Rean spoke, the familiar chant dancing of his lips before his eyes snapped open as he thrust his open palm upwards with practiced ease and roared the name of his long-time ally,"..VALIMAR THE ASHEN KNIGHT!"

[[ACKNOWLEDGED!]] The familiar mechanical voice responded telepathically.

A familiar, bright, azure glow flashed overhead which signified the Ashen Knight's emergence through the fabric of space, directly over the narrow abandoned highway the target vehicle drove along.

As quick as it appeared, the bright flash dissipated as a giant mechanical knight, forged in a bygone age by means long-forgotten, appeared well over a dozen or so arge over the road.

Almost immediately after the knight appear, Rean felt a familiar bright glow overcome his frame as he was immediately transported to Valimar's cockpit.

His hands over the controls, Rean took a quick check and smiled to see that he had timed his arrival just as Valimar landed on the road. Instinctively, he had Valimar draw out the Zemurian Ore Tachi from the scabbard on its waist and had the Divine Knight stand in a defensive stance.

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH!" Rean cried out, hoping to convince them to stop with words."You're under arrest for suspicion...of...rebellious...?" The young Ironblood blinked as he found the main area of Valimar's optics occupied by...a convenience store?

Damn it, I thought I fixed that Rean cursed in his head as Valimar appeared to have landed facing the wrong direction.

Quickly, and hoping against hope that the targets had yet to escape, Rean turned made Valimar turn to the side.

He stopped and raised a brow in confusion when he heard an odd metallic creaking noise. Upon further inspection, it sounded like it was coming from...below him?

Idly, he had Valimar step away from its original spot and positioned the cameras to look further down.

The Awakener felt his face become as colorless as his title as he saw the gruesome sight of the crushed piece of scrap which he barely recognized to be the getaway car he had intended to stop.

Oh...Goddess please no..!

Such were Rean's last thoughts before he warped out of Valimar's cockpit to inspect his unintentional yet brutal handiwork.

(Same spot, minutes later)

Claire Rieveldt drove her armored security vehicle to a stop on the abandoned, narrow highway as she came upon a peculiar sight.

Namely that of the Ashen Knight kneeling on the road while its Awakener was emptying his latest meal into a nearby trash can.

Frowning in concern, Claire walked out of her car an approached the young man she had come to see as a disciple and younger sibling.

Though you wish he were more than that don't you? A small traitorous part of the Icy Maiden's mind informed her before she quashed it to place her hands on the heaving young man's shoulders. Now was hardly the time to debate such matters.

"Rean?" The captain softly spoke up, as she laid a hand on the young man's back. "What's wrong, what happened?" Claire gently prodded. She felt the younger Ironblood tremble in her hands, which only made her worry even more for his well-being.

Shakily, the Ashen Chevalier turned his head towards her worried visage, exposing his pale, sweating face and wide eyes that made her flinch in concern. "I-I didn't want to...it was an accident!..but they came too...I just.." The young man stammered out as he gazed to the side before looking away to dry heave.

Arching a brow in concerned confusion, Claire turned her gaze to the direction Rean's eyes had flickered to.

Just then, she noticed the torn and devastated piece of metal barely an arge or so away from the inactive Knight's feet.

How did I miss that?! The blue-haired captain berated herself as she took a closer look at the destroyed wreck and noticed familiar red fluids dripping through several damaged crevices. Upon a closer inspection she noticed something else a few scant footsteps away from what she had assumed to have been the vehicle's front passenger seat.

Bracing herself, Claire strode forwards to better examine the atypical object.

She felt her breath hitch as it came into clear view as she recognized just WHAT it was.

A head.

A head that had clearly been violently removed from its proper place.

A head she recognized to have belonged to the former Bracer and Divine Blade of Wind, Arios Maclaine.

Taking a step back from the sight, the captain looked back to the smoldering wreck, then the Divine Knight, before settling her gaze on Rean.

Her sharp mind quickly put the pieces together. Rean had attempted to transport Valimar in front of the SSS' escape route in hopes of cutting them off and delivering an ultimatum to surrender peacefully, as the kind boy was wont to do.

Unfortunately, whether by miscalculation of the vehicle's trajectory or his own lack of mastery over Spatial Translocation, the knight landed directly on top of the car rather than in its path, bringing down the Knight's full 6.5 torim form directly onto the machine, crushing it into a scrapped heap...and its passengers into a mangled mess.

Slowly, she turned her gaze back to the distraught Awakener in sympathy.

By some stroke of luck, the young man had managed to keep his hands clean throughout his many missions with the Army and Intelligence Division. He had never fully supported the more unsavory dealings done by His Excellency here in Crossbell, or the methods employed by the other Ironbloods yet continued forwards without complaint.

He had been told that his hands would not remain clean forever in his line of work, yet still chose to bare the burden without complaint, claiming he would be prepared for when that day were to come.

But for his first kill to happen like this?! In such a gruesome manner? It wasn't right.

At a loss on the proper course of action, and an uncharacteristic disregard for protocol, Claire turned away from the scene and walked over to the distraught young men.

Without preamble, she immediately grabbed Rean, and placed his face over her chest and held him in a firm embrace.

"It's alright," She whispered soothingly to the young man's ear while one hand traced the length of his spine."It wasn't intentional, you shouldn't have had to go through that."

As she heard more RMP vehicles pull over to the scene, Claire remained rooted to her spot, holding Rean in her arms and continued to deliver soothing words to calm him.

(Weeks later)

News of the ambush's aftermath soon spread far.

The ongoing rebellion in Crossbell soon lost traction, as the swift and ignominious fate of their beloved leader Arios MacLaine and the capture of its other key members snuffed out the remaining spark of rebellion in their hearts. Any remaining members were identified from thorough interrogations of the captive leaders and were soon captured or disposed in a series of brutal crackdowns not long after.

The people of Crossbell watched, as their last hopes of liberation were swiftly and brutally crushed under the Erebonian jackboot as Chancellor Osborne announced the upcoming executions of any surviving members who had taken up arms against Imperial presence.

Though the Erebonian administration did not go out of its way to be cruel from that point afterwards and attempted rule over the former state fairly, the denizens of Crossbell complied only out of fear and resignation. The gruesome fate of its former guardian deity forever etched into their minds.

The theater group Arc-en-ciel soon disbanded as their lead performer went into a depression over the death of their young, new star.

Former Mayor Henry MacDowell turned to alcoholism as he saw the last hope of his beloved city's freedom forever lost. His granddaughter Ellie, likewise entered a similar state of depression over the death of her friends from the SSS and spent the rest of her life as a despondent recluse.

Wazy Hemisphere cursed and cried at his failure as he had been recalled back to Arteria during the ambush and never completely moved on from the death of his friends. In grief, he moved eastwards far away from the city, unable to bear being so close to what he considered his greatest failure.

Rean Schwarzer had been forced to go on extended psychiatric leave. He soon returned to active duty and continued to serve in the Imperial Army and gained acclaim and fear for the swift and brutal method in which he terminated the resistance's main players and gained the fearsome moniker of 'Ashen Butcher'.

Claire Rieveldt had taken an extended leave to assist Rean Schwarzer with his recovery before returning to the RMP. She and Rean had bonded closely during the latter's recovery and married soon in 1207.

Chancellor Giliath Osborne gave the couple his blessings, and shed tears of joy during the wedding, shocking Sara Valestine and Prince Olivert to the point they both died on the spot from heart attacks.

When questioned over the incident, the Iron and Blood Chancellor only gave the following response:

"What father wouldn't cry tears of joy over their son marrying such a fine woman that they approve of?"

So yeah, that just happened. This may be my shortest one-shot yet, with a little over 3000 words.

Sorry for the mistakes, but the thought of Rean just summoning Valimar on top of the SSS' car just wouldn't get out of my head and I just wanted to get it out as soon as possible and didn't care for fixing it up. It was funny in my head, but I knew it wouldn't come out that way to some people, so I was a bit indecisive over what direction the story should have gone, which I'm guessing was pretty obvious.

Anyway, there you have it, my take on a possible ending for the Crossbell-Erebonia incident. Probably not my best work, I know but don't think that means I'll allow any flames.

So, if you read through it all, please leave a review on your thoughts, so long as they're relevant to the story of course.

Oh, and one more thing: SIEG EREBONIA! ALL HAIL OSBORNE!

Asterisk Notes:

1. Considering the timeskip and all the work she did during the Civil War,I think it'd make sense of Claire were to be promoted soon.

2. When fighting off Lloyd and Rixia during the Divertissement, Rean identifies himself as a 'provisional OFFICER'. Considering his main work seems to be a mech pilot, I'd assume he'd hold an equivalent rank to either the lowest commissioned officer (which were the only ones allowed to become pilots for planes in the military) rank of 2nd Lieutenant, or Warrant Officer (a highly specialized expert and trainer in his or her career field). After graduating Thors, which is meant to train officers, I imagine he'd be fully instated as an Officer and maybe promoted a rank higher on account of the fact he'd have already done work for the military as an Ironblood for some time by then. Considering everything he did during and prior to the Civil War, and the political/propaganda value of him being a recognized war hero, I wouldn't say it's farfetched for him to be promoted quickly. The last Imperial Chronicle issue in CS2 even has mention of the military ensuring him a quick rise through the ranks after he graduates.

I'm no military expert though, so don't quote me on all that.