I’m way too late for this but amazing chapter! I know the hope is slim but would love to see it continue one day!

this is proving to be a good story I hope your able to come back to it

This is one of the most interesting takes on Rean's reaction to the Chancellor that I've seen.

I do hope you one day return to this series to continue it, as the way you are going about this is interesting and I would love to see how it all plays out.
I would also love to see how elements of the 3rd and 4th game that have now come out play into this, though I'm not sure if you have watched or played those games since they are not available to English speaking audiences yet.

Hope that you start to write this story again someday.

Another great chapter! Really nice touch with the character interactions and descriptions! Thank you for your hard work and I hope to see more of this story, it is really good!

The big treaty in SC wasn't a mutual defense pact, it was a non-aggression pact. And Erebonia signed it, too. Too bad Crossbell wasn't invited to the table. And I don't recall Calvard really playing a role in the Hundred Days War. What happened there was that Cassius proved that taking Liberl would be far more trouble than Osbourne expected, and he didn't have the political backing he needed to bring in more troops and brute force a victory at the time.

The Queen of Liberl is named Alicia, not Alisa.

You seem to be treating the Divergent Laws that empower Rean's Ogre Form as something similar to the Stigma held by the Gralsritter. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.

A good reason for Class VII to not defy Osbourne at that moment was the simple fact that it would be totally pointless - nothing short of murder would have stopped him at that point, and they weren't willing to do that. But I remember reading a book in which one character said that he couldn't afford a war with a rival family, and his friend replied that the war had already begun, but that didn't mean that the next battle had to happen right away.

The Chancellor has a lot of power, and given the nature of Erebonian culture, there are likely only three people capable of removing him from power: The Emperor (who in Sky SC was explicitly stated to have given Osbourne his full confidence, and has not been shown to have had that shaken at any point since), Osbourne himself (and him choosing to resign at this point is rather unlikely), and the Grim Reaper (which has already been tried). The only forces capable of pressuring the Emperor to consider replacing him are the military (Which Osborne controlled 70% of in SC, and he's likely to be replacing every senior officer who fell in the coup with people he can influence if at all possible) and the nobility (whose influence has been severely damaged by the coup). Class VII had no leverage to use against Osbourne at Heimdallr, but they do have potential opportunities to gain some in time.

First is the next generation of the Imperial family. Olivert is Class VII's patron, and is already opposed to Osbourne. And despite all the talk about his low-born mother disqualifying him for the throne, well, the Black Records prove that people said the same thing about Emperor Dreichels. If he ever takes the throne, Osbourne will get his walking papers the next morning. In addition to that, Princess Alfin spent over a month working alongside Class VII during the coup, so she could be a sympathetic ear to their cause, and though the Crown Prince thought highly of the Chancellor, Class VII saved his life. They've got an in with every single member of the next generation of the Imperial family.

Next is economic. Alisa is heir to the largest, wealthiest, and most important company in the Empire, both in the military and civilian markets. Once she gets some degree of control in the Reinford Corporation, she'll have a lot of influence.

Third is political. With Helmut in prison (and likely awaiting execution) and Rufus in Crossbell, Jusis is effectively ruler of all the Albarea lands, which constitute a quarter of the country, Laura is the daughter of one of his key vassals, and Machias is a shoo-in for a key position in the bureaucracy. That could be very useful if they know how to play the great game.

Fourth is propaganda. Osbourne may control the newspapers, but philosophers as far back as Aristotle and Plato have noted the value of music as a tool of propaganda. Donal O Connail once said "Let me write the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws". The Chancellor hasn't been shown to understand the propaganda value of art. Elliot and Gaius could utilize that, using songs and paintings to influence the people to see what kind of person the Chancellor really is. And if Osbourne tries to get rid of their works, well, Blueblanc has been known to steal hidden masterpieces and prominently display them, and doing so here would both let him indulge his habit of revealing the beauty of underappreciated art and strike a blow at a man who double-crossed the Society.

Fifth is intelligence. If Fie becomes a Bracer, she gets access to a multi-national organization, that has a lot of contacts. There are retired Bracers holding key positions in the military of Liberl and the intelligence service of Calvard. It's likely there are other people equally well placed elsewhere. Even if Bracers try to stay out of politics, they're all over Zemuria, and they see just about everything, which Fie could take advantage of. And if Millium decides that her friends in Class VII take priority over her family in the Ironbloods, that's an inside intelligence source.

That's everyone except for Emma, who has abilities that Osbourne doesn't have access to (or counters to) on his own.

Maybe you could do a scene that takes place after Rean leaves for the Society in which Olivert talks to Class VII and explains that there's nothing they can do to stop Osbourne - today. But that if they play their cards right, they might be able to undermine his rule in the future. After all, the whole point of that class was for the prince to create a third faction which could reduce the power of the nobility without stooping to Osbourne's methods. There's no reason he should just give up and walk away because things came to a head before he was ready.

the way it looks to me with osbourne

rufus was helping him to play both sides against the middle.

rufus helped the alliance push the noble agenda to the detriment of the commoners, while osbourne fought back as the supposed champion of the common man.

then he uses the noble alliance to bring all of his enemies into the light so he can crush them, all the while returning from supposed death to be the defender of the nation from the foreign invaders, while at the same time showing himself to be a wise and benevolent leader by making peace with the alliance to unite against a common foe.

plots within plots as someone in Dune once said.

and i think you're right about the epilogue thing for cs2.

class 7 just accepting things the way they are is a way for the old guard to be swept away in the winds of life and politics and allow for a new cast to take over in cs3.

the only ones i can really see making a proper return other than rean are Alisa, Fie, Sara and Toval. and MAYBE Laura and Jusis (Jusis would depend on how Rufus will be involved in the cold steel saga from cs3 onward)

Elliot while being an able mage doesnt have the chops for warfare

machias is the same

Gaius will just return to nord and his duties to his family

the less said about millium the better. i never liked her anyway

Hello,

Just wanted to drop by quickly to say i'm still reading this and that it's by far the best Trails fic I've read so far. Really hope you will continue it :) Coincidentally, I checked your profile recentely and was somewhat shocked to see you wrote the excellent command and conquer fanfics I read years ago. Please continue this awesome story!

-Kind regards,
Dieuw

Given that Rean is half again the age of Renne when she left the Society, the Jaegers don't really have grounds to comment on kids being Enforcers.

Why is Rean taking the name of a parent he hates? Is he hoping that his actions will reflect badly on his biological father? Or trying to shield the adoptive family he actually likes from his actions?

It's easy to pretend that when one destroys a war machine, one is only destroying a machine, not likely killing the people piloting it. Rean going through an entire war, and participating in what I count as four or five (depending on if you count the Villa and Vermilion Palace as different battles fought on the same day) major and four minor battles without killing anyone other than failing to save V when his Soldat self destructed seems highly implausible (If nothing else, being a rookie pilot, it's unlikely he'd be able to defeat all those enemy Soldats without once inflicting serious damage on the cockpit). Especially since two of the other Class VII members were explicitly stated to be ex-mercenaries with well established reputations, which mercs as a rule don't get with a zero body count.

And given that most of Thors spent the final day of the battle fighting a battle of attrition against a seemingly infinite number of Magic Knights (After already fighting a battle against the Provincial Guard to give Class VII an opening to rescue the Emperor), there's a good chance that Classes I through V are significantly smaller now than they were at the start of the war. The arrival of a handful of elite adult veterans would not be enough to prevent that, especially since for some unfathomable reason Neithart left his Panzer Soldat behind and engaged the Knights on foot.

It will be interesting to see how Olivert plays into this story. While he opposes Ouroboros, it's no secret that he despises Osborne and would see him and the war hawks destroyed if he could.

It might also be interesting to see if the ex-Enforcers from the first trilogy show up. If nothing else, as the last survivor of Hamel, I dare anyone to claim that the Black Fang doesn't have the right to take a swing at the Chancellor.

Just finished the main game of Cold Steel yesterday, so I thought it would me time to start reading this.

I personally consider Osborne's primary goal (breaking the power of the nobility) to be something that needs to be done. His methods, on the other hand, leave much to be desired.

If nothing else, Rean has every right to refuse to consider himself the son of a man who gave him up, didn't speak with him for a decade, and only came back into his life so that he could use him as a political token.

However, I don't think Rean would be a good choice for Enforcer XVII. The enforcers as a rule tend to have personalities which align with the Tarot Major Arcana description of their number. XVII is The Star, meaning "Hope, Spirituality, Renewal, Inspiration, Serenity". Given that Rean's fall to darkness is over the fact that Osborne is not being called to answer for all the harm he's done in the name of social revolution, I think he'd be a better choice for XI, Justice, symbolizing "Justice, Fairness, Truth, Cause and Effect, Law".

Thanks for a new chapter, really great story your writing! Looking forward to the next chapter!

Was wondering when you'd update this. For all the fame the series has, there seems to be a general lack of writers interested in writing Trails stories.

Looking forward to see where you take this and how Class VII will handle essentially having Rean as an enemy.

Quick little correction though. Shouldn't it be Altina and not Altium?

this is how i think rean should have reacted to osbourne.

teo shwarzer was more of a father to him than the chancelor ever was.

family is about more than blood as the saying goes.

You have started a really interesting story here. I agree mostly with your assessment of Osborne and his role in starting the civil war. And just as you, I was puzzled at the situation which followed the events at the palace and Class VII's reactions/actions to well... everything that followed (including their departure). Mostly though I was puzzled and quite irritated that Rean let himself basically get swallowed up and become a cog for Osborne's continued aggressions (didn't they fight for "order/to uphold the status quo"?). Sure he was grieving after Crow's death but would Crow really want him to basically help Osborne take Crossbell!? /endramble

Anyway I can understand where your thought are coming from and I will continue reading this story as long as you desire to continue writing it! So I hope you will continue doing this and will look forward to the next chapter!

Awesome story so far, and the writing is fantastic. Definitely cant wait for your next installment!