Hey. Hope you guys are enjoying this. Admittedly, this chapter is a little more on the dense side than the previous chapter. I hope you still enjoy it though.

"I think we're biting a little too much than we can chew," Basilio said as he looked out at the port.

Chrom joined the wary leader. Right now, all was silent. Everyone continued on like this was some routine drill. Chrom was antsy himself. He could only think about how this was one of his first missions since the end of the war. Of course, he had thrown himself into the political arena, but the life and death reality of battle gave Chrom an adrenaline rush.

"What does your wife even have planned?' Basilio asked.

"I can't really say except that this is probably our one chance to send Valm the message we need to send. If we're sitting here unprepared, Walhart will definitely see that as us saying we're here with our white flags, ready to be conquered by Valm. At least if we can be prepared, we can give them a bit of a run for their money," Chrom said.

Basilio felt slightly nervous about this. He would never admit that to anyone. He trusted Flavia, Chrom, and Robin to make the crucial decisions to insure safety for their countries, but he didn't feel quite as confident as he did when he was younger. He loathed admitting that now he was starting to become that old veteran who was a little more who was a little more conservative in his actions- not because he didn't want to take those risks but because he couldn't take those risks anymore.

"If they retaliate with more troops and firepower, we might as well be raising up the Valm flag," Basilio said.

"I don't know what's always on Robin's mind, but I think I know what she's trying to do. She's kind of scary brilliant sometimes, and this is one of those times. I can't tell you for sure about the plan, but I can say you should trust Robin," Chrom said.

The elder nodded and walked along with Chrom to where the rest of preparations were being made. Robin looked comfortable amongst the troops. She never missed a beat since taking time off. It made her that much more impressive to the already over-the-moon husband that Chrom was. She winked at Chrom and walked over to him.

"I think we're as ready as we'll ever be," Robin said.

"That's one scary thought," Chrom said.

"It's going to be trial and error at this point. Hopefully we can do something."

"Might I be of some assistance?" Someone behind the couple said.

Robin and Chrom turned around to see Cherche dressed for battle. She was meticulous in her dress, but the aura about her was loose.

"I understand if I'm overstepping my boundaries, but I took a look at some of your weaponry. I noticed you didn't have many people in your Shepherds unit that operated the high-armored vehicles," Cherche said.

Robin scratched her head, "Go on…"

"Well, I am very much trained in the operation of such vehicles. It's what I specialized in when I was in conscription. I can use the vehicle, maintain the vehicle, and operate the weaponry. I would be happy to do that for you. You've done so much for the senator, and I would like to repay you and the Feroxi for your generosity. This just happens to be the most practical way I can do that," Cherche said.

Robin looked back at Chrom who shrugged in return.

"I don't see why not… We don't really happen to have people who use them since they were so hard to use, but if you can use it, more power to you," Chrom said.

"Thank you. If you have any questions for me, just come find me. I'll be with Minerva," Cherche said.

"Minerva?" Chrom and Robin said.

"Yes. That's what I named my vehicle. Careful though, she's a feisty one. Definitely one of the last models Ylisse made, but she is beautiful," Cherche winked at the couple and walked away.

"She named the tank Minerva?" Robin said.

"Gods, and that doesn't even make her the weirdest one in our ranks," Chrom said.

The two walked along the troops gathering about in their formations. They greeted some of the soldiers in preparation. Everyone looked nervous, gritting their teeth and standing too stiffly. There were people like Lon' Qu who were seasoned soldiers trying to keep loose enough that they wouldn't be caught in crossfire. But then there were soldiers like Ricken who were getting nervous at having to be thrown back into the fray after the years.

"Ricken looks like he's about to shit two bricks," Gaius said as he gazed at Ricken's laptop. He pointed at the screen with an almost finished lollipop, "Missed some code there."

Ricken panicked and started to type away with fury to correct his mistake. He looked up at Chrom and Robin and tried to cover up his screen with his hands.

"It's nothing like that!" Ricken said.

"It's okay, Ricken. Just concentrate on signals coming in," Robin said.

"Huh", Ricken said as Robin moved his hands and started open up new programs. She typed away and made those around awestruck.

"Look, you see the frequency there. It's different. It might be a Valm vessel. You can also see some data being transferred at the same time as that frequency. Look for patterns like that," Robin said.

"Do you need me to decrypt any of the messages?" Ricken asked.

"Can you get the messages? I mean, if you can, then yes."

"Well I can if you can give me some time."

Robin gave a nod of approval and watched over Ricken's shoulder. The typing was nerve wracking for Chrom as he could only watch and only guess as to what Ricken was doing. The others seemed at ease watching Ricken and even giving their opinions on the way. Then Ricken suddenly stopped.

"No…" Robin said.

"What's going on?" Chrom asked.

Ricken closed his laptop and shook his head. He didn't look at Chrom like Gaius or Robin.

"They're here," Ricken said.

"They're here? How could we not have seen them? We've had soldier posted around the coast," Chrom said.

Gaius pulled out his phone and showed a map of the area. He pointed to a small point, easy for most people to miss.

"That there… That's where they probably are. If I could sneak in any place, I'd choose a place like that Blue," Gaius said.

"Shit," Chrom said. He took out his radio and dialed in to Frederick, "Frederick, who do you have with you?"

"Sir, it's myself, Lon'Qu, Sully, Panne, Stahl, Kellam, and Vaike," Frederick said.

"You need to grab them and rendezvous with us at barracks. We're heading out," Chrom said.

"Understood."

Chrom waved Robin towards him and started to gather the few troops he needed for the situation. He didn't need a lot of the soldiers to be involved with this. They grabbed the people they needed and rode on to meet up with Frederick and the soldiers he corralled. The squad drove off as fast as they could to the place where Ricken pinpointed the Valm army was. Flavia mentioned that the place was an old civilian dock that no longer functioned as such. The piers were abandoned when safer ones were built and under military care. It was certainly a weak point in Ferox's coast that Valm planned to exploit. They rushed to the port once they arrived, taking their positions just outside where the Valm soldiers were.

Too late, Robin thought. On the platform, Valm had one of the most grotesque power plays on display for Ylisse. A Feroxi man knelt before the Valmese captain, his hands tied behind his back and his head covered in a cloth sack. The captain signaled to two of his soldiers to come forward. Armed with rifles, the two soldiers gathered around the man and pointed the barrel of theirs guns at the man's head. The man cried loudly enough through the cloth sack that people could hear his muffled protests. Suddenly, Robin understood Valm and its intentions. Anyone could read a book or a report and have figured it out, but seeing the cruelty play out in front of her seemed like a whole different realm of comprehension. Valm didn't just want to conquer. No, that's simple enough as is. Valm wanted to terrorize people into submission.

"Make no mistake. Valm does not come in peace. We have come to bring you all to where you belong, onto your knees. The weak have no place in this new world order. Cower before us like this one, and we will grant you the truest freedom."

Then the captain signaled to his two men. There was the click of their guns and the whines of that man hanging in the air. Robin couldn't look away despite everything in her heart telling her to. Instead, she watched the men pull their triggers and the ruthless smile of the man that ordered it. They kicked the man aside and stood their ground. They were taunting Robin and her comrades, and now they expected Robin to make her next move. She held Chrom back and checked her surroundings.

"The left flank is heavily armored. Take Cherche and our heavy hitters that way. Basically bulldoze your way through. Raze them and think nothing of it. I'm taking the right. I'll need some of our more mobile units. Give me Gaius, Lon'Qu, Panne, Cordelia, and Sumia," Robin said.

"Be safe. Don't be afraid to fall back. Libra, Lissa, and Maribelle are on medical standby," Chrom said.

"Same to you too," Robin said as Chrom nodded to and took his leave with Frederick.

Robin took her soldiers and ran off to the other side of the docks. Large shipping containers lined the perimeter, blocking everything in sight. She gathered her troops and set up her plan.

"Gaius… I need you to up ahead for a bit. Gather information. Don't engage anyone. Head back to me if you need to. Cordelia and Sumia, I need you two to get around Gaius and pick off any Valm soldiers Gaius gives intel about. Panne and Lon'Qu, you guys are with me. We take out any Valm soldiers on sight," Robin said.

Gaius simply darted into the maze of abandoned shipping containers. He was fleet footed and quick thinking enough that Robin trusted he would get the job done. Cordelia stood back and let Sumia listen to the line. When she felt confident enough in the information, Cordelia entered into the fray with Sumia tailing behind her. Now it was just Panne, Lon'Qu, and Robin. They waited patiently before they followed the other soldiers. Robin let Lon'Qu lead the way. He took caution with each step. The further into the maze, the quieter it seemed. Lon'Qu stopped. Robin noticed Panne's ears twitch. She knew that meant Panne could hear something near by besides the explosions on the other side of the battlefield.

"Stand back," Panne said as she pushed Robin behind her. She took a smoke canister and threw it to Lon'Qu. He pulled the pin loose from the canister and tossed it out in front of where they stood. The canister's usual high pitch whistle was covered up by coughing from Valm soldiers. Panne and Lon'Qu jumped out of their cover and shot the two soldiers. The gunshots attracted more Valm soldiers that the trio took down. Then Robin heard a yell.

"That sounded like Gaius," Lon'Qu said as he reloaded his gun.

"If I knew where Cordelia was…" Robin said.

Panne pushed Robin towards the scream, "Go. We can handle this."

Robin nodded and started running. She tried communicating with Cordelia and Gaius, but interference was raising havoc on the communications systems. She could only blindly run in the direction she heard the cry. She meandered through the maze long enough before she realized that she was caught in the trap. She turned around and saw the Valm captain from earlier.

"I've been waiting," he said.

"That was you…"

"Of course."

Robin raised her gun and aimed for the man's head.

"Let's make this interesting. I'll drop my weapons. You drop yours. Then we settle this like adults," The captain said as he dropped his rifle and then his gun.

Wary, possibly the result of being around the likes of Frederick for so long, Robin kept her gun raised and pointed at the head of the Valm captain. The captain chuckled and then lowered a knife.

"There. I think that makes it fair. Why don't you do the same? Despite what little you know of us, I can assure you that I do know of a few soldiers like yourself. Most in your ranks are highly skilled hand-to-hand combatants. You live and die by the fight," the man said.

Reluctantly, the tactical officer crouched to the ground and placed her weapons at her feet. Not one to leave a missed opportunity, Robin rushed the man and tackled him to the ground. He grabbed her leg to trip her and take advantage of Robin's open spots. He elbowed her in the stomach. She keeled over and struggled to rise as he started to kick her. She managed to get up and run to the nearest shipping container in all of her pain. The Valm captain went after her, looking like he was going to choke her. His stance was too wide, Robin noted. She ducked his slow attempt to grab her and circled her arms around his torso. With all of her might, Robin slammed the man head first into the shipping container. He fell quickly to the ground, blood seeping from the cut across his head. She didn't want to take any chances with him. She reached the knife she still left inside her boot and stabbed the man in the chest.

"You cheat…" He said.

Robin shook her head, "I hardly think you are one for fairness when you clearly haven't played fair from the start. I'll win by any means. So I have not problem with cheating if it means I win."

Robin held the man by the neck of his uniform. The knife in her hand felt so heavy compared to the numbness of her hand. She saw the Valmese captain smile while sweat and blood ran down his head. There was no doubt that this man was a monster, dignity left him a long time ago. She felt almost felt just as vile for not having sympathy, but a man like this wouldn't give a second more for her.

"You think this is the end of the fight? You've only tasted a bit of what Valm has to offer. We'll crush you. We'll… we…"

The man died in Robin's hands there. Her grip loosened, and the corpse fell to the ground with a heavy thud, the rest of the blood spilling out onto the pavement. Robin backed away slowly and placed her knife back in its sheath. Quickly, she turned and left the scene and back to headquarters.

"If I may speak plainly," Basilio said, "we are fucked."

"We could barely get rid of them- let alone keep up with them," Flavia said.

"The road ahead of us is pretty clear," Chrom said.

The three leaders stood around and murmured about. Robin kept looking outside, trying to keep her thoughts together. Her mind kept rewinding back to that moment, the one where a man was brutally murdered for the sake of a country's military philosophy. She could see the blood everywhere and the smirk on that Valmese captain. She had been around war, and she understood it to be cruel. But Valm made the terror that Plegia raised seem small. At least with Plegia, everyone understood the grudge and why their country wanted to wage war against Ylisse. While there was an element of nationalism for Valm's reasons behind the war, Valm largely appeared to wage war for the sake of killing.

Robin knew what she needed to do. The answer was clear enough, but to do what she needed to do relied on the faith of others. While today's battle was a success, she wouldn't say that this was her best battle. Unlike her previous battles, Robin used that one mainly to understand Valm and their strategy. Her friends told her that they were grateful for the victory, but Robin wondered if they secretly doubted her. She needed her comrades to believe in her for everything to succeed, but she wasn't even sure if she could get that kind of support or even if she could deserve it. Robin sighed. She knew her decision. She just needed to be brave.

"Take a chance on me again," Robin said.

Chrom turned around and looked over to his wife who still stared out the window. Her hand pressed against the glass as she leaned in closer. She looked so remorseful. Chrom knew by now that his wife felt awful about the casualties. Despite some of the rumors, she really did care about each soldier's life- not just as their queen or their boss but as a comrade.

"We should invade Valm before they get the chance to do the same to us. A regime like Valm is too big for to function. So they can't react fast enough. Their efforts are at suppressing the territories they currently occupy and trying to conquer us. We can attempt to intercept any current attempts they have to attack us, but we're going to need some aerial and naval forces to start on the offensive," Robin said.

"I want to do that, but we're not exactly swimming in either of those resources. The war with Plegia did a number on that, and Valm just added insult to injury," Flavia said.

Robin bit her lip. She didn't want say what was actually on her mind. She knew there was a solution to the situation, but to even entertain the thought seemed like she was slapping her husband in the face.

"We need a benefactor… Someone who has money and the resources to fund the war for us. It's not like there aren't other countries with the same interest we have. It's just a matter to convince them that our cause is their cause," Robin said.

"What are you trying to say" Chrom said.

"There's only one country I know that fits that description, and that's Plegia," Flavia said.

Chrom's fist tightened like he was about draw blood from the palms of his hands as he heard the name of that country. He kept on shaking in disbelief. He had rid himself of that country and all of its doing after the war. He may have kept appearances by appearing to make amends with Plegia for the sake of diplomacy, but he could never really forgive the country that stole his older sister from him.

"That's insane. That's not even option," Chrom said.

"It's our only option," Flavia said.

"But to even think about involving Plegia is mockery of everything we've done. I can't for one moment entertain the though of courting those people like they're our allies," Chrom said.

"Yeah, but we've got a fart's chance in the wind without their money. I want to stand on some moral ground too, but if we're going to be realistic, we're going to have to let some of that go so we can make it out in one piece," Basilio said.

Robin tugged on Chrom's sleeve. She placed a hand on his cheek and tilted his head down toward hers.

"I… understand why you don't want to do this. This isn't the kind of decision to take lightly, but this is something we need. I don't like this either, but you told me that you wanted what's best for this country. I think this is what will work," Robin said.

"I know I said I was going to make a world for Lucina to be proud of. I guess I can't back down from that promise," Chrom said.

"Then you will?"

Chrom nodded. He was justifiably nervous about the ordeal. Everyone was banking in on him and his country. He no longer was the naïve commander jumping into his battles or the green leader clueless in a meeting, but the nerves ran through his body telling him that he could step in the wrong direction at any moment. Those feelings still made him confident. They told him that he wasn't going to be a fool in front of Plegia. He had his goal in sight, and not even Plegia could stand in his way.