The Far Edge of Fate (Final Fantasy XV)

CHAPTER 6 - DEPARTURE

Chapter title comes from 'Departure' from the Final Fantasy XV OST

-

Aaralyn's first deployment didn't come long after she'd come of age. The Niffs were trying to raid the northern end of Cavaugh again by storming the wetlands up there. It was far too close to Insomnia for comfort, so the Glaive was dispatched to take care of it.

It was weird being a part of the 'suit up and get going' group, for once. Normally Aaralyn just watched and wished the group well but this time...well, this time she was gathering her weapons and suiting up with everyone else.

The transport vans awaited the group in the roundabout in front of the Glaive HQ. Aaralyn followed Nyx into the back of one, plopping down onto the seat beside him as their teammates did the same around them. The trucks were rumbling off not too long after as everyone shuffled for their commsets and last-minute blade sharpening.

Beside her, Nyx glanced anxiously at Aaralyn before adjusting the glove on his hand. He flexed his fingers for a moment before finally reaching out to put a hand on Aaralyn's knee. She looked up at him. His expression was deadly serious—something unfamiliar on Nyx's normally jovial face.

"It's gonna be alright, kiddo," he said quietly. "We're not gonna let anything happen to you out there. Okay?"

And Aaralyn, swallowing down the fluttering anticipation and unease in her gut, nodded. "I know."

By the time they'd gotten to the swamp, the battle was already in full swing. Aaralyn could hear the explosions before she'd even gotten up to join the others crowding out the back. The air was thick with the scent of smoke and dust.

Aaralyn ducked out onto the battlefield. Several Glaives were already warping to engage as quickly as they could. The battlefield was already singed in several places—a thicket of trees across the algae-infested lake was on fire from artillery shells.

And just in front of her, Aaralyn could see the battle raging. Glaives clashing with MTs that marched sordidly forward, expressionless, and as robotic as ever. Above them hovered Imperial Dreadnoughts, one of which fired another massive shell into the ground. Water and debris were scattered everywhere.

At her side, Nyx didn't hesitate to leap into the fray. He was drawing a kukri and running to help a Glaive struggling against far more MTs than they could handle. Aaralyn made to follow him when she spotted a different Glaive struggling to hold their own and warped in their direction instead. Her blade dug into the thick armor of the MT and she chased after it, twisting the blade hard in her hand. The armor yielded beneath her blade. Sparks flew from the MT's chest.

"Thanks, kiddo," the Glaive who she'd helped out grunted, kicking over the other MT and frying it with a quick blast of fire to its face. "C'mon, let's beat these fuckers back!"

Aaralyn nodded and followed him into the fray.

The fighting was fierce and it was horrible. Aaralyn found her limits taxed beyond anything that she'd gone through in training—and training was rough. The MTs swung to kill and while Aaralyn was lithe enough to dodge most of the time, sometimes she had to manage a last-minute block that made her arms shudder from the mechanical force of their swing. And yet, despite her exhaustion, the battle raged on.

Aaralyn was infinitely grateful for the mages backing them up from the backlines. Every time it felt like the Warriors were going to get overwhelmed they were there with an insanely powerful spell to blast a chunk out of the forces. Drautos gave quick and easy orders, from battle plans that the Glaive were quick to execute flawlessly to general tips about enemy movements from the intel some of the Warriors were feeding back to Command as quickly as they could.