To think I would get to meet Aurelia Le Guin this early on. Not only will she be acclaimed to be a world-renowned beauty once she matures, she'll become one of the strongest powerhouses on the continent, easily capable of rivaling S-Rank Bracers or SSS-Ranked Jaegers. Hell, Rean even gets to witness Aurelia clash against one of her former Teachers, which by the way also happens to be in this orbal car with us, Victor Arseid. Not only does Rean get to witness that duel, he gets to partake in it, fighting alongside Aurelia! That happens later on in the Cold Steel games. By then, she'd long since earned her famous moniker, the Golden Rakshasa. Even the Panzer Soldat she'll eventually come to pilot is pure golden-yellow. She is definitely not someone to be underestimated.
And I hear Aurelia managed to topple every single clubhouse into becoming her subordinates, easily making her the number one during her stay at Thors Military Academy, both academically, and physically. Seeing Aurelia still dressed in a school uniform from Thors, I wonder, is this still taking place as we speak? My eyes grew curious while I observed Aurelia. With Crown Prince Eugent at the helm of the stretched seats, Olivert sat to his left, while his commanding officers sat to the right. I've learned some more lore here today, not expecting to see these individuals as active Generals inside the Imperial Army. I don't think this was ever brushed upon in the games. All except who is seated beside me, and Father. General Craig was one of the known Generals of the Imperial Army that you would come across in the games. It was a surprise to learn of the other three.
"Don't let my being here distract you, Governor. I am here on behalf of my Father, and Thors. They said to treat this meeting as a field exercise. I am not one to crack a joke, I know the severity of what transpired. This matter will not be leaked to the public, correct?", Aurelia questioned. Governor Carl nodded his head, and it was Crown Prince Eugent's turn to speak, providing all of us some background information.
"Indeed, it will not. Our situation has raised some flags, and we are now on national-level alert for the incident that had just taken place, as I have just stated. I will also apologize in advance for the people we brought here today are bothering you, Lady Aurelia. It has been a while since we've last greeted each other, but you seem in good health at least. You can send my regards to General Le Guin. Have your studies been well?", Crown Prince Eugent asked, covering what Governor Carl had just said.
"They have, Your Highness. My studies are progressing quite well. I've already set my target to achieve the top rank in Thors.", Aurelia happily responded. So it looks like her clashing against other clubs and students is still underway, but hasn't ended yet. Then, it was General Craig's turn to let out a hearty bellow, sending loud laughter across the interior of the orbal car.
"Gahaha! Oh how it is good to be young. I can feel such vigor from you, missy.", General Craig responded, letting out a big laugh. Right next to Father was the same man I had encountered earlier during my previous and short visit. To whom I've already unlocked Favorability with. I've unlocked Favorability with a handful of characters here in the Trailsverse already. I don't read most of these notifications as they just display the same message over and over. The only difference is who I interact with. I haven't seen Favorability reach a hundred percent on any one person yet, so I'm not sure what kind of reward I will receive upon doing so. For now, the assumption is more stat boosts. And this orange-haired man is one such individual I've had the pleasure of meeting once before. Craig the Red.
All I saw Governor Carl do was cough, before continuing roll call.
"Commander of the Imperial Army Fourth Division, General Olaf Craig.", Governor Carl said, observing him with an incredulous look in his eyes.
"Yes.", General Craig responded. I will point out that his division is one of the more well-known ones amongst not only the Imperial Army, but to those outside of Erebonia. They bolstered some of the best cavalry in the entire continent, and was known for riding their tanks into battle. Even General Craig himself loved to physically stand on tanks while they're moving around, it doesn't matter if one was doing drills, or was in live combat. A far cry from his son, who by the way, would also become one of Thors Military Academy, Elliot Craig.
Despite this momentary outburst, General Craig quickly regained his composure, as he knew the severity of the situation at hand. He knew he couldn't fall out of line, so he announced himself, to which Governor Carl thanked. His eyes then shifted downward, right next to Father and I. Giliath simply smiled during the whole conversation.
"Commander of the Imperial Army Fifth Division, General Giliath Osborne.", Governor Carl declared, taking a moment to observe him.
"Present. Looks like I was the last one to be called in. Not a single hair out of place. All of us are gathered per His Highness's instruction.", Giliath responded, nodding his head politely. I could see he was keeping up his calm look, and chose his words carefully. All of this is to act as a lesson for me, seeing as he stated that every action that I do will be observed from here on. I don't think Crown Prince Eugent as expecting to bring Giliath's son along with him, but I couldn't shy away from this. I kept my head held high as I began to ponder Giliath's current status. Turns out he is the acting commander of the Imperial Army's Fifth Division, eh? It was nice to learn something new about him. He shouldn't become Erebonia's Chancellor until after the Hundred Days War, so I assume he will have an active post inside the Fifth Division until then.
I think it was stated in due time, around the time Sky wraps up, Chancellor Osborne is set to lead around 70% of all of the Imperial Army? Talk about crazy!
I guess I could go into a little detail about that, right? What we've been talking about are the Armored Divisions. On top of that, you have the General Office Staff, the Imperial Guardsmen before the noble uprising begins in Cold Steel, the Railway Military Police to which characters like Claire are assigned to, the Heimdallr Military Police which are tasked to protect Heimdallr. Soldiers who are part of the Armored Divisions wear purple, so I could see a bunch of purple highlights around the individuals' uniforms here. If you're assigned to protect the capital, then you're wearing blue instead of purple. That's how you can tell what corps you're a part of. You also have the Imperial Navy, and the Marine Corps.
The Imperial Air Force is still in its budding phase. It wouldn't be until the Hundred Days War where aerial combat truly takes a shine, making Cassius's tactics route a lot of Erebonian numbers thanks to a counteroffensive that involved airships. And as a byproduct of this, the Intelligence Division will be formed, but not for a few more years.
The reason why the Armored Division is present here unlike other ones is because that is the bulk of the Imperial Army. Most soldiers join these divisions, unless they want to be assigned to a noble, or serve the homeland's railways. And to think Father will hold two-thirds of this in the coming years...
Do I have what it takes to follow in this guy's footsteps? It's stated the size of the Imperial Army is around six times as big as Liberl's Royal Army. I can't even begin to fathom controlling so many troops. And Father does it with ease.
For some reason, I felt a strange pride swell inside me as I continued listening to these high-end commanding officers speak in front of Crown Prince Eugent...
"Thank you for taking some time out of your busy schedule, General Osborne. If we exclude me as a speaker to the Imperial Diet, we now have our last commanding officer. If you would, General Vandyck.", Governor Carl suddenly said, distracting me. I was too focused on these five Generals to see that here was a sixth one present, marking eleven people in this car.
And boy, General Vandyck sure is something himself. He oversees all other Generals and lower ranked officers of the Imperial Army. He sits at the very top, it's really hard to imagine the kind of pressure he faces while in service on a daily basis.
With Governor Carl announcing that, our eyes shifted once again. General Vandyck was seated right beside Crown Prince Eugent. He towered over him, almost painting the picture comical, but this was definitely not the time to be joking. I've also had some time interacting with him during my first visit to Heimdallr. Seriously, just what kind of event took place that could mobilize the acting commander of the Imperial Army, and several Generals that serve under him? I don't think this involved the ascension of Crown Prince Eugent anymore...
"Thank you for handling the roll call, Governor. As General Osborne stated, this marks all of us present. We can now begin to discuss what His Highness has brought us here today. Due to how sensitive the matter is, we are holding it here while we travel. It involves hired Jaegers, so we don't know who all we can trust right now. The nobles did something that we can't forgive.", General Vandyck stated, even going as far as clenching his fist. I saw Lady Aurelia and Sir Victor raise their eyes, as unlike Father, General Vander, or General Craig, these two are actually nobles. They own some territory inside Erebonia.
Some nobles hired some Jaegers to launch an attack somewhere, if I had to take a crack at it. Why does this sound so familiar? I think I know why. This same setup was what triggered the Hundred Days War in the coming few years. But I know it couldn't be that, so what happened here? I tried to mull over my thoughts, only to hear Crown Prince Eugent begin speaking again...