There is always more to the story. Above all else that has been the guiding principle of my work: to tell the truth of the war, from the first Imperial boot across the border to the last shot fired. Sometimes the truth leads you to ugly places, dark corners of history some prefer left undiscovered. Over time a people can forget its own past, but for those there in the moment, those pulling the trigger and taking the bullet, the memory very often lives on.
So it is with Rhodall and those who were sent there.
— Irene Koller, "On the Gallian Front"
Things Left Behind is a Valkyria Chronicles fanfic by JustSomeTeacher
, centered around a Gallian reconnaisance mission set before the clash at Naggiar. Investigating enemy activity near the border town of Rhodall, the recon team - consisting of Juno, Freesia, Oscar, and Alex - instead finds Imperial forces ambushing a detachment of commandos from the Atlantic Federation. The fighting cuts off the team's escape, and they end up trapped alongside a surviving commando squad. While the groups have good reason not to trust each other, a tenuous truce soon becomes their only chance of survival. As the night wears on, however, it soon becomes clear that the town has secrets - and the Imperials aren't the only ones looking for them.
The story begins after the war's end, with Intrepid Reporter Irene Koller finally tracking down a witness to the battle on the Federation side. The results of the mission were not only covered up by the Gallian army, but also overshadowed by the events at Naggiar itself. Both Gallia and the Federation seemingly want to bury the incident, and Irene hopes that her witness, Lloyd Preston, can corroborate the recon team's testimony, and prove what really happened that night. Thus, most of the story is a retelling of their efforts to survive and uncover the truth, with chapters in the present day serving as a framing device.
Originally started on fanfiction.net, a finished and cleaned-up version is now available on AO3.
As this work chronologically occurs between Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 2, this page will contain spoilers for the first game.
This story contains examples of:
- Abandoned Hospital: The second act centers around one as the Federation tries to regroup with their missing commander. Which is in fact a deliberate Red Herring, as the commander is already dead. Ballard was actually sent there so the traitors could both ambush him and destroy medical records dating back to the vault's construction.
- Arc Words: "What are we that do not remember?" is a line from an In-Universe play. Freesia and Irene discuss the play in one of the interlude chapters; Preston quotes the line as well. It also becomes a Plot Point, as he uses its location in the play to replace the vault combination, and it's one of the few things he can remember in the present.
- Big Damn Heroes: Pulled off towards the end by Ellie, taking Ballard's reserve unit by surprise at the warehouse and freeing the captive Gallian and Federation squads.
- Bittersweet Ending: Heavily on the bitter at first. The heroes survive and thwart the attempted theft by both sides, but only Freesia and Preston know the truth about everything that happened. Naggiar and the rest of the war ensures that everyone is too busy to expose the Gallian coverup and Damon's involvement. Furthermore, Preston is the only known survivor of the Federation commandos, and the ordeal both costs him his memory and sees him discharged from the army. The sweet comes much later: Following the trail of interviews, Irene manages to reunite Preston with his journal and uses it to help him remember critical details, proving Freesia's account of the story. Ultimately the truth is published and the vault is unearthed once more, and while Preston's memory doesn't fully recover, thanks to Irene and Dr. Baines he's given a chance to start a new life elsewhere.
- Bookends: The story begins with Irene arriving at a train station in the Federation city of Shelway, and ends with her departure.
- Cavalry Betrayal: In the second act, after the ambush at the town hall, the fear of this drives the heroes to find out what's really going on. Played straight in the third act with Federation reinforcements, though Ballard orders the heroes detained instead of executed. Then nearly inverted in the finale, as Freesia threatens the Gallian reinforcements following Garity in order to save Preston.
- Chekhov's Gun: A literal example with Ellie's pistol, given to Freesia in the third act. She uses it to take out Garity at the very end.
- The Conspiracy: Three, in fact. Both the Federation and Gallia have secret plans behind the mission, but an older conspiracy ties into the game's backstory. The gold reserve is actually the ancient seized wealth of a forgotten country, conquered by the territories that would become Gallia and the Federation. Both countries worked together to hide the truth, as part of the broader deception about the Valkyrur.
- Continuity Nod: The whole mission occurs just prior to the clash at Naggiar, forming part of the pretext; the team is investigating a possible flanking maneuver in preparation for the battle. Events in the story reference several other missions, including the battle at Barious and the attempted kidnapping of Princess Cordelia. The Framing Device is also set with the Gallian Civil War in full swing, and this forms part of Irene's motivations to uncover the truth.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: The Federation commandos are caught completely by surprise, but manage to inflict heavy casualties on the Imperials. Then it's revealed there's another hundred or so Imperial troops incoming...
- Dark Is Not Evil: The Federation commandos are dressed in urban camouflage and wearing masks suitable for a night operation, yet work together with the Gallian team to thwart the Imperial attack. Subverted with Garity and her platoon, who are simply after the gold and biding their time. Zig-zagged with Ballard, who genuinely means the Gallians no harm and is torn over the mission's true objective.
- Deadly Euphemism: Sierra Uniform Tango. "Save us the trouble", with a pistol and a single bullet given to a traitorous commando. Having realized that Garity, who convinced him to go rogue, intends to Leave No Survivors, he accepts. Preston outright says that this has been done before.
- Disc-One Final Boss: The Imperials are this for the story at large. Their ace tank during The Siege is a more literal example, being the last major threat that the Empire presents.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: Federation commandos are referred to as a special forces unit, though their deployment in the story is more akin to an army batallion, complete with its own armor and mechanized forces. Ultimately inverted, however: Irene's investigation reveals they are actually a branch of Federation regular military, designed for deniable operations. An OSSRID dossier theorizes that they were intended to be acceptable losses if the mission failed, and Irene likens them to Gallia's own Nameless unit.
- Every Car Is a Pinto: Averted. Vehicle fuel tanks are used for an incendiary trap during The Siege, but are punctured beforehand and rigged up with grenades to ensure ignition.
- Fiery Cover Up: Comments by Kiril suggest this is common for commando units to cover their tracks, though the hospital encounter is a more direct example of Destroy the Evidence. Towards the end, Preston recalls seeing Gallian soldiers doing this to the bodies of Federation commandos.
- Foil: Ballard's team can be seen as one for the Gallians, being a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits led by a Reasonable Authority Figure. Ballard himself is one for Welkin, as he cares about his people, cooperates with Juno's team, and comes to respect her personally. Conversely, he's secretly under orders to seize the vault for the Federation, though he's not happy about this and actively tries to help Gallia escape before it's too late.
- Framing Device: Though most of the story is about the mission, the actual setting is over a year later, with Irene interviewing a Federation witness to get the full story.
- Gambit Pileup: Several people and factions had hidden agendas going into the mission. On the Federation side, the officers had orders to discreetly claim the vault (or documents about the gold if that proved impossible) after the Imperial threat had been stopped, with troops held in reserve as a contingency. These orders fell to Ballard, who had reservations about them and was unwilling to act against Juno's team. Furthermore, at Garity's direction a platoon went rogue in an attempt to steal the gold for themselves. As for the Gallians, Garity was in fact The Mole working for General Damon, and manipulated the Federation into attempting recovery in the first place. Damon was Only in It for the Money, while Garity claims to be a Well Intentioned Extermist, but both were willing to sacrifice Squad 7 along with the Federation troops.
- Genre Shift: The first act covers a straightforward Enemy Mine situation between the Gallian team and Federation commandos. Once the Imperials are defeated it becomes more of a spy thriller, and Irene's chapters are framed like a noir mystery.
- Grenade Hot Potato: Done by Alex when the commandos ambush the heroes in the mayor's office. He barely avoids getting blown up in the process, and is incapacitated through the ensuing firefight.
- Gold Fever: Vault D-02 contains a massive cache of gold, looted long ago from a nation conquered by both Gallia and the Federation. All the scheming and backstabbing is from various interests trying to leverage the gold's history, spend it directly on the war effort, or steal it for themselves.
- The Greatest Story Never Told: The events at Naggiar are big enough that what happens in Rhodall is mostly overlooked, though the Gallian army also suppressed information about the encounter. It takes Irene over a year to compile information, conduct interviews, and uncover proof of the team's more damning statements.
- Hope Spot: After the Imperials are routed, the Gallians and surviving commandos part on good terms. Ballard and his people leave to find their commanding officer, while Juno and her team signal for pickup and get ready to leave. Then the Gallians discover that someone sent a message to General Damon during the battle - and murdered the Federation officer before they all arrived at the town hall.
- Living Crashpad: Used by Preston at the hospital with one of the renegade commandos as the unfortunate cushion.
- Insert Grenade Here: Done by Freesia to take out the Imperial ace tank.
- Institutional Allegiance Concealment: Standard operating procedure for Federation Special Forces, who avoid anything that can be used to identify them during unsanctioned missions.
- Interservice Rivalry: As with the games, this applies to the Gallian militia, who are frequently used as expendable cannon fodder by the army. Also seemingly applies to the Federation, with the Ministries of Defense and Intelligence allegedly withholding information from each other. Taken to a deadly extreme with The Reveal by Garity, that the recon team was expected to die.
- Late to the Tragedy: By the time the heroes make it to the town hall, the attack has been halted but Federation forces are down to a mere handful. Happens again towards the end of the story, as the team arrives at the warehouse only to find that Gallian and Federation squads have already clashed over the vault.
- The Man Behind the Man: The Conspiracy goes back far enough that General Damon's father had a direct hand in it; namely, constructing the vault and planting a Deep Cover Agent in the Federation. Speaking of which, that agent, Garity, also hints that her agency, OSSRID, is secretly involved with Faldio's attempt to trigger Alicia's Valkyrian powers.
- Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: An investigation into Imperial activity reveals a clash between Imperial and Federation forces on Gallian soil, with the recon team caught in the middle. Subverted with Preston's father, an ambassador involved in the Vault project who died in a car crash; there were suspicions of foul play but the investigation proved it was a genuine accident. Then double subverted, because the investigation did find proof that the Ministry of Intelligence was falsifying historical documents.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: Initially downplayed with Ballard. He broadly follows orders, but is conflicted about his unit's more dubious assignments and helps Juno's team try to Bring News Back about what happened. This is then deconstructed with the death of his commanding officer, putting him in charge of the mission's real objective: securing the gold. He does detain the Gallians when it becomes impossible to hide any longer, but refuses to have them silenced and may have wanted them to escape and sabotage the mission all along. When it all starts falling apart, the contradictions and stress turn him into an outright Death Seeker. A more straight example is found in Garity, who went deep undercover at a young age and remains loyal to Gallia, no matter what the mission requires.
- The Needs of the Many: Ballard and Garity both make this argument about needing the gold to fund the war effort, but only the latter is truly committed to it.
- Pet the Dog: One of the renegade commandos is shown to be greedy, bigoted, and utterly remorseless, but also shows sympathy for Preston and his condition.
- The Plan: Juno comes up with one to defeat the Imperial advance at the town hall, based on their approach during the Kloden Wildwood mission. It goes off mostly without a hitch at first. Then the ace tank shows up and takes out Lulubelle, the only Gallian/Federation tank, while a sniper incapacitates Ellie's lancer team.
- The Political Officer: Employed by the Federation, according to Kiril. One was involved in a Friendly Fire incident he considers even worse than the Imperial ambush.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Though Federation Special Forces are committing an illegal action in Gallia's borders, most of them harbor no ill will and are Just Following Orders. The survivors of the initial attack readily work with the militia team to defeat the Imperial assault. Some, however, are Only in It for the Money...
- Ransacked Room: The Mayor's office at the town hall, which hides clues about the greater mystery and the body of the Federation's commanding officer.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: To better flesh out squad members with little plot presence, the writer uses events from his first playthrough as part of their backstories. In particular, Alex stopped the APC carrying the kidnapped princess, and Freesia destroyed the last engine of the Batomys after Selvaria arrived. Both narrowly survived their ordeals and are somewhat scarred by them.
- The Siege: Happens in the first act, as Federation and Gallian soldiers team up to Hold the Line until help arrives. Under Juno's direction, they fortify the town hall, get a tank working, and set up ambush positions to try and even the odds.
- Sinister Spy Agency: Gallia's Office of State Security, Royal Intelligence Division. They're implied to have ties to events in the original game, but are mostly a background presence in the story. The exception is Garity, a Deep Cover Agent who sets most of the story in motion.
- Taking You with Me: Threatened twice with an explosive trap in the climax, first by Ballard against Preston and Freesia, and then by Freesia against Garity. Finally attempted by Ballard, though Garity survives just long enough for one last attempt at killing the heroes.
- Tank Goodness: Lulubelle, a Gallian medium tank, plays a key role in the defense of the town hall. Also a Shout-Out to the movie Sahara, where it serves a similar purpose.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The situation starts as this, given that commandos from Bravo Company were part of the princess' kidnap attempt. This remains a sore point, but over time the Gallian and Federation teams become more Fire-Forged Friends.
- Title Drop: Irene works the title into an article she's writing about the story.
- Train-Station Goodbye: The epilogue has Irene parting ways with Preston at the train station where she arrived in the prologue.
- Trauma Conga Line: Happens to both Freesia and Preston over the course of the story, and the line gets longer if preceding events are included. Freesia's 'Under Pressure' potential is Played for Drama, as she nearly died fighting at Barious and struggles with the mission's escalating responsibilities. As for Preston, he started the mission as an Amnesiac Hero, is betrayed by his commanding officers, and may be the Sole Survivor of his unit.
- The Unfought: General Damon has significant involvement in the story but does not personally appear. A Foregone Conclusion, as he dies instead at Ghirlandaio.
- Token Good Teammate: Ballard's team serves as this for the Federation.
- Unintentional Encryption: "The Root of All Evil" is both the title of a famous play and the only thing Lloyd can remember in the present. In fact, he chose a number using the play as a clue because it was something he'd remember. The unintentional part is that he was trying to simply write down the vault combo for Freesia, but was interrupted by Garity's last-ditch attack.
- Urban Warfare: Most of the story's combat happens in various streets, buildings, and other confined spaces throughout Rhodall.
- Uriah Gambit: Performed in the second act against Ballard and his men, allowing them to be ambushed by Garity's rogue platoon. Also towards the end, this is revealed to be the case for the entire mission. Damon wanted the recon team to spring the Imperial trap and allow the Imperials and the Federation to weaken each other, not at all concerned with whether the team would survive.
- War Is Hell: A recurring theme, and invoked by Ballard towards the end when trying to justify stealing the gold.Ballard: We damn ourselves so that our children grow up innocent. And for our sins... we must pay.
- Written by the Winners: Already present given the series' backstory, but in this case the vault is the result of a dark chapter in both Gallia's and the Federation's ancient history. Also invoked, as both Ballard and Garity are trying to claim the vault for their respective countries and erase evidence that could implicate them.
- You Have Failed Me: Retreating Imperial troopers during the town hall battle are gunned down by their advancing comrades. One commando remarks that they thought the order was just a myth.
