Chapter 9: Vendetta

The present:

"Croix wasn't his usual joking self anymore, the squad's morale was low and the atmosphere was always heavy…"

"Flunky and Morris' deaths really hit you guys hard huh…"

"Yes it did…I still remember their aspirations… Flunky wanted to become a ragnite researcher and Morris aspired to become a drill instructor…"

"Can I see their graves when the rain calms down?"

"Sure… They'll be happy to see how you've grown after all these years…"

"So… what happened to your squad after Malberry beach?"

"That fateful mission hit a devastating blow into our morale… Not just to us but also to Squad 7… Looks like squad 7 also built up a certain amount of camaraderie, just as we did… It wasn't easy accepting the death of a comrade… let alone a childhood friend…"

Flashback:

The day after the battle of Malberry beach, we held the funerals of Flunky and Morris. It was a silent funeral… In honor of their actions, Flunky was promoted to sergeant and Morris was promoted to major… As if a promotion would bring them back… The attendees were only Squad 9 and Capt. Varrot herself. Just parallel to us was the funeral of Squad 7's tank pilot, Isara Gunther. I heard some of them cry as they lower her coffin into the ground… Our squad, on the other hand, was silent… I guess we were all trying to hold back our tears…

Weeks after the funeral, Squad 9 and Squad 7 were stuck at the Militia HQ. Not a single mission was assigned to either squad; I guess command thought we were too depressed to even fight properly… I don't blame them… I saw how that battle negatively affected my attributes as a soldier when I went to the target range to do some target practice and I saw how my aim was severely inaccurate. I couldn't even hit the target, let alone the bull's-eye even though normally, I should land one with no problems at all.

After weeks of standing idly by, we were summoned once again to the meeting room… I looked at Croix as he walked into the room. I saw how serious his face was… This wasn't the same cheerful and joking Croix who would always brief us in every mission…

"We've been assigned a new mission" he said in a serious voice

This was about the time either Cooper or Morris would react sarcastically… But we were all silent…

"Our mission is to assault an Imperial outpost positioned near Malberry beach"

Shocked, we all muttered "Malberry beach?"

"Yes…" Croix replied "An Imperial outpost has been built near Malberry beach… Our mission is to take it out! Intel also says that an Imperial officer is stationed there…"

Back to the present:

"You were assigned to return to Malberry beach?"

"Yep… Imagine all that emotion when you return to the very place where your friends died…"

Flashback:

It was midday when we reached the vicinity of the Imperial outpost. Our squad was positioned on top of a cliff, overlooking the outpost. Croix then told us his battle plan. Paul would provide over watch using the cliff. Him, me and Sonia would attempt to infiltrate the camp and obtain any important documents. While Elena and Cooper station nearby and attack when we give the signal.

"I thought our mission was to attack the outpost?" I asked

"That outpost may contain important Imperial intel. Think of it as a bonus…" Croix replied

Despite Croix saying that, I had a feeling deep down that he was looking for that Imperial officer who killed Morris and Flunky…

We waited till nighttime to commence the operation. As night fell, we immediately began our infiltration and to top it all off, it started raining. As I began to search for the commander's tent, I overheard some Imperial guards talking:

"Did you hear? Lt. Tulius is taking over the divisions originally under Maj. Emilia's command"

"Really? What happened?"

"Well… I heard the higher ups weren't happy with her constant failures and decided to send in one of Central's most feared commanders to replace her and he was the one who successfully outsmarted the Gallians back in Yuell when he took it from a certain group of militia"

"Yeah… I guess he's pretty qualified to lead but isn't he one of Central's Demon Commanders?"

One of Central's most feared commanders… Lt. Tulius… I didn't know why but somehow, I had a feeling that this Tulius person was the man Croix was hunting for. Nevertheless, we were going to go up against one of the Empire's ruthless commanders and that didn't spell well with us.

Anyway, we continued onto our objective, neutralized a couple of guards and reached the commander's tent without alerting the enemy. Croix quickly began checking all the files he could get his hands on. I knew Croix was still hunting that man. He still hasn't moved on after Malberry…

Back to the present:

"So… The purpose of the mission was to find intel on the Imperial soldier who killed Flunky and Morris?"

"Yep… Croix decided to add that to the mission objectives… He was prepared to compromise the mission if it meant avenging their deaths…"

"Did you guys find anything in there?"

"Oh yes we did… But not what you'd expect…"

Flashback:

"Aster, Sonia" Croix asked "Did you find anything?"

"All I see are patrol reports" I whispered

"Nothing here…" Sonia replied

Croix continued to search the documents. Just then, someone entered the tent. It was Emilia. Acting quickly, I subdued her and pinned her to the ground. Pointing a pistol to her head, I said:

"Emilia… Put your hands in the air and don't make a noise so we won't have to shoot you…"

Emilia kept silent and raised her hands. Sonia quickly took her and tied her in one of the chairs.

"You know her?" Sonia asked

"Well…" I answered "It's kind of a long story…"

Croix then found something that was useful to him.

"Found it at last…" he said "ok… time to burn this outpost to the ground!"

"What do we do now?" I asked

"We hide near the ammo crates and radio in to the others to commence the operation!"

"What about Emilia?" I asked again

"Truthfully…" Croix said "I'd prefer her to lie dead there with a slit throat but she may be useful…"

"How dare you!" Emilia said "I'm not a tool you can simply use Gallian! You're better off killing me!"

Croix slapped her and he then brought out his knife. I instinctively stepped in between him and her.

"Aster, get out of the way…" he said

"No" I answered "Croix this isn't you… Don't do this…"

"She said it herself…" he replied "She's better off dead…"

"What happened to you Croix?" I said "You still haven't moved on from Flunky and Morris' deaths?"

He was clearly angry at what I said

"They were your childhood friends too Aster…" he said "You should know how I feel…"

"I know!" I replied "But is that a good enough reason for you to throw everything away just to avenge them? You think Flunky and Morris would have liked that?"

Croix couldn't come up with a proper response to my statement. I guess my words have reached him, at least a bit...

"You think Flunky and Morris would be happy to know that you're throwing away everything just to avenge them? The mission, the squad and even who you were, you're throwing all that away" I said

"B-but" Croix said "You saw it yourself… How that bastard killed them… How he mercilessly killed them!"

"I know!" I replied "But are you going to steep so low now because of that?"

Croix kept silent for a while and he sheath his knife.

Before we left, Croix gave the signal for the others to attack. But as we left the commander's tent, we were suddenly surrounded by Imperial soldiers waiting outside. One of them stood out. We recognized the man as the Imperial soldier who murdered Flunky and Morris.

"Well…Well…" he said "Isn't this is a surprise… I caught these same Gallians again…"

"You…!" Croix said

Noticing Croix, the man said:

"How's your face? Nice eye patch by the way."

Croix simply stayed quiet but I could feel the fury building inside of him

"Lt. Tulius?" Emilia said

"Ah Emilia…" he said "getting captured by the enemy… I can see why Central wanted to replace you… or better yet, have you killed in combat"

"What…?" she said in surprise

"Central deemed you as expendable… To tell you the truth, I was contemplating on how to get rid of you… But now that won't be a problem… Hey! I just thought of a really good story! While these Gallians were infiltrating my tent, you suddenly entered and was covertly executed to maintain their cover but it was a futile effort as we all noticed that the 'great major' was missing. We find the Gallians, kill them and avenge your death. How does that sound?"

"You son of a bitch!" Croix shouted "Isn't she your ally!?"

"Ally?" Tulius replied "Don't make me laugh. She's a failure to the Imperial army. And besides, I'm just carrying out orders. Command deemed her expendable, so I decided to eliminate her. As if the higher ups would even notice the death of a nobody like her!"

Back to the present:

Popuri looked in disgust as she heard the story

"I can't believe the Empire would be that cruel, even to their own soldiers…"

"Believe it… Like I said they don't care who they trample as long as they get what they want. Tulius was a fine example of how heartless most of the Imperials were."

"Most of the Imperials?"

"Kid… you can't condemn an entire nation all because of what some of their people did… I'm willing to bet that there are 'good' Imperials out there who don't follow the kind of ruthlessness most of the Empire did…"

"Anyway, how did Lt. Tulius learn of the infiltration? Did he know from the beginning?"

"It's not that he knew we were there… It was more like he expected us to come for some reason… He's a sly one, that bastard…"

Flashback:

"Well then" Tulius said "How shall you die? Just like your other squad mates? Or should we be more original and unique of each cause of death?"

We couldn't do anything. We were surrounded. All we could do was wait for the others to give a good enough distraction so we could escape. Just then, Tulius pulls out a knife.

"You know what" he said "I enjoy it more when I see my enemies choke in their own blood… So I'll go with a knife"

"You bastard!" Croix shouted

"Oooh" Tulius said "Keeping that brave persona, are we? I wonder if you can maintain that…"

As he walked slowly towards Croix, we suddenly heard an explosion on our right. I looked and saw Elena's tank. The others have arrived! The Imperial soldiers then frantically moved towards the others and under the ensuing chaos, Tulius disappeared.

"Now's our chance!" Croix said as he began to fire on the Imperials. In response, we all began to open fire. Emilia was behind me. I saw the shocked expression in her face.

"Emilia?" I said as I brought her behind cover.

With her eyes wide open with shock, she could only say:

"I-I-I…"

"Emilia!" I shouted

Returning to reality, Emilia replied "H-huh?"

I looked around and grabbed a submachine gun from a dead Imperial soldier and gave it to her.

"You're not an Imperial soldier anymore!" I said "You're just someone trying to survive a battle! Will you take this gun and help us?"

Emilia pondered for a while until she accepted the gun. She then helped us in the fight.

Back to the present:

"So Emilia basically defected from that point on?"

"Well… not officially but I could see that she was on the road to that… Honestly, I was glad that happened…"

"Why?"

"Because that meant that I wasn't going to kill her anymore…"

"Good for you then…"

Aster smiled and continued:

"It took a while but we managed to drive out the Imperial soldiers. The outpost was secured and to top it all off, we managed to maintain the ammo caches and the commander's tent. This gave us a lot of vital intel and ammunition for the militia. One vital intel was the location of every Imperial outpost and guard stations around Ghirlandaio fortress."

"Ghirlandaio? You mean the Imperial invasion force's HQ? So the assault on the fortress was…"

"Yep… Those documents made it easier for the Militia and the Army to invade that place."

"Wow…"

Flashback:

"So what do we do with her?" Cooper said as he aimed his rifle on Emilia

"Don't shoot" I said "Emilia's not the enemy anymore"

"What do you mean?" he asked

"She was seen as expendable by her own army and their commanding officer was planning to kill her along with us" I replied

"How sure are you that wasn't an act?" Cooper asked

I couldn't reply to that… How do I know if that whole fiasco was an act? I looked at Emilia and only saw a troubled face.

"I don't know…" I said "But I have faith that Emilia isn't pretending…"

I then heard Emilia say "Aster…"

"What's your take on this boss?" Cooper asked Croix

"Let's take her back to HQ" Croix said "She's a valuable prisoner"

"Prisoner?" Cooper replied "We're actually going to take her prisoner?"

"You got a better idea?" Croix said "She may have some useful information hidden in her little head…"

Back to the present:

"Croix was still consumed by hatred… He was still obsessed with hunting Tulius…"

"Did he ever get over theirs deaths?"

"That is on a later part of my story… Let's stay faithful to the timeline shall we?"

"Ok… So… Was Emilia treated well?"

"Of course we treated her well! You think we're like those Imperial bastards who maltreat their prisoners?"

"Well… no"

"Good! We treated her like any other person. We fed her the right food and made sure she was at least comfortable. I would mostly take up guard duty and talk to her"

"Really?"

"Yeah… No one else was willing to talk to her except me."

Popuri smiled and said:

"So what happened after you returned to HQ?"

"Croix went to report the situation to Capt. Varrot. They both agreed to keep Emilia prisoner and interrogate her…"

"I wonder why that was never mentioned in any of the history books I've read?"

"That's because Capt. Varrot kept it under wraps and she & Croix acted as Emilia's interrogators…"

"But where was Emilia kept? If she was kept at a regular prison then anyone would have found out about it…"

"We kept her in Squad 9's barracks and made sure no one else found out about her…"