Chapter 12: Where one's loyalty lies

Flashback:

Following the Empire's defeat at Naggiar, they were being routed in many battles throughout Gallia. At the time, it seemed that the war was already won and it was only a matter of time before the Imperial army would either surrender or be destroyed.

Back in the present:

"From then on, the Regular Army began to take most of the glory for Gallia's success…"

"Yeah I've read that it was because of the Valkyrur who helped the Gallian army survive the Imperial onslaught"

"Yep… I think her name was Alicia Melchiott… Who knew that the legends were actually true…"

"What happened to the Militia after the Battle of Naggiar Plains since the military was on the offensive after absorbing Sgt. Melchiott into their ranks?"

"We were basically phased out… Now that Damon had a tool to gain fame and fortune, he no longer needed the militia for help… All he had to do was deploy the Valkyrur and let her annihilate the Imperial forces… A cowardly act if you ask me…"

"So where did your squad end up?"

"After Naggiar, we were being given missions like liberating small villages and towns, providing aid to evacuation centers and many more…"

"So basically, the Army kept the militia out of the war?"

"You could say that... But that wasn't the end of our story…"

Flashback:

It was mid-September. Me, Croix and Capt. Varrot were at Emilia's room. She called for us out of the blue. It wasn't something you'd expect from her so I was pretty curious.

"Why did you call for us?" Capt. Varrot asked

"I want to join the militia…" Emilia replied

We were all shocked. Why would Emilia, a former Imperial Soldier, join the Gallian militia?

"Do you know what you're saying?" Croix asked

"Yes I do" Emilia replied

"Why should we trust you?" Capt. Varrot asked "Let's not forget that you were an Imperial soldier…"

"I know…" she replied "I know I'm guilty for contributing to the pain and misery of many Gallians but… I want… I want to make amends and redeem myself…"

"I'm against this…" Croix said "I don't know for sure if you truly want to help us… For all we know, you may be manipulating us so you can stab us in the back later…"

I guess Emilia couldn't find the words to reply to Croix because I saw it in her face as she kept quiet… She was disappointed… I then stepped forward and said

"I trust her"

Capt. Varrot and Croix were in unison when they said the word "What?"

"I trust her" I said again "I was able to spend time with her and I know what kind of person she is… I trust that she won't stab us in the back…"

Capt. Varrot stayed silent for a while.

"Are you mad?" Croix said "Did she seduce you or something?"

"Croix…" I replied "I know this sounds crazy but I believe in her!"

"If that is what Sgt. Claes thinks…" Capt. Varrot said "… Then I guess you should consider recruiting her…"

Croix was shocked to hear Capt. Varrot take my side. Well… I was surprised too… I thought this was going to be a tough case…

"Please Croix…" I said

After a short while Croix said "…Fine…"

"Thanks Croix…" I said

"But!" Croix added as her turns towards Emilia "If you ever do anything suspicious, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in your head! Am I clear?"

"Y-yes…" Emilia replied

Back in the present:

"Emilia joined the militia?"

"Yep… It was a pretty shocking move coming from her. I remember telling her that what she does from then on was what mattered. I guess she wanted to make amends to the things she did as an Imperial soldier."

"How did the other members react to this?"

"Well…"

Flashback:

"WHAT!?"

Almost everyone was in unison when they said that. I guess I should expect everyone to be shocked about this.

"She's joining the squad!?" Cooper said "But isn't she an Imperial Soldier?"

"She wanted to defect to the Gallian Army…" Croix said

"I don't like this…" Sonia said "… She's an Imperial… She could stab us in the back"

"Guys…" I said "I trust her. I know that she won't do anything like that"

"Did you hit your head somewhere Aster?" Cooper said "Or did she manage to seduce a guy like you?"

"Come on guys… give her a chance" I said

"I'm with Aster" Elena said "Maybe she can prove to be a great ally"

Sonia was silent for a while but she inevitably agreed

"I still don't trust you" Paul said "But if Aster and Elena say otherwise, then I guess I could give you a chance"

All that's left was Cooper's approval. It took a while but he finally spoke his mind.

"…Fine…" he said "But if she starts to act suspicious, I'll end her then and there!"

Back in the present:

"Despite everyone's doubts, they accepted Emilia into the squad."

"Was she able to prove herself?"

"Well… As I observed, I saw how hard she worked. In every mission we were assigned, I saw how much she wanted the squad to trust and accept her."

"So… she was able to gain the squad's trust?"

"Well… it took a while… but her actions in one mission proved to the rest of the squad how much she wanted to redeem herself."

Flashback:

It was almost the end of September and our Squad was on standby in the Militia HQ. It was lunchtime and Emilia was in her usual spot, sitting alone under the shade of a Yew Tree. I came to her and asked if I could have lunch with her. She agreed and with that, I was having lunch with her.

"How are you doing?" I asked

"…Fine…" she replied

I felt an awkward silence for a while. It was kind of weird not talking to her even if we were having lunch. I desperately tried to think of a topic to talk to her about. But before I could open my mouth, she said;

"… Do you think I'll be able to redeem myself?"

"Huh?" I wondered

"I mean…" she added "… I've done so many atrocities against the people of Gallia, what I did to you back in Yuell is one of those examples… Am I doing the right thing? Is fighting my own countrymen the right thing?"

I saw how distressed she was. I guess she was torn between redeeming herself in the eyes of the Gallian people and her patriotism.

"… I don't know…" I replied "I can't say if what you're doing is the right thing…"

"Aster…" she muttered

"If you ask any other Gallian, they'll say you're doing the right thing. But if you ask an Imperial, they'll condemn you. No one could tell you if what you're doing is right or wrong… You just have to follow your heart"

"Aster…" She said "…Why do you trust me so much?"

"To tell you the truth…" I replied "I don't know… But I feel that you were really genuine when you said that you wanted to make amends…"

She then laughs and said "Thank you… But that only solidifies my impression of you…"

"What do you mean?" I asked

"That you're a HUGE IDIOT!" she said in a playful tone

"Ouch…" I said "That hurts…"

"Well its true" she replied

As we continue to talk and eat our lunches, we heard gunshots from a distance. At the same time, I saw Cooper running towards us.

"There's a shootout!" he said "Croix told us to gather in the meeting room."

"Where's Croix?" I asked

"He went to Capt. Varrot to ask permission for us to deploy"

We quickly gathered in the meeting room and within a few minutes, Croix enter the room.

"Well?" Cooper asked "What's going on?"

"There are reports that Squad 422 is in the area and the Gallian army is engaging them as we speak" Croix said

"Squad 422?" Paul said "Weren't they the ones who liberated Yuell?"

"Yeah…" I replied "…Aren't they part of the Miltia? Why is the Army attacking them?"

"Squad 422, aka Nameless, has been labeled as a renegade squad and all of its members are considered rebels. The entire army has been given a kill/capture order on them." Croix replied

Back in the present:

"Squad 422 was labeled as a rebel squad?"

"Yep… We were surprised to hear that the liberators of Yuell are traitors…"

"So did you guys deploy?"

"About that…"

Flashback:

"So what do we do?" Cooper asked

"I don't know…" Croix said "Capt. Varrot told us to remain on standby and I don't want to make the same mistake in Naggiar and put you guys at risk. But what do you guys want?"

We all looked at each other for a while and we all decided to deploy despite Capt. Varrot's orders. We used a weak link in the fence to slip out of HQ without being noticed. As we made our way towards the source of the shootings, we came across a suspicious man walking around in the forest.

"Hey" Cooper said "That guy looks suspicious…"

"You think he's an Imperial spy?" I asked

"Let's see…" Croix said "… Let's confirm his identity, if he runs, restrain him."

With that, we walked towards the man and asked for his name. Immediately upon seeing us, the man began to run away. And, as ordered, we gave chase. It didn't take long before we caught him. We then began to interrogate him on sight and he immediately cracked. He directed us to a secret document he was supposed to deliver to some priest named Borgia.

Reading the document, we found out a gruesome truth… The document contained vital intel about the Gallian Army. The position of the bases, battle plans, you name it, it's there. If that wasn't horrifying enough, the one who signed it all was a Gallian Army General.

Vital information was being leaked by a general from the army. Along with them, we found out that Squad 422 was aware of this information and were considered threats. Their commanding officer was under house arrest in a village just a short distance from Randgriz.

"Son of a bitch…" Croix said

"So Squad 422 isn't a renegade squad after all…" I said

"What do we do now?" Cooper asked

"Simple…" Croix said "Since we already snuck out and Squad 422 is wrongly accused of treason, why not help them? Are you guys with me?"

Everyone then voiced out their approval. Croix was slowly but surely on the road to recovery. I could see that he has slowly accepted Flunky and Morris' deaths. I was really glad… Anyway, we all set out to provide support to Squad 422.

Back in present:

"So you decided to help Squad 422… But that meant you'd be attacking the Gallian Army"

"We knew that… But Croix made it our number 1 rule to not kill anyone"

"What about that spy you caught?"

"We left him tied to a tree… Don't worry; we came back for him after we finished the battle…"

Flashback:

A few minutes later, we reached the forested area just outside the walls of Randgriz. We were preparing to provide support to Squad 422.

"Here's the plan…" Croix said "Paul would provide sniper cover from the forest! Everyone else would proceed to the plains and incapacitate any Gallian soldiers attacking Squad 422. Rule #1: No one's allowed to make any fatal shots! Incapacitation is accepted but as much as possible, I just want to suppress these guys! And don't forget to wear these disguises we brought! We don't want any of those Regular Army bastards associating us with the militia. Am I clear?"

"Yeah!" We shouted in unison

With that, we executed our mission. We were positioned just a bit farther from Squad 422. While they were busy fighting behind us, we preceded to weaken the Gallian defenses. If fighting the Regular Army was weird enough, we had to make sure that we don't kill any of them. Nonetheless, we managed to pull it off and we severely weakened the Gallian defenses in the gate.

However, we noticed that the Regular Army created a minefield around it. We knew that Squad 422 wouldn't be able to notice the mines.

"What do we do?" I asked

"We disarm the mines…" Croix replied "Anyone here know how to disarm one?"

"I do…" Emilia said

Having no time for hesitation, Croix decided to trust Emilia in disarming the mines. It was a painstaking process. While Emilia was disarming the mines, one by one, we had to cover her and keep the Regular Army at bay. It felt like we've been fighting for hours. After a while, Emilia was on the last mine.

Just then, a Gallian sniper positioned himself within a pile rubble, just northeast of our position, and aimed his sights towards me. Emilia quickly noticed the reflection of the sun caused by the sniper's scope. She quickly stopped what she was doing, took aim and shot the sniper in the shoulder. She could have killed the sniper but she didn't. Anyway, Emilia continued to disarm the last mine and after a while, she was done.

When we saw that Squad 422 was nearing our position, we quickly hid among the rubble and watched as the soldiers quickly passed by. I recognized most of them. It really was them. The ones who liberated Yuell a few months back… Once they broken through the gate, Croix told us to retreat.

"Why?" I asked

"I think they can handle themselves in there…" Croix said "After all, we can't risk being discovered…"

"He's right…" Paul said "We've done our part, now it's up to Squad 422 to expose that traitor…"

With that, we retreated and returned to HQ

Later, the squad was at the meeting room to discuss about Emilia's act earlier

"I guess you're not too bad after all…" Paul said

"Thanks for saving Aster…" Croix said

"I knew my trust wasn't misplaced!" Elena added

However, Cooper said "I still don't trust her"

"Huh?" I wondered

"She may have saved Aster's life…" he continued "But that could also be an act… I'm still gonna keep an eye on you…"

Despite saving my life, Cooper still didn't trust Emilia. I guess, He wasn't really the trusting type when it came to Imperials…

Back to the present:

"Basically, Emilia managed to get everyone's, well almost everyone's, trust after that battle?"

"You could say that but Sonia and Cooper continue to distrust her…"

"Aw… That's too bad…"

"Don't worry about it… They may not trust her but they at least treat her as part of the squad"

"Anyway, what happened after Squad 422 entered the Randgriz?"

"We heard that the general who betrayed the army was exposed and subsequently arrested. Of course, we were happy to hear that."

"Did the Militia ever find out you guys snuck out?"

"Unfortunately Capt. Varrot found out about it… But Croix used the documents we uncovered and the testimony of the captured spy to justify our unauthorized deployment. It was a good thing that Capt. Varrot understood the situation and let us off the hook… And she kept it all under warps so that no one would even know what happened…"