Inmates Ballad: Choice or Lack of?

I wanted to convince him to stop.

CLANG!

I wanted to convince him somehow that we could compromise.

CRASH!

But Captain Albert Gazsi had no such intentions.

BANG!

The moment I hesitate, Albert would kill me.

Having a buster-sword gave the advantage in power, but slower swings.

Albert took every chance to capitalize on it. Aragami didn't put pressure on me like this…this was new.

This was worse….

I didn't want to kill him!

CLANG!

I just wanted this to end!

CRASH!

He was attacking me like he hated me!

If he didn't back down one of us would die.

Sameem had already detected his intent to kill and I couldn't convince him Albert wasn't an enemy if I wanted to.

He kept going for my head and throat.

I had enough!

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

One strike at a time I threw Albert off balance.

I noticed he was better at attacking than defending, and it helped my shield was superior to his.

When Albert went for my head again, I used Sameem to welt him on the chin.

Albert skidded back and kept his weapon pointed at me. His well-groomed hair was undone.

I saw a hint of panic.

His expectations were for me to follow up and keep attacking.

Maybe I should have.

If only he stayed down…

Albert got to his feet, with no sign of hesitation.

If I wasn't a convict, would he listen?

I could tell by the angle of his long sword he was going for my throat. Again.

This wasn't like before.

With a roaring charge, Albert swung his god-arc and I was forced to defend myself.

SLASH!

Sameem protruded out of his clavicle, making sure Alberts's own god-arc never reached me.

His blood pooled at my feet.

I hated him.

I hated him for doing this!

I quickly removed Sameem from his chest, and his eyes didn't show any hint of bitterness.

To my anguish, they showed…relief?

He wanted to lose?

Albert was your typical soldier of un-typical dedication to his duty as a soldier.

He followed his orders to the bitter end…but maybe he wanted to be free of his duty or at least not be a slave to it.

I watched Albert die, unsure how to feel anymore.

I couldn't scream, I couldn't cry, I could barely process what just happened

Then things became worse.

I heard the engine of a military vehicle. At first was relieved, cause it meant I could finally get out here and away from this madness.

I'd hit myself for being that naive.

The direction of the vehicle was coming from BEHIND me.

For a split second, I glimpsed into the cockpit seeing the portly FENRIR officer from before.

"(WHAT THE HELL!?)" I frantically thought.

Seeing the car drive away from me, it dawned on me.

To begin with, the FENRIR officers were driving a different vehicle to get around on their own. They only stopped because of the Aragami. The vehicle would've been in good enough condition if Aragami didn't attack it.

…

…..It also could've fit about 8 more people.

...….

.....

...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAMN THEM!!!

WHAT DID WE EVEN FIGHT ABOUT!?

WHAT DID I JUST KILL ALBERT FOR!?

THOSE SELFISH BASTARDS!!!

I glared at the car going off in the distance, finally ready to let out a scream.

CRASH!

My roar was cut short as I was startled by the sudden boom and engine smoke.

The AEC had fallen on its side.

My urge to scream lessened and while I didn't feel happy, I didn't feel disappointed either.

I could hear the desperate revving of the engine, and the wheels spun. As if doing so would somehow undo this.

I saw the occupants get out and try to lift the car. It was the officers, 5 of them. Conveniently the portly one was nowhere in sight no doubt inside.

The constant shift in tone was almost too much to bear. I still only just killed Albert.

At the time I hadn't thought as far as being an already convicted murderer who just killed again. I didn't have the benefit of doing so.

Maybe it was the crash, maybe it was the officer's constant attempts to overturn the vehicle, but more Kongou showed up.

Damn their hearing.

The 5 officers could barely get it off the ground and would need more manpower to do so. I thought If I couldn't lift the AEC on my own I could use Sameem as leverage.

As I moved for the vehicle I heard more rumbling behind me. Ogretails were sniffing around for more prey. Along with a Zygote.

They were dangerously close to the shelter.

The Kongou were already on the verge of finding the tipped AEC. One scream from the zygote and god knows how many would converge here. It still wasn't safe for the people to evacuate.

At that moment the sound of the engine kept the Kongous attention, giving me a chance to silence the Zygote.

All I had to do was turn away.

...

...

...The moment I'd go for the Zygote I wouldn't likely have any more time to stop the Kongou. Those bastards had brought this on themselves and I couldn't be in two places at once.

....

...

Back then I didn't think about it, but the god-eater from when the Bangladesh Branch fell was surrounded by chaos, and people around him begging for rescue, while a child asked for help finding his family that he couldn't even be sure was alive.

They told me to get to safety, while he charged off trying to save who he could. They said they would find my family, but I knew even back then that was a lie.

They did care enough to want me safe at least, but they couldn't be in two places at once, let alone three.

I never learned their name and I never got to hold a grudge. They died with the rest.

As things stand ridiculing them would be hypocritical if I did.

If I decided right now to save the officers and prop up the car, I could take it and get them out of here. By FENRIR policy they were my priority.

I'd just have to leave a score of civilians to die in the process to uphold it.

Albert died over that.

I ended up KILLING him over that!

I turned the other way to the Ogretails and zygote. The Zygote was swiftly vivisected, and the Ogretails were devoured by Sameem.

All the while the Officers scurried to get back into the vehicle, once they caught sight of the Kongou.

A pair of ape aragami pummeled the AEC trying to get it open. The vehicle was sturdy, but no match for the Kongou. In the process, the vehicle was put upright and attempted to speed off.

Unfortunately, there were more than 2 Kongou. A third dropped from on high and crushed the AEC.

As if to add insult to injury the Kongou who nearly let them escape continued to pummel the car, viciously turning the vehicle into a wreck.

That's what the Court Marshall said, or whoever it was...

Bottom line;

I saved the people who weren't on FENRIR's priority list, and I left 7 FENRIR Officers of no low rank to die at the hands of aragami.

Along with killing a god-eater.

This was the last mission before I was set free and I would receive respirations from FENRIR for the crimes committed against me.

Ironically I would've had to sacrifice a family to do it. If I did so, would Darius' son survive like I did and swear revenge on FENRIR and me? Like I did with Aadhira.

Would he have spent years of his life hunting me down and fed me to HIS god-arc?

I have no doubt.

I wouldn't do that to his son, or his little sibling. That kid would have a family.

When Tomas and Laurent came back, they found a crushed AEC over a red puddle and dead Kongou remains. I pointed them to Albert's dead body.

They tried to convince me to go on the run, lie, and blame Darius, but I already made my choice. When it was time for a new trial I confessed to killing Albert and refusing to save the lives of the other 7 officers.

During the trial, they tried to put some of the blame on Darius and his family,

Major General Wyatt Myers

Major General Rolf Budinger

Major General Kenneth Basch

Major General Winston Mannheim

Major General Andross Erzsébet

Lieutenant General Jules Charlotte

Lieutenant General Ebba Sundstrom, the big mouth from before who talked down to Darius.

As far as FENRIR was concerned I killed them myself. I honestly couldn't disagree. Plus they needed a fall guy anyway for the catastrophe of a mission that transpired.

Classic Fenrir.

At least they acted like they didn't want to put the whole blame on Darius choosing his family's lives over the other officers.

But Captain Albert Gazsi;

I killed him with my own hands.

We fought because people who didn't want to risk becoming god-eaters didn't get full protection in crisis situations.

People who just wanted to be free as well as safe.

People like my father and the people in Bangladesh.

I could've argued a whole lot more, but I was done. I killed a god-eater for who I had no relative history and this time they couldn't commute my sentence for it.

Then there were the deaths of the 7 other officers, in the end, I was charged with the First Degree for each as I turned my back on them.

Could I have said they fled to save their own lives and it was too late to do anything?

Yes.

But I was done, I never thought that far ahead and I made the choice already.

I just wanted to protect those families.

Now for that choice, I would be sentenced to 5 lifetimes in Super-Maximum Security for God-Eaters.

At this point in history that would round up to about 315 years.

For the next 8 years, my life would be a cold dark room, fighting aragami, and little contact with the outside world, lest I be punished.

But this would not be the end of my story.