A/N Guys, I know this is a pretty early upload, but...I have something to say first. I'd like for all of us to have a moment of silence to remember those who died on this day in the September 11th Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. Many brave firemen and normal, everyday civilians lost their lives trying to save the people trapped within the twin towers, and we cannot forget the brave passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 who attempted to take back their aircraft from the hijackers whom were attempting to crash it either into the White House or the Capitol Building. Those names marked on the 9/11 Memorial, and the actions that some of them took to not save themselves, but to save the lives of others, should not, and must not ever be forgotten. So please, just take a few seconds out of your day to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
...
Okay, thank you for allowing me to get that out of the way. I was too little to remember what happened, but after seeing the attacks and what transpired in the many documentaries that came afterwards, I can't help but feel overwhelming sadness for those who were there in person and for the many families who were so deeply effected and scarred by these attacks. *Takes deep breath*. Let's move on shall we?
*Ahem...I hate myself. Why must my brain think up all of these brutal deaths. IT'S EVEN WORSE THEN THE ORIGINAL MANGA. Mine goes into a coma in the manga, cool. In the anime, she dies from...something to do with Pumpkin overheating/using too much energy? Hell if I know. And in my story, she gets crushed to death. Instant body liquification. Fuck my LIFE. I shit you not, whenever I finish the chapters I send them to a friend of mine to see them early, because he's an impatient little fuck, hehe he's awesome, and I asked him on a scale of 1 to "I'm going to hell", how bad have the character deaths been so far? He told me that I was Satan's Grandfather. True story. Anyways, we're getting close to the final stretch people, we gotta be ready for the end. I personally have been stockpiling a shit ton of Mountain Dew and Doritos, so I feel like I'm ready.
Also, guys, I have something really exciting to say. Even though I wasn't planning on doing it, I recently had a great idea that may allow me to do it. Basically, what I'm getting that is there is a possibility that I actually might write a sequel to this story! It may happen, it may not, but the idea is on the table. Leave a fav and review.
Chapter 37 - Newcomers
- Eastern Territory of the Empire -
- One Day Later -
"That's another army that bites the dust. If we keep moving forward like this we'll be at the Shisuikan in no time." said Solomon with a grin after he and Camilla returned to the bridge of the airship they were using as their mobile command center, the ground troops of Straelka setting up camp in the meantime below.
"And after that is the Imperial Capital." added on Camilla while setting down her sword and shield, the Princess letting out a sigh of relief. "I hope the others were able to make it to the Western Nations without too much trouble."
"I'm sure they're fine. I bet we're going to be hearing from them soon enough." said Solomon to reassure her.
No less then a couple of seconds later the intercom crackled and one of the commanding officers stationed on the ground coughed, the airship captain pressing his finger to a button next to the speaker. "Do you have anything to report?"
"Yes, this message needs to go directly to the Princess and her confidante."
"I'm here, you may speak." spoke up Camilla as she took the Captain's spot, Solomon standing right beside her with his eyes glued on the speaker.
"A messenger arrived from the Western Nations. We checked to ensure he wasn't a spy, and everything checked out. The message he was carrying is this, "This is General Kagetane Hiruko, surviving General of the Western Nations military. We have successfully retaken our nation with the assistance of the Jaegers and Night Raid, and as a bonus the Imperial Army division known as the "Hellraisers" have defected and joined the revolution. We shall be commencing our push towards the Imperial Capital." End message."
Camilla's lips curled up into a smile as she looked over at Solomon, the Jaeger returning the gesture and chuckling at the success of their friend's expedition to their allies in the west.
"I knew they could do it."
"Okay, tell the messenger to return back with this. We will capture the Fortress Shisuikan and hold it until your forces arrive, assuming as well that the Revolutionary Army and Path of Peace will also be joining the endeavor."
- Imperial Capital -
- The Next Day -
Jacqueline removed her hand from the dirt just outside the capital's walls and smirked a little, the final piece in her plan of protecting the city from the eventual siege everyone knew was coming now complete. She wiped her hand clean on her trench coat and stretched out her back, the two Faceless guards standing close by to the gate remaining rigidly still while waiting for her.
"These Faceless sure are incredibly loyal...no wonder the Prime Minister uses them to guard himself and the interior of the palace. Unlike the Imperial Guards under my command, they don't talk back or voice their own opinions. I'll have to keep that in mind…" she thought as she walked over to them so that they could all return to the Imperial Palace as a group.
"You know, you Faceless intrigue me. You serve the Prime Minister with unquestionable loyalty and remain silent at all times, and I never see you outside of the Imperial Palace. Do you have any other duties?" asked Jacqueline out of the blue, the two Faceless saying nothing.
"Oh come on, you aren't in the presence of Honest, so you can speak if you want to."
One of the Faceless turned his head slightly to the right to look at his partner and after a few moments of silently staring at one another, the Faceless on the right exhaled deeply and cleared his throat.
"You are the first person the Faceless has ever encountered that would willingly allow one of the members to speak freely."
"Yes...our Commanding Officer, employed by the Prime Minister himself, trained us to always remain silent and to accept every order without question. So talking is...unorthodox to us."
Jacqueline raised an eyebrow in surprise and shoved her hands into her trench coat pockets, chuckling lightly. Finally hearing some of the infamous Faceless speak for the first time was something one never would be able to experience in their lifetimes, and being the first was definitely a rarity in of itself.
"Well, I'm honored. But now that I've actually managed to get you two to speak, let's talk a little. I'm interested to hear about the inner workings of the Empire's elite."
Jacqueline took them to a less-crowded park within the city where she knew that anyone who saw them would instantly walk the other way and not want to meddle in their affairs, and when they sat down on opposite park benches she was treated to an in-depth analysis of the life of a member of the Faceless.
All of the rumors about them being utterly loyal to the Prime Minister were true after all. From a very young age they were trained to listen only to the orders of their commanding officer and the Prime Minister, and that they were only a tool to be used by them. They had no names, and their armor was specifically designed to hide their identities in order to eliminate any ideas of individuality and free will.
The policy about not speaking whatsoever had been implemented to ensure no one would speak out and rebel against the orders they were given, no matter what sort of actions or consequences would result from them. And the reason for this was their duties did not just involve guarding the interior of the Imperial Palace and protecting the Prime Minister. The Faceless also acted as the Imperial Capital's secret police force that operated separately from the Imperial Military and assassination groups, that instead of targeting and assassinating enemies of the state...they were tasked with killing political dissidents and those the Prime Minister thought could interfere with his plans.
They operated under the cover of darkness, and none of their targets ever survived to tell the tale due to their rigorous training to be as silent as possible.
"Fascinating…do you enjoy serving the Prime Minister in such a way?" questioned Jacqueline, one of the Faceless shrugging his shoulders.
"Some do, yes, like our Commanding Officer, but for the rest such as myself and my partner here...what the Prime Minister has us do is cruel and heartless. Our purpose originally was to be the personal protectors of the Imperial family while the Imperial Guards protected the palace itself, but ever since the current Prime Minister came into the picture...that purpose has been twisted and morphed to suit his own nefarious needs."
"It's sickening is what it is. But if we attempt to speak out, we'll be killed on the spot." stated the second Faceless with a slight growl before he realized that they were speaking to the Great General and the capital's Head Torturer herself, who was another subordinate to the Prime Minister.
But when they thought she was going to hand them in to be tried as traitors or worse, kill them herself here in broad daylight, she surprised them by leaning her back up against the bench and sighing.
"This certainly satisfies my curiosity...but we must return to the Imperial Palace. The Prime Minister informed me earlier that his son was returning to the capital shortly with several others that could prove useful to us."
The Faceless nodded and they stood up with the Great General, returning to their usual silent and stoic personalities as they made the trek back to the Imperial Palace where, when no one was watching, they bid farewell with one another, with Jacqueline making a promise to speak with them some time.
"Indeed…learning that there is even tension within the Empire's elite is certainly interesting." she thought with a tiny grin.
She arrived at the throne room in a couple of minutes and knocked on the doors, another pair of Faceless she knew were always inside at all times opening them up so that she could walk inside. Her eyes instantly darted to a group of individuals standing a few feet away from the throne where the Prime Minister stood, the Emperor was absent, their appearances differing drastically from one person to the next.
There were four men and two girls, and starting from the far left one man was lean, muscular with black hair and small silver eyes. Next to him was the strangest looking of the group, a large dark-skinned man dressed like a clown with a tiny baseball cap sitting atop his head and puffs of curly orange hair above his ears. With his arms crossed and eyes closed stood the third man just behind the clown, his outfit reminiscent of a samurai with black hair tied into a ponytail and a twig sticking out of his mouth.
When her eyes came upon the first girl she thought she must've been a kid no more then fifteen years old due to her tiny stature, light-colored dress, striped stockings and blond hair, and the young woman standing beside had her hair in a bob-style haircut with a bunny ear accessory. She wore a mini dress, a collar and watching wrist bands, boots and a pair of glasses.
The fourth man and person standing at the head of the group she undoubtedly assumed was the Prime Minister's son due to the way he carried himself and the horned crown her wore on his head, which resembled that of Honest's. Althought his appearance differed greatly from his father, where instead of white skin he was tan with green eyes, white hair and an x-shaped scar on his face, she knew that they were related.
"Ah, Great General, you've arrived. I'd like to introduce to you my son Syura and his companions." said Honest with a smile, the group turning to face her with judging gazes.
"So you're the Great General everyone is so afraid of. You seem harmless to me." said Syura with a cocky grin, Jacqueline's eyes narrowing a fraction of an inch as she crossed her arms and stared back at him.
"At least I don't look like a fool."
"What did you say?!" he snarled, the clown and samurai glancing at him with somewhat concerned expressions.
"Enough of that. Show some respect to your commanding officer, you little brat." said Honest darkly, Syura's skin crawling a little at the tone his father used to speak with him.
"S-Sure, whatever you say father." he replied as he quickly fixed his attitude and held a hand up to show Jacqueline the people he had brought with him.
"This is Enshin, a former pirate from the eastern seas, Izou is a famous swordsman, Champ is...Champ, the smaller girl is Dorothea, an alchemist, Cosmina is the other girl next to her, and of course I'm Syura."
"It's a pleasure." said Champ with a warm smile while Cosmina waved and Dorothea rolled her eyes.
"So what else are you besides being the Empire's Great General?" asked Enshin as he licked his lips with his abnormally long tongue, Jacqueline unfazed by the action and sighing.
"She also acts as the Head Torturer for the Reconditioning Department, so don't take her lightly."
"Kahfka!" exclaimed Jacqueline happily as her loyal subordinate and lover entered the throne room and nodded once at the Prime Minister before fixing her gaze on Syura and his gang of cronies.
"How was your journey to the Western Nations?"
Kahkfa laughed and placed a hand on her hip, "I was able to kill one of the Night Raid members there. I crushed her body and turned her into a pool of blood."
"Oh?" remarked Honest with great amount of surprise while Jacqueline smiled and hugged Kahfka out of thanks.
"And who are you supposed to be?" asked Dorothea as she took in Kahfka's revealing outfit and appearance from her toes to her eyes, the assassin crossing her arms over her chest and grinning.
"The name's Kahfka, Jacqueline's subordinate and partner, for your information." stated Kahfka blankly while showing off the ring on her finger.
"Oh? So you're a lesbian?" asked Enshin, the two women glaring at him and quickly shutting him up.
"Prime Minister, I don't mean to be rude, but some of the people your son has brought here…displease me." stated Jacqueline in a low tone while glancing up at Honest, the Prime Minister holding his arms behind his back and shrugging.
"I have no control over my son's actions and decisions, as of now what happens to him and those with him are entirely up to you now."
Jacqueline's lips curled up into a malicious smile as she returned her gaze to Syura and the others, Kahfka giving them the same look when they began to think of ways to test if they are certainly worth keeping around.
"Well, for starters...I want to see if you all are at least decent fighters. Come with me."
Jacqueline and Kahfka took them to the Imperial Training Grounds where the office of the Great General resided, the Great General looking around the wide open field and determining that it would be the perfect place to test the abilities of Syura and his accomplices.
"So what exactly are we going to do here? Fight each other?" asked Cosmina after they stopped walking, the Great General beginning to unbutton her trench coat while giggling softly.
"Oh yes, that's exactly what we're doing. The only way I can tell if someone is worth keeping alive or not is if I can see them in combat. That's how I discovered Kahfka. She survived while the rest of the Elite Seven and the Group of Terror died by my hands, including the leaders." stated Jacqueline over her shoulder before she dropped her trench coat and rolled her shoulders, Syura's eyes widening a little at her beautiful figure which contrasted heavily with Budo's appearance.
"Are you sure you're really the Great General? I remember that Lightning Geezer was exceptionally strong in both combat and in his physical appearance. You look like you belong in a tavern or something serving tea." he remarked again, Jacqueline's eye twitching a little.
"Why you…" growled Kahfka when she began to call upon Demon's Extract, but a quick shake of the head from her lover told her that she would handle the Prime Minister's son and his rude attitude.
"Yes, I know. However…"
Almost instantly she unleashed a massive amount of her vile and toxic killer intent that caused Syura and everyone with him to shudder and take a few steps back at how dark and ominous it was. Jacqueline fully turned around and treated them all to her psychotic smile as she held her arms out and extruded several razor-sharp bone rods from her forearms, Basilisk remaining coiled up at her side in case she needed to use the bone sword.
"I'm personally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, men, women and children. I stained the walls of the Shisuikan red with the blood of those pathetic revolutionaries, executed the head political figures of the Western Nations and easily fought the former General Esdeath, even going so far as to injure her by cutting off one of her arms." she proclaimed with absolute pride in her strength, Kahfka retreating to the edge of the training field in order to watch the slaughter she knew was coming.
"You all have made a horrible mistake talking to Jacqueline like that. I'll be surprised if she doesn't kill one of them."
Thirty minutes later, just like she had thought about, Jacqueline absolutely tore into Syura and the others, actually killing the one named Enshin for the rude statement earlier about her being a lesbian. With a grin on her face she licked the blood clean off her fingers after she ripped his head and spinal cord out of his body, the Prime Minister's son, Champ, Dorothea, Cosmina and Izou staring at her with looks of horror painted on their faces.
"Y-You're psychotic…" stuttered Dorothea after Jacqueline lapped up the last drop of blood and Kahfka strolled over to her side with her trench coat.
"Thank you for the compliment. Anyways, now that you know I'm serious, I have a mission for all of you." said Jacqueline while she crossed her arms and put all of her weight on one foot. "We're going to capture two very annoying thorns in the Empire's side."
"And just who might they be?" asked Syura while she slipped her arms back through the sleeves of her trench coat.
"Two people that are of high interest to me...I want you lot to go to the Eastern Front and capture the Eastern Nation's army second-in-command, a man by the name of Solomon Glass. He's a Jaeger, so don't think it will be so simple to fight him of it comes to it."
"what about you? Who are you two going to capture?" asked Champ.
"Kahfka and I will handle the capture of the second person...the husband of the Empire's former Ice Queen."
A few hours later, after the newly christened "Wild Hunt" departed to seek out their target, with the only one not going with them being Dorothea since she had been tasked with something else important by the Great General, Jacqueline was strolling through one of the many gardens the Imperial Palace possessed and, much to her surprise, she discovered the Emperor squatting down next to a bed of flowers watching them closely and seemingly enjoying the fresh air.
"Your Highness? Is everything okay?" she asked, the child turning his head and smiling at her.
"Oh, yeah. Everything's fine, I'm just...looking at these flowers." he replied, Jacqueline detecting an underlying reason behind his words and crouching down next to him with a worried expression.
"Why's that? Is there something special with these specific flowers?"
The Emperor sighed a little and sat himself down on the grass, Jacqueline doing the same to show him she was intent on listening. "Well, when I was younger my parents and I would always come out here and look at the flowers."
"And your parents were…?"
"They died in their sleep. The Prime Minister told me it was because of a horrible disease unknown up until then."
As soon as the Prime Minister was mentioned red flags began to go up all over the place inside of her mind, the Great General hiding her reactions behind a facade of empathy for the child Emperor as she began to think not of the Empire...but of herself and the position of power she held.
And luckily for her...she had discovered something in her research while not preparing the capital for the inevitable.
"The Prime Minister, you say? He told you personally? Not a doctor?"
"Yes, that's right. Why are you asking?" questioned the Emperor while looking right into Jacqueline's eyes.
Jacqueline prepared her reasons for what the child said next to the question she was about to ask, which would either prove to be successful or fail miserably. With that in mind, she took a deep breath and asked, "Do you trust the Prime Minister, your Highness?"
"Of course I do." he replied quickly.
"Are you so sure about that? Are you really not aware of what the Prime Minister does when he's not by your side?" pressed Jacqueline with a serious tone, the Emperor opening his mouth to say something again before he closed it and thought about what she had said.
Now that it was brought up before him, he realized that he really did have no idea what the Prime Minister did outside of him being his adviser. And he judged by the tone of Jacqueline's voice that whatever he did that she was referring to was less then good-natured like he portrayed himself to be.
"W-What exactly do you mean?" he asked, nerve of what she would say.
"Well...let's just say the Prime Minister isn't exactly on your side, like he's led you to believe. And I'll start off by saying something that will change your view of him entirely. Are you prepared?" asked Jacqueline, the Emperor nodding his head slowly a few seconds later with a tinge of doubt in his gaze
"Okay then. Well, in my free time I like to look things up and research them, and one of the things I looked up was the death of your parents. Now, you may not like this, but I had an autopsy be done on your parents. It turns out that they had never had one done on them in the first place as per custom when someone dies of unknown causes,so when the results came back, the doctors found something...disturbing." said Jacqueline, the Emperor's expression and mood getting worse.
"D-Disturbing?"
Jacqueline nodded and looked down at her hands as she crossed her legs and twiddled her thumbs, her shoulders dropping as he sighed. "Yes. The truth is that your parents weren't killed by some unknown disease, since their was no evidence of a foreign bacteria or creature in their system. Instead, they found a different type of foreign object...a poison."
"A...poison? Are you saying my parents w-were...murdered?"
The Great General solemnly nod her head to confirm the truth, and almost instantly the Emperor's heart shattered into a million pieces. Tears emerged from the corner of his eyes and Jacqueline, to comfort the young ruler, wrapped an arm gently around his shoulder and embraced him softly.
"There's more. The person that murdered your parents...it was the Prime Minister. He was the one that killed your parents so that he could control you and make you his figure head so that he could do whatever he wanted."
"Then he needs to arrested and executed!" snarled the Emperor, but before things could get out of hand Jacqueline shushed him and smiled with a gleam in her eye.
"No, not yet. There's a time and place for thee things to occur. Believe me when I say this, your Highness, there are events that have been set in motion which will lead to the total destruction of the revolution...and the death of the Prime Minister."
"Are you sure?"
"Trust me. I promise as the Great General that I'll be sure to carry out my duties and ensure the safety of the Empire."
The Emperor stared into her eyes for a few more moments before his smile returned and he nod his head once, Jacqueline returning the expression and standing up with the boy to walk him back inside the Imperial Palace. While she maintained the caring mask on the outside, on the inside, her devious mind was at work formulating and moving on with the plan that she had been crafting for quite some time now.
It was all coming together. All that needed to happen now were for the last few pieces to fall into place.