Chapter 3
Ashes of the Capital
"And when the Lamb broke the fifth seal, and I saw under the alter the souls of the Martyrs, slain because of the Word of God."
—Joseph Seed quoting Revelation 6:9, Far Cry 5
THE CAPITAL-FRONT GATES
(Resident Evil 3 soundtrack-save room theme loop)
After Night Raid had gotten over the initial shock, they quickly went down to the front gates that led into the Capital. When they went through, same feeling of horror they saw from afar was now 100 times worse up close. Numerous buildings were destroyed, set ablaze or reduced to rubble. The bodies of countless citizens and imperial soldiers lied still in the ash strewn streets with many of them covered in wounds. Some were immolated, eviscerated, bifurcated, riddled with bullets or suffered other fatal injuries. It was a horrific sight; there was nothing but utter devastation as far as the eye could see.
"Holy shit…" Leone gasped, putting a hand to her head in shock.
"This is horrible…" Sheele whispered, her hands to her mouth at the sight of the rivers of dead bodies that lined the streets of the Capital.
"I can't believe it. Everything… it's all gone…" Tatsumi said in disbelief. It truly was very hard to believe. He had been around the Empire for a while now and he could remember some landmarks but now everything was almost completely unrecognizable.
"B-b-but this doesn't make any sense! There's no way an entire kingdom can be destroyed in just 3 ½ days! It's impossible!" Mine exasperated.
"Well, something must've happened here because there's just barely anything left." Lubbock said, surveying the carnage before him.
The alleys were worse, walls and streets oiled with blood and bodies, carrion eaters picking at the bodies of the dead, the heads of men, women, and children impaled on stakes, their body parts liquified or reduced to pulp, ankle deep rivers of blood that had begun to clot or dry, and splashes of fire and ash that stained whatever buildings were still intact. Tatsumi nearly barfed when he saw the torn open stomach of a woman whose head and limbs had been ripped off with the dead baby hanging from its umbilical cord.
Despite that, they encountered pockets of the Capital that were still standing with civilians that were hiding in their homes, scared to even step outside even when some of them tried to provoke a reaction from them. Some wanted to speak, but they broke down crying when they tried to recall what happened.
Everyone else felt terrible. While it was true that the Empire had become a festering tumor that had to be removed, they would never wish this kind of death and destruction upon it, their grudge being against the government and the corrupt nobles, not its people. Suddenly, Leone sniffed the air, and something perked her attention.
"Guys! Hide!"
Her shout alerted them as they hid behind one of the few buildings still intact as the sounds of footfalls became ever more audible. As the footfalls came to their loudest, the sources were revealed.
It was a squad of Imperial soldiers, armed with spears, swords, and guns, looking around as they seemed to be on patrol for the most part. Their uniforms were stained in dirt, ash, and dried blood before they stopped and looked around. Their helmets and face masks concealed their faces, but their postures were ridged and stiff, as if their fight or flight instincts were on overdrive.
After a few moments, the squad lowered their weapons before one soldier said, "Nothing is here, sir."
Their leader exhaled and nodded, "Alright, continue on men."
With that, the squad left to continue their patrol, letting Night Raid come out of their spot when they left with Lubbock muttering, "Patrols. Looking like some Imperials did survive."
Bulat turned towards Najenda with the intention of asking her what their next move was. "Boss, what should we-"
"Shut up. Just shut up, I'm thinking!" She snapped. Everyone stayed quiet. The only time Najenda ever got mad was when a mission didn't go right (that rarely ever happened). They could only image the inner turmoil that was going through her head.
"Okay." She finally said, running her metal hand through her hair while composing herself. "We need to search for survivors, clues, anything that can help us figure out what the hell happened here. We'll split up and scour the 4 districts to cover more ground and find some answers. Chelsea and I will take the north. Bulat, Leone and Susanoo will take the south. Sheele and Lubbock will take the east and Akame, Tatsumi and Mine will take the west. If you encounter any Imperial Soldiers, hid or interrogate them as they could give us answers. Try to ask any surviving civilians for answers too. All of us will report back here in 6 hours and we'll relay what we found. Now let's get to it."
THE CAPITAL-SOUTHERN DISTRICT
The others left for their assigned districts leaving behind Leone, Bulat, and Susanoo to carry out the grim task of ascertaining what transpired in the Empire. The trio scoured the southern district, but they began to doubt that they would find anything amongst the ruins while avoiding the patrols of the Imperial Police. It was the same thing: destroyed buildings and bodies everywhere.
As they were walking down a decimated street, they overheard the vague sounds of chatter in the distance. Bulat and Susanoo looked at each other before they got to the corner, seeing a squad of Imperial soldiers and officers sitting around one of the intact buildings which happened to be a tavern. Knowing there could be information they could gleam, the two listened in.
"What's going on?" One of the Imperial soldiers pats the back of one of his fellow soldiers as a waitress gave them some tankards of beer, "You two look pretty well-done in."
"...I can't remember when I last slept." An Imperial Police officer said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, looking like he had barely crawled away from the onslaught that consumed the Capital.
"Is it true? What caused this?" One civilian asked the officers, daring to get close by peer pressure from his friends.
"I can hardly believe it myself... and I was there." The officer said before taking a drink from a tankard.
"A horrible butchery. I'll never forget it as long as I live." Another Imperial soldier said as he laid back in his chair, looking like he has barely survived the end of the world.
"What happened?" was the question said by a civilian and what Bulat and Susanoo said out loud.
"I don't know really. Some kind of creatures... never seen anything like them before, but I couldn't get a good look at them either." Another Imperial soldier said, giving his side of the story, "They were fast, faster than anything I had ever seen. I never ran so fast in my live. I thought they would have killed me for sure. And those eyes... those burning red eyes..."
He looked like he was about to break down before his comrade put a hand on him and told him to breath while the others looked on in sympathy. Bulat and Susanoo both looked at each other again, the same question running through their heads.
"What the hell happened?"
THE CAPITAL- EASTERN DISTRICT
Sheele walked through the empty streets of the decimated eastern district. She had gotten used to seeing death throughout her life, but this was on a level she could barely stomach. It was the same thing everywhere she looked: demolished, burning buildings and the bodies of dead men, women and children.
It felt so strange…they dedicated their lives to overthrow the Empire and now it was in ruins. A part of her should feel happy that their mission was over but then why did she feel so empty? Looking around, she knew the reason why. So many citizens and been suffering under Honest's tyrannical rule and all of them had reached out to Night Raid for help. Now most of them were probably dead.
She continued walking until she suddenly stopped in her tracks. Her heart began beating loudly. She began to shake. There at the end of the street was her friend's home…or what was left of it.
She hadn't been to that house ever since she killed her friend's homicidal ex-boyfriend. She could actually feel the butcher knife in her hands as she looked at the remains of her friend's home. Her friend had been deathly afraid of her after the incident and the two of them never met again. She never thought much of her afterwards but now she genuinely felt extremely concerned for her former friend's well-being.
"Xian-Li…" Sheele whispered to herself.
She hurriedly walked over to the house hand began to search though the remains. So far, there was no body to be seen. This gave Sheele some hope that Xian-Li might be alive. She eventually decided that she had lingered long enough in this area and went off to search for Lubbock who was exploring another part of the southern district.
Lubbock had been exploring several destroyed buildings for any leads or clues but so far, he couldn't find jack-shit except eavesdropping on some conversations from the surviving civilians and military, but those weren't much help either. He couldn't help but feel unnerved as he went through the decimated parts of the city. It was as quiet as a graveyard… which was ironic since the Capital nearly had been turned into one.
He came to an intersection and was greeted with a gruesome, yet troubling sight. Scattered all around were patches of ice, several imperial soldiers impaled on numerous stalagmites while others were frozen solid.
Several Imperial soldiers ran for their lives, screaming in pants wetting terror before the ground below them was suddenly frozen. The soldiers wobbled and tried to regain their footed before they were suddenly impaled through either the torso, waist, or even anus by massive ice spike that abruptly formed below.
Lubbock continued to stare at the sickening display when he saw Sheele rounding the corner. "Lubbock! Did you find anything?" She asked.
"Oh, you bet I did."
He pointed over to the ice-covered intersection and Sheele's eyes widened. They cautiously walked over and began to investigate. Actually, Lubbock did all the investigating since Sheele kept slipping on all of the patches of ice. He inspected an icy stalagmite that had impaled an unfortunate soldier. He carefully touched it with his index finger only to suddenly hiss in pain and yank his hand back.
"Dry ice. It's definitely dry ice." He confirmed as he shook his hand to alleviate the pain.
The two of them began to think. What could have possibly summoned this much ice? Then a chilling thought came to their heads. One that was infinitesimal, yet frighteningly likely. They slowly began to look at each other with growing horror in their eyes.
"Lubbock… do you think she betrayed the Empire?"
THE CAPITAL-WESTERN DISTRICT
"What on earth could've done this?" Tatsumi asked as he scoured the ruins of the western district.
"Beats the hell out of me." Mine retorted, but couldn't keep the disturbed look off her face, "But I'm starting to think that whoever did this must've been a freaking monster."
Akame stayed silent as Tatsumi and Mine continued to talk to each other. She walked amongst the destroyed storefronts and houses while deep in thought. Who really was responsible for this? There was absolutely no way this could've been the work of a Danger Beast. She couldn't think of anyone else the Empire had made an enemy of. She began to inspect the damage done to the buildings as well as the bodies under the rubble.
Many of them had been cut clean by some kind of bladed weapon while some were obviously burned to death. The first part of her observation confused her, however. The only weapon that could cleanly cut through anything that she knew of was Sheele's Teigu, Extase. But she was with them the entire time they were trapped so Akame could safely rule her out. As she continued her observation, she came to the conclusion that whoever did this to the Empire obviously had help.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Someone said.
Akame turned around to see Mine. She regarded the pink haired girl for a moment before looking towards at the ruins. "For the entire Empire to be destroyed this quickly… it all feels so strange." She sighed.
"More like messed up. We swore an oath that we would wipe out the corruption and all the scumbags in this place and then someone or something did our job for us." Mine scoffed.
"But the real question is why did they target most of the citizens here? It's like they wanted everyone dead." Akame wondered.
"Maybe they wanted to send a message?" Mine guessed.
Akame stayed silent for a few seconds. "Perhaps…but we'll probably never know if we can't get anything from the survivors."
"Tatsumi's currently looking to see if there anybody left. We should go help-"
"WAAAAHHH!"
Akame and Mine instantly whipped their heads around just in time to see Tatsumi fall out of sight. They quickly rushed over to where he was a second ago and saw a large hole in the ground. The two of them looked down the hole and saw Tatsumi picking himself up.
"Are you okay?" Mine asked.
"Yeah, just peachy." Tatsumi replied as he dusted himself off. Mine and Akame jumped down the hole to investigate and were awestruck by what they saw. They saw numerous tunnels throughout the cavern that most likely spread out to the entire Capital. It was like something dug its way underneath the streets…but with what? As they looked closer, the noticed several cracks all over the hollowed-out tunnel. Upon further investigation, they found out that whatever did this had actually burrowed through pure bedrock.
Suddenly, a deep rumbling shook the tunnel, nearly knocking the trio off their feet. They quickly managed to limp out of the hole just in time to see the entire street completely collapse in on itself. Then they heard rumbling out in the distance and saw multiple buildings sink into the earth, the sounds of people screaming out as they tried to escape coming from them.
"I think it's safe to say we know what caused those earthquakes 4 days ago." Tatsumi said with a disturbed expression, earning a nod from Akame and Mine.
THE CAPITAL-NORTHERN DISTRICT
Najenda and Chelsea turned their heads towards the deep rumbling out in the distance. "Sound like the entire Empire is falling apart." Chelsea mused.
"Everything is falling apart! None of this makes any goddamn sense!" Najenda shouted as she sat herself down on a nearby bench and began to run her fingers through her hair in frustration.
Chelsea wasn't really sure what to say to make Najenda a little less frayed. "Um…look I'm sure we'll be able to find something that can give us some insight as to what happened." She assured her.
"You mean if we find something. I still can't believe all of this happened in just 3 ½ days." Najenda grumbled.
"Neither can I. Whoever did this must have come up with a pretty good strategy to cause this much chaos." Chelsea said.
"There's no way this could've been planned in just a couple of days. This was probably in the works for decades. Whoever did this must've known the Empires weak points, defenses, Teigu's, soldiers and anything else that could have given them and strategic advantage." Najenda deduced.
"But who? The only force we know of that's against the Empire is the Revolutionary army and nobody else! The tribes and villages around the region certainly don't have enough manpower and the eastern nation is all the way across the ocean. Not to mention that the nation is a non-violent one at that so it's virtually impossible they would attempt something like this." Chelsea explained.
'She has point.' Najenda thought. 'The eastern nation of Zandrasil used to be allied with the Empire but when Honest began to manipulate Emperor Makoto and corrupted the Empire inside and out, they withdrew all known relations. They have been supporting the rebellion so far, but it's only been political support and the nation itself detests violence.'
"You're right. If the Revolutionary Army or anyone else wasn't responsible for this…then this means we got new players in town."
THE CAPITAL- SOUTHERN DISTRICT
While Bulat and Susanoo searched in different directions, Leone went off on her own to search for something more important. Her neighborhood just so happened to be located in the southern slums, the poorest part of the Capital. She already knew what she was probably going to find but she still had to see. As she ran down the street she stopped and looked to her right.
It was her favorite bar. After every successful mission she would always come to this bar and have drinking contests with her friends, swap some tales with whoever was listening and gamble. However, what made this bar special was that this was when she first saw Tatsumi and later swindled him after he got rejected by the Imperial Police. Now it was utterly demolished with several dead bodies inside. 'Damn it all…' She thought. She continued on her path and after several minutes, she arrived in her neighborhood.
Her heart sunk.
It was gone. There was nothing but smoldering ashes and the bodies of the deceased scattered everywhere. Leone fell to her knees. She grew up in this part of the Empire. She remembered all the friends she made, all the people she helped and all the other people she owed money to. Now…it had all been taken away from her and she had been powerless to save it. Her neighborhood had been reduced to a burnt-out husk and everyone she knew was most likely dead.
For the first time in her life, Leone felt utter defeat. She could have saved them. If they had gotten themselves free sooner, then they could've had more time to save the civilians. If they were just faster then-
That's when Leone could feel tears running down her cheek. Was she crying? When was the last time she actually cried? She was temped at first to stop but as the sheer weight of everything became clear to her, she let the tears fall. For a while she just sat there, silently sobbing.
"Leone?"
So deep was she in her despair that she barely noticed footfalls from a person approaching her. It was only when she felt his hand on her shoulder that she actually turned her gaze to see the person, before she stiffed with shocked silence.
"Leone?"
It was a tall man with red hair that was marred with grey streaks despite him being only in his mid 20s, his face a mixture concern and recognizing. He wore a white uniform that consisted of white slacks and knee-high boots, white dress shirt and black tie under a white military jacket and a black leather trench coat.
This was Rale, one of her friends from her neighborhood before he joined the Imperial Police.
"Leone?" Rale seemed to be trying to break her out of her shock, "I can get some help if you're-"
Before Rale could finish his sentence, he found himself being tackled to the ground in a crying and crushing bearhug from Leone. The blond assassin sobbed into the chest of her one remaining friend from her neighborhood while Rale had a surprised look but merely sighed and patted the back of her head, letting her cry.
After what felt like a half hour, she calmed down enough for the two to sit on the road, Leone resting her head on his shoulder while the two were slight in thought.
"How'd you survive?" Rale broke the silence as they stared on at what used to be their neighborhood, "Those things were hunting us like we were their prey."
"I was trapped under some rubble." Leone truthfully stated but left out the part where she was with Night Raid, because he was one of the few in her neighborhood that didn't know she had joined the assassins, "I and a few others managed to get out."
"Hmmh." Was all that he replied with. Silence came back for several moments.
"I really miss them." Rale broke the silence again, getting her attention, "Ever since they died, I wake up, and for a moment, allow myself to think that Karl's still alive and yelling at Lyra for being so lazy," That got a chuckle from both of them before they both turned somber, "...And then... every morning I get to remember all over again that they're gone."
Leone sniffed; her eyes still red from crying, "Did anyone survive?"
"If they did, I would have known. Don't hold out too much hope, Leone." Rale said with brutal honesty, souring her mood even more. "Remember when you and I got so drunk that Karl kicked us out and we slept on the street?"
Leone chuckled, "Yeah." She then slowly gained a frown, "Good times."
"When did it all go so wrong?" The officer said with a rueful tone, thinking about all the times that they had together. Leone was silent, before she shook her head and stood up. Rale blinked before he got up as she waked off, running after her.
"Hey, where are you going?"
Leone's eyes were shadowed as she dully replied, "Somewhere."
"Why? I-I thought we were still friends."
"I have nothing more to say to you."
Rale seemed gobsmacked at her words, sputtering out, "W-What... what's with the attitude?!"
Losing her temper, Leone wheeled around with an angry expression, "YOU LET ZANKU GO!"
That shout was akin to a gunshot or a knife to the gut, causing him to stagger back in shock.
After becoming 18, Rale became a member of the Imperial Police, purely by his deep sense of justice. But the realization of his dream did little to quell the unease he felt from the contractions plaguing his job. The people he was expecting to defend each day were the very ones causing trouble around the city he risked his life to serve and protect. The ne'er-do-wells seemed to revel in destroying police property, stealing, and committing other crimes.
It was a thankless job and the demands never seemed to stop, nor did the insults or verbal humiliations, the pressures of being an officer and the people blaming him for not doing enough in his job. He imperiled his live, again and again, to put the dregs of society behind bars, but this was a country were money talked, and criminals and corrupt nobles more often than not walked. Before long, his sense of justice eroded and eroded as the contradictions became one of his greatest teachers. As the months went by, he would always come to the taverns of his old neighborhood with an uncharacteristically sour expression, not even expressing any sympathy when other cried at their loved ones getting executed at the behest of criminals or corrupt officials, until one fateful night.
He was on patrol in the western district, mostly as a means of clearing his head after a particularly terrible day of having to deal with Ogre and a sadistic noble who bribed him to overlook his... tastes in children, something that even the captain hesitated to look the other way from. Despite that, this was the only part of the job that he started liking.
Rale thought of quitting. He truly did, but his stubbornness to his job wouldn't let him, that and Ogre made it clear that anyone that attempted to desert would with dealt with extreme prejudice. Despite that, the officer kept a cool head so that he could continue to do his job. However, when he came to a certain house, a scream rang from the foyer.
Acting swiftly, Rale kicked the door down and drew his gun.
Standing the foyer, next to the dead bodies of guards and servants, was Zanku the Beheader. Before the serial killer was a tied up family of the noble that had just bribed Ogre, including a boy and a girl, likely his son and daughter. They stared on, eyes wide in fear but unable to scream from the gags on their mouths before a glimmer of hope came when they saw him standing there with his gun raised.
However, Zanku calmly turned to the officer, his face but emotionless yet manic as he grinned at Rale. "Evening, officer."
"Hands in the air!" Rale shouted, but the serial killer refused to comply, continuing to grin.
"You hate these guys, right?"
Rale blinked in confusion.
"You're a real man of passion, an officer who takes their job seriously." Zanku said with an expression that irradiated Madness, "You're sick of all the demands, insults, bribes, blames, and Let me punish them
Rale remembered how he reacted, his teeth were grinding, the grip on his pistol tightening as the urge to shoot Zanku, but his word kept pounding in his head like the drums of Satan himself. But then, his expression calmed, and he lowered his weapon, sourly holstering it before saying to the Beheader.
"Do whatever you want."
The look of despair on the family's face was one that he would never forget, but Zanku's look of sadistic glee was one that he could never be rid of. As Rale walked away from that scene, the sounds of the family screaming rang out through the scream, his expression remaining bitter and sour.
That day, Rale stopped caring.
Rale's shocked expression prevailed for a few moments at her shout but composed himself, "Okay, fine. I admit, that's on me, but-"
"You let him kill a family! You had the chance to arrest him but you let him go!" Leone interrupted him, incensed that he was trying to talk his way out of this, "I saw it in the papers! Do you even remember their names?!"
Rale remained silent, opening his mouth once before closing it. The blond assassin blinked in confusion, wondering why he had gone silent before it slowly began to dawn on her.
"You forgot?" Leone gaped before she began enraged, "2 years of being an officer; is that all it takes?!"
"...I moved on." Rale replied stoically, numb from his job.
"How?!" Leone yelled incredulously, "How can you move on from condemning a family to death?!"
"You're one to talk!" Rale yelled back, finally sick of her berating, "You killed several of my fellow officers! You left several children parentless!"
That seemed to catch her off guard, opening and closing her mouth before asking, "Wait, how'd you-"
"I'm not an idiot, Leone!" Rale interrupted her, "You think I don't see the wanted posters? I'm a police officer!"
Leone was for once at a loss for words, looking down as she softly said, "You were the exception."
"Oh, it's like that huh? Assassins are the good guys and the police are the bad guys? Well, let me tell you something!" Rale shot back, "None of us liked Ogre. He was a prick through and through, but newsflash; not all of us are like him. Most of us only took bribes because they gave us enough food! You think I liked framing people?!"
"You could have disobeyed!"
"Really?" Rale shot back, stepping up until they were nearly nose to nose, "Have you ever stood against the will of an entire nation, Leone? Have you ever questioned an order, knowing that to disobey meant an agonizing death?"
Again, at a loss for words, Leone stared before she muttered out, "You don't know what it's like."
Rale merely blankly stared back before he replied, "Yeah, well... Neither do you. And if you really believe that, then fine. I just have a job to do."
The two merely remained silent, thinking about how things got to this point. Rale decided he needed to get back to his patrol but before he could, Leone realized something.
"Rale, wait." She called out, causing the officer to stop and look back, "Do you know what happened here?"
The officer looked down before saying, "I'm not supposed to say."
"Rale..." Leone whispered as she gripped the collar of his uniform and brought him closer, revealing her teary eyes to him, "Please... I need to know... ...Please..."
Rale looked away with a frustrated expression, conflicting feeling obvious before he growled out, "OH, GODFUCKINGDAMMIT!" He broke out of her grip before going to the streets, looking around to see if any patrols were coming their way and going back when he saw none coming their way. "Alright, I'll tell you all I know, but promise me you will keep that tongue of yours on a leash!"
Leone nodded, making a zipping motion with her hand over her mouth.
"Okay..." Rale began, feeling like it was damned if he did, damned if he didn't, "After... the massacre, the surviving Imperial Army and Imperial Police stormed the palace to look for survivors. We managed to find the Emperor and the Imperial Cabinet hiding in their secret quarters. Honest is dead, so are several nobles and bureaucrats."
"Honest is dead?" Leone gasped.
"Yeah, yeah. Drink and fuck. Can I continue?" The officer said in a deadpan tone, causing Leone to pout before she nodded, "A new Prime Minister was sworn in and convinced the Emperor to put the Capital under martial law. He even ordered that rejections for both the Imperial Police and the Imperial Army were no longer allowed. I don't know who the new Prime Minister is but what I do know is that both the Imperial Army and the Imperial Police have now been given an increased budget due to the surviving financial suppliers being... persuaded into agreeing."
Leone blinked at that, "How'd they get them to agree?"
"Let's just say mad scientists have a lot of uses." Rale vaguely said, "Anyway, while that's good, resources have been stretched hair thin. Finally, there's a rumor that the attackers had gone to the Western..." He then paused and put a hand to his chin, "Or was it the North?" He shook his head, " Regardless, other than that, that's really all I know."
Leone then knew the question she was completely dreading, "How many people survived?"
"Not counting the Imperial Army or the Imperial Police, and definitely not counting Esdeath's armies or the Black Legion... about 200,000." Rale said after a pause to calculate the exact numbers, looking almost as grim as her, "Maybe even less."
The blond assassin merely looked on with wide eyes and an agape mouth, before she nearly fell to her knees. Only less than 200,000 survived out of 15 million? That was... That was too much...
"I know." Rale said, reading her expression, "I couldn't believe it either." He stared on at the destruction of the kingdom he had sworn to protect, "We cannot escape the anguish. It is what we are."
Leone wanted to cry but she was too shocked to produce tears, merely hugging Rale again who gave one back to her.
SOUTHERN DISTRICT-6 HOURS LATER
After many hours of searching, the rest of Night Raid gathered in the southern district of the Capital, where their mission began to report on their findings. Most of the team did not look hopeful and they were all emotionally drained from today's events.
"Did anyone piece part of the puzzle together?"
"Apparently, the Empire doesn't know either. We overheard some soldiers talking and their only description of the attackers was that they possessed burning red eyes." Susanoo reported with Bulat nodding in agreement.
Sheele raised her hand. "Me and Lubbock found an entire intersection covered in dry ice. The whole place was frozen solid and there were numerous dead Imperial police officers, most likely killed by whatever summoned that ice."
"I know this may sound a little crazy to you guys, but hear me out." Lubbock informed, his tone of voice turning dead serious. "We know only one person that can manipulate ice and use it as a deadly weapon. You all know who I'm talking about."
Night Raid began to wonder who exactly he was talking about but then their eyes began to widen in realization and their mouths hung open. The only one who didn't react was Najenda.
"A-a-are you saying t-that-" Mine stammered.
"Yes. There's a very high chance that Esdeath has turned against the Empire." Lubbock conformed.
Night Raid was too stunned to say anything. The Empire's strongest defecting? The ice queen herself? Impossible! All known attempts to get her to side with the Revolutionary Army were met with a violent, and often bloody, refusal. But if she would never side with the rebellion then why did she attack the Empire?
"Esdeath didn't do this."
Everyone turned towards Najenda who had lit up a cigar and was deep in thought. "Esdeath is fiercely loyal to the Empire because they give her what she most desires: conflict and bloodshed. If she really wanted to go against the Empire then she would've joined the Revolutionary Army a long time ago and Honest's head would already be on a pike."
She did bring up a valid point. The odds of Esdeath turning against the Empire were astronomical.
"Has anyone else found anything else?"
"I got a lot more information from... an officer." Leone said after a bit of hesitance, "After the attackers left, whatever remained of the Imperial Army and the Imperial Police raided the Palace to find any survivors. They found the Emperor, but Honest is dead."
The others were shocked at this information, all having wide eyes and shocked expressions on their faces. Tatsumi and Akame looked at each other, Bulat put a hand to his head, Sheele just had a dumbstruck expression, Najenda just had a surprised expression, Chelsea and Mine opening and closing their mouths, Lubbock just having a shocked expression, and Susannoo remaining stoic.
"I know... I know..." Leone said, wondering why she wasn't happy than she should have been, before getting back on track, "He also said that rejections for the Imperial Police and the Imperial Army were no longer allowed, and have also been given an increased budget."
"Which means that they're trying to recuperate their losses." Bulat deduced, surveying all the dead around them.
"What else can you report?" Najenda asked Leone again.
"The Emperor and the Imperial Cabinet survived, a new Prime Minister was sworn in, and the Capital is now under martial law." The blond assassin reported, "That and most of the nobility are dead too. Not only that, but resources have been spread thin and there are rumors going around that the attackers are either going West or North."
"Which means getting into the Imperial Palace is out of the question." Lubbock commented at he looked at said palace with a weary gaze, "And that leaves us with two options; either we split up with one team going to the north and one team heads west or we flip a coin and decide if we need to go to the north or west."
Najenda growled and lit up a cigar, trying to think of a plan.
Suddenly, Tatsumi heard the sounds of marching, earning his curiosity as he turned around to see what it was, only for his eyes to widen in horror.
"Uh, guys?" The swordsman nudged Leone, who followed his line of sight to the street across from them.
"Oh, crap." Leone yelped, getting everyone's attention as they turned to see a sight they prayed they wouldn't see for some time.
It was Esdeath's army, marching in formation towards what they presumed to be the center of the Capital. However, then they noticed that several patrols from the Imperial Police and the Imperial Army were marching towards the center of the Capital as well.
They all looked at each other, wondering what they could be gathering for before they silently began to follow them.
IMPERIAL CAPITAL-OUTSIDE OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE
After several minutes of following the Imperial Army, Night Raid managed to reach the outer walls of the Imperial Palace. Hiding in the alleys and the ruins, they observed the proceedings of whatever this gather was.
One was a girl with auburn hair and amber eyes she had mechanical arms like Najenda, having a standard Imperial Police uniform. In her arms was what looked like a small dog plushie with a black collar.
Another was a tall and slim, young man with black hair and a small, white streak or patch of hair on the left side and blue eyes. He wore glasses, a yellow suit with a blue shirt, a tie and white lab coat. He was missing one of his legs at the calf, the stump wrapped in bloodied bandages and ending in a mechanical leg, but he used crutches to stand and walk.
Another was a fairly muscular young man of above-average height with short, dark blue hair and eyes. Like Tatsumi, he also has a cowlick. He wears a blue leather jacket and a red scarf with an anchor on it. The scarf is said to be his symbol of justice. Under that is a white shirt with a single blue line down the middle. He also wears a pair of grey jeans with a belt and dark blue boots. He carries his Teigu on his back most of the time. He was covered in cuts and bruises, having a black eye and a nose with bandages.
Another was a young man with fair blond hair and golden eyes. He wore a white robe on top of a black shirt and pants with a brown belt, a feather pin behind his left ear and a collar-like accessory on his neck. In his first few appearances, he was seen carrying a book. His left eye was covered in an eyepatch of bandages, along with his arm in a cast.
Another was an older man with the mask of an Incineration Squad member and had a gasoline tank mounted on his back for his flamethrower. He wore long gloves, which served not only to help him when using the flamethrower, but also for protecting him from attacks and white pants with white shoes. He also had three scars on his upper chest. He seemed to have burns all over his arms and chest that were hidden by bandages and his clothes.
Another girl that looked very similar to Akame. She has short, black hair in a twintail style and black eyes. She wears a black sailor uniform and wears a red belt that has a red side skirt cover like Akame's, with long, black socks and black shoes. Her shirt is slightly too short as it doesn't cover her belly button. She also wears red gauntlets like Akame, but her left arm had a splint and had cuts and bruises all over her body.
Akame's eyes went wide with shock when she saw her sister in the crowd with the other surviving officials in the Empire, silently stuttering, "K-Kurome?"
Another was a tall, beautiful and slender woman with long, light blue hair and blue eyes. She wore a General's apparel with long sleeves with buttons on the upper arms, a blue scarf on her neck and high-heeled thigh length boots.
The other members of Night Raid froze (Heh) when they saw Esdeath, making sure to be quiet as to not draw her attention.
Another was a middle-aged man with long black hair tied in a top ponytail, a twig in his mouth, his sclera revealed to be black with his irises red as blood, dressed in green, white, and black robes that were both baggy and formfitting that resembled the attire of a samurai, at his belt was a katana with a black blade that seemed to hiss with bloodlust.
At his left is a diminutive young woman with pale skin and short blond hair, amber eyes, wearing a turquoise dress with a white apron, white heels with black and white stripped stockings, including a turquoise ribbon on her head. Despite her quiet demeanor, anyone with a brain could feel her dark desires. Tatsumi vaguely was reminded of Alice in Wonderland by her looks.
Behind him was a young woman with a pink bob-style haircut and bunny ears accessory on her head, having star-like pupils along with her pink eyes. She wore a dark pink mini dress, a black collar with frilled white trims and matching wristbands, jackboots, and a pair of glasses. She had a rather happy demeanor to her, humming to herself with her voice like a singing bell.
Another was an old man wearing a samurai-like outfit. He was balding but had long, grey hair on the back of his head, a small mustache and a long beard. He had a noticeable scar over his right eye, as well as long eyebrows.
Another was a tall man with gray hair worn in a long ponytail, blue eyes and a mustache, clad in the black uniform of the Three Beasts of Esdeath's armies.
Bulat blinked in shock at the sight of the two old men as he whispered, "Gensei? Liver?"
Another one was a tall and thin with a well-built frame, having slicked back blond hair with sunken in cheeks, his face was horrific as it was covered in burn scars with his cheeks having ill healed Glasgow smile scars that were still red like muscle tissue, the rest of his body had a veritable menagerie of scars and brands with the most noticeable being the one on his chest; a horizontal crescent with three marks one vertical and two diagonal, and his eyes were green with black sclera. He had a collar with four upward facing finger-like spikes, black spiked clothed wrapped around his arms with a bloodied spiked cuff on the right wrist, a lowered cowl that draped over his shoulders, his lower torso only covered in dark blue rags with a beige cloth belt, his legs wrapped in black cloths with his only footwear being a pair of sandals.
Another was worse. A lean and lanky man dressed in a black flak jacket and red pants with knee high black boots, a bandolier of grenades around the torso, a belt with two holsters holding twin handcannons, black fingerless gloves, red hair with burnt tips, what appeared to be a flamethrower resting on his back with the nozzle in his right hand. The most unsettling part was that his face was covered by a gasmask that possessed red tinted lenses and had a massive grin of fangs painted in red with the twin filters having flame designs.
Finally, a tall, muscular man with spiky, blond hair with two longer bangs resembling horns and blue eyes. He wore a black, skintight top with long sleeves, a dark gray suit of armor with his Teigu, Adramelech, white pants and a red cloak. His shoulder guards were notably large and have yellow tomoe markings on them.
"General Budo..." Najenda stared at her former superior, wondering what the occasion could be that the Empire's second most powerful general would meet.
Around them were several hundred thousand Imperial soldiers, looking in better shape than the other soldiers or Imperial officers that they had seen, likely Esdeath's armies who had just come back from facing Prince Numa.
Finally, Budo announced to the other Imperials, hoping to raise morale before the situation would get to any of them, "Alright, everyone listen up! The situation is grim, I do not deny it; we have lost a large majority of the Imperial Army, the Imperial Police, and several officials and nobles. But regardless, we must stand up to protect both the Captial and the Empire with our lives!"
"General Budo?" One Imperial solider asked, "Not to interrupt, but where's General Gift? He should have been here by now."
It was then that most of the Imperials and Night Raid noticed that General Gift and the Black Legion hadn't appeared yet, leaving most wondering where they had gone.
"Perhaps he and the Black Legion had encountered the attackers." Budo theorized, not looking bothered by the prospect, "With our luck, maybe the attackers wiped them out too."
The others sighed in relief, along with the members of Night Raid, thinking that they dodged a bullet. However, fate was a fickle bitch, and decided that none of them got a freebee today as one Imperial soldier heard the telltale sounds of marching in the distance.
"Uh, guys? I don't think they're gone." The soldier said, getting everyone's attention while he was pointing to the south where they turned their gazes to before they gasped in horror.
"Oh, crap." Lubbock said with wide eyes when he saw who was coming.
"Is that...?" Tatsumi asked with horrified expression.
"The Black Legion..." Akame said with her eyes filled with dread.
The soldiers in the legion were varied beyond belief, despite having black uniforms or armor; some clad in black Imperial Army uniforms with helmets and gas masks, armed with either guns or flamethrowers. Others clad in black armor that resembled a knight's, armed with either halberds or swords. Others still clad in black hooded robes with iron skull masks, sashes lined with pagan god religious script draped over their shoulders and skull necklaces around their necks, armed with maces and spiked staffs ending in burning torches.
Alongside the Black Legion were several Danger Beasts of various classes, some either carrying soldiers or chained and moving lethargically. Other more noticeable soldiers barely resembled people, more akin to monsters. Their faces concealed by iron helms, tubes going in and out of their skin that barely contained their muscles filled with godknowswhat, augmented with cybernetics like Najenda's but more cruder and terminating in claws, blades, or even machine guns. Others weren't even human, more resembled anthropomorphic cockroaches or mantises, others resembling beasts with lupine, hircine, porcine, ursine, cervine, and octopine features.
Tatsumi's eyes were wide with terror. The Black Legion in the flesh, less like an army and more like a carnival of horrors and raving zealots.
Even the Jaegers and the surviving members of Wild Hunt seemed scared of the approaching army, Budo and Esdeath were stone faced but their eyes held a hint of unsettlement, only Gensei and the other two didn't seem fazed by the menagerie of madmen and monsters approaching them. Liver merely glared at them in disgust.
Leading the Black Legion was the man himself: General Gift.
He was a tall man, short white hair with streaks of purple, a handsome face with skin white as snow, serpentine eyes possessing sclera black as night with imperial purple irises and cross shaped pupils, and jagged Glasgow smile scars that reached his ears. The mad general wore a black peaked cap with a badge that resembled a skull possessed eight octopoid tentacles, a dark grey dress shirt with that same skull badge on both sides of his collar and an Iron Cross over his black tie, a black greatcoat with silver trimmed lapels and a red armband that possessed a black cross on the upper right sleeve, black slacks with knee high black boots, and a bright red scarf around his neck.
Najenda glared at the approaching army; she may have told Tatsumi the basics on the Black Legion, but she didn't tell him everything.
The Black Legion were composed of the worst of the worst: gang members, murderers, rapists, torturers, arsonists, and heretics. Some members were even former nobles who messed with other noble families and got ousted by the Imperial Courts thanks to the other families throwing more money at the judges. Others were even former members of the Imperial Police, Army, and Incineration Squad, thrown out for excessive violence.
Originally formed by the current Emperor's great grandfather as a means of making use of prisoners, they were eventually disbanded due to their excessive cruelty, but Honest reformed then not long ago, using his connections to supply their ranks with criminals from the Empire's worse prisons and his mercenaries. However, their ranks were slowly reinforced after they uncovered a Teigu that allowed the user to control Danger Beasts of any Class, making them among the strongest of the Empire's armies.
And that was before Honest had numerous regiments of soldiers enhanced by science and alchemy attached to the Black Legion, strengthening them even more.
Their leader, General Gift himself, was a complicated and mysterious man. All Imperial records showed was that he was born to a small village in the worst parts of the Empire, maybe killing and eating people before he was even a teenager. Gift was less like a person and more like a monster in human skin, but despite this, Gift proved himself when he joined the Imperial Army, rising through the ranks until he became a general.
However, Gift was often charged with putting down rebellions all across the Empire. And he did... with extreme prejudice.
Whips, stoning, displaying the mutilated remains of his victims, rape, public executions, flaying, forcing them to scream by inflicting pain until they could scream no more, playing said screams over loudspeakers to the enemy and civilians, burning at the stake, impalement, and all kinds of creative methods of torture; Gift's terror tactics were heard and reviled around nearly all of the Empire. But she couldn't say they weren't effective.
And that was before he got his Teigu.
Soon, several rebellions surrendered when they heard Gift was coming their way. Often, Gift would let them live, but other times he would slaughter them regardless of their surrender. One such incident was when Gift and his army happened to travel through a city and the civilians rose against him. That city was then raised to the ground, every man, woman, and child tortured to death and brutally mutilated.
After this, many generals, herself including, demanded that Gift be arrested for his unspeakable actions during his time in the Imperial Army, even Honest himself was half convinced that Gift was becoming more trouble than he was worth. Eventually, though Honest convinced them that he may be useful in special conditions. After this, the Prime Minister reformed the Black Legion and gave Gift command over it.
And now, the remnants of the Capital were now reinforced by both the Black Legion and Esdeath's army, both at full strength.
Taking them down was going to be incredibly difficult. And that was without whatever the new Prime Minister had planned.
"General Gift." Budo said in a courteous tone that barely hid his hate of the man, "How was your journey?"
"Oh, it was quite pleasant. I must apologize for the lateness, as most of you know, an army marches on its stomach after all." The general replied, his expression placid and serene, "Though I have to say, I am surprised at the level of devastation of the Capital. How did this happen under your watch?"
Budo ignored that insult for the sake of his pride and merely stated, "The attackers appeared out of nowhere. They possessed weaponry and armor I had never seen before. Our blades and bullets broke against their armor, and their weapons smashed through formations like they were little more than wet paper. We never stood a chance; they slaughtered both the soldiers and the civilians with ease, none could stop them not even I."
"My, my." Gift said in a faux sympathetic tone, "General Budo, of all people, admitting that he could not stop someone? They truly must have been fearsome."
"Indeed, they were." Budo kept ignoring Gift's taunts, restraining his desire to beat the sadistic general half to death, "Nothing we did even phased them. I doubt even you could have defeated them, General."
That seemed to actually catch Gift off guard if the blink of surprise was any indication before he merely relaxed, "Well, that just means that I and my army have dodged quite the bullet. Regardless, the reason for this meeting?"
Budo sighed, "Right..." He then straightened his posture and gave his orders out, "To answer General Gift's question: the Emperor has declared Martial Law on both the Capital and the entirety of the Empire until the attackers have been dealt with. However, due to our depleted numbers, most regiments of the Imperial Army are to remain in the capital to enforce the law. In the meantime, Esdeath's army are to be deployed to all parts of the Empire to crush any rebellions, including the Revolutionary Army, no matter what she says." He glared at her, causing Esdeath frown in annoyance.
"And pray tell, what's my job?" Gift asked with a rather impatient expression.
"Meanwhile, General Gift and the Black Legion are to be deployed alongside Esdeath's army. Their secondary objective is to recruit allies to bolster our defenses and offenses, in case of any surprise attacks." Budo continued, raising an eyebrow, "I trust this is will not be troubling?"
Gift and Esdeath both shared equally sadistic grins before the former said, "No, Budo. I don't think it will." The Jeagers and Esdeath's army looked mortified at the thought of joining the Black Legion, while the Black Legion themselves seemed more annoyed than anything at the thought of having to deal with freshmeats. The other Imperial soldiers seemed relieved that the Black Legion wouldn't be at their doorsteps to torment them.
"In the meantime, Wild Hunt's losses has been replenished by Gensei and two rather... eager volunteers." Budo hesitated on that last part, before he gave a grateful expression and extended a hand of greeting towards the old man, "Let me be the first to say, it is an honor to have you back, General Gensei."
"The honor is all mine." Gensei smiled and shook his hand, "As for those two, they are some fellows that I had the pleasure of meeting after I was called here after the attack." The old man then turned to the two behind him, explaining their uses, "The one in the scars and brands calls himself Penance. He's a zealot but he's loyal to a fault, and an expert on all known forms of torture. He'll ensure that any revolutionary will give up information, and then some."
"God has given me another test." Penance stated, his voice gravelly and rasped, patting his flail and letting the rattling chains intimidate the other Imperials, "And I will answer it with Night Raid's screams."
Some members of Night Raid gulped when they heard that proclamation.
"The other is Phobos." Gensei pointed to the one wearing a gas mask, "A man of few words and was a member of the Imperial Incineration Squad before he was discharged for excessive violence. Not only is he an expert of incendiary weapons and explosives, that and he loves his job."
Phobos' only response was to cock the hammer on his flamethrower before letting loose a stream of flames into the air, letting the gleam ominously reflect off the lenses of his gasmask.
"I see." Budo nods, before looking back at the old man, "So, I assume you will keep those two on a leash?"
"I've handled worse." Gensei replied in a laidback tone, before turning to the two, "Remember, you can't torture civilians without probable cause, Penance."
Penance seemed more annoyed than anything as he replied, "As you wish."
"The same goes with incinerations, Phobos."
No one could tell what Phobos' reaction was to that, but judging by his clenched fist, he was probably displeased. Yet, he seemed cowered.
"Good." Budo sighed in relief, convinced that Gensei could reign in those two maniacs before he turned to Gift, "General Gift, will you carry out your assignment?"
"Very well." Gift replied with a serene smirk as he dipped his cap, "And relax, Budo; after crushing that rebellion in the south, I feel pretty content. I'll behave."
The look on the Great General's face made it clear that he was not convinced that Gift would behave himself, but merely accepted that his hands were tied before yelling out to the Imperial forces, "This gathering is dismissed! We must not waste any time!"
The Imperial forces soon dispersed, ready now to do their duty for whatever was left of their once great empire.
Gift and Esdeath marched down the alleys, side by side along with their respective armies. Some of Esdeath's soldier were sweating bullets at being near the Black Legion, who looked annoyed at the thought of working with these people. Wave gulped when one Black Legionnaire gave him a dirty look when he got too close.
Suddenly, Esdeath asked Gift out of the blue, "So, General?" The leader of the Black Legion turned to her with an interested expression, "If you were to capture a member of Night Raid, what would you subject them to? The venom of a Melanzana?"
"Hmm?" Gift smirked before he shook his head, "Oh, no, no, my dear. Nothing so banal as poison. I was more thinking of a wolfkiller."
"Oh? What's that?" Esdeath had a curious grin on her face.
"Why, it's simply the most marvelous device you've ever seen and so utterly brilliant in its simplicity!" Gift began to explain with the most sadistic grin anyone had ever seen, "You merely take a piece of baleen, bundle it up as tightly as you possibly can and tie it with some very light string, and hide it in some food. When the starving victim swallows it, the baleen seamlessly passes through into the intestines without incident. Whereupon the string is dissolved by the stomach acid, and the baleen unfolds. From there, it slowly tears through the length of the intestines. What follows is a slow, agonizing, excruciating existence! And at the end? The victim is left begging for the sweet, tender release of death."
Esdeath was silent with an awed expression before it turned into one of pure raw white-hot sadism, "...General Gift, I believe we are going to get along just nicely."
Gift let out a pleasant chuckle as he and her kept walking, "I believe we will, General Esdeath."
Meanwhile, the other members of Night Raid were still hiding from the Imperial Forces. However, the gathering and what had transpired left them shaken to say the least.
"Boss?" Lubbock whispered as they stared at the Imperial Forces dispersing, "I think shit just got real..."
"That it did, Lubbock..." Najenda whispered back, feeling like their problems were just beginning, "That it did..."
And that's a wrap!
Sorry this took so long. I was too busy with my main fic to focus on this sometimes.
Anyway, while Rale somewhat explained what happened, he actually knows very little about the actual event himself. It's the same with the survivors as well, while they got a good look at the Ultrabots, they know as much as Night Raid as to keep the air of mystery.
I admit, part of Gift's inspiration was the Night Lords from Warhammer 40K as I am a massive 40k nerd.
As for Wild Hunt we see that Gensei has returned along with two others to replace Syura, Enshin, and Champ. Penace is inspired by the Flagellant from the Darkest Dungeon and the Penitent One from Blasphemous. And Phobos is obviously inspired by the Pyro from Team Fortress 2.
And for those that are wondering, yes, Rale's backstory is based on Appachio's backstory in JoJo's Bizarre Adventures: Golden Wind also with some hints from Itachi from Naruto. The difference is that Rale knew he did something wrong, but he reached his breaking point and stopped caring about the people, but he still follows orders. While I can understand Itachi just following orders, in this case, rather than forgiving him, Leone calls him out on this, but he counters about how hard it actually is to disobey orders when you work for a nation.
Again, Rale knew he did something wrong, but he still let a serial killer go, possibly condemning possibly dozens to death. The series plays on grey and grey morality, not just with the Empire but with the Revolutionary Army too.
Also, Captain Imaginat, while I appreciate the ideas, but I must decline. And I made up my mind, this will be the only AGK/Samurai Jack crossover fic I will make, not only because I have better things to do, but I'm already spending most of my time on Abandon All Hope, Embrace All Chaos, and another soon to be made fic of mine.
Edit: forgot to clarify, Rale figured out Leone was in Night Raid from sketch artists that posted the wanted posters. One sketch was close enough to her that he figured it out.
See ya!