A Black and White Cross

Chapter 5

Loyalties

Alba stood in the sun and tried not to throw up again. He couldn't turn away from the sight that had made him do just that two days before without breaking his cold and calculating façade to Esdese, who stood right next to him. They were both on the same hill that they had come to hunt on earlier that week and Alba had just thrown open the door to the human slaughterhouse on top to show Esdese. They were surrounded by two concentric rings, the innermost being the Jaegers and the outermost being her Wache des Kommandaten, soldiers handpicked from Army Group North for strength and loyalty. Inside the Jaegers' protective circle stood two men flanked by two more members of the Wache. One, the owner of the estate, was middle-aged and heavy set and occupied his time sweating profusely and looking nervously from the Wache to Esdese and Alba. The other, presumably his son, was tall and lanky, with greasy hair and distant eyes that were more occupied with Esdese than Alba cared for. Alba turned back to the Jaegers before his stomach overcame his resolve.

"Seryu, come take a look at this." He said. She turned and gave him the innocent smile she had on when she wasn't going bat-shit insane.

"Ok!" She said and skipped over, her Imperial Arm Hekatonkheires, 'Koro', held in her arms and letting out the occasional bleat as it looked around indifferently. She came up to him and looked at him with that same smile. He gestured to the open doorway. She was still smiling when she looked in, although it seemed to freeze in place, losing its sense of warmth. She was still making the same face when she went over to the side of the building, just out of sight and began to wretch. Esdese scowled at what she perceived at a sign of weakness in one of her men and started to go after her before Alba put a light touch on her arm and shook his head.

"Let me handle it, love." He said quietly. Her scowl fell into something more resigned and she nodded once. He nodded back and went over to the young Imperial Guardsman. She was crouched down now, crying quietly. He crouched down next to her and laid his hand on her back.

"Wha-what was that?" She asked between sobs.

"That was what this empire has become, the corruption that permeates it." He said softly.

"No… No! My father would not have defended such… such an injustice!" She nearly screamed, trying to deny the horror she had just witnessed.

"No, no he would not. Your father defended an ideal, an ideal that we must fight to protect." He said firmly. He got up and went back to Esdese, leaving the young woman to mull over his words. That should be enough to turn Seryu with her overdeveloped sense of justice. The other Jaegers were battle-hardened veterans, and would not be so affected by the sight. Their loyalties lied with Esdese and if he wanted to gain their support, he would have to gain hers as well.

"You're too soft on them." She said as he returned.

"Possibly, but sometimes true strength requires a softer touch to mature properly." He said. She snorted and went back to surveying the scene before her. She didn't know what he was planning, but she had learned to trust him over the past few days and was waiting patiently. He turned and looked as well, forcing a cool look.

"Tell me, what do you see here?" He asked after a moment, gesturing to the interior of the building. She thought for a few moments before answering.

"I see the weak." She said simply. He nodded understandingly before continuing.

"Really? That's not what I see at all." He said, equally simply. She raised a pale blue eyebrow as he continued. "Many of the people in here were young, healthy. They all had promising futures ahead of them: tailors, smiths, merchants… and soldiers." He let that sink in a moment before continuing, "I'd say that there is at least a platoon in here, possibly even two. Think about it, two platoons of soldiers, loyal to you, ready to fight, and if need be, die gloriously on the field of battle.

And these small time sadists aren't even the surface of the problem. Many of the people in there were forced from their homes to come work in the Capital so that their families could pay the Prime Minister's outrageous taxes. Think of a county side populated by young men and women ready and willing to join in the fight against the Empire's enemies, instead of being populated by the oppressed masses, unwilling to do much of anything. It is not these people that are weak, but the Empire itself, and the Prime Minister is the one facilitating that." He finished his rant with glazed eyes in order to avoid the sight before him. She shook her head before looking to him.

"What you say borders on treason. I am a general in the Imperial Army. My loyalties lie with the Empire."

"And I'm not asking you to change that." He said, looking to her and away from the building, "I intend to bring criminal charges against the Prime Minister for what he has done to this country."

"The Prime Minister is a powerful man, he won't allow you to get away with this so easily."

"I know, that is why I showed you this today, Esdese. I need your help, your protection; and when the trial is over, when the Prime Minister is found guilty, he will not go quietly. I need you, and your army, to enforce whatever the court decides." He turned away from her, "There will be a civil war, not like the paltry revolution we have now, but a massive conflict that will shake this country to its very core." He turned back, his eyes pleading, "Please Esdese, I couldn't bear fighting against you."

She looked down and Alba couldn't see her eyes through the shadow cast by the brim of her hat. She shook her head once, then twice before moving away. As she passed the sweating owner of the estate she swiped her hand through the air in front of his neck, creating a whistling sound. He froze very suddenly before collapsing, his head coming off with a wet plop as Alba noticed a paper-thin blade of ice extending from her hand, now dripping blood. The son seemed to notice this as well and stopped staring at her ass an instant before the Wache behind him brought the butt of his rifle down on his shoulder, forcing him to his knees. The Wache put a three round burst through his skull before joining his comrade in flanking Esdese.

Alba let out a small sigh of relief. Esdese spoke loudest with her actions and her execution of the sadistic father-son pair was about a loud a yes as he could think of. The small group left the hill, leaving the Wache des Kommandaten to burn the building to the ground.

They had all assembled in the council room back at the palace again by dusk. All of the Jaegers were quiet and solemn, heads bowed in individual thought. Esdese sat at one end of the table, her head resting on her steepled fingers, while Alba stood at the other end.

"Ok, love, give us your plan." She stated after several minutes of darkened silence.

"Very well, the gist of it is that I, as a citizen of the Empire, will bring charges of genocide, corruption, and treason against our most esteemed Prime Minister. When the court finds him guilty, he will most likely try to resist somehow. My prediction is that this will escalate into a full-blown civil war, with the Empire itself torn in two." He said. Many of the Jaegers, except Kurome who still seemed indifferent, lifted their heads and widened their eyes. They had been suspecting something, but nothing quite so far reaching. "First, I would like to assemble a quite tribunal of loyal officers to pardon the members of Night Raid, I will need their help in keeping members of the jury and the judge safe from the Prime Minister's cronies as well as garnering support in the lower classes."

"The Jaegers are not sufficient?" Esdese asked.

"No," he said, "I will have other uses for the Jaegers." Esdese nodded her head.

"Very well, it will be done." Alba nodded in turn before turning his head to the side.

"HEY AKAME!" He yelled. Almost before he had finished saying it she had appeared next to him with a gust of wind from an open window. Her gaze fell on Kurome and froze there. Many of the Jaegers were taken aback by her sudden appearance, Wave even knocked his chair over and drew his sword. The only one other than Esdese that didn't show any emotional reaction was Kurome.

"No, you can't have any, Onee-sama." Kurome said, mistaking the target of Akame's gaze for the always-present bag of cookies, which she pulled in closer over the table.

"Hey, Akame," He repeated, snapping his fingers in front of her face in order to get her attention, "take these to Najenda, they outline my plan and your guys' role in it." He said, handing her a thick parchment envelope. Akame nodded and left as quickly and silently as she had come.

"So that's how you escaped form Night Raid." Esdese said. Alba snorted.

"Maybe, but I don't think that plan quite conforms to what Najenda was thinking when she let me go." Esdese nodded again. She wasn't the least bit angry. Her love had once again shown his strength of wit and guile, as well as his honesty and integrity. "Ok, the trial itself will take several months at least, depending on how long the Prime Minister's lawyers want to drag it out. Our priority during this time will be to garner as much support as we possibly can.

Wave, I'll need you to go back east. Meet with all the flag officers you know and trust to try and get the support of the Navy." Wave, who had just sat back down, nodded nervously. "Seryu, the Imperial Guard in the Capital is nearly split in half; those like you, lovers of Justice and the Empire, and those who are as corrupt as the Prime Minister, I need you to gather as many good guys s you can to our cause." Seryu, still recovering from her shocking revelation earlier in the day, nodded firmly. "Bols, Kurome, Run, your jobs will be to protect the jury members, keep the PM off their backs and kept them impartial." Bols and Run both nodded, and Kurome continued to eat her cookies. "Esdese, I know Army Group North is loyal to you, anything else?"

"I have been in command of the Third and Forth Shock Guard Armies as part of Army Group West, and they should still be fairly loyal, but I don't know about the other armies in Army Group West or anything about Army Group South." She said. The three major frontier commands of the Imperial Army would probably provide the bulk of the fighting forces. Army Group Center, stationed in the Imperial Capital, was more of a police force than anything else and would be Seryu's responsibility, and the Imperial Marine Corps would swing whichever way the navy did and would be Wave's responsibility. Alba nodded and continued.

"Well, we can't do much else tonight. I'll file the formal charges in about a week, in the meantime, I want oral reports from all of you on how you want to complete your missions, dismissed." He had attained the air of a commander during the conversation and most of the Jaegers stood up instinctively. Only Kurome looked to Esdese for permission to leave. She nodded and Kurome left as well. Esdese was far from insulted about her love's conduct that evening. In fact, she was quite proud of him. If he was to be her consort, he would need to be a leader, not a follower.

Esdese had fallen asleep with the speed and efficiency of a trained soldier, but Alba still lay awake in bed. It still amazed him when he looked over that such a beautiful woman had taken an interest in him at all. Her pale skin burned with a slight blush and she let out a small murmur from a dream as she slept. He smiled loving as he brushed a small wisp of hair from her face. She had acted cold and calculating for most of the day and Alba had been worried more than once, but her aggressiveness and passion that evening had assuaged his doubts. She rolled over in her sleep and pulled him close, resting her forehead on his. Alba smiled even wider and fell asleep basking in her warmth.

For my German readers, is Wache des Kommandaten a good enough name for a General's Gaurd?

For those better at Japanese, did I get 'Big Sister' right?

Reviews!

What do you guys think now that you know Alba's plan?