DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Metal Gear is created by Hideo Kojima and owned by Konami. Genshin Impact is owned by miHoYo.

METAL GEAR SHOGUN

Episode 3
FIRST BLOOD

/-\ Army of the Devil Base Camp /-\

Ei hardly slept at all last night. The constant cracking of gunshots in the distance made it hard to concentrate on getting any rest. And the cold nights were a stark contrast to the heat of day – harsh opposites where neither was preferable, as both were too extreme to bear most of the time. It didn't help that the only thing warming her was a flimsy blanket. She would've slept next to one of the fires around the base for more warmth, but she suspected none of the soldiers would let her.

She heard footsteps coming closer, before tiredly opening her eyes and seeing George approaching.

"Time to wake up, kids." He said, talking to Ei and the other African children sleeping. She was told by George that she would be fighting alongside them as a child soldier. Ei knew that some people in Teyvat who received Visions were somewhat on the younger side, but as far as she knew, they were never forced to fight in wars as soldiers. She saw George's actions as sickening but could do nothing to go against him.

The other child soldiers began to stir, waking up themselves. They all stood up and looked at George, and Ei tried to do the same.

"As you know, somebody new is sleeping with you now." George informed the children. "This is Jacqueline, my daughter, and the newest member of the Small Boys' Unit. She is your comrade in arms, and your family." The child soldiers looked at Ei with varied looks. Confusion, anxiousness, curiosity… some didn't even show any emotions looking at her. "Jacqueline," George called. "Follow them around and they'll show you the ropes. I'll call for you if I need you."

With that, George left the child soldiers. The oldest of them, a dark-skinned ten-year-old, began to lead the others. Ei followed him in the crowd of sixteen. They marched through the base camp, drawing the adults' attention. Eventually, they arrived at a large tent and entered.

Inside were several long tables and a countertop with a man behind. There were crates behind him and trays and utensils resting on the countertop. Adults sat at the tables, eating off of trays. One by one, the children walked up to the countertop, and were handed a tray with something on it. Eventually, it was Ei's turn to be served.

The man behind the countertop took a small can out of one of the boxes and opened it. But instead of handing it over to her, took a spoon and mixed a black powder into the cream inside the can. He then removed a small portion of the mushy slop and put it on a tray for her. Ei took the tray and sat down at one of the tables.

The children were sitting down at tables without grown-ups, eating what little portions of food they were given. Ei looked at her tray and decided she should eat what she was given. Reluctantly, she scooped a small bit of the cream up in a utensil and placed it into her mouth. She reflexively gagged on the disgusting mixture. Ei knew she was not skilled when it came to cooking, but she suspected that even she would be able to make something better than this.

Ei turned to the boy sitting next to her. "Don't we get any more than this?" She asked. The boy didn't answer. He scraped the little remains of his meal off his tray and ate them, either ignoring her question or showing her that this was all they got. Nervously looking down at the pile of slop on her tray, she tried to choke down the repugnant meal, as she wouldn't be getting any more right now.

Ei finished after everyone else, trying to hold in vomit. Not only was the taste horrible, but it made her delirious. Maybe the powder that man mixed in was the cause of it, or maybe it was just terrible to begin with. Either way, she felt better about her own sub-par cooking.

She stood up and followed the children out of the tent. From there, they split up, a majority walking towards the barricade surrounding the base camp. She followed them, eventually arriving at the edge of the perimeter. Adult soldiers were stationed there, guns in hand. They handed down some guns to the child soldiers, who asked, "How many do I kill?" For each one who took up arms and asked the question, the adult soldiers nodded.

One African boy refused to take a gun or ask the soldier that question. The adult looked displeased. "What are you supposed to say, brat?" He barked at the child. He refused to answer. "Well?" Still no response. Eventually, he grew tired of the boy's defiance and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him behind a tent. Another adult soldier looked down at Ei, studying her face. "And who're you, girlie?" He taunted.

"Another one of George's 'children.'" Another soldier answered. "Came in yesterday, she's the only girl in his unit."

"You mean that Small Boy Unit?" The first soldier asked. "Why the hell's she in there? It literally has 'boy' in its name."

"If you're so confused, take it up with George. He's the one who made it."

"No can do. Those Americans are only interested in Liberia for their own selfish ends, and that CIA bastard is no exception."

Suddenly, Ei heard a gunshot behind the tent the first soldier dragged the child behind. She shuddered at the thought of what would happen to her if she objected.

"Ah, shit." One of the soldiers said, seemingly unbothered. "Welp, there goes another one."

Ei was horrified at the turn of events. To think that they would go so far as to kill children, let alone write it off as something so inconsequential… She saw the soldier from before who took the child behind the tent come back. The other two soldiers noticed and walked off. The soldier picked up a gun and showed it to Ei. "You know what to do with this, don't you?" He said ominously.

Ei hesitated. She didn't want to do this, but she didn't want to die either. "I…" She stammered. "I… kill…?"

A creepy grin grew on the man's face. "That's right." He whispered. "Since you're new to all this, I'll show you how it works." He placed the gun in her hands.

"We call this thing an AK." He continued. He grabbed Ei's hands and positioned them on the gun's grip and muzzle. "That trigger by your right hand makes the gun shoot. And when you shoot someone, they die. So shoot anyone that comes close."

Suddenly, a crackly sound rang from a device on the soldier's waist. He grabbed it and spoke into it. "This is Jim, what's the situation?"

[This is George Sears.] George's voice came from the device. [Is Jacqueline there with you?]

"You mean this girl with the purple hair?" The soldier named Jim asked. "Yeah, she's here. Whaddaya want with her?"

[I have an assignment for her. Send her to my quarters immediately.]

"Understood, Agent Sears." The crackling from the device stopped and Jim put it back on his waist. "Looks like you're going on a little field trip. Here, I'll take you back to daddy." He grabbed Ei by the hand and took her through the camp once more. She was led back to the tent she was first put in when she arrived.

Inside, George was sitting at a desk, smoking a cigar. He quickly put it out and turned to the two.

"Thank you, Jim." George addressed the soldier one last time. "You may leave now." With that, Jim left the tent. "Jacqueline, take a seat." George said, gesturing to a chair in front of his desk. Ei climbed onto the dirty chair and looked up at her adoptive father.

"W-what do you want…?" Ei whispered.

"I have a job for you, Jackie girl." George answered. "Since it's your first day as part of my army, I'll give you something relatively easy. Your job is to eliminate this man." George placed a picture of a dark-skinned man in a red military cap on the desk and slid it over to Ei. She took the picture and studied it.

Ei was confused as to why she had to do this. "Why…?" She asked.

"Because this is war, Jacqueline." George responded. "We're on one side, and he is on the other. Either we kill them, or they kill us. And I'm sure you don't want to be killed." Ei paused, silently acknowledging his statement. George handed a map to her along with a compass. Two spots were marked on the map with an "X." Presumably point A and point B. "You still have your knife, don't you?"

Ei shivered and took the knife out of its sheath. Some of the blood from the captive soldier was dried on the blade, and it began to smell. "Good…" George smiled. "Fight like a warrior, and hide like a shadow. Do not hesitate to kill them, Jacqueline, because they won't hesitate to kill you. Let them know why I called you 'Ripper.'"

Ei shuddered for a moment, but nodded. She took the map and compass, before leaving the tent. She studied the map, making her way northwest out of the camp.

Ei had been walking for several hours now. Her legs were on the verge of giving out, and she was sweating due to the heat of the sun. She was also very thirsty, not having been given any kind of drink since she woke up. Walking along the plains, she looked back at the map George had given her. Turning it so her compass lined up with the north direction on the map, she presumed she must be getting close to her objective.

Hearing voices, she tried to hide in some tall grass to conceal herself. The voices drew closer.

"But we're the good guys, right?" One voice said. "We're supposed to be liberating this nation from its oppressors, aren't we?"

"If you say so." Another said. "The only thing I care about here is the resources. Lots of valuables here, for each of us."

"But how can you only care about the money?" The first voice asked. "There are hundreds of people dying in this country, if not thousands!"

"Yeah, and it's both sides doing the killing. It doesn't matter to me which side I fight for, they're all equally horrible."

Ei saw the two soldiers walking by. Both of them were African, one slightly fatter than the other. The fat one took a drink out of a flask on his hip.

"Besides," he continued. "History is written by the winners. If it makes you feel any better, you'll be one of the good guys if you win the war."

"That's not the point." The thinner soldier said. "I joined this movement because my wife was persecuted by the state. I hoped I could fight to help bring freedom, not slaughter my neighbors!"

"Quick life lesson: in war, you're not any better than the bad guys. You're a monster to them, just like they're monsters to you."

One of the soldiers got dangerously close, accidentally stepping on Ei's hand. She tried her best to hold in the pain, as to not alert the soldiers, but the sound of the paper map was enough of a noise to draw their attention. The thinner soldier reached to Ei's hiding place, grabbing her by the wrists and lifting her up.

"What the hell?" He said. "There's a kid here?" Ei struggled in his arms, tired, but still trying to break out of his grip.

"Huh?" The fat soldier turned to see her. "Oh, a girl. Probably one of those kid soldiers in one of those enemy factions."

"My God…" The thin soldier whispered. "There are children fighting in this war, too?!"

"Ah, it doesn't matter. If she's an enemy, we'll deal with her."

"Let me go!" Ei shouted, trying to kick away from the soldier restraining her.

"What?! We're not gonna kill her!" The thin soldier shouted at his partner.

"Not yet, we aren't." The fat one replied. "First, I'm gonna have my way with her." Ei didn't like the things he was saying.

"You're fucking disgusting, you know that?" The thin soldier said. "She's just a child, for God's sake!"

"I don't care if she is, I'm still gonna take her back to my place. And there, I'm gonna have a good time with her."

Ei struggled harder to at least get one arm free. The things the fat soldier was saying were sickening. She eventually kicked the man restraining her in one of his delicate areas, which made him let go of her left arm.

"Fuck!" He shouted. "Quit squirming, kid!"

But his words fell on deaf ears. In a mix of adrenaline and panic, Ei grabbed the knife George had given her and stuck it in the soldier's side, prompting him to drop her and put his hands on his bleeding wound. The fat soldier took notice and looked over to the commotion, only for him to be stabbed in his pudgy belly multiple times before he fell down. Ei then proceeded to slice the man's throat, a gurgling whimper escaping his quickly dying body.

"You fucking…!" The thin soldier cried out, taking a rifle off his back. He tried to aim at the girl who had stabbed him and killed his partner, but the pain left him debilitated. His shots missed their target entirely, and the girl rushed at him before jabbing her knife in his skull, silencing his pained cries.

The combat high quickly wore off, and Ei was left alone in the wake of the soldiers' deaths. She slowly removed the knife from the skull of the man she had just killed, and his blood spilled onto her hands and clothes, covering them with the fresh stench of death. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. These were the first people she had killed in this world, and it was when she was only a child. A horrible fear began to form in her mind, and even more frighteningly, the thought that she enjoyed killing them.

Ei tried to dismiss the thoughts in her head and quickly walked over to the corpse of the fat soldier. She took the flask off his hip and drank from it. Horribly parched, even the warm water in the canteen was enough to sate her thirst. She decided to keep it for the time being, putting one of its straps over her shoulder. She picked up the crumpled map and compass and continued marching to her destination, leaving the two bodies to rot.

And that's the end of this chapter. I actually wanted it to be a little longer, but then decided to split it into two parts, which might be a better decision. There will obviously be horrible things portrayed in this fic, as it is depicting an African Civil War, and those usually aren't the most comforting topics, even among those who are familiar with mature topics. Fortunately, the part of the fic set after the civil war will be much less disturbing, but that's still a while away. Anyways, thanks once more for reading, and any ideas and suggestions for this fic are welcome.

-Azzy Asbourne