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 8
FALLING APART

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

Ei had been on Earth for a few months short of a decade now. Three of the years spent in that time were as a child soldier for the Army of the Devil, George's military group. She had both witnessed and performed acts of great cruelty during her time spent fighting in this war. She saw death wherever she went, be it that of friend or foe. Her only method of coping with all of the horrendous events happening all around her was to not pay attention to them. She didn't want to see any of this, so she simply ignored it as much as she could. Yet there were some feelings she couldn't ignore, no matter how much she wanted to.

Ei was served the same meal today as well, gruel mixed with gunpowder. The same meal she had eaten almost every other day. Though, her body was growing – quite slowly, but still growing nonetheless – and she needed nourishment to sustain herself. She sat down at one of the tables as usual, eating the repulsive sludge that made her head dizzy.

"Come on…!" A young voice whined. "I still haven't eaten enough!" Ei turned to the voice and saw a small blonde boy talking with the server.

Max, one of George's newer adopts. Like her, he was light-skinned, and his parents were killed in the crossfire of the war. He was having difficulties adjusting to life as a child soldier. She couldn't blame him – she was very much like him early on.

"Beat it, kid." The server growled. "You already got your food."

"But I'm still hungry…" Max said, his stomach rumbling. The server simply ignored him, going back to serving food to those who weren't served yet. Ei wanted to give him her own food, but she was just as hungry as he was. She turned back to her own tray, now almost empty. She didn't want to turn a blind eye to Max's suffering, but what could she do?

Ei heard the sound of crinkling to her left and saw an adult soldier taking out a small colored bag. He ripped off one of the bag's corners, reached inside, and pulled out a small handful of tiny colored candies. He put them in his mouth, chewing on the little round snacks. The soldier looked to the man sitting parallel to him and offered him one of the candies. His offer was refused. The soldier playfully waved his hand around, pretending the candy pinched between his fingers was a fly.

Now annoyed, the second man slapped his hand, sending the piece of candy out of his hand, where it landed in Ei's food. They didn't seem to notice. Ei looked at the red, round candy and scooped the piece of gruel it landed in towards her mouth. Biting down and swallowing, she tasted the vile taste of gunpowder and gunk, and something much more palatable.

The candy tasted sweet, like fruit. Ei hadn't eaten something that tasted this good in years. Being deprived of sweetness for so long, it felt almost foreign to experience this kind of taste again. Her mood lifted slightly, and she looked back at Max. He was moping over the lack of food, slowly walking out of the mess hall. Suddenly, Ei began to care more about his predicament. She finished the last of her food and left the table.

Ei walked over to the direction of the mess hall's exit, the same direction the soldier with the candy was sitting in. Currently, he was lecturing the other soldier who slapped his hand about something she didn't care about. He wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. Ei had been taught by George to take every opportunity she could during stealth missions. Even a man who had sat in the same spot for several hours could get up and move at any second. As quickly as she could manage, she swiped the bag of candies from the table, making doubly sure she wasn't noticed.

Success.

Ei proceeded to smuggle the bag into the inside of her jacket, away from the eyes of the adults. Leaving the mess hall, she went to the place she spent the longest: the base's perimeter. George and the other soldiers would often give Ei faraway missions and force her to go through war games with the other child soldiers. The outer perimeter of the camp, however, was the place she most often found herself.

Her job there was to check for any oncoming trespassers, and if she found any, shoot them. That also meant killing fleeing refugees and soldiers looking to surrender. Ei hated having to kill them, but she didn't want to die, either. Arriving at the barricaded outer layer of the base, she looked up to a soldier keeping watch. He looked back at her, handing over an AK to her.

"You know what to do with this, right?" The soldier questioned.

Ei took the rifle and began to feel her heart sink. "How many do you want me to kill…?" She asked, reluctantly.

"Anyone who ain't us." He responded. He walked elsewhere, leaving the task of keeping perimeter to the children. The distant crackling of gunfire left her uneasy. Ei looked around, not for any oncoming enemies, but for Max. She didn't see him in this area. She decided to check another place.

Minutes later, Ei managed to find Max. He was curled up into a ball and sitting with his back against a barricade. It looked as if he was in distress. Ei walked over to him and got his attention.

"Hey…" She whispered to him. Max looked up and saw her.

"Jacqueline…?" Max whimpered. "What are you doing here…?"

Ei unzipped her jacket and reached inside. "I saw how upset you looked when you didn't get any more food, and…" She pulled out the bag of candy. "I want to give this to you."

Max's expression immediately turned from gloomy to happy. He took the bag and reached inside, pulling out some candies and stuffing them into his mouth.

"Hey, slow down." Ei whispered. "You have to savor it or else it'll be gone quickly."

Max slowed down, but only slightly. Ei gave a slight smile, content that she was able to help him feel better.

"What are you doing?"

Ei and Max turned to the voice that called to them. It was Ryan, who had caught the two's conversation.

"Ryan?" Ei asked. "Why are you here?"

"I should be asking you what you just gave Max." Ryan quickly retorted. Max tried to hide the bag of candy from Ryan.

"Ryan, calm down…" Ei pleaded. "It's only a few sweets. Besides, did you even see the way he looked before? He looked depressed."

"We can't just give things like that to him, Jacqueline." Ryan spoke.

"Hey…!" Max chirped. "Why do you have to be so strict to us?"

Ryan took note of Max's question. "Because we're soldiers." He answered. "We're supposed to fight."

"But I don't wanna be a soldier…!" Max whined. "I don't like killing people… It's scary… I just want to go home… I want my old life back…"

Ei turned back to Ryan. "Listen to me…" She began. "Can't you see how much this war is affecting him? If it never happened to begin with, Max wouldn't have to be scared. None of us would have to be. You, me, all of us… we could live a life where we wouldn't have to hurt anyone."

Ryan thought to himself. "I…" He muttered. "I don't know what that's like… Father raised me to be a soldier, and that's all I can remember…"

"Ryan…" Ei said, looking him dead in his eyes. "Do you want to be a soldier…?"

Ryan was completely silent. Ei knew that sometimes when they spoke, Ryan didn't learn much about himself. Would this time be different, or would he remain the same as he was? Ei hoped she was able to help him understand what he truly wanted.

Ryan and Ei were broken out of their trance when they heard Max shriek. An adult soldier had come up to him and punched him hard in the back of the head.

"You think you're pretty sneaky, don't you?" He said angrily. "You thought I wouldn't notice?"

Ei realized, this was the man she stole the candy from. Her heart nearly stopped when she found out what he was doing. He thought Max had stolen his candy, and was beating him because of it.

Max continued to scream as the soldier kept beating him. "STOP! STOP IT!" He cried.

"I'm gonna fucking make you learn not to mess with me…!" The soldier sneered. "Brats like you have to learn your place!"

"WAIT!" Ei shouted. The soldier looked to her. "I stole it."

"Jacqueline…?" Ryan whispered.

"Don't hurt him, please." Ei told the soldier. "It's my fault. Just leave him alone."

The soldier stopped hurting Max. He slowly made his way over to Ei. "I see." He said. "In that case, you're gonna fucking learn your lesson!"

The soldier kicked Ei in the face, knocking her backwards onto her stomach. Shortly thereafter, he started stomping on her back repeatedly, forcing the air out of her lungs. She tasted her own blood in her mouth, dripping from the corner of her lips. Her spine hurt immensely. Her face was pressed into the dirt. All of a sudden, the beating stopped when a shout came from behind.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

Ei recognized that voice. It was George. Tilting her head, she was able to see the face of her adoptive father, although he looked older than usual. His hair was turning slightly gray in some places.

"That is my daughter you are stepping on!" George yelled at the soldier. "Explain yourself!"

"Agent Sears…!" The soldier stammered. "I-I was just… she… I, uhh…" He took the empty bag of candy from Max's huddled body. "Look at this! Your little bitch daughter just stole this from me! You need to put a fucking leash on her, for God's sake!"

The area was silent for a few seconds. George spoke up. "Jacqueline." He demanded. "Is this true?"

Ei breathed in pained gasps. Rolling herself over on her back, she looked up at George and answered. "Yes…" She spoke with difficulty. "Max was… hungry… I wanted to… m-make him happy…"

"There!" The soldier shouted. "You heard it, she's guilty! I'm gonna see to it that she–"

"You're not without blame, either." George scowled. "Jacqueline is one of my finest child soldiers. I will not tolerate you damaging them in any capacity."

"But, she still did something wrong… If you aren't going to…"

"If it ever comes to that…" George interrupted. "I'll take care of it myself. Now come with me. You've got a lot of things to take care of."

George and the other soldier walked off, leaving Ei, Ryan, and Max alone. Max walked off, not wanting any more bad things to happen today.

"Why did you do that…?" Ryan asked. Ei looked up at him from the ground. "You're just getting yourself hurt. Why…?"

Ei coughed a little. "I already told you…" She started speaking. "I've already seen… enough violence in this war. I don't want my friends to get hurt…"

"Friends…?" Ryan hummed. "But Max isn't your friend…"

"It… doesn't matter." Ei responded. "I still think of him as a friend… And you, too, Ryan…"

Ryan stopped speaking altogether. He looked down at Ei's body, lying bruised in the dirt. He then looked down at his own hands.

"Ryan…?" Ei asked.

"I…" Ryan said. "I need some time… Time to think…"

With that, Ryan went away. Ei continued to lie in the dirt, exhausted from the beating given to her.

Hours passed. Night had come around once more. Ei and Max had been excused for the day by George to recuperate from their beatings. The time alone had given Ei time to think. If her seemingly selfless gestures ended up putting those she cared about in harm's way, would she still do them? The fact that Max had been punished for something she did for his sake seemed to give her enough answers. Being selfless would only end up hurting others, herself, or both. She would have to ignore the needs of others, as much as possible. Ei didn't want to do this, but she felt as if there wasn't a choice.

The barking of dogs drew her attention away from her thoughts. Looking over, she saw a group of soldiers holding dogs by a leash. The dogs barked and strained against the leashes, almost like wild animals. Ei walked over and asked a soldier what was going on.

"Is something happening…?" She pondered.

"Shut up, kid." The soldier snapped. "One of your squad mates ran off. So of course, your papa's sending us out to get the worthless bastard back."

A child soldier ran away…? Was it Max? Or Ryan? She let the soldiers pass by, but shortly thereafter began tracking their footsteps into the woods. After they had travelled a short distance, Ei retreated into another direction, towards a more think patch of wilderness. Studying her surroundings, she looked for anything which might give her a clue to find the missing child.

Eventually she located a stick on the ground, snapped in two. Someone was here. Observing closer, she saw the imprint of a boot in the dirt. It was much smaller and less deep than that of an adult, so she determined it was that of a child. She looked in the direction it led, following the tracks. Eventually, she found the person the soldiers were looking for.

It was Ryan, sitting on a fallen tree. His head hung low, as if he was deep in thought. Ei slowly approached, not wanting to scare him.

"Ryan…?" She whispered. He turned around to face Ei. His face looked different – he was showing signs of emotion.

"Jacqueline…" He muttered. "Why did you come here…?"

"I heard you were missing…" She answered. "I wanted to come find you." Ryan didn't speak for a while.

"I'm not going back." He hummed. Ei was confused by what he said. "I'm leaving George behind, for good."

"But…" Ei questioned. "What happened to being a soldier…?"

"I realized, I don't want that. Maybe it's just been so long I've forgotten what it's like not to be one. Do you remember…?"

Ei thought back. She remembered her parents in this world. How much they cared for her, despite their situation. She remembered how much she took their love for granted before they died.

"I do…" Ei answered Ryan. "But that's in the past… Now, we don't have a choice…"

"Jacqueline." Ryan spoke to Ei. "A long time ago, you asked me about what I believed in. You told me you didn't want to see other people get hurt."

"Ryan…?" Ei asked. "What are you saying…?"

"I found something to believe in." Ryan answered. "You, Jacqueline. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I…" Ei tried to speak, but the sound of something quickly approaching let itself be known.

"Come with me, Jacqueline…" Ryan said. "Let's get away from this war, somewhere safe. Some place where we won't have to kill."

"Ryan, I…" Ei began. "I don't know what to do right now…"

"You're saying we don't have a choice. Maybe before, I would have agreed with that. But now, I can see that there is a choice. There is always a choice."

Ei thought about what Ryan just said. However, her thoughts were quickly interrupted. George burst out of the bushes, holding an AK rifle in his hand. He looked over to Ryan with malicious intent.

BGM:

Wolfenstein: The New Order – Deathshead
By Mick Gordon

"TRAITOR!" George yelled. "I should have known it would come to this…!"

Ryan took a few small steps back. Ei was paralyzed with fear.

"George…" Ryan managed to speak. "You…"

"I saved you…" George said with venom in his voice. "Gave you shelter, taught you how to survive, and this is how you repay me? By deserting the man who made you what you are!?"

"I put up with it for so long…" Ryan said softly. "I didn't even realize what I wanted anymore. But I don't want to be part of what you turned me into…!"

"That's enough out of you!" George shouted, raising his AK. Ryan's eyes widened. He began trembling. It looked like he was terrified. "You'd best make your decision, Ryan… and soon…"

"George, please…!" Ei pleaded with George. "You don't have to do this…!"

"Now, now." George said, turning to Ei. "Don't be rude, girl. I'll be with you in a minute."

Ryan looked over to Ei. All of a sudden, he stopped trembling. He stood upright, defiant against the man who raised him to be a killer.

"You think you control me…" Ryan spoke. "But it's not like that. All this time, I thought we were just things you used for your own gain. But that's not who I am – who she is." Ei looked over to Ryan one last time. "You won't control us forever. It's only a matter of time until she breaks free. And I am not afraid of you."

George looked Ryan dead in the eyes. He fully understood what Ryan meant. Finally, he spoke. "Then you will die braver than most."

A single gunshot rang out, and a bullet punched straight through Ryan's skull.

BGM end

Ei watched helplessly as Ryan's now lifeless body fell to the ground, a bloody hole right in the middle of his forehead. The defiant expression on his face was now fading.

"NOOOO!" Ei shouted. She rushed over to his corpse and hugged it tightly. She began to cry. More soldiers approached, attracted by the sound of the gunshot. They viewed the situation that had just occurred.

"George…" One soldier gasped. "You killed a child…?"

"Serves him right." A different soldier said, clearly not caring. "He wasn't cut out for that Sears Program anyway. What a waste of–"

He was cut short by George grabbing him and holding him at knifepoint. The blade was pressed against his neck, slightly cutting into his skin.

"You listen to me, and don't forget this…" George threatened. "I don't want an incident like this to happen ever again, you hear me…!? I want those little bastards to listen when they're spoken to…! No exceptions! And if this ends up happening a second time… they won't be the only ones who get killed off. Understand…?"

The soldier nodded his head and whimpered. Finally, the knife was taken away from his throat, allowing him to breathe. George turned around, looking at Ei cradling Ryan's dead body and sobbing. He took some steps forward.

"Leave him, Jacqueline." George said. "He's dead now."

Ei slowly looked up at George with sorrowful eyes. A deep anger within her began to crawl out of her throat. She then began to speak.

"You're the one who killed him!" Ei shouted, tears pouring from her eyes. "You don't care what happens to us at all! The only thing you care about is yourself! This is all your fault!"

George stared at Ei with a terrifying look. After a minute of silence, he finally spoke back. "That's right…" He began walking over to his daughter. "Don't blame yourself…" George reached Ei's location and knelt down to meet her face to face. "Blame me."

With that, George grabbed Ei by the wrist and dragged her behind him. Struggling to break out, she watched Ryan's body slowly fade from her vision, lost to the forest. She thought about George's words and cried. She didn't want to feel responsible for Ryan's death. She wanted to have George be found guilty of all his wrongdoings.

So desperately did Ei want it to be not her fault.

And that is the end of this chapter. The civil war will probably only last about three more chapters before Ei goes through the next part of her story. Things will be much different after then. Here are the reviews.

KenjiApex: Well, "Violet Demoness" is supposed to be Ei's equivalent of "White Devil," one of Raiden's nicknames during the Liberian Civil War. Also, thanks for the feedback about the cover. The art's already finished, though.

Keep leaving reviews and I'll get to writing more of this fic!

-Azzy Asbourne

Music: watch?v=UX7Wcs8lR30