[LightDragonman]

Okay, now for the downtime. Expect these to be several shorter posts.

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"Glad to see you're back safe!" Inuzuka said to Haruto, who was currently having his head in a pseudo-chokehold by Raizo.

"Seriously Aniki! For you to manage to sneak in to a Dorssian Walkit, bring Saki back, AND save the day?! That's the mark of a true man if I've ever seen one!"

Haruto could only chuckle awkwardly at the praise he was getting from the two. He obviously had more pressing matters at hand, given the data he had scavenged from the Walkit carrier. That, and he had to check up on Shouko.

"...Shouko" he thought, his smile fading as he remembered what they last said to each other, "Do you still hate me?"

Inuzuka saw the look on Haruto's face, and instantly knew what he was thinking. Asking Raizo to let off the head hold, he placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Don't worry Haruto. Remember, I've got your back when it comes to your meeting with her! And let me tell you, Shouko's in a much better mood now than when you last saw her."

".....Thanks Inuzuka." Haruto replied gratefully. "I'm just still so nervous when it comes to her. After everything that I've done to her, will she even still accept me?"

"I can't answer that" Inuzuka admitted. "Just don't say anything you'd regret. Remember, our next battle could be our last."

"Don't sweat it Aniki!" Raizo added. "With all us five pilots back together now, those Dorssian bastards won't know what hit them!"

Haruto smiled. At least the fact that, now with Saki rescued, the five of them could work together as a team again. That alone gave him a boost of confidence in their capabilities, and no longer having to worry about if one of them was alright also helped his mental state.

Just then, Satomi entered the main deck. "Sorry Haruto, but L-Elf wants to see all of you pilots in the command room. He's placing that one-eyed Dorssian turncoat under a trial, and wants you all to be present for it."

Haruto nodded. "Looks like I'll have to wait until after this to catch up with Shouko."


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"I-I'm happy to see you're alright" Akira said to Saki, holding the latter's arm in hers, the two meeting with Professor Kibukawa.

"Hey, the star always arrives in the nick of time, right?" Saki replied, giving her a warm smile.

"It's good to see you back Rukino Saki" Kibukawa said. "I hope nothing horrific happened to you while you were in captivity. After all, we all saw you get impaled on live television."

"Oh don't worry about me" she said, waving her hand dismissively. "I've been through far worse."

"Are you sure?" he asked, noting how strained her grin had become once he brought up her capture.

"Again, you don't need to ask me if I'm okay" she quickly replied. "Honestly, I'm more concerned about Haruto."

"About Haruto" Kibukawa responded "Given that he uses up more Runes than the rest of you pilots, as he's the source of the other Valvraves, he'll have to feed again very soon, else he'll end up like Marie."

"Is that so?" Saki asked, her expression immediately shifting into worry.

"When has he last fed?"

"Only when he temporarily hijacked one guard when he was looking for me. I take it that's not enough?"

He shook his head. "Haruto can't rely on just one person's Runes to fulfill his needed quota. Honestly, I'm not even sure if even feeding on L-Elf would be enough. The fact that he's managed to stay functional for so long without a major Rune intake is impressive."

Saki clenched her fist. "Why Haruto? Why can't you just let me help you? Do you want to suffer? That's not selfless at all!"

Before she could dwell on it any longer though, Rion entered the room.

"Sorry for interrupting, but L-Elf just told me to retrieve you Saki. He wants you to stand as witness during the trial for that Dorssian agent who captured you."

"A-Drei?" Truth be told, she could care less about what happened to him, but she had little say in this matter. "Very well, I'll be right there."

"Hopefully, I can catch up with Haruto afterwards" she thought. "He needs to know that he can't keep on doing what he's doing.

Rion looked at the other pilot in the room. "Don't worry about coming to the trial Akira-chan. L-Elf said you aren't needed."

Akira nodded, before heading back to her Valvrave, while Saki made for the head command center where the trial was to take place.

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"So what do you have to say for yourself A-Drei?" L-Elf asked his former friend with a steely glare.

A-Drei was currently standing in the middle of the main control deck, with L-Elf, Shouko, the Valvrave pilots, Satomi, Takahi, and Lt. Joseph Sheridan in the front, and all around him, the surviving students and ex-ARUS soldiers bearing witness. With the arguable exception of Haruto and Shouko, every occupant in the room was eyeing him with contempt and veiled fury.

"...Look, I know what I have to say probably means little to you or anyone else in this room" A-Drei began, "but please, I am not here to sell any of you out or to spy on you. My intentions are indeed to defect to your side."

"And why should we trust any word that comes out of your mouth you Dorssian bastard?!" Raizo roared. "Given that it was your initial invasion that cost me the death of my friend!"

"Then what does that say about your allegiance to L-Elf?" A-Drei asked. "He was part of the same squad as I when that happened."

"At least he let me take revenge on the others."

"Indeed, I don't think you have any right to be here with us" Inuzuka added coldly. "Thanks to both you and your colleagues, I too lost someone right in front of my eyes, and said victim was.....someone I loved very much."

"Aina Sakurai" Saki added. "She was the first casualty in this war against Dorssia, and one of the few I called my friend back then."

"I loved her you know" Inuzuka said, trying to hold back his tears. "And you took her away forever."

"I deeply regret your loss" A-Drei replied. "But just know that we were at war. I did what any soldier would've done. Besides, it was my ally Q-Vier that caused her death, not me. That man has never been sane when it comes to war."

"Then you should've known better than to allow him to accompany you." Inuzuka spat. "And how is causing the death of innocents something a soldier does in a war?"

"You think the many soldiers you've taken out don't have friends or family?"

"No, but they were trying to kill us, and weren't a non-combatant!"

"Getting back on topic" L-Elf spoke, "Why is it that you are here? After all, I'm surprised you'd want to be with the man who shot out your eye, regardless if it wasn't me."

A-Drei straightened his posture. "As of now, my beloved homeland is currently being taken over by monsters in secret. And so, I wish to assist you in your mission. You're still planning to revolutionize the country after all."

"Yeah, I was" L-Elf responded "so I could create someplace for Lieselotte to live in peace. And now she's dead."

"I know about her death, and I'm sorry to hear it."

"Of course you are. But you think that's going to cut it?!" L-Elf snapped. "So many plans I went over, and yet all of them failed. You know why? Because I was short one Valvrave pilot!"

"Are you referring to Rukino Saki?" A-Drei asked, shifting his gaze to the girl in question.

"Your capture of her led to Lieselotte having to sacrifice herself just for the rest of us to return safely, as we lacked the support needed. Do you know how painful it was to see her die right in front of my eyes, after so many years of trying to save her?!"

"It was probably as painful as getting stabbed through the back" Saki commented, earning an aghast look from A-Drei.

"Please my friend, I had to ask her questions about you, as I still wasn't sure if you were on my side or not."

"And yet you didn't just ask her right there and then. Instead, you decided to capture her and deliver her to Cain and the rest of Dorssia. How do you defend yourself?"

".....I was just following orders as a soldier" A-Drei defended. "You know we are to bring anyone who may provide us an edge over our opponents. Why shouldn't I capture a pilot of one of my country's biggest threats?"

"So that's your reasoning. You were being a good soldier to the country you said had lost its way. You sure served them well, even at the cost of its princess."

"Is torture a part of your etiquette as well?" Saki growled. "You had to wait until after I went through such horrendous practices before you could ask me anything."

"Pilot Rukino Saki, I told you that the torture of prisoners is against the Dorssian Code Of Conduct! I had no idea that they were going to use you as a lab rat!"

"Yet you should've had some inkling of an idea when you saw me in that body bag, and later as I was impaled by your former captain." she hissed.

"...I was unaware that my commander was going to do that."

"And yet you made no attempts to stop him or my further torture aside from when it was already being done to me."

"Let's not forget what that led to" Lt. Sheridan brought up. "Because of that display, Dorssia and ARUS were given the go-ahead to wipe out every single inhabitant of Module 77, including myself and my men, who refused to go through with the atrocity. We lost a lot of good people, both civilian and soldier."

"None of which would've happened had you not captured Rukino Saki!" Satomi yelled. "So many of my friends dead....all because of YOU!"

"How can you possibly try to defend yourself?!" Takahi added "Their blood is on your hands!"

Indeed, many of the witnesses to the trial, student and Ex-ARUS alike, were beginning to yell and curse the former Karlstein graduate.

"You murderer!"

"Throw him out the airlock!"

"My friends are dead because of you!"

"Some soldier you are!"

"Dorssian scum!"

A-Drei could only close his eyes in resignation and sorrow. Here it was. Absolute proof that all he had done had only brought misery and death to innocents, when all he had wanted to do from the beginning was reform his home country into something where they were protected and served.

Eventually, Shouko and L-Elf managed to calm down the crowd, allowing A-Drei to speak once again.

"....I know what I did." he said, his voice filled with remorse. "Had I known what Cain and Amadeus were about to do, and had I known that they were going to hire Taurus Company, I would've never have captured and delivered Rukino Saki to them. All I can say is that I regret my actions in enabling such an atrocity."

"You think that's going to cut it?!" Raizo roared.

".....No, it won't. I can't take back the lives that were lost, nor can I bring back Lieselotte. Just know that I am truly sorry for everything, and that I can only do my best to make it up to all of you."

"And how do you expect to do that?" L-Elf asked.

"Our missions have realigned once again L-Elf" A-Drei said. "You seek to eliminate Cain and all related parties am I correct?"

L-Elf nodded.

"Then let me at least join you in this undertaking. We both know just how strong and capable our former commander is. You'll need every bit of help you can take."

"L-Elf, if I may," Haruto said, "A-Drei here did ultimately help my and Rukino-san escape from the Walkit when he could've just taken us both prisoner again. He has my support."

"I'm with Haruto as well" Saki added.

L-Elf pondered a bit, wondering what he should sort of judgement he should pass on his former friend. He'd be lying if he said that he didn't still hold him in contempt, given what happened to Lieselotte. Yet he did need support should the plan he and Shouko were working on were to succeed, and A-Drei rivaled him in terms of physical and mental prowess.

Feeling a reassuring grip on his hand, he looked over to see Shouko giving him a reassuring look.

"Don't let past mistakes dictate your decision Mikhail" her eyes seemed to say.

With that, L-Elf came to his decision.

".....Very well A-Drei. You are allowed to live and serve New-Jior. However, you are to be confined to one of the storage sections of this ship until we have further need of you."

"Thank you L-Elf." A-Drei said with a bow. "I'll do my best to serve you and the members of New-Jior with whatever plan you have."

With that, the court was adjourned.


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Will probably edit this a bit more.

Honestly, I think A-Drei got off way too easily in the show. His capture of Saki is what led to not only her torture and execution, but also the secret getting out, leading to the massacre. And heck, if Saki was still with the others, I bet the rescue of Lieselotte would've gone much smoother. So to see him be easily forgiven and even be welcomed by the other survivors in the epilogue was rather jarring.

So this is me giving him some much needed consequences.

Thoughts?