Redemption in a war

Chapter 18: More Loss

Vultus was standing at one of the big monitors in the control room, typing away at a report in silence except for the clicking of the keyboard and shuffling of some soldiers.

Ever since he was promoted to SIC, everything became worse. He had so many reports and duties, while also upholding the ones of being a spy and TIC as no one else was qualified to take such position.

This put a lot of stress on Vultus and obviously it was hard to keep up and so he told Tronix about his troubles.

But he didn't care. He didn't listen. Just brushed him off.

It wouldn't seem like much of an offense to anyone else, but this was about Vultus, the best equivalent of a best friend Tronix had, his best and longest supporter, so obviously this kind of hurt Vultus..

Why would Tronix be like that? What had happened? When had it happened?

...was he always like this?

No!

No.

He wasn't.

It must be some outside force. Something happened to him that made his dear leader kill one of his own.

Vultus looked back in time to try and see where things might've been the cause of his leaders change, ignoring his report.

The first thing that comes up is..

The government.

Before the war, Tronix was already in gangs and committing crimes in order to survive, but he always stayed noble, non-judgmental, open and kind.

But as the government and rich got worse with hoarding resources, Tronix became angrier, more irritated, more violent, and more pushy about getting back what belongs to them.

But he was still helpful and still for equality and freedom. He still wanted a better society. He just became...more forceful, and they needed to be, otherwise nothing would've changed!

The next thing was..

Nexus.

Nexus actually made Tronix happy, since he definitely was not only a good soldier but also a good boyfriend who definitely kept Tronix mentally afloat.

But was he always loyal?

Not relationship wise but faction wise.

Was he loyal to the cause?

As a spy and glorified security camera, Vultus of course noticed how often Nexus stayed behind after battle and chalked it up to 'finishing off remaining Defenders', which Tronix believed and even praised.

But over time, Vultus became suspicious of Nexus' dedication to the cause as he would show mercy to many Defenders over the 4 years of war.

Vultus never said anything since Nexus was still a good fighter and kept working for them.

When their army grew and even expanded outside of Germany, spreading justice around the world, Tronix seemed to want..more?

More materials, more resources, more people, more justice...

More power.

It dawned on Vultus. That's why his leader became more forceful and violent, planning more raids and more drastic measures to reqruit people.

Didn't Tronix at some point recruit people by threatening to kill their family? Vultus was with him and never cared.

Now it felt...wrong?

Well, he is pretty sure that forcing someone to join your faction definitely isn't the best way to recruit someone.

But he couldn't have said anything against it anyway because Tronix would've probably punished him for insubordination even though Vultus also acted as a sort of consultant and therefore should be listened to.