Rebirth: The Shadow Of Greed

... the rest set up some makeshift tentages and proceeded to take their rest.

Z proceeded directly to a tree in the middle of the camp, he didn't believe in resting in tentages out in the wild, mainly because it's too comfortable for him and he preferred to keep his eye out in case any trouble occurs.

As their surroundings get thrust into darkness, the prowlers quickly took their route on the outside, not making too much noise in case of attracting attention. Walking in circles around the camp area was quite a tedious job, not to mention repetitive and boring, but however boring it was, they were thankful that no problems occurred during their shift.

Soon, it was Z's turn to go on the prowl. Sergeant Scarlett walked over and kicked Z on the leg gently, but in an instant Z already pulled back his leg avoiding the kick and opening his eyes to look at Sergeant Scarlett.

"Hey, it's our turn now, let's go." Scarlett told Z before turning her back and walking out towards the exterior of the camp.

Z reluctantly got up and followed behind her. On their way out, they passed by Lieutenant Raff who was already waiting at the sentry location taking a puff from his cigar.

"Take care and be careful, if you do spot any danger..."

Lieutenant Raff stopped his speech midway, shook his head and took out a dagger to pass to Z.

"If you can't deal with it, run and seek help. I know if it is within your power, your stubborn a.s.s will definitely go for it, so might as well be armed."

Z smiled and nodded, he was already liking this Lieutenant, not only was he sharp and had keen eyesight, he knew the characters of his subordinates and extended his trust to them.

Z and Scarlett started walking along the path. The night was silent, the air was still, the only sound they could hear was crickets chirping in the background.

"You... Why did you give me the credit? Why did you treat me like this even though I've treated you like trash."

Scarlett suddenly broke the silence and spoke to Z, turning towards him and eagerly waiting for his reply.

"I just felt like it, besides, I don't want to stand out, it would cause too many problems for me. If you have someone standing out too much in a team, the team's performance will suffer. Do you understand the logic?"

Z spoke calmly, replying her with his logic.

"But... It's a good thing! Doesn't everyone want stronger teammates? Isn't strength everything in a team?"

Scarlett asked again, this time her pitch slightly higher, as she spoke with a bit of anger.

"The first time, I led my team out, I thought it was fine to have weaker and stronger members in the team, I thought even though there was a difference in strength, everything would be fine. But the weaker members just fled when the going was tough, it led to the death of my comrades and the failure of the mission, sure they got punished after, but if I just had stronger teammates! If they just had stood their grounds and defended with their lives, we could have at least accomplished the mission. Isn't that all that matters for us, we put our lives on the line so we can accomplish our missions?"

Z stopped in his track, the conversation he was having struck a chord with him, he started to have a flashback to the time he was in the resistance.

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"Look Z, I let you be a leader of your own squad because I thought you were ready. It seems like the training you went through at the incubator affected you more than I thought."

X berated Z in her tent somewhere in the Resistance HQ.

"It was a successful mission, We managed to secure the package and destroy a hidden lab! What more do you want from me?"

Z spoke back articulating every word.

"You did accomplish the mission, but at what cost? Half your team was injured in the fight, most of them injured by you, some of them still tremble at your name."

X shook her head as she looked out of the window to the group of people lying on stretchers receiving medical care. She used her fingers to massage her temples, Z's mindset was completely different from her mindset, it was a destructive mindset that came from training between life and death.

Zero took a defensive stance as he defended himself. "They were liabilities, they were soldiers who refused to take orders. How can they be good soldiers and fight if they are unwilling to kill? Their hesitation would have cost us the mission! They have to be punished. So what if we lose a couple of weaklings?"

'Slap', X slapped Z across the face hard, forcing Z's head to turn away before turning back at X. X was teary-eyed, as she stared at Z right in his eyes.

"Z, every life is important, we can't just throw anyone away. They are still new recruits, they need time to get their thoughts together. Imagine if one of them gets killed because of your recklessness. You may have succeeded in your mission, but at what cost? Are you going to tell their families that they died because of you? What makes us so different from the council then? What makes us different from those who use the lives of others as their pawns?"

Z stood there, his eyes softened. He had just had an epiphany, he had always done things his way because back when he was with the incubator, every death was a statistic, he didn't really care whose family was at stake or how much they had to lose, he just needed to get the mission over and done with.

But now, being put into perspective, Z finally understood, if someone came to tell them about his children's death came to be because of a commander's recklessness, he would go all out to take the commander down to hell to apologise to his kid.

X and walked over to Z, holding him in her embrace. "The only battle worth fighting for, is the one that everyone lives to fight another day. "

"Whatever, you've gone through is in the past, when you are here, you have people to rely on, you have friends, what's more, you have people you want to protect. Go easy on your team, they will learn eventually."

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Z looked at Scarlett and started to feel sadness well up in his heart. She was going down a path that he had followed long ago, he was determined to see her change her path.