Yule sat at his desk and stared at the man across from him. It wasn't an uncommon request asked of him, but this particular Terran was a bit different. This man had a bit of a dark reputation on both sides of this war, and he was hesitant to let him roam free. So Yule decided to humor his request to see if the man was trying to escape or sincere in his desire to leave via the best way he knew how, intimidation.

After enough time had passed to try and make the man nervous, Yule finally spoke. "Now, why should I let you roam free?"

The response was calmer than Yule had hoped, he would have to dial up the pressure to get under this man's skin. "Because Yule, I have fought and bled on both sides of this fucking war. I want out."

Yule tapped his fingers on his desk. "That is the problem. From what the other Terran's told me, you were a mercenary for hire. That makes me doubt your claims."

The man shrugs, "I didn't work for the Fae if that is what you are getting at. They burned my town to the ground because they didn't bend the knee. The only reason why I survived the purges was because I was training in a forest, in hopes of crossing the Veil one day and being like you guys."

Yule snorted. "Please spare me that nonsense, anyone could join up back then. I had folks with beer guts and twig arms going in, they've since gotten in shape, but we weren't exactly the picture-perfect volunteers."

The man waves it off, "Not exactly true, they implemented some standards after your run-in with the local wildlife."

"Even if that was all true, how does that affect your mercenary work?"

"Simply put, Yule, I knew they would get me if I stayed in one place too long. So I kept moving, took any job I was offered to hurt those fuckers and stay alive, thankfully the aforementioned training helped me avoid them. The only reason why I had taken the deal was because that one little fucking shit with those magic knives got creative on me."

Yule shudders as he remembers his time with that particular fae.

"So you signed under duress, is what you are claiming."

????: The man looked annoyed, "Fancy way of saying, sign, or I'll let you bleed out on the floor, but sure, let's go with that."

Yule: "And under their tenure, you managed to kill over twenty Auxiliaries and destroyed two Jagdbrams before being captured. You can imagine why I am not too keen to let you go free."

????: "Never said I was proud of it, and those hallucinations were fucking wild. I pretty much thought I was in one of those alien horror games before the Fae attacked, and ultimately it doesn't matter if you don't want me to go free Yule, I won't fight anymore."

Yule looks over his papers on the man and then back to him. "Right. You spent most of your rehab working in the armory. After the Auxiliaries were caught getting 'even' on you for what you did to their comrades, the Gruesome told me you didn't fight back."

????: "No point, they were green, hurt, and stupid like I used to be. I know you guys would sort them out, and even if I wanted to tear them apart, you would tear me apart in kind."

Yule inwardly sighs at the man's naivety. "You should have told us sooner that there were issues between you and the Auxiliaries, there was no need for you to be hospitalized for this."

????: "I beg to differ Yule, I know how revenge works, and so do you. Break up the fight, and you have resentment. The resentment will create the idea that Terran's look-out for each other and will always give them preferential treatment over them." The man shakes his head as he finishes.

"That is not how that works, all the Veil folk KNOW that every Terran we rescue benefits them and the Veil." Yule growls, dialing up the pressure to drive his point home.

????: The man sweats but stays firm and throws back, "And yet people lose friends and will hate. I figured they wouldn't kill me, so I took the beating."

Yule exasperated slams his fist on his desk and glares at the man to try and get him to understand, "And instead, now I have people thinking I let my men lynch people they don't like." Yule said with an exhausted sigh. He had spent weeks trying to deal with the fallout of that incident, especially with Rommel and the other Terran's who were now concerned about the well-being of the other Terran's they rescued from the contracts.

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The man shrinks a little but still manages to shrug. "I thought I made the right choice at the time."

Yule glares at the man and growls. "Damn it, James, this is one of the reasons why I don't want to approve of this. You already proved you can't make smart decisions on your own!"

James prickled at Yule, calling him by his name, his face flushed with anger, he threw back. "That is bullshit and you know it! I spent years living on my own, surviving the hell the Fae unleashed on us cause YOU fucking plugged one of their bastards! The ONLY mistake I made was taking that one fucking job that got me caught and dragged into fucking Candy land to be lectured by the bastard that declared war on the fucking Illuminati on behalf of humanity and got us all nuked for it!"

Yule sits back in his chair, unfazed, he has heard this song and dance before from the others. He simply chuckled, "Well, it looks like you can speak your mind finally."

James, realizing what he did, flushes with embarrassment, and Yule continues. "Given your record and skills, I would rather forward you to the Lone Wanderers or Rommel's people rather than cut you loose. We need every able-bodied trooper out there protecting the locals from the hell we brought with us."

"With all due respect, Yule, I would rather die than go back out there just to either end up a meal for the fucking harpies or worse get recaptured by the fae. Those things aren't people, I don't even think they are sentient."

Yule raises an eyebrow and snorts at that, "Really? Racism against the fae? I know we want them dead, but that is a bit low."

James shakes his head, "Rommel and her people and the ones that broke off seem decent. But the ones on Earth and the older fae that you fight, I don't think they are like you and I or even like Rommel. They have no issues in how they treat others, they commit terrible acts of barbarism on anyone not them without any thought to the morality of the situation, all at the behest of a queen that seems hell-bent on using us as a stepping stone to enslave a world of people that already kicked her ass out once."

"After watching how they act, they seem more like ants following the orders of their Queen, often bred or molded to do a job, incapable of seeing the larger picture of cause and effect. It's unsettling, even the Germans and Russians questioned if what they were doing was right, every time I listened to their men talk, it was always about their superiority or what amounted to their manifest destiny. They acted like we were just animals, despite it was us that made the weapons and technology they are using to attack this world with." James finishes his explanation, shuddering as he remembers the horrors the fae inflicted on the people of Earth.

Yule leans back and ponders this, as he had not considered this line of thought before. He had always assumed that the Fae were just people who were insane or megalomaniacs, he knew the queen had a certain hold over the others, but it was always portrayed as a forced control by the Drakonics. He would have to discuss this with Rommel at a later time.

"So you refuse to continue helping us take down the fae?"

"That is correct, sir."

"If I don't just throw your ass in the brig, what would you even do? Everyone knows you as the Grimm, the Fae made damned sure everyone knew who you were after they found out you were captured after that battle."

"I want to own a store of my own."

Yule looked surprised. "You what?"

"I want to run my own store, I have some ideas, but ultimately, I want to help the locals without having to kill anymore."

"Even if you managed to get all that setup, you can not sell Veil Rider equipment or any firearms." Yule sighed in exhaustion.

 "Why the hell not?" Demanded James, angered by the thought he was being denied a product guaranteed to sell.

"Because I don't want the fae to get our equipment, and it takes away from their ability to supply our regular forces."

"That is bullshit. The Fae have their own guns, and it will only be a matter of time before they start either looting the fallen on both sides to make up for any shortfalls, or they will start making their own over here. As for taking away from your "production," I planned only doing relatively easier to make firearms like lever actions, bolts, pump actions, and revolvers."

"The answer is no, GRIMM, I will not be responsible for increasing the chances of the fae being able to arm themselves in any manner."

"I have a list of stuff I plan to order on my own to sell. If you let me go ahead and build my store, would you look over the list? Most of this is based on the stuff I sold to the Dwarves to build up my savings for this." James just sighs.

Yules looks thoughtfully at him. "Give me your list, and if the others agree with your discharge, I will consider it."

"Thank you, sir."

"Grimm?"

"Yes sir?"

"Regardless of how this goes, today is the last day you call me, sir. You know I hate that."

Grimm gave a smile that made Yule question if the trooper was sane or not and replied. "Sir, yes, sir!"

Yule couldn't help but chuckle again and pointed at the door. "Get out of my office!"

Grimm left, shutting the door, leaving Yule to think. Something about James seemed off, he had seen it before, but he couldn't place a finger on it. He did know who he could get to help finish his evaluation of the man, but first James would need to show him that he could, in fact, get everything ready for such a venture.

End of Chapter One.