"You human scum, rejoice! The Alliance Council has proclaimed a new law today!" the Master Corporal proclaimed loudly.
"This one forces all those sentenced to death to go and fight on the front lines against the Zerg!
"Violators will be executed directly, so stand your ground and try to do some honor to humanity!"
The master corporal turned and distributed after announcing this.
He was followed by the other soldiers except for one who remained in place.
This one carried two red arrows on his shoulder, followed by another red arrow, but this one was smaller.
"He is a corporal, superior to a private first class but inferior to a master corporal" Indra instinctively analyzed mentally.
"Hello, I am Corporal Ravi as well as the person in charge of those who will be leaving for the front."
"Departure will be tomorrow at 9am where you will be taken to base 339 on Iria, only there will your assignment be made."
"Those who do not have a death sentence can also join us."
"Your treatment will be slightly better and if you get some merits in combat, you will not only be able to serve your sentence, but also find work in the civilian world more easily."
"I also hope that some of you will find some form of redemption there."
"I have now announced the basics. For those of you who have a choice, I will give you an hour to think about it, you can also talk about it among yourselves."
"Once the hour is up I will return to take the death row inmates with me to explain all the modalities as well as give them some survival tips and techniques, whether you have made your choice or not is of little importance to me."
Then Corporal Ravi also left.
All the prisoners had already gathered near the corporal, so the place became extremely noisy all at once.
Meanwhile, Indra looked at the new notification that had gone off a few moments before the corporal arrived.
Ding
[Detected that a status change has been made.]
["Powerful prisoner" changes to "Prison gang leader"]
[Prestige increased by 5]
There wasn't a huge difference between powerful prisoner and prison gang leader, as the former is destined to become one, or at least become the right-hand man of one.
At the same time, Jacob, Ronan, Yann, Kayl and Hatil joined Indra.
Sensing them coming, Indra smiled at them and said:
"My name is Indra, thank you so much for helping me earlier."
"Haha no worries, it's only natural!" replied Jacob with a big smile as the others nodded their heads.
"We are all death row inmates, so seeing the opportunity to get a better status, we had no other choice. So think of it as a mutually beneficial exchange for both parties," Ronan continued in a more serious tone.
"So, the plan would have been for me to protect you in the prison, but now we're going to the battlefield, what's the plan?" asked Indra curiously.
For him, it wasn't that important to have a few men with him, they might even slow him down.
Indra had seen the deaths of over a hundred thousand people in his previous life, so he knew how fragile human life was.
So, although these five people had helped him, he was not ready to easily take them under his wing.
"The only possible program is to die."
This voice did not come from Indra's new allies.
Turning around, Indra saw that it belonged to Landers.
The latter approached, while being accompanied by more than twenty men.
Pyrus and Rikio also approached with a similar number of men.
"Well, I guess Landers is more or less right," said Pyrus calmly without the slightest trace of hostility.
Indra squinted, waiting for an explanation.
Noticing this expression, Rikio explained while laughing:
"Don't look at us like that, we're actually pretty good guys you know?"
"Actually, I think you misunderstand one thing Indra, gang leaders are protectors."
"Protectors?" replied Indra, her curiosity piqued.
"Yes, most of the prisoners here have been victims of the children of high ranking military officers, and if you are not sentenced to death, then it is possible that the guards will put you through hell to please those children and earn some money to feed their families." replied Landers.
"Tch, that she corrupt society." replied Indra slightly disappointed with the times he had landed in.
"No, this is just reality and it has always been like this. Human greed and selfishness has always made the world go round, and it always will. It has only been amplified by the plight of humanity because of the Zerg," Pyrus continued.
Although Indra didn't totally agree, he didn't want to start an unnecessary debate, instead it would be more rewarding to get information about this world.
"So the children of high rank have many advantages, to the point of being comparable to the nobles of old, is that what you are telling me?" asked Indra. Even this question shocked him, because it meant that the political model had not evolved for more than 3,000 years, as if humans would always return to their very nature.
"Yes, from generation to generation, many of them have gotten completely out of control and are seriously rampaging through society." replied Pyrus.
"Why does this still continue?"
"Because it is for these benefits that many soldiers fight for at the risk of their lives. Many want these same privileges or want to get even with other noble children by moving up the ranks," Pyrus continued, shaking his head.
However, Indra could see the mood change when Pyrus mentioned this, everyone had a love-hate relationship for these benefits.
They wanted these advantages, but they hated those who had them from birth. To them it was completely unfair.
"Humans are so complex and simple at the same time," Indra thought with a slight mocking look but didn't show it on his face.
"But it is only a minority who enjoy all these advantages at the expense of others," Rikio interjected ignoring Indra's thoughts.
"There are still many who take advantage of the high potential inherited by their parents to simply enjoy life and by training from time to time to increase their lifespan."
"There are even some who join the military after hellish training to further increase their privilege by climbing the ranks."
"Yes some do it to earn their own military merit and for people to stop saying they owe everything they have to their parents." resumed Landers.
"After all, in this day and age, every kid's dream is to become a famous general on the front lines, and win the admiration of everyone."
"If for most individuals this is impossible, not only because of the lack of relationship, but also because of the lack of potential and poverty, for these noble children it is largely feasible because they lack none of the three factors."
"To give you an idea of the fucking privileges, some of them will even have bodyguards on the battlefield, who are either army veterans or reclusive experts who have trained for hundreds of years!" exclaimed Pyrus, but he drew looks from Rikio and Landers.
Pyrus quickly calmed down, realizing the mistake he had just made.
"In the old days, he could have been executed on the spot for saying such things. And it seems that hasn't changed..." thought Indra.
"Anyway, the reason they're now asking death row inmates to go to the battlefield is simply because humanity has reached an impasse with the Zerg, and is steadily losing ground," Pyrus explained calmly, though his words chilled the atmosphere.
But most kept a straight face, after all, there will always be great men to bear the weight of the sky when it collapses.
This had nothing to do with them, so they were quite calm.
"So it has to optimize the management of its resources, and for those condemned to death, their best use is to be used as cannon fodder"
This time, Pyrus' words darkened the expression of many condemned to death, even Indra frowned because in his current state, he might not survive his first battle.
"However this is also an opportunity! An opportunity to change our destiny!" exclaimed Pyrus as he firmly clenched his fist.
This changed the atmosphere once again.
"This guy is a pretty good speaker. He knows very well that giving hope to people who have lost theirs can turn them into miracle workers," Indra mentally analyzed.
"In this day and age, military merit is supreme. So much so that we can even change our status from death row inmate to corporal!"
"We will be entitled to medical procedures, biological modifications, various potions to strengthen our bodies! In short, status, strength and glory will be within our reach!"
Hearing these words, it made many people's eyes shine, and even Rikio and Landers were slightly influenced.
"We will even be able to take revenge on those miserable misfits who take advantage of their parents!"
This sentence lit the fire in the eyes of many people, while Indra remained silent.
"The problem is that these noble children have a lot of connections in the army, so to tell the truth, our chances of dying in our first battle are more than 80%.
"This can be explained by the fact that those sentenced to death will undoubtedly be sent to where the mortality rate is highest, normally it will be either in an exploration and reconnaissance team, or directly integrated into a battalion fighting every day."
...
Pyrus continued to talk for almost 50 minutes about the situation on the ground as well as the political situation in the Federation.
Obviously Indra had gone to get his chair to rest his legs during this time.
It was a pity that the activation was limited to one time per day. This meant that no matter what happened that day, Indra would not be able to fight back.
This bothered Indra slightly, as he knew he wouldn't have to fight yet, but there was the "you never know" and the "just in case".
However, he still managed to put that aside and focus on the information Pyrus had disclosed.
From time to time, he asked questions.
Rikio and Landers were also actively involved in the discussion.
Indra's understanding of the world had gradually grown stronger.
"I've said enough, let's go now. Those who are not sentenced to death, your status will be superior to us, but at the same time you have more to lose than we do. In the end, it's up to you whether you want to take this opportunity or not," Pyrus concluded as he headed off in the same direction as Corporal Ravi.
Landers and Rikio also followed him with their own men.
Only Indra, his new men, and a few dozen undecided prisoners remained.
"Indra, why do you think he told us so much?" asked Ronan.
Indra was silent for a moment before answering:
"He likes to gamble."
Then Indra used his hands to turn his wheels and left as well.
Jacob shrugged and looked at Ronan, then followed Indra with Yann, Kayl, and Hatil.
Ronan looked up at the sky, as if it was the last time he would ever see it, then followed suit.