I have read a lot of (very good) traitor redemption stories and enjoyed them. But I remain Team Trashratgarbage in Tight Pants, so this was a true delight. I think I liked the first best, because it did the hardest thing: make the canon XCX work with the non-canon Just Shoot Him Already mindset.

The last one was how the start of Ch. 11 should have worked, and tightly presented. I am so glad to see it written down, even if it is has to be AU.

Man oh man. We're just getting all of the Lao abuse out of the way, even if we have to go to alternate realities to do so.

Unlike the previous chapter, this one really made me stop and think about how quickly and readily the Avatar can be to turn a gun on a "fellow BLADE" or human being in the normal missions and even pull the trigger on some of them rather than disarm them and take them in to be imprissoned and later judged (if humanity ever gets around to rebuilding a judicial system)...and yet Lao gets his/her defense regardless? Apart from the risk of losing the data to the Lifehold Core, what made him any different from the likes of Alex (at least when he wasn't doubting himself) or the Blood Lobster?

Then it got me thinking "when does a BLADE stop being a BLADE?" Is it when they stop Building a Legacy? Alex might not necessarily believe so since getting rid of Xenos is in his mind in the best interest of humanity. Is it when they decide to stab a fellow BLADE, citizen of NLA, or client in the back for whatever reason? But then what does that mean for the Murderess? Or how about Mika after she nearly got Alexa killed by sabatoging her weapon tests? Doesn't seem to be a clear cut line...

This chapter also got me curious if the Murderess got the same treatment from Jaynix after she pulled a fast one in Noctilum.

I know it's a non-canon what-if story, but getting a look into Elma's thought process is pretty neat, though it's a bit OOC to see her indulge in some sense of egotism ("If it wasn't for me then x wouldn't have happened"), though I guess it's tough to avoid with Lao playing the opposite field ("If it wasn't for you then y wouldn't have happened").

That said, I wonder how it would've played out afterwards. Would Elma have lost the Lifehold Core coordinates? If so, what then? There would've been a good chance that she just doomed the very lives (least to her knowledge then) she proclaimed to have saved by coming to them. If not, how would the fight against Luxaar play out without Lao to plunge him into the Core?

OK, actual review time (would you believe my finger slipped in going for the back button on my phone and hit the big fat "post review" button instead?).

Final "Lao" tally: 22. I hope y'all enjoy seeing his name here because you'll probably never see it again in Skells & Love or any fics beyond that!

I honestly thought letting Lao live was a punishment rather than a mercy, and the writing up to that line seemed to suggest that too. Did I want the man to die? Sure, but now he gets to remain in this mortal coil and stew over his actions, having to face those like Dorothy and Doug, all the while being separated from Chenshi and Charmaine...least he would if he somehow didn't break out all unexplained like and get into the Core. After that, killing him was a mercy. But I digress. Was there something I missed in Kruse's line of thinking that led from "you have to pay for your crimes" to "That's the only mercy you'll ever get"?

I almost kind of wish you brought Doug as the team's "plus one" here. I know the dynamic's supposed to be between Kruse and Lin (as it's always been supposed to be since the idea came up)...but out of all the other characters, he's probably the only one who would fill in Kruse's in-game shoes of trying to block the shot alongside Lin (I imagine everyone else would take Elma's side or stand on the sidelines as they did in-game) since he also sees Lao as a friend and close comrade and Lin as a good friend too. I'd always wanted to hear his thoughts, why he thought Lao should be spared (be kind of a neat parallel between this and Chapter 4 too depending on who tries to defend Lao first and who then tries to act as a shield next) or even if after their time together in the Army and with his family he should be spared. Buuuuut, that would be a completely different (and longer) fic altogether and would ruin the dynamic between Kruse and Lin here, so sacrifices must be made.

Also lack of Tatsu here kinda makes me a little sad since the guys writing Chapter 11 decided that suddenly Tatsu should actually be useful for once and even deliver some pretty hardcore lines (well, hardcore for a Nopon. What can Insay? I really liked that scene where he hands the lunchbox to Lao. It's a very Tatsu thing to do, and yet what he says during that was incredibly intelligent for the little 'tato), but I suppose if there's someone who earns your dislike almost as much as Lao, it'd be him. Again, sacrifices must be made to preserve the dynamic this fic has achieved. Least he'll be more juicy and organic than Doug was.

Ah geez. I don't know if I've said this before, but burn-out's the absolute worst. It takes so long to recover from and by the time you do, you've already found something to sink your time into that it's hard to get back into it.