locked to meridian + ota

[warmare]

[Hayame had plenty to say about this disgraceful farce the moment she had regained consciousness... But she waited. She waited, so that her emotions would be as locked down and as under control as she could manage. Until only harsh anger and the burn of judgement come through- at least, for now.

First, she addresses only Meridian.]

I hope you are proud of yourself.

Those of you who have been too weak to commit properly to this cause, content to let those with drive and will do the winning of Oracles on your and your world's behalf.

Those of you who claim allegiance to Meridian but have been content to play "neutral" and hide like a weak little bug in the shadow of those more powerful than you.

Those of you who could not draw a single line in the sand and loved playing friend or whore too much to break off relations with people working to ensure that the lives of everyone in your world are snuffed out permanently.

Those of you who have refused to shatter the shards of our enemies, whining about the sanctity of a soul, even though that is the only way to kill someone properly in this twisted world.

Mourn that sun goddess for the power she possessed that our faction has lost. Mourn the kindness she showed you, if you so wish. But I will impart a lesson unto you- If someone is kind to everyone, then their kindness means absolutely nothing. That empty-headed fool of a woman had her shard shattered by the very man whose shard she protected, after I and another killed him in the labyrinth of the Harbinger Oracle trial. If she had given that foul thing back to us so that I might crush it beneath my hoof, then she would be alive today.

That is what kindness of that nature will reap you. A disgraceful public execution at the hands of a wizened, corpse-gnawing gaki barely managing the veneer of a man.

If you wish to dedicate yourself further to the actual cause you claim to serve, or if you wish to train and empower yourself, I will gladly help you. It would be my honor.

But if your plan is to continue living the sort of shameful existence that helped allow for the assassination of Springstar's Tribune at his own godsdamned home, then either purge yourself of that treacherous weakness... or I will try to find the time in my days to do it for you.

[Maybe this is where she could stop, take a breath... But she does not. The rest, cold and hateful and roiling with anger, is said to everyone, Zenite and Unharmonized alike.]

To all those who still claim allegiance to Zenith... I will not waste breath trying to convince you of anything at all, let alone now, after what your faction has wrought upon countless innocents. Whether you are a poor thing who would abandon every life in your world simply because you were treated badly, whether you are a pathetic thing who cannot muster the will to hope for anything but that sacred bitch on high and a committee of degenerates making a new world for you to exist in, or whether you are a sick thing who delights in watching worlds burn and people die... I, Hayame of Echigo, do not care, and I will not show mercy to one any more than the other.

Unlike, it seems, the many dishonorable among you, I say this to you plainly and clearly.

I will disable you if I see you step foot in Springstar.

I will hunt down your cornerstones and smash them to pieces.

And I will kill you if you put yourself between me and the possibility of returning to my world and my duty.




... Ah, yes. To those of you who have still not chosen a side, even after seeing what has occurred this moon... My advice to you is to stay Unharmonized, to pick up a hoe, and to go tend crops in Alenroux. You obviously lack the determination required for this conflict... and the people require food. Go on.

If you need a recommendation for a farmer looking for labor, I know plenty. Do you fancy turnips, or buckwheat?

Comments

this post is war god bait

[fursuit]

[ Which is to say. A new presence slips in, but it’s one Hayame certainly encountered not long before this, even if she’d ignored it. Fine with him, and he wouldn’t take offense if he knew, but he can’t ignore this. It’s a bold declaration, cocky even, but he adores it right away.

His impression in Communion might be unsettling, and especially to Hayame’s pushed down instincts. He’s deep dark, an impenetrable smoke, a feline predator skulking in the dark. But he’s absolutely excited to make her acquaintance. ]

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! I was wondering’ if this was the shittiest set of armies there’s ever been! You- You actually talk like a warrior that can put their money where their mouth is.

[ Too bad they’re not on the same side, he thinks. But he’s sure that his Meridian counterpart has already laid “claim” to this one. He’ll kick Set’s ass personally if he hasn’t. ]

Well, Hayame of Echigo, I appreciate your resolve. They’re big words, so personally, I hope you can match ‘em. Would bum me out otherwise.

[redsoil]

[ somewhere in the back of tezca's mind, set is punching him in the arm like

ISNT SHE THE COOLEST?????????? ]

so.... catnip... ? /badumtish

[warmare]

[Yes, she sensed that Communion. No, she did not pay attention to it past the declaration involved. Like she's going to be pleased with someone who seems to be claiming to be another Set being with Zenith? No. Hard pass. But now the thing, whose name is as equally unpronounceable to her as Quetzalcoatl's had been, is here. So she kindly returns a short, harsh,]

Because I am a warrior that does not waste my time saying words I do not believe in nor swear to follow.

[She does not care if he appreciates it!!! Or if he would be bummed, for that matter!]

You seem to like wasting yours, however.

locked to meridian

[hauntedking]

[ He knows some of that is aimed at him, but he has his own determination, his own set of ethics, his own values. His concern now is less a debate about what to do next and more that he knows exactly what they have to do next if he wants to end this as quickly as they can. ]

If we need a course of action, I believe we should seize Alenroux and smash their cornerstones there; cut off their food supply and we can end this war quickly. They were worried about that vulnerability before. It must surely still exist and it is one we can exploit. And it will be one of the quicker ways to end this.

[ There's a pause. ]

...and we will need to smash their base of power in Kowloon. We cannot allow them to continue to use the people of the undercity as their pawns and soldiers. If we can secure our flank and deprive tthem of the resources they need, they will have no choice but to eventually capitulate. And it will cost us less than a direct assault against their base of power.

[redsoil]

Diplomacy had its time, [ he'd even flirted with it, as if to prove that

in the end, it was always going to come to war. Ambassadors and caring souls alike did not stop what came for them all, and Set revels in the attitudes that shift and harden. It takes all types to make a true war, but this? This is a great start, and one that brings him satisfaction. ]

We take Alenroux by military force, and use propaganda point the blame at the choices made by Highstorm. We proved to their people and those of the farmlands that their cultivated concerns and fears were unfounded, and now we can press the ideology that their Shard-Bearers and leader are the ones who destroyed the fragile peace. Kowloon, I do not care about retaking. We can collapse the entrances nearest to the cities and let them suffocate underground, for all I care. Given time, they will eat themselves alive.

War is simultaneously swift action and the long game. Meridian has played a very sensible long game, I feel. Now, we can begin dismantling our opposition.

[warmare]

[Don't worry, Dimitri! There's a lot of pot shots for several many different people in that communion... You're not alone!]

We need many.

[And some sort of war council. Can they please form a war council instead of an accursed peace talk debate circle this time?]

I will not pretend to be a strategist. I am a warrior. I was bred to serve.

[... Does she. Not? Notice how unsettling those word choices are? Maybe not.]

But what you say all seems to have a degree of merit to me. At the very least, we must secure Alenroux further and we must cripple Kowloon. Even if we hunt down more Cornerstones... they can create them too fast. Even after I assembled a team to seek and destroy them before the Harbinger Oracle manifested in Springstar, more sprung up in their place.

So we must come up with a way to seal away those places without relying on their destruction.

[a_noble_flame]

If I may -- I have seen the refugees of war and tyranny descend into the sewers in my own world. Those below have no wish to be there themselves. They are used, abused, their children stripped from them and their hope lost to sheer survival. I guarantee you among the monsters are good people who simply can't find hope for anything better.

If you wish to take Kowloon back then you have my sword. Whatever the rest here might do, I won't see a whole group of people killed off for some advantage in a battle.

[leicesters]

I agree that seizing Alenroux's in our best interests, though I wonder how much preparation Highstorm made stockpiling food ever since the Legionary first made its move back then. Now that they've experienced that threat once already, it might not be the danger it once was, you know?

That being said, I think it should be our first priority over securing Kowloon.

[baltimores]

[ There's a blink of surprise as the anger suddenly cuts through to his mind. It's just a blink, though, before Amos settles back to listen, so passive his presence might not be registered at all.

At least not until he speaks, at which point he offers a curious question, and nothing more. ]

So, deal's off then?

[warmare]

[It is her instinct to shove this conversation quickly into a private corner, somewhere that no one will ever see it. She despises her personal business being on display.

... But Amos had proven before his willingness to use the words they had exchanged, the things they had seen about each other, against her in a way she never would have without further cause. She cannot discount the possibility now... That he might spin a private attempt as cowardice or scheming. That he would try to discredit her much the way he had in the debate over Manon.

Besides. The answer is a simple one. Let them fucking hear it, then, that-]

Any foolish hope I might have once held on to...

You murdered it with the Tribune, Amos Burton.

[a_noble_flame]

[... Alice really did arrive at a tumultuous time, didn't she. At home the war is done even if the conflict isn't over but here it's the spark that sets off the powder keg that only begins the whole downfall.

She's used to anger though. She's felt this sort of burning, righteous anger herself. Yet this -- this world, this situation -- is familiar and foreign at once.

She debates for a bit. She has to answer, must say something and yet she must make herself perfectly clear when she does. She has no wish to belittle anyone's well founded anger at an unjust and cruel act yet...]

I apologize for arriving so late into the battle, Hayame of Echigo. The tolls of this struggle are already so heavy and I am afraid they will only become heavier. I understand my words mean little to you and to many others here who have endured what comes with being in such a conflict.

I offer only advice for yourself and nothing more. I do not seek to sway your sense of justice in this matter. Please remember however to not let your anger to overtake you completely. Those who have wrong you and others will pay but they can't do so if you let your anger consume you.

[She pauses there a moment. Her communion at least is warm like a comforting hearth, calling for others to rest a moment. It's even more so now that this conflict has begun in earnest.]

You have my sword should you need it.

[warmare]

[... Okay, the message started off on the right hoof. Good, good. It tanks pretty hard in the middle. The last words only barely redeem it.

But that is precisely why Hayame waited to make this communion. If she had done it when she first desired... She would have bitten this woman's head off just for her offense over her "advice". Now, though, she is calm enough to say,]

I am curious enough to ask you, Meridian...

[She... did not get a name when she told that woman in Alenroux to get back inside if she had no proper weapon. The voice sounds familiar, but even if its not-]

What makes you think you know me well enough to think my anger is in danger of consuming me... ?

[............................ She's right, but. Hayame is still insulted by the insinuation from a stranger who she considers should not know her well enough yet to say so.]

[appeale]

[ she probably shouldn't respond to this at all, but it's annoying, and one of those comments was so obviously meant to be directed at her. it's absurd how alike Hayame is to every petty, upperclass bitch that Ruby has ever known, even while claiming to be something better. ]

... Okay? This didn't do anything to change my mind. I'll remain Set's priestess, and I'll be protected by him, and I won't involve myself in someone else's war. Talk to him if you have a problem with that.

[ in the space of Communion, the ground that she stubbornly digs her heels into is one of red sand, warming her feet. after last time, she won't pretend to be ashamed about this anymore. ]

And if anyone else wants to complain about how I live my life, maybe keep it to yourselves.

[warmare]

[The only reason Hayame did not name names is because she considers each of those generalizations to apply to more than one person. Also, there are potentially new Meridian she has not evaluated to categorize yet. They need to know what types can kindly improve themselves or gtfo.]

You will remain "nothing", just as you kindly informed me before, when I asked you what there was to you.

Unless you are here to ask me which farmer I ought to introduce you to when you do the only sensible thing and deharmonize, leaving Meridian so as not to get involved in someone else's war...

Then be gone.

[cyfaredd]

Are these tiresome screeds a weekly thing in this place? Please, someone tell me I can take my name off the mailing list. No?

[ There is a long, drawn out, intentionally exaggerated sigh. ]

I see you're another Iconoclast, too. What a charming introduction.

[warmare]

[... That voice sounds vaguely familiar, but.

Hmm. No matter. What matters is,]

If you cannot differentiate between a warrior dispensing chastisement to weaklings and warnings to her enemies from a rat chittering atop a banquet table about their coming plague, then...

That is a problem you must solve yourself.

Or put it from mind, as I did that gaki's.

[/BLOCKED]

[redsoil]

Hello again, Mister Saucy Wizard Howl!

[ OH HEY IT'S THIS GUY

:catbite: ]

They are, especially after a big event or close to an Oracle. Tensions are quite high, so naturally we all have something to declare. Or gossip about. Is it not amazing?

private

[escardos]

Extremists on both sides, huh?

[ he almost sounds a little apologetic, kind of pitying the man. it'd be ridiculous for him to not think that it wouldn't be the case, but for that to come right after the other guy went on his villain tirade... ]

[kaientai]

[ Ryouma accepts that there are a few areas Hayame touched on where they will have to agree to disagree. He knows he no longer has the luxury to consider the possibility of neutrality, but he doesn't have the Counter Force pushing him to leap directly to extremes either.

He wants to believe that he can maintain just one line that he refuses to cross, but it's impossible to weigh one's principles against the fate of everything. A hero is someone who can seize the opportunity when the time is right, after all. Still, his resignation hangs over the Communion, muting it somehow. ]

I would rather put someone through the cycle of rebirth a hundred times than wipe them entirely from existence. That's an option I will try to avoid if I can help it. No one should rush to sink to Silco's level, in my opinion.

Taking someone out of play by Dissipation is strategy, but at the end of all this, I'm fighting for everyone's chance to go home.

[ So he can at least be counted on to do that much, although he isn't thrilled about that either. This is not how he'd hoped his efforts here would turn out, but maybe his mistake was expecting things to turn out differently. Ryouma only has himself to blame for that. ]

That being said—... [ the mental equivalent of a sigh. ] I can't promise I won't keep working towards the most bloodless Meridian victory I can hope for anyway, but I also know that sometimes kindness is not an option. I expect the worst and hope for the best.

[ He knows, but knowing doesn't make it feel any better. ]

[warmare]

How unfortunate for you, Man of Tosa, that putting someone through the cycle of rebirth is not possible here.

[She is so tired of hearing this bullshit. Crying about how special souls is, as if she also did not think it was more serious a thing to destroy a soul than to destroy a body. But unlike the rest of the simpering fools... She is still very willing to do it if that's the only way they can fucking kill someone in this accursed place.]

That sun goddess also tried to pretend that she could play this bloodless with her little favorites, of which for some reason that rat Silco was a part. She said that she kept his shard safe in a little box rather than give him to me for the shattering. That she kept him imprisoned...

Too bad that as long as the Shard exists it can be stolen or bargained for or brute forced away from its jailer.

[dreamflowers]

As tempting as the suggestion is, I haven't done much farmwork since I was a child, and I'm well out of practice.

[Plus, she'd probably just kill whatever crops she attempts to sow on accident. Because Jade is just Like That.]

At any rate, I hadn't been around long to have made a decision before all that shitshow went down, and I don't make a habit out of committing to some war until I have all the facts first.

[And with damn good reasons, too. But suffice it to say this one was probably not one of the ambivalent numbers Hayame was directly addressing.]

That said, I'd hate to be on whatever side you're opposing. [Even more so in the likely event that they ever meet in person, because damn.]

[warmare]

...

[Well, this woman is completely unfamiliar, so perhaps it is true. Very well.]

If you are truly that new of an arrival, then you are offered certain exemptions, and time to choose a side.

And if you do not wish to face me in battle, then that side will be Meridian.

[faceripper]

Well, you know my opinion on the matter, but I may as well state it publicly for any other craven lunatics that think there is peace to be found. Hayame is correct, of course. Unless you're the sort of insane person that can strike down Zenites while still claiming to be their friend, don't waste your time even getting to know them.

[ As always, Fane's words are brusque and rude to the point of being almost cruel... But that last little piece of advice might be personal. For each Zenite he learns more personally, it is harder for him to imagine having to face them down one day. He will. He must. But he won't enjoy it. It's better to have never cared in the first place. ]

[ But after that, his focus narrows. He speaks for Hayame alone as he sends her a more private message. ]

...You're brave to state your stance so boldly. I see it's not being taken well by the mewling masses.

1/2

[warmare]

[How pathetic is it, that though she has long, long been prepared to need to weather the negative opinions of her enemies and so-called colleagues... Hayame still feels the tiniest bit glad to see support? Tch-]

Unfortunately for all of us, it seems there are lunatics still despite all that has happened. Despite all the citizens of Springstar who have died since these attacks on the streets began, despite the assassination of our Tribune on the steps of his very own home. But I suppose it is best we know who these untrustworthies are.

[She had seen Amos in Springstar before. She should have killed him then. She should have known that despite how nonchalant he could seem that secretly he must have been plotting, surveying-]

locked to meridian, at least

[furibund]

[ The last time she had seen Hayame was... Well. She should have expected such ferocity from this response. She can't say she entirely disagrees, even if her belief in killing is different these days. She sees herself in it, how quick and eager she would have once been to crush anyone who stood in her way — ]

[ — but then she would have been on the opposite side and she wouldn't give a damn who died along the way. She tries not to think of it as she listens. It is not a feeling of approval or rage that accompanies the presence that is Nebula, only firm understanding and determination. ]

[ And a breath of relief she can't fully contain. ]

See you're well enough now.

[warmare]

[Ah. Nebula. Though her injuries had not been minor and her head not quite well the last time she had seen the other woman in person... She knows who it was who helped her from the rubble. Who helped her reach some form of aid.]

I am.

In part thanks to you.

An act for which you have my gratitude.

[twohand]

Well announced, Hayame of Echigo. I understand where you stand, quite clearly.

[ He is not a Zenite that falls under any category she voiced, as someone who firmly believes Meridian is ( for lack of better term atm ) on a suicide mission that will take them right back to their end. He's not going to argue with her, though. She is incendiary, and he cannot deny that he believes in her assessment of some of his allies. ]

Will you let me know which Zenites fall into the category of "sick thing"? They are ones I wish to handle, most of all.

[warmare]

[...]

I have not seen you in Springstar in some time, "Drizzt".

[She thinks that is what he said his name was, when he announced himself as Unharmonized before the Oracle.]

Is there a reason for that?

[Like having chosen zeNITH for example?]

[umurice]

[Hayame, you make Meridian sound just as worrying to join. Not that he blames her after what happened. He's more or less decided on who to join, but the problem is actually taking that last step.]

Food supplies are always the first to target when you want to win a war. Anyone who chooses that path is at a bigger risk than allying oneself with either group.

... No, that wasn't what I wanted to say. Did you get hurt in the conflict?

[warmare]

[Meridian if people actually listened to Hayame might be troubling, yes. But since they don't, you're probably good...]

I seem to have gone partially deaf suddenly, from my injuries.

[Was that an insult about the Alenroux invasion, or was she hallucinating? Her head is pounding-]

Was that the sound of a shard-bearer who was not here two months ago, let alone when decisions were made, critiquing something they know nothing about?