02: The Abtaka of the Brotherhood of Manly Souls Opens His Heart to Legend Once Again

[gurrenbrigbonded]

[1]

The events of the past few days– the battle against the final onslaught of the Invaders, the climactic struggle of the Getter Team at Saturn, and the place they departed to– have frankly been epic.

They have also made quite the impression on a certain ex-Jade Falcon, who had not dared to think that such heroism could be possible.

As the White Chalice journeys back to Earth, he can be seen at various places–in his (Tin-foiled) Nova's cockpit on the outer hull, in a vacuum suit by one of the large airlocks, at the observation deck– just staring up at the endless sea of stars as a child would.

http://blogs.voanews.com/science-world/files/2013/01/Under_the_Milky_Way.jpg

Talk to him? Snap him out of it? Play a prank on him?

[2]

Matthew is wandering about the Chalice, looking for the pilots who fought at Saturn, tablet and light pen in hand.

And the most determined of expressions on his face.

[3]

Matthew is sitting by a table in one of the portside lounges, ignoring the cold lunch next to him, and doing something unusual for a frugal warrior from an ascetic caste society.

He is writing on paper. Copious amounts of paper. Some sheets are discarded at his feet, some are set to the side, and all are covered with splotches of ink.

A close examination will reveal them to be...verse poetry?

[4]

Matthew has posted a request on the Chalice Net for all Clan warriors onboard to assemble in Hanger 3 to "Fulfill the debt of honor we owe to the memory of great warriors."

For those of you who show up, Clan or otherwise, there is a gaggle of Clan Wolf/Ex-Jade Falcon warriors and tech caste members about, wondering why the heck they were gathered here. There is no sign of Matthew about.

Comments

[gurrenbrigbonded]

[Matthew and Ryou are in spacesuits at the moment.]

"That is the core essence of it, combined with a high quality control! Through rigorous training, combined with a system of Bloodnames that allows only great warriors to sire new generations, the capabilities of us trueborn warriors continually improve!" Matthew says with pride, not at all put off by the remarks.

"Our final exam was less lethal than yours." He also remarks dryly. "Our mechs were of higher quality, and we fought each other instead of against an enemy hot zone. Your Mercenary company does seem to have impresive standards."

[lastfeather]

Hm... sounds interesting... but a guy has to wonder just what you 'trueborn' missed out in all that stuff you do that we learned the hardest way.

[That... was an interesting question.]

Lethality brings out the will to live more. The more dangerous a situation, the harder a person fights. I dunno what you've got in resources, but the Ark doesn't waste good material on rookies who might die in a day. We're given trash and scraps and we have to earn and buy our right to better things.

The Raven's Ark only wants the best. When the Corporations wage their wars on each other, we're the ones that make things move. Otherwise its all just a deadlock. And even the best die to make way for the better.

[whats_a_paladin]

Maybe you should try finishing about the Getter team first. Recording everything White Chalice did might take ages.

How is your progress?

[gurrenbrigbonded]

"...You were back in Terra's orbit, as if waking from a dream." Matthew finished. "Kerensky's blood, I never knew such things were possible."

After a moment of silence, he draws himself up into a salute.

"I thank you, Mechwarrior Ericks, for your account. I shall do it justice, and ensure that the tales of the Getter Sortie and it's participants will be remembered."

[gurrenbrigbonded]

Matthew listens to Tieria.

Then nods.

"Aff. You are right. Even if my fellow Clan warriors critique me for this...this is something worth doing. A cause worth fighting for."

He pauses.

"I have fought with you comrade Setsuna twice now, and found him to be a valiant warrior. If I may ask...what cause does Celestial Being fight for?"

[gurrenbrigbonded]

"If a mech of ours is smashed, our Techs generally are able to rebuild it." Matthew clarifies. "If it can only be rebuilt to a second-hand state, it can serve in garrison duty. If it cannot even be rebuilt to that, it can be used for training. And if not even that, target practice, and then recycling. Our Great Founder decreed that there be no waste, that our society should exist by the standards of absolute frugality."

Matthew shrugs.

"And the Great Founder would agree with at least one principle your Merc company holds. All our Trials of Position are performed with live weaponry. Better that a young warrior be pushed to the limit and unlock his full potential than to not be at the peak of his form. It is all part of the doctrine of the endless test."

[gurrenbrigbonded]

Matthew's face lights up like something that lights up a lot.

He thrusts some sheets at you.

"This is what I have so far! Most stirring, quaiff?"

[Matthew's first draft]: http://gurrenbrigbonded.dreamwidth.org/2056.html

[deniedaccess]

Tieria likewise listened to Matthew's affirmation with a nod-- there wasn't much else for him to say in that regard because he never worried too much about what others thought of him. However, there was more than just his reputation at stake on the Chalice. He had his comrades to consider, and Celestial Being as a whole.

"We fight to end war."

He stated it simply, well aware of the hypocrisy in the explanation.

[emorangerpink]

Uh...

[The salute embarrasses the hell out of Laura, but she returns it, Britannian-style.]

I don't think it's the sort of thing anyone's likely to forget! Most of that the Getter team did has been remembered - one way or another...

Generally not fondly, but...

[whats_a_paladin]

Hmm... Sounds like you could sing it. Is there a melody?

[gurrenbrigbonded]

Matthew blinks in confusion. Thought not at the tautology of the explanation.

"That seems an impossible goal, at least in the long term. War is a part of human nature, quiaff?"

[gurrenbrigbonded]

"Sing it?"

Matthew is not sure of what to make of this idea.

"I was imagining it being more so chanted, but–"

Matthew rubs the side of his neck in thought.

"Do you know anyone on this ship skilled in music?"

[deniedaccess]

"Is it?"

It was asked bluntly.

[whats_a_paladin]

I wish I could say that's me, but when it comes to both music and writing, I'm... much better at being the audience than creating them.

Well, there's that blind DJ...

[gurrenbrigbonded]

"The blind DJ?"

What manner of person is that?"

[gurrenbrigbonded]

"Everything I know and have experienced says so." Matthew replies.

"Humanity yearns and strives for greater heights: to acquire status and power, to grow and expand. And when the desires of two groups of people conflict, they turn to war. Because war is a strategy that works, that ensures the dominance of you and your genes over others."

Matthew crosses his arms behind his back. "The Great Founder realized this, and formed the Clans and our warrior code to clarify the wars we fight, to prevent collateral damage, to keep civillians from suffering from the consequences of war. To ensure that only that which is necessary to be destroyed is destroyed."

[gurrenbrigbonded]

"Best to make sure that they are remembered, quiaff?"

[deniedaccess]

"I see."

He understood that mentality, but he had his orders.

"Then tell me, does it have to be like that?"

It was just unfortunate for Matthew that he was speaking with one of the less friendly Meisters.

[emorangerpink]

The way they should be.

It's a good thought.

[whats_a_paladin]

Someone with a very mysterious past. But apparently, he and this ship used to have some tensions in the past...

I'm not entirely sure if his kind of music would be fitting for heroic poems, though.

[gurrenbrigbonded]

Fortunately for Tieria, Matthew is one of the few Clanners who likes talks such as this.

"I have not seen or heard of any instance where humanity has chosen a different path." He replies with

"And if humanity could build a world without war or warlike sentiment...then within a few weeks, another warlike faction, or a menace like the Invaders, would move in and exterminate us."

[gurrenbrigbonded]

"What does it sound like?" Matthew asks. "If it has a sort of sonorous chanting quality..."

[deniedaccess]

Tieria wouldn't know the difference between Clanners at this point, as Matthew is the first one that he's spoken to. Aside from the strange linguistic quirks, he hasn't seen anything too unusual that would differentiate them.

Unfortunately, Tieria didn't mind playing Devil's Advocate either.

"Perhaps so, but a united front without in-fighting is much more effective than a scattered front, correct?"

[gurrenbrigbonded]

"Aff!" Matthew agrees. "And once, in the time and place that we of the Clans came from, it was so."

He raises up a hand as if ordering a volley of cannon fire or gesturing to an audience.

"A thousand worlds of humanity, scattered across the sky. Great empires and the border territories, all united under a single banner: the banner of the Star League!"

He clenches his open hand into a fist. "Warded by the Star League Defense Force and guided by the Cameron Dynasty, over four hundred years of peace and prosperity unfolded...before the betrayal of the Usurper shattered the League and unlocked hundreds of years of war!"

He turns to face Tieria, an intense expression on his face.

"But the dream of the Star League and a United Mankind did not die! And it is we of the Clans, the descendants of the Star League Defense Force, who fight to reclaim Terra and restore it!"

[deniedaccess]

The fervent explanation was far more detailed than Tieria had anticipated...but it fit the pattern of the epic that he had spied earlier among the scattered papers on the floor.

Tieria returned the intensity with a pedantic look of his own.

"That's an understandable goal."

Then, after a moment:

"Was that another poem?"