srwug_alpha_rp | (no subject)

[1/Video]
I am in agreement with the plan of attack against the Falcons. There is one drawback, however: when we attack that way, they will no longer be bound by Zelbriggen, the system of dueling generally practiced among the Clans. Thus we can expect them to freely use 'dishonorable' tactics, such as concentrated fire and physical attacks with mechs. Do not expect we will be able to limit the battle's extent by calling their commanders to a Circle Of Equals, as we have before.

If I may ask a favor: please do not say my bloodname if you speak with the Falcons.

[2/Action]

The Goliath Scorpion mechs and elemental armor are being repainted. The black and gold of their Beta Galaxy is being replaced with the tan and stylized dire wolf's head of Clan Wolf's Alpha Galaxy.

Naturally the Scorpions are looking uncomfortable. Not necessarily because they dislike deceiving the Falcons, but because it's the Wolf colors they'll be masquerading in. Like most of their Clan, the Heartvenom Cluster looks up to the Wolves with all the starry eyed admiration of a schoolgirl hoping sempai will notice her. Some of them might even be...Yes, a few of these genetically engineered super soldiers are blushing.

This seems to amuse Nikolai.

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"..."

Matthew, for once has nothing to say.

As the prep work begins for intercepting the Warship, and stopping the incoming Dropship flotilla, the young Mechwarrior can be seen sitting on a crate to the side, morosely regarding two objects in his lap:

The red cloth he wore on his wrist, the symbol of his place in the Gurren Brigade, and his Neurohelmet, with the Jade Falcon emblem still stenciled on it's side.

Talk to him?

Edited 2013-10-03 06:05 (UTC)

Now there's someone who looks like he could use a hug. Not that Nikolai's gonna give him one. But maybe he could use someone to talk to.

"Wondering whether someone you know might be on those warships, quiaff?"

"Possibly." Matthew says, nodding slowly. "Is it strange, quiaff? If I was fighting a fellow Jade Falcon in a Circle of Equals, or if I had become an Abtakha to Clan Wolf back then, I would not feel the slightest moral quandary. But as a free warrior, not bound by any pledge of honor..."

He looks up. And blinks in surprise.

"Why are your Elementals painting their armor in Alpha Galaxy colors?"

He puts a large hand on Matthew's shoulder. If the Falcons can succesfully get under his skin (and he has no doubt, despite their talk of honor in all things, that they will try), it could spell the end of him.

"You fear judgement. They will see you as fallen from grace." Boudicae Schaffer, blushing dark red, looks away when she overhears Matthew's question as they put the final pieces of paint on her armor. "Because the Wolves are abjured and I do not wish to tip our hand in the Great Council yet. We are not prepared for an exodus ourselves...However their situation may be instructive for you. The Wolves left the homeworlds because the ilKhan believed they could blend the best of Clan and Inner Sphere traditions. The concept is called hybrid vigor. Ask a geneticist about it. Are you less than them, quineg? Or do you think you can show your old trothkin what hybrid vigor can accomplish?"

Matthew ponders the challenge Nikolai has set forth to him, and lifts visibly out of his funk.

"I could." He says softly. "Aff, I could! I could not only show them the strength of a warrior who has unlocked the passion of his blazing soul..."

He smacks a fist into his palm.

"...but also show them a better way! A way in which the golden age of humanity need not be forged anew with the barrel of a gun!"

Edited 2013-10-04 02:11 (UTC)

Well that worked better than expected. And in the usual bombastic way of his, too. Well that's how the young are, he thinks: quick to melancholy but quick to cheer up too.

"It is probably too late for my generation to learn this. Yours must show them hybrid vigor, and perhaps they can be forced to understand."

"Forced..."

Matthew's mood does not plummet again, but he looks thoughtful.

"However the battle goes, I will have to fight my Clan. I do not wish to kill them...aff, I will not kill them if I do not have to. But how do I balance my regard for them against the world I defend? How can I show them mercy and fight with all my strength?"

"By showing them that you have not given up the best parts of being a clansman: respect for an honorable enemy and the capacity for mercy. But this will only be possible if you do not act too much like a Falcon and respond to provocation. The brain is not like Triple Strength Myomer, it does not run better when hot, quineg?"

Wow that's a hell of a metaphor there, gramps.

Matthew regards you with a newfound respect.

"It seems they did not make you a Khan for nothing. Aff, you are right! Honor is the bond that ties even the most antagonistic of clans together! Through honor, I shall overcome any disdain they may hurl at me, and show them a better way to uphold their ideals as warriors!"

He reflects further on this. "I should also log more time in the simulators and practice non-lethal mech fighting techniques! I will see you later at dinner, quiaff?"

He takes off hastily.

Nikolai wonders if Matthew heard more than half of that.