12: Allies become Foes, while Soldiers learn Mercy and Stabbings are Faked

[gurrenbrigbonded]

[1] (Locked to everyone who tried to rescue Matthew during "Different Faces of Warfare". And Ryou.)

You get a video message from Matthew soon after returning to the White Chalice. He's still wearing his armored cooling vest, stained at the front with green fluid, the hilt of the knife he used to fake stab himself still poking out of it. He looks cross.


"That was extremely reckless of you all." He scolds. "This time the enemy was bluffing and toying with us: next time we may not be so lucky! Trying to save both civilians and fellow soldiers in imminent danger divides your efforts, and can get them both killed!"

He folds his arms stubbornly. "As soldiers, you must always place the lives of innocents above yours, and even the lives of your comrades! That is what fighting to protect the earth means! Remember that!"

Suddenly, his serious face gives way to a smile, and he nods briefly. "And...thank you for saving me."


[2]

You see Matthew lounging in one of the White Chalice's portside lodges, gazing up at the sky. Very soon, the Jade Falcon invasion fleet will be braking into orbit, and the Chalice will go to war to protect the Earth against his former Clan.

He sighs. "Simon...where are you now? And what would you do in my shoes?"

He pauses. "Actually, I can guess exactly what you would do."

[3]

You stumble upon Matthew, in the simulator room, training his butt off! He's putting his modified Nova through a set of scenarios in space, inside a ship's hanger bay, and on land, fighting against a variety of Clanner Mechs. It looks like he's...trying to disable them? He's concentrating laser fire at their arms and legs, blowing them off at their joints.

Join in? Interject? Comment? Observe?

Comments

2

[littleshortforanelemental]

Nikolai grins and claps Matthew on the shoulder. He's heard the rest of it through the rumor mill.

"Not to worry. You are new to the practice of deception. It will become easier with practice."

That he was willing to even try though was testament that he'd come home a long way from the rigid Jade Falcon mindset.

Re: 2

[gurrenbrigbonded]

"That phrase somehow does not seem comforting coming from you..." Matthew declares, slightly suspicious.

"Is the act of playing possum a trick you Scorpions are more familiar with?"

[littleshortforanelemental]

"I have never had to play dead. But I did spend a decade in the Periphery as a Seeker, where I could not simply challenge the locals to a Trial of Possession for the artifacts I sought, quineg?"

The Scorpions didn't have to pretend to be weak. Quite the opposite.

[gurrenbrigbonded]

"So the Seekers of Goliath Scorpion are skilled in the art of disguise?" Matthew asks. "You must have some interesting stories to tell about that, quiaff?"

[littleshortforanelemental]

"We had to be if we were to venture beyond Clan space. Even staunch Wardens would not wish to accidentally disclose our existence."

That may be fairly terrifying, if Matthew thinks about it. It was really only chance that no Seekers accidentally blew Operation Revival before it could start.

"Several times I had to pretend to be an agricultural worker with an unusual exoskeleton. Once I strongarmed my way into a traveling Canopian circus as a strongman."

And now he pretends to be an eccentric old solahma.

[gurrenbrigbonded]

"A...Strong-Man?"

Look's like this young Clanner's ignorant about certain bits of (Proto)Culture.

His eyes suddenly narrow. "Are you telling me a tall tale?"

He holds up his hands. "If so, keep going anyways. I just wanted to know."

[littleshortforanelemental]

"Neg, no tale of mine can be that tall." He says, making a lame joke about his relative lack of height compared to other elementals. "This truly happened. I will let the world remain nameless. The locals were beginning to become suspicious of the offworlder with no visible source of income who kept asking strange questions. But my lucky day came when the Canopian circus arrived..."