Operation Black Dawn
Intermezzi III - Rhodes Island
October 1995/December 1096
After the End of the Reunion Uprising
"No matter how good or successful you are or how clever or crafty, your business and its future are in the hands of the people you hire. To put it a bit more dramatically, the fate of your business is actually in the hands of the youngest recruit on the staff."
- Morita Akio, 1994.
The Doctor [Rhodes Island - Strategic Command] - R.I. Landship - Dated December, 1096.
Sitting at a desk, the Doctor looked at the rifle in his hands and felt a twinge of sadness as he removed the magazine and pulled the bolt back to eject an unfired bullet. It reminded him of how close he was to death, and he barely made it out with the help of a group of soldiers, who came to rescue one of their own. The soldier who gave him the rifle and taught him as quickly as he could how to use the gun in his hands was gone, and so was any attempt at contacting the organization in charge of him. They had bought time for Rhodes Island to get out of Chernobog, but that left him fatigued and unable to fight on the field.
"Where the hell are you?" He asked himself as he let the bullets spill out from the magazine. Upon picking one up, he inspected it carefully, holding the bullet up to his eye level, and twirled it around, trying to see what was on it. He put the bullet he held down on the table, and organized the bullets in a single file row, with the magazine above them and the rifle.
He took one of the bullets and inspected its primer, trying to see if there was anything on it. Well, he managed to get something that alerted his eyes. "FC 556 UN" was stamped on the rear of the cartridge. He immediately put the bullet down and looked at the rifle properly, trying to see if his eyes could get anything from inspecting the weapon itself. He scanned the stock and found nothing. A look at the handguard yielded no results, and not even the barrel got anything. He turned his eyes to the receiver, and lo and behold something caught his eye.
"UNITED NATIONS MFG ST. CO." The top read, the Doctor's eyes drifting down as he read the second part of the marking. "TIBER, ITALY" was stamped on the second part, intriguing the Doctor.
"What the hell is an Italy?" He audibly asked, confused. He did hear from the soldier who handed him the weapon about a 'Republic of Korea' but nothing else beyond that. Thinking of it as yet another question to ask later, he continued reading.
"A.N." The final part read, making the Doctor audibly question the meaning. "A.N.?" He took his eyes off the rifle for a second, and then back to it. "I really need to know what A.N. means..." He mumbled, before continuing to inspect the receiver. The options he were greeted by when glancing at the fire selector were 'SAFE-SEMI-BURST-AUTO' which intrigued him. He was no gun nut by any means, but having a 4-option selector was intriguing.
He inspected the left end and found some more markings. His eyes widened as he saw the rest of the markings. Greeting him at the top was a triangle with an incredibly stylized eagle head, surrounded by thirteen stars. "PROPERTY OF ALLIED NATIONS" the rifle displayed before another part of it read "M-16A2 CAL 5.56MM" and a seven-digit sequence. "Allied Nations?" He audibly asked, taking a moment to flip the rifle over and fiddle with it. He started by pulling the charging handle, watching intently as the bolt pulled back. When he released it, the bolt slammed back onto the barrel.
He turned it and then pressed the trigger several times. A 'click' was heard each time the trigger was pulled. He looked satisfied seeing that the gun was in fact operable, even if he had gotten it slightly damaged during the evacuation out of Chernobog. When the... United Nations guarded the Rhodes Island forces as they fled, he dropped the rifle hard, denting its stock and handguard. He feared that it might have set off an Oripathy outbreak, but it did no such thing. Either these people made good guns, or...
No, the Doctor didn't entertain that crazy idea. Non-Originium bullets were not and wouldn't be a thing for a while.
Still, his mind flashed back to the moment they arrived back at base. He got strange looks after offloading from the VTOL, carrying the rifle on his back. Though, this one Sankta girl - her name was Exusiai, was it? - went crazy the moment she saw the rifle the Doctor had carried. She began asking questions about the specifics of the rifle, and where it was obtained from. Oh, especially that part.
As soon as the Doctor stepped out of the VTOL and passed by people giving him strange looks, he felt a presence behind him, and turned to see Exu staring - nearly drooling too - at the rifle on his back. "What caliber is that gun? How much did it cost? Have you worn down the barrel?" She rapid-fired at the Doctor, who took a moment to process the questions. He took a moment to process, but then Exu rapid-fired again. "How many rounds per minute can it fire? How's the muzzle velocity? Effective firing range? Where oh where did you get that gun?!"
The Doctor stared at her blankly for a few minutes. She then stopped for a moment before realizing who she was addressing. It almost made the Doctor laugh. Guess this was his new day job. He could get used to this after all. Maybe.
"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Exusiai! Nice to meet you! I believe you are... the Doctor, yes?" She extended her hand. The Doctor took it, and with a handshake, introductions were made.
"Now, where did you get that gun, if I may ask?" She opened up. The Doctor didn't know how to respond for a few seconds.
All the Doctor could say to get Exu to stop for a moment was... to explain how he got the rifle in a few words.
"Someone gave me this in order to defend myself..." He grabbed the rifle, showing it. "...But I suspect he got it from his dead partner to ensure I could defend myself when he couldn't." The Doctor remembered that the Pilot who gave him the rifle said he had a dead co-pilot. Must have been the source of the other rifle.
"...Oh." Exusiai stopped for a moment. "How... did he die?"
"I... believe he died in a crash-landing. The man who gave it to me mentioned that he was part of an aircraft crash. I don't know if he died on landing or bled out, but either way... he wanted me to have it. Maybe as a parting gift."
"...I see." Her expression turned into one of slight offense, as if she realized that she accidentally may have offended somebody. No harm for her, though. The Doctor understood.
Exusiai didn't say a word afterward, and the fatigued doctor had to be assigned to stay back at the Rhodes Island base after being checked up. Blood sugar, sleeping schedule, physical status, all that. He was determined to be command ineffective. Funny how that went. He managed to recover very shortly, but missed the opportunity to assist the Lungmen operation. Oh well.
He got out of flashback-ing to pick up the bullets and insert them into the magazine. He grabbed each one by one and inserted them into the magazine, the spring being pushed down as he continued to fill it with bullets. He noticed that the rounds had a green tip on them. Intriguing, but not sure if that was supposed to be investigated. Might just be a logistics thing.
He finished putting the bullets back into the magazine, and inserted the magazine back into the rifle after doing so. He flipped the rifle once more, to take a look at the bolt carrier.
A knock on his door interrupted his thought process. Looking down on the rifle, he placed it back on his desk and made sure that it wasn't loaded by taking the magazine out.
"Come in!" The Doctor said, standing up as he expected visitors.
The door opened to reveal Amiya, holding Paperwork as she approached the doctor. Internally, he balked. Oh Terra alive, he was going to have to do paperwork in the mass. Wasn't he?
"And what is this?" The Doctor asked, looking at Amiya.
Amiya passed it over to him. "Briefings on our new situation. Specifically," she flipped the pages of some papers to reveal a paper with the heading that read 'BRIEFING ON UNITED NATIONS' in bold letters, combined with two symbols that were captioned with 'SKETCHES OF U.N. SYMBOLS BY WITNESSES'. "The United Nations," Amiya said, before flipping to another page. This one intrigued him, however, as he felt an ominous presence within him the moment the second heading was available.
'BRIEFING ON BROTHERHOOD OF NOD'
Ominous name.
"And the Brotherhood of Nod."
The Doctor gulped for a moment. "Thank you, Amiya." That ominous feeling didn't go away, even after he said his thanks. He wondered why...
"Any time, Doctor." She bowed her head, before turning back. "I will be returning back to my post. Have a good day, Doctor."
The door closed as she left, leaving the Doctor to return to his desk, sit down, and move the rifle and magazine away to look at the documents that Amiya presented. Turning to the Brotherhood of Nod's page, the bad presence gave him a slight chill. What didn't help manners was the symbol sketched out by witnesses.
A triangle, with a tail of a scorpion poised to strike at a moment's notice, with a red background. He stared at it for a few more seconds, not knowing what to do. For a moment, he flipped back to the United Nations briefing. The symbols there gave him some relief, but only more questions in the end. In there, he saw two symbols. One of several circles defaced with shapes and masses - one even looking like a boot - surrounded by a wreath and five stars at the top of it. And the second was a stylized eagle, diving down to strike.
He flipped back toward the Nod page, then back to the United Nations page, then back to the Nod page. The process repeated as the Doctor tried to make sense of the symbolism in both works. But in the end, he stopped... and landed at the page of the Brotherhood of Nod. He stopped yet again, staring as much as he could, not wanting to read the below paragraphs.
But, the pressure built up inside and forced him to get on with it, he moved down to read. After all, Amiya gave him this, and it was a briefing. Hopefully, it was also given to other people in Rhodes Island. The paragraphs - very short, and only four lines long- detailed how the Brotherhood of Nod was a still unknown organization, and most of their intelligence sources come from... a prisoner they managed to acquire and interrogate. It detailed that the Brotherhood is a supposed cult, dedicated to an unknown faith, but the name 'Kane' is an important name in their rhetoric. Intriguing, but short.
However, he came across an alarming line.
"They were encountered in the Lungmen Operation and are believed to be behind attacks against LGD and Reunion assets, likely with the intention of annihilating both."
A question came up, and he had to ask it now.
"What the hell happened in Lungmen?"
Doctor Kal'tsit [Rhodes Island - Strategic Command] - R.I. Landship - Dated December, 1096.
It was a sunset when a debriefing had been prepared for, and Kal'tsit knew that. Between the harsh glares of the sunrays earlier and the beautiful sky, it would have made for a wonderful evening relaxation time if it weren't for the fact that she was being debriefed on something important following the Lungmen Operation. Which, by all counts, was apparently a pyrrhic victory.
The holographic discussion between her and the operators that had been in the Lungmen operation was revealing some interesting details that alarmed her. Specifically, the moment Exusiai showed bullet casings, a submachine gun, and a magazine. And when Franka elaborated on detail what they found. To think that this part came after the typical debriefing on Reunion. Though here they were annihilated. Good riddance.
"I'm tellin' ya," Exusiai continued, holding the submachine gun to show the important details. "All of 'em were carrying firearms! It was like some sort of Sankta assembly, because every time we encountered those grey assholes, they brought firearms to bear!"
Kal'tsit's stoic expression changed to that of interest. The fact they even had a large number of firearms made her interested already, but she wanted to know what information was obtained from the prisoner. So rather than continue the topic of guns, she asked something else. "How else would you describe this... Brotherhood of Nod? You did interrogate the prisoner over that, yes?" She crossed her arms, waiting for an answer.
"Franka, take it from here," Exusiai said before Franka gave out a big sigh and spoke. "Where do I begin?" She started. "Ahem, I will begin. Our Prisoner was identified as Captain Emir, of the 'Turkish' Armed Forces. When we recovered him from Lungmen, we had him zip tied and locked up in case he woke up. True to our suspicions, when transporting him, he woke up in the middle of the aircraft."
"What happened afterward?" Kal'tsit stroked her chin. Interesting. She wanted to know where the story went from there.
"He... didn't make any effort to resist," Franka noted. "He just sat there, often swiveling his head, and asking questions. Often more mundane ones. Like what we did and what we ate." She breathed in, and let it out. "I suspect that he was tired of the fighting."
"Were you able to ask questions regarding him?" She asked, crossing her hands. Franka nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. We were able to probe him with questions about what he was able to in Lungmen."
"Anything noteworthy out of it?"
"Mhm. Apparently, he was reportedly 'high' when he attacked Skullshatterer, the commander of the local Reunion assault. Managed to cut through a mass amount of Reunion before falling due to the effects of his stimulants wearing off."
"Continue."
"He also took in three kids to return to base. Two of them say that he saved them from execution by intervening and killing Reunion, or 'the bad men'. The other one is Misha, who has... less than positive opinions about him, to say the least."
"How so?" This was odd. The target was just a kid. Why did she have such a sour opinion on their prisoner?
"...Skullshatterer was the brother of Misha, and was trying to convince her to join Reunion. She ran to our prisoner and sought protection and thought he would merely intimidate and let her brother go. Unfortunately, Skullshatterer attacked Emir, and he retaliated by killing approximately eighty Reunion soldiers by himself, then... I quote, 'sadistically ending Skullshatterer's life'."
"Terra alive... And he wasn't killed when he fell?"
"No. Misha tried to, but he disarmed her and laid on his back to apparently either die or rest from the fighting."
"...I see."
"Another thing to add, Ma'am," Exusiai noted. "He identified himself as being part of the Brotherhood of Nod, which we suspect may be connected to the case in Chernobog with the United Nations several days ago."
"Hmm?"
"They both seem to be rigid, uniform, and cohesive military groups. I suspect that they both may be rival groups," Exusiai notes. "My theory is that the United Nations is a more covert force of nations working together, operating under an umbrella name in case they are found, thus giving them some degree of cloudiness to the case." She takes a moment to continue, causing a brief interim of awkward silence that thankfully ends. "However, the Brotherhood of Nod, meanwhile, could be a terrorist group! Kind of a religious terrorist organization, so to say."
"What makes you suspect so, Exu?"
"Well, for starters," She can be heard putting on a Columbian accent. Kal'tsit would normally not bear mind, but a smirk escaped that thought. "Both of 'em seem to have similar equipment and niches. Whereas the Brotherhood of Nod's men are more oriented towards urban warfare, it seems the United Nations has its theatre in the desert. While the United Nations isn't good with subtlety as seen by the Chernobog case, Nod seems to be good with unconventional tactics. It seems like they're pretty talented at hiding until things go out of control."
"I see. Any other things to add?"
"Yes. The Brotherhood of Nod seems to be a more hostile group to the United Nations. The Captain made references to 'those damned tanhelms', referring to the UN's tan helmets. Maybe we could reach out to the United Nations and help them take out Nod to secure a valuable ally? After all, it would nip Nod before they could become an annoyance."
"It would seem so. I will consider that with the Doctor after this briefing." She breathed in deeply, and let it out. "It seems like our world just gets more complicated each day."
"Ma'am, if I were you, I'd be attempting to find the paper trail that leads toward the United Nations. Ever since they got that Pilot out, we haven't seen them for days. We should get to them as fast as possible so that we could finally secure an ally against Reunion in this climate. We need an ally with military assets, they're our best option."
"Alright. Meeting dismissed."
"Thank you, Ma'am."
The holographic displays closed down, leaving Kal'tsit alone, looking at the papers on her desk. The meeting with Wei Yunwu went well but had to be cut short after the siege was about to reach the meeting area. Still, the fact that the siege intensified in the first place gave her more questions than answers. How could Reunion launch an attack like this, and did the Brotherhood of Nod pose a sufficient threat?
Who knows, Kal'tsit really didn't have enough information on her hands. Getting out of her office, she stared out of the window to look at the world one more time.
Maybe it may go down in flames.
...Or maybe it will not.
After all, only time will tell. "Oh, Doctor... you have a load of problems in your way. Can you handle them?" She stopped, taking a moment to ponder. The Doctor wasn't there, but her mouth formed into a frown. "...Hopefully the new you can handle them without losing your humanity."
Not a second time.
Never again.
Rhodes Island Operator Liskarm [Rhodes Island - BPRS] - R.I. Landship - Dated December, 1096.
Being assigned to guard the Prisoner until a second interrogation could be done was not something Liskarm had signed up for, but it was a job that nobody else had wanted to do. After all, it wasn't every day that Liskarm's job was to just sit around and do nothing. Quite an upgrade over the hectic combat, but still nevertheless boring. She really wished for something to do.
Glancing at the prisoner, she noticed that he wasn't doing anything most Prisoners would do. Rather than screaming and thrashing while trying to goad the guards into reenacting a prisoner escape film, the man was just sitting there, looking at himself. He was bloodied and battered, and the dried blood on his uniform helped remind her that he wasn't simply a prisoner, but he was one that went through absolute hell and back.
That being said, she felt like he was too suspicious. At least she could try to prod him for questions and ensure that he was cooperating. Otherwise, if he had other plans...
Well, it wouldn't hurt if she prod him. Right?
"Hey, you," she called for the prisoner's attention. "I need to speak with you." She said, waiting for a response from him. Silence ensued as she waited for a response, but the man didn't budge. Attention-catching, but mildly irritating too. She simply waited, and then spoke a second time. Hopefully this time he would listen.
She grunted, and decided just to wait.
"Trying to hook up with our prisoner I see?" Liskarm heard behind her, turning to face Franka. She frowned at that response. "I was merely trying to obtain information from our prisoner. Get your mind out of the gutter."
"Whatever you say, big chief asshole." Franka brushed off, before stopping near the cell to look at the Prisoner. Franka looked back at Liskarm as the prisoner continued to sit up and do nothing.
"Hold on, I've got this." Franka responded, letting Liskarm step aside in order to speak with the prisoner. Liskarm frowned as she looked at Franka, literally about to do something stupid. She only had one statement on her mind regarding this.
"I hope you know what you're doing." She muttered, eye twitching as Franka responded by turning and shrugging at her.
"Hey there, big man." She said, trying to get his attention. "Jeez, you're supposed to be the guy who's cut down an assload of Reunion grunts, right? You could've killed us all in the heli, so why'dja just sit around and do noting eh?" She called out. "Jeez, can't talk to girls or something? I've seen people with less social skills still get women to fall for them. Can you?"
Liskarm grabbed Franka's shoulder and shook her head. "Don't anger the prisoner." She said. "He could be dangerous."
"Pshhh, the dude's just sitting around and doing nothing! What else can he do? Break into a dance routine? Write a book?" She smirked more. "Sing?" She asked, trying to suppress a chuckle. Franka's eyes darted to the right as she witnessed the prisoner finally get up after that comment. And he turned to face the both of them. Her free hand reached for the radio to call security in case something bad happened.
"İzmir'in dağlarında çiçekler açar," he mumbled. "Yaşa, Mustafa Kemal Paşa, Yaşa." He continued. The tone wasn't that of triumph or defiance, in fact... it was solemnly sung. As if he was done. A catatonic tone. Liskarm let go of Franka's shoulder and called towards the prisoner.
"You're able to speak?" She asked, hand still near the radio just in case he tries anything. In response to her question, the man took a deep breath, sighed, and nodded.
"Yes, I can speak." He replied, tone flattened and nearly dead emotionally. Liskarm felt like she was talking to someone in despair over their situation. "What do you need to ask me for? Is it anything important?" He sat back down, and looked down on his legs. "I feel like there's nothing I could give you that would be any worth..." He answered.
The prisoner's face looked like it had seen better days. Eye-bags cover his eyes, his skin covered in dirt and soot from fighting in Reunion territory. In fact, his uniform was tattered and coated in dried blood. What legible details Liskarm could make out were the camouflage pattern and symbols on his shoulder. His uniform camouflage was gray and black, fitting for the city, but not the sterility of the Landship. He had a flag of a red banner with a white crescent with a white star next to it as a patch, and the other patch she could make out was a black banner with a red triangle in it, defaced by a scorpion's tail.
"I bet you have a family, mister," Franka playfully noted, tone trying to prod answers from him. "Why don't you tell us more about them? It'll help you finally get the courage to talk to girls, that's for sure."
He sighed, and it took him a few minutes to answer. Franka's expression changed as she was waiting for him to speak. "Well? What'cha go-"
The prisoner answered before Franka could speak. "They're not with me anymore." He stood up, and pranced around the room. "I fucking had to let them go! They'd be dead if they stayed with me! I was living in a fucking shitty regime, that doesn't care about its own people and only thinks about its own gratification!" He stomped down, and continued to answer. "It's hard being a fucking Kurd, because the fucking government doesn't see you as a human! A fucking Mountain inhabitant is all they see me as! A FUCKING MOUNTAIN GOAT!"
Liskarm almost grabbed the radio hearing the outburst, but Franka stopped her. "Let's just let him vent," she said, turning back to him. "If we call security, that could make him more uncooperative in the future. He may just be having an outburst. It's bad, but let him."
She reluctantly stopped going for the radio, and Franka smiled. "That's it." She focused her attention back to the prisoner, who was still angry.
"-I'VE FUCKING HAD IT DEALING WITH THE GOVERNMENT! THEY'RE ALL SACKS OF SHIT! I WANT THEM DEAD!" He screamed, before taking a minute to stop, and turned his head back to the both of them, eyes widening in horror. He collapsed to his knees, covering his face. "I-I'm sorry for..." he sniffled and sobbed. "I... fuck... I just haven't thought of family in years..." He cried for a little more.
"It's alright, man," Franka said. Liskarm looked to her with an expression that she could just equate to the phrase 'what the hell are you doing'. "Just... sorry for poking about them. I always thought it'd be a great conversation starter..."
"No, no, it's fine." He brushed it off. "Just... I'll say that I had to get my family out of my home and into safety, just so I could do my job without being persecuted." He continued. "I'm... an Officer, and I've been in the background of power struggles within the Brotherhood of Nod. I... I thought by moving my family away they'd be away from power struggles that could kill me..."
"I'm guessing they've, err, mostly been successful at that?" Franka tried to spit out.
"Yes." He stated. "They've been able to get out of Nod's power struggles, but... I worry for them," He leaned against the wall. "And now that I'm here..."
"At least you can rest easy knowing they'll be able to be safe, right?"
"I... suppose you're right."
"Now," Liskarm stated, trying to ask a question herself. "What were you doing in Lungmen?" She scrutinized him. Supposedly, he was there to help suppress Reunion forces. However, his forces firing upon the LGD muddied the answer.
"I told you already miss," he stated. "I was there to support suppression operations against Reunion. Is that not enough for you?" His tone was more irritated than catatonic this time. The mood swing was jarring, but somehow she didn't feel caught off-guard. "I wasn't in charge of the operation. I'm a Captain, not a General."
"You were attacking both Lungmen Guardsmen and killed civilians in the crossfire. Over a hundred civilian casualties were recorded. Your objectives were not tactically sound, nor were they strategically sound."
"...A hundred?" His face turned to one of horror and shock for a second, before reverting to a snarl. "Fuck's sake! This wouldn't have happened if-" He stops himself, then rapidly shakes his head. "Fuck, no, I'm getting it wrong..." He leans on the walls and lets out an agonized scream. "How the hell did the operation go wrong?!"
"You were unable to suppress the uprising, and got hundreds caught in the crossfire."
"Yeah, but we tried! There was nothing we could do once it happened! We were forced-"
"And you abandoned the battlefield, leaving Reunion - weakened as they were - to attempt to overrun the L.G.D. headquarters. Endangering more civilians with your reckless actions, not to mention your air support did more damage to the civilian area than it did against Reunion. Your operation was a total failure, and you left people to die because of your cowardice. What were you really doing there if you were just going to leave people to die?"
He stops for a moment, mouth making noises as he tried to formulate a response, before responding in frustration. Liskarm crossed her arms and watched him struggle. Seems like this Captain couldn't justify his actions.
"Actually, mister... uhh... Captain, if you like me to call you that," Franka tried to intervene. "What... exactly led to you being stranded here? Your buddies fled the battle, but we were only able to get you, a captain, out of there. What gives? Most we'd get is grunts." She holds her tongue for a moment, before continuing. "... most officers only care for themselves. Why and how'd you get here?"
Liskarm initially thought he was left behind deliberately by his own team when she first saw him. But he had a different story in mind, yet he wasn't willing to relay it until 'he got off' as he said on the VTOL. Now that Franka had asked in her place, she awaited the answer.
The prisoner stopped babbling for a few minutes, then looked back down on his uniform, then back up to Franka. His expression softened as he reverted to a more 'done' look.
"I... stayed behind to ensure that they were not pursued by Rhodes Island." He bluntly said. "That's why I'm here. I wanted to get my men out of this area, even if it meant that I'd be stuck here."
"You fight for them or something?" Franka asked.
"Yes." He bluntly replied. "Eight years, I was their captain. For eight years, I was their inspiration. For eight years, I fought and bled with these young recruits of the TAF and earned the spot of their rightful captain." He sighed, let out a broken chuckle, and continued. "And it took only a bad day to undo those eight years."
"Family's gone, right? So they were... your family, so to speak?" Franka asked. Liskarm was impressed. Seemed like he calmed down when Franka asked him questions.
Maybe it was because she was too harsh with her words.
Professionalism comes first in Blacksteel though, so she didn't comment. Just let Franka do the talking.
"Yes. I... I was seen as a surrogate father." He leaned back into a wall and lay down. "But here I am, rotting in a prison cell while they're trying to make up for my 'sacrifice'..." He chuckled a little bit. "And now I have Oripathy..." He then started howling and laughing. "Even if I make it outta here, I'll be dead because of a stupid brat's grenade launcher with Originium shrapnel! Fuck me!" He threw his arms into the air, before slumping down.
"I failed my men... I failed to be a proper captain..."
Liskarm felt a tinge of pain and decided to ease up. If only just to get him to not break the next time they ask for information from him. "I apologize. My inappropriate behavior has been a detriment, and I just want to ask for acceptance."
"Accepted..." He sighed. "Not that it matters anyway."
"Cheer up, Captain-man," Franka said. "Here at Rhodes Island, we're willing to take everyone in equally. We can even treat your Oripathy, too. We're working to fight for a better world, free of pain." She added.
The prisoner chuckled and even cracked a smile as he faced them. "Cheers to that. Maybe I can find peace before I die."
"You won't die, my friend. We'll make sure of that."
"Thanks." He just offered, before looking back at the wall and himself.
"Ladies, you're all free to go. Sorry for holding you up in a conversation like that. I... just needed somewhere to vent. And I thought that finally talking to my captors would allow me to speak freely." He stops and looks back at them. "Maybe you'll find some use out of this failure of a captain."
"No, thanks for speaking," Franka noted. "Just make sure to relax. You're still human, after all. Infected with Oripathy or not." She steps away from the cell to continue walking down the hallway, before stopping to wave at the Captain. "Ciao. Have a good one."
He nods and waves back, leaving Liskarm to continue her shift guarding the prisoner. She rotated back to her position, facing away from the cell containing the captain and facing the cell opposite of his. However, she couldn't exactly leave him hanging. She had her own questions, too.
"Hey," she sheepishly said. "I'm sorry for earlier."
"It's alright."
"...I meant to ask, but," She turns to him for a moment. "Do they treat your kind badly back at home?"
He sighs and laughs sardonically. "Yes. Despite being the same skin color, the same area of birth, and the same area of life... I'm just considered a mountain goat by the majority," Chuckling, he adds some more. "Mountain goat, my ass."
"...I see. My condolences."
"You weren't there," he notes bitterly. "But I appreciate the condolences. Makes my day a lot better."
The conversation ended there, with both Liskarm and the Prisoner going back to their daily activities. Still, though, she did hold a great question to her heart, even if she couldn't blurt it out in order to maintain professionalism.
Were his kind treated like Infected? There is no other reason for them to be so hateful and for him to be so aggressive if they were merely treated as second-class... unless they were treated akin to the Infected in Ursus.
She looked up at the ceiling, collecting her thoughts.
Maybe his area suffers its own discrimination... though why would they discriminate against him? Wait. He has no features identifying him as part of a specific species. She stops for a moment. Maybe his kind is hated due to their lack of features. It would make sense, after all. They would likely be seen as abnormal.
She looks back at the prisoner one more time, then back to her shift.
I wonder what he was singing about earlier. She should listen to him sing some time. Attempting to piece the lyrics would be fun, even if she wouldn't understand.
But, nevertheless, she would try her best to understand.
Though his weapons were something she could never understand herself. Even if his sword was sent for examination.
Author's Notes:
It took me a long time to gather the energy to make this, but I did. It was fun trying to deal with Rhodes Island's potential reactions to both the Lungmen and Chernobog cases, but damn it was ass trying to think of ways that they'd actually be effected via the butterfly effect. From the Doctor being forced to rest and not go into Lungmen to Reunion draining its manpower in Lungmen, safe to say there's already a world of pain and misery awaiting both sides. But hey, at least Nod gets some humanity in the form of a captain.
Rhodes Island is going to seek the United Nations for its hand in alliance against a potential threat, Nod. While they see not much of Nod initially, they get the impression that it could be akin to Reunion, and want to nip it before anything major happens. However, funny enough, the United Nations and Nod are in cahoots, both being forced to survive in a hostile world. They only have each other to fall back to when the world turns against them. And IDAP too, but their role is... more insidious, I'll say.
Remember this; The GDI are Peacekeepers, not Conquerers. The Brotherhood are Guerrillas, not Conventional. And IDAP is Humanitarian, not Greedy. They have their own niches and doctrines, both politically and militarily. They're still human after all, even with the C&C gameplay mechanics in their favor. They're not superpowers, just splinters and remnants.
Right, see you all next chapter. And it's almost Summer, so I might have a load of time. Ciao.
Discord Invite: 4m8QfQUE4n