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The War Room; Jade/Wing
Topic Started: Oct 25 2015, 10:09 PM (170 Views)
Archon
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[ *  *  * ]
What once might have been a neat and tidy hideout was now a mass of maps, papers books. The Eclipse hideout was more akin to a war room than a safehouse. All of the books on hte cnetral table were history books detailing old war tactics and strategy from grand to battle size.

Over most of the table was a scaled map of Canterlot. It was covered in tiny flags, some white some red and some blue. The amount of flags was akin to a forest of tiny trees as the plastic statues covered almost every inch of the map. There were far more white and red flags than blue.

A larger map of Equestria was hung over the memorial stone. The map had many notes and etchings and different colored 'x's all over it. Some had a citation number, even.

At the head of this table was Archon or rather Solaris. his helmet wasn't formed and tired baggy eyes scanned the various maps and notebooks, sometimes moving a flag. Solaris didn't exactly look like he normally did. He had bags under his eyes, the dye in his mane faded to the point where his mane was his natural white color. On his neck was a small circular scar, the area around it a sickly grey color. His coat had yet to regrow and so had a big bare spot on his neck where he was injected with the venom that almost killed him.
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Wing
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After another successful night of fulfilling strikes against Shortfuse's resources, and those of his allies, among other things, Wing returned to the Eclipse hideout, carefully sliding the rock back into place once he entered. He could tell Solaris was still up, still pouring over information about holdings, troop positions, and the like.

Or that's what he assumed. He was trained in different things. The big picture was always a tertiary concern in his educational regimen. Political powers were of no consequence to the weapon wielded against them, after all.

Quietly he entered greatroom, the place where most of the briefings and meetings were held. He watched Solaris for a time, noting the ragged signs of a worn down pony. He often wondered what kept Solaris so focused. Training was one thing, he understood that, but he couldn't shake the feeling it came from elsewhere, fueled by more than just discipline. Something he couldn't fathom.

"It is done." He said simply, indicating his assignments were complete for the night, and also announcing his presence.
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Archon
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Solaris looked up at Wing and nodded, moving away four red flags and replacing them with white ones. He seemed rather pleased, nodding at the map. Seeing something that Wing might just not have an eye for.

Solaris sat himself on a cushion on his side of the table and sighed. It wasn't a tired or dejected sigh... It was a content one.

Despite looking so tired it seemed Solaris wasn't delirious because of it nor were his faculties affected overmuch by the exhaustion. Like he was used to this kind of exertion.

"I know you weren't trained in such things but, I think even you can see whats happening?" He said gesturing to the map.

"I don't remember if I told you. The blue flags are loyalist guardspony positions." He said pointing a hoof at the blue flags. From the looks of the map the blue flags laid out a rather straight path from the city's entrance all the way to the gates of the palace.

"I'm rather proud of this to be honest. I've never had to siege or take such a well defended city before. Even during the war the most the diamond dogs had were trenches. And here, over months of work that both you and I put in: I've created the perfect battlefield for when the final act of the strategy starts." He looked rather pleased, a smirk forming on his face. Of course that lasted only the briefest of moments.

"I'd be happier if it wasn't a city I call home. But, what can you do?" He asked rhetorically with a sigh.

"Wing, I want to thank you for all of the effort you've put forth. I know you'll just brush it off as your duty or 'what has to be done.' But, I feel this has to be said. No normal pony could have put up with as much as you had too and I don't mean just the fighting. You gave up a position of leadership because you felt it'd be better in another's hooves. You followed that pony's instructions and orders with very little complaint. You even suffered an entire redecorating of the greatroom for books and maps and scattered papers." The last one was a joke.

"When you came to me you said you weren't a leader. That may have been true then but after having worked with you. I can see it; Its rough and while I don't think you have an interest in leading troops I do think that when I leave, which be assured I will once this is over, you'll have no problem leading Eclipse."
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Wing
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The words settled on him for a few seconds as he absorbed them and worked over them. They were odd, especially the part about leading. He wasn't sure how to feel about them, or how to respond. Then again, he was still working on feeling.

"Mm. This work is all I know." Was his only real reply to that, before continuing on, voice it's even monotone and face still relatively expressionless. Though, there was some hesitation, and the words seemed to have at least registered.

"... Princess Celestia has still not been located?" He moved to the table, looking it over himself.
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Archon
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Solaris shook his head. "She hasn't, but don't try to change the subject." he said looking at Wing sternly.

"You do assigned tasks well but... I've yet to see how we'll work as a team. And as we get closer to the end We'll have to begin doing operations like that. The foundation to a well oiled team is knowing your teammates." He said give Wing a sideways glance.

"I don't know you and I cannot trust whom I do not know. I know it'll be hard for you but I'm giving you a different kind of assignment, there is a point to this so don't think its childish. Take a night and write me an essay. Tell me who you are and what you are. Then tell me who you think I am and what you think I am."
Edited by Archon, Oct 26 2015, 09:00 PM.
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Wing
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An essay? That was.. confusing. He had to make sure he had heard Solaris correctly, and that he wasn't simply forgetting his Equestrian. He did not understand, nor did he really have any idea to go about his new task. If Solaris wanted it done, though...

Something interrupted his train of thought and he glanced away for a second, before looking back to Solaris. "It will be done." Before he twisted on his legs and disappeared further down the hall, moving to his room to begin work on the 'essay.'

Meanwhile, someone else quietly descended the stairs into the Eclipse hideout...
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Archon
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Solaris nodded as Wing walked away. The exercise will get Wing to really think and perhaps 3ven provide an outlet for emotion. Celestia knows, he needs it.

He went back to his maps and strategy, now studying Equestrian strategy. Mostly Celestia's defense of Canter lot during Nightmare Moon's rebellion. It was a masterful strategy, and he knew Short fuse would try to emulate it.

The challenge here was to create a strategy to break Celestia's. A being with thousands of years worth of military experience.
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Subdued Jade
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Subdued Jade, mother, martial artist, and ex-assassin was having a very difficult time with seeing the innards of the Eclipse sanctum once more. It was bringing back all sorts of memories, many of them very unpleasant. Though she was reminded most of the first time she had seen them. She was younger then, and had much more to learn.

Now, she was a different mare in many ways. Older, wiser, happier in many ways. Though her thoughts had been dark the past few days. Arael had evacuated Ponyville, and she had... sort of lied to her family. Jade told them she was staying to help with the evacuation, but even when Ponyville was empty, Jade sat in her home, a deep frown settled on her face as she meditated. This time it would be her to return to duty, not Glaive. If she was to return.

That 'if' is what she had wrestled with for some time. If what Archon had said was true, could she really sit by and allow it to happen? Before, she worked as an Eclipse assassin because she wanted to put her skills to good, but now... she had much more to fight for. A family, a community, a country. Jade had come to love all of these things. She came to the conclusion that if that was the case, she had to fight for what she loved.

But she would do it by her rules, not by Archon's. If there was no other way, as he had put it, than she would just have to make another way.

So there she was, creeping silently through the familiar hallways, distant memories surfacing once more. She didn't have to be so quiet, but she honestly felt like an intruder. Like she didn't belong there.

Jade couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not, but she chose to take comfort in that feeling than not.

Her first step was to find Archon, and have words. if he wasn't in, then she would wait, but first to check the main room. She carefully glanced around the corner, expecting what she remembered and was greeted with something very different. It was messy, and being used permanently as a resting place for books, and a map, and...

No, it couldn't be. She had met him, and seen him, and this was a different pony. His mane was different, not a golden blonde, and his eyes... But everything else was the same. Even with the ragged and tired eyes, she could only recognize one pony.

"S.." She began, stopping, as if she still couldn't believe it. "Solaris? You are Archon?"
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Archon
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Solaris looked up from his book, startled. He saw Jade and narrowed his eyes, calculating. He wasn't exactly expecting this, it was always a possibility but a very very thin one.

"Jade?" Solaris said as if to confirm. "When I said 'come and stop me.' I never would have expected it to happen so soon... Or at all." he joked, his personality immediately different than Archons.

"Yes, I'm Archon. Yes, I meant what I said and no, the personality you encountered was a facade. I'm actually not nearly as angry or disgruntled. The purpose was to... well, make sure my friends, if they saw me, would not recognize me." he answered before she could ask. He felt that heading that off was the best option.

"We're going to argue, I can feel it. So, before any of this happens... Look at the maps. Look at what I'm up against. Ask questions, understand the situation. Then I'll take your criticism. Can we agree on that? I'll answer any question you have, 100% honest, no games."
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Subdued Jade
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And slowly Jade closed her mouth, willing to agree to that bargain. Besides, the cognitive dissonance she was experiencing with seeing Solaris act like Solaris in that armor was... distressing. Her words would not likely have been well thought out.

She walked over to the table and looked it over, the map, the notes, the flags. The flags. For some reason her eyes kept being drawn to those, and not in a good way. Soon enough she let out a frustrated sigh.

"I... do not have a mind for this. These flags represent more than what I understand, but I understand enough, I think. This is not what concerns me." She gestured wide to all of what was on display. "I came here to speak with Archon, to... scorn Archon. But knowing now who Archon is..."

Another sigh, this one heavy. "I only need one question answered. This. All of this. Dying, Eclipse, saving Equestria from within... Was it worth it?" Jade turned to look him in the eye, warning. "You told me you would be honest. Do not simply set your jaw and give me an answer of determined and righteous words. Not without thinking for a moment of all you had to go through to reach this point."

"Was tasting death worth this? What of the suffering and despair brought to those whose lives' you touched the most? Arael, Dawn, Glaive, Whisper, Silent Wit? Many others who I can not even begin to name?"

"And this. What you have become." She gestured to the armor. "Even if it is as you say, a mask, not who you really are, that does not distance yourself from everything you do while wearing that mask. You and I both know that. What about that?"

"Is all of that...? All of that and more, was that all worth what you are fighting for? Please, take a few moments... think of what I have asked. Thoroughly. Do so and I promise that is the only question I have, for now." Jade finished, solemnly.
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Archon
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Solaris didn't take much time at all to think. Not that he had a lie ready but rather he put in a lot of thought into that very question already.

"I'm going to set a few things straight first, okay?" He said motioning to the map. "The flags are all of the guard outposts currently in operation in Canterlot. White, means a neutralized outpost. Blue, is an allied one. Red are outposts manned by Shortfuse's forces." he explained quickly just to help with Jade's confusion.

"Second, I didn't choose to die. An ally of mine within Alpha's inner circle was assigned to assassinate me. She wasn't going too... Her idea was to tell me, 'try', and then say I was too strong. One of Shortfuse's agents however, was watching the whole time. Once she noticed, it was either stab me or die herself. However, she used a less than lethal dose of Nightshade that merely rendered me nearly dead. I awoke in a safehouse far from here. By the time I regained my strength and traveled back, my funeral was already over." he explained, somber in tone.

"Lastly... I could not bear Arael grieving for me. So I took a risk and told her that Solaris wasn't dead. But could not reveal himself because of the danger and damage it would cause. So, at the very least I managed to keep the one I love from falling head first into despair. Naturally, I intend to tell all of my friends once this is over. Minus Eclipse's involvement." he said pacing back and forth a bit.

"So now your question... The short answer is: I don't know." he said shrugging "Was it worth tasting death? Yes. Ever since I joined the Knights I reconciled the fact that I may die in service to my country. That much is a give in, any soldier, knight, guardspony knows and deals with that realization their own way."

"Is the suffering of my friends worth it? I don't know. I suspect not however, I have to believe it is. Otherwise my friends, their children, neighbors, family will have to live in a world without Equestria. In a lawless, unsafe barren land where anarchy rules. Make no mistake, if Alpha doesn't plan on obliterating everything his dissolution of this nation will cause at the very least that. Not to mention the political power vacuum. If Equestria were to fall I fear the coming wars and the potential blood spilled in the future. The river of blood I've caused now is nothing to the veritable ocean of carnage ahead of us if I fail. Do you know how many countries rely on Equestria for their independence?" he asked, not expecting an answer.

"Eight. Eight countries owe their very existence to Equestria despite having borders with other larger countries like the Griffon Kingdoms, for example. Forget about Equestria, millions more will die or be enslaved if Equestria were to fall."

He motioned to more maps, particularly one of the world. It had codified notes scrawled all over it. "I ran the simulations in my head. I played the wargames using all of these stats and figures. My estimates predict about a global population drop of 20% on the low side should the coming power vacuum be resolved with warfare. Equestria has a population of about 200 million. Lets assume the power vacuum only affects Equestria's citizens. 20% of 200 million is 40 million. Compare that to the hundreds I've killed: Tell me that does not fit into the 'Kill the few to save the many' mentality. Its no excuse, but, that is the scale I have to think on." he said looking at his hooves a moment.

"Jade, I know that fact all to well. The fact of the matter is that I'm disgusted with my actions. But I have to believe its worth it. Even though my gut tells me, screams at me, that this methodology is wrong and evil: I have to believe its worth it. Its the only thing keeping me moving, fighting, hoping."

"Its taken all of my martial experience and predictive power just to keep Alpha's plans at bay far enough that we're even here. Equestria could have fallen months ago. All Alpha has to do is kill shortfuse and the remnants of the Government to do so. However, I rescued Princess Twilight from an assassination or kidnapping. I don't know which. The point is, that move gave Alpha pause. If he were to destroy the government Twilight could just rebuild, and his plans foiled. All of my action thus far have resulted in this stand-still. Hes tried to kill me multiple times. Because for awhile, I was the only thing keeping him with moving ahead with his plans. Now that I caught a break and found Princess Luna I have some breathing room." He let out a heavy breath.

"Apologies, went off topic. My point is, my gut tells me that: No, this isn't worth it. It goes against everything my moral core has ever stood for. But I know for a fact that if I took lighter means, slower but more righteous paths, I'd of failed and the blood of millions would be on my hooves because I was unwilling to bend before the wind." He paused with a sigh.

"Don't take that as me being cynical though. After I see this through to the end I'm done. With everything. Once I lay down my sword after all is said and done I'll never take blade in hoof again, even for self defense. I always preached that the moment you feel nothing when you take a life is the moment you should stop fighting. Thats happened to me. Its not every kill but about four so far I've felt no remorse at the loss of life. But I can't just stop, that'd be selfish. I have to, at the very least, ensure that theres a future worth fighting for. Even if I wont be around to see it."
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Subdued Jade
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Jade spent time listening to him speak, and absorbed his words with a reserved thoughtfulness, giving each sentence appropriate weight to judge on. She did not nod or give any other indication that she was listening other than the attentiveness on her face. When he finished, she waited a moment before taking a breath and nodding.

"You have thought about it, at least. It is clear it weighs heavily on your mind. This is good, lest you lose yourself in trying to do all of this. Better to remain centered." She sighed. "Truthfully, I had words prepared. But seeing you now, and knowing you have not lost sight of who you are or the weight of what you do... They do not carry the same meaning anymore."

She looked at the map and then a brief smile formed on her lips. "When this is over, if you would no longer wield your blade, I could teach you some of a martial style I know. It is designed not to kill. In fact, to do it well is to cause no lasting damage at all."

Jade had more to discuss with him, words that Archon would have heard as well. But that could come next. He deserved a moment after revealing himself so, she thought.
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Archon
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Solaris took a moment to recenter himself, leaning over the table and looking over the map, eyes critical of the notes and flags and other markings.

"Truthfully, I'm glad you aren't angry with me. But... You do know I'm not exactly a greenhorn?" He asked chuckling some. "I felt the same way when I lead the war effort those years ago... Its just I think I'm nearing my limit." He said lowering his head.

"Thats frustrating in of itself. I peaked very early in my life, when I dragged this country through a war we were by all rights losing. Now I'm fighting to save the same country again. Except, it doesn't feel right. I'm no assassin; I'm a knight." He said looking frustrated.

"I suppose its a little selfish but, I wanted to do more. I wanted to be more. I still do. Before I became marshal I wanted to be a hero... A symbol. I got what I wanted, people started calling me a hero." He said smiling some.

"It felt good at first. But I guess thats the thing with heroism, isn't it? Everypony sees a hero, calls you one. But inside? I felt normal. I realized being a hero isn't something special or a state of mind. Its what ponies call you when they can't see themselves fighting against that particular obstacle. Be it a war or achievement. It felt... Hollow." He said shrugging.

"I don't know what I am supposed to do anymore. I don't know how to progress anymore."
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Subdued Jade
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Jade smiled at the comment but shook her head. "You have much experience, yes. Certainly more than I have with anything like war. But I think the worry of losing who you are to what you do, what you have to do, is not beholden to age or experience. Instead, I think it is a question of self-awareness, and wisdom. Your answer has proven that you have these things. And you have regret."

She listened for awhile, letting Solaris speak of his struggles, his aspirations. When he was finished, Jade gave him a reassuring look. "Solaris, there is more than one way to look at anything, even the meaning of a hero. Do you know what Whisper thinks of you? How her eyes light up when she talks about your feats of courage and honor? I know more about you from her, than I do from you. You are her hero." She paused, then laughed quietly. "Well, one of her many heroes. But I want you to know she still wishes to be like you, and Arael. You give her the hope to even aspire for something like that. " She smiled softly. "You should see her practically jump up and down at the thought.."

Jade took in a breath before continuing. "I think that is what a hero is. Someone who shines hope into other's lives, not that the hero will do things they cannot, but that they can now face their own challenges, inspired by the actions of their heroes." She paused. "There is a wonderful saying I heard once from one of my teachers in Xi-Bian. 'A candle can light one hundred other candles, and yet never lose its light.' There is a similar expression in Equestria, but I cannot remember it."

"The point is a hero is many things to many people. I choose to believe this interpretation." She smiled, looking back to the map. "As for what to do... I know that Arael has faith in you, as do I, to some degree, and so would Whisper and many others if they knew. I imagine that does not help make the decision, but I hope it can bring you some comfort while you do so."
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Archon
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Solaris let out a content breath. Jade's words were true, and words that he himself believed in before joining Eclipse. He mentally kicked himself for forgetting that much... But, in a way, it was nice to be reminded. He almost let himself become jaded. He couldn't let that happen, not until the evil has passed.

"Thank you Jade... It seems I lost some of my way after all. I'll endeavor to stay upon that path. The one you and Whisper admire." He nodded before magicking a notebook nearby and opening it.

"To refocus our thoughts... I've a theory about Alpha. The agent of the Void I mentioned earlier. I've a feeling that Alpha is being forced to do these heinous things. I only say this because... If he was truly set on destroying Equestria, wouldn't he be more motivated? Every time I've crossed him, while on the surface is evil, His heart isn't in it. Like, hes just going through the motions."
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