⚔ [video]

[highfrequency]

[Raiden is crouched, holding the communicator in one hand, and empty vials in another. He's looking at the vials, his eyes never once darting towards the screen. There is a trace amount of blood on his breastplate. When he speaks, it's with a harsh edge that barely disguises a haunted tremor.

Some of the structures around him are busted up.]

Found one of those bastards in the market place, pretending he was sick. He had these.

[He rolls the vials between his claws.]

I caught him, he didn't say much though. Just "United Earth stands strong, obey and prosper!" And that the Exiles will be punished.

[He looks up into the sky, squinting his single eye, then opens his mouth slightly as if to say something. When nothing comes out, he just sighs.]

...Yeah. Guess that's it.

[He stands up, waving the vials in a "come and get it" gesture.]

Raiden out.

[Feed cuts out]

Comments

[boundbyheart]

Did you just let him go?

[voice]

[highfrequency]

He's dead.

[voice]

[boundbyheart]

I hope you weren't trying to do that. A dead person can't tell you anything.

[voice]

[highfrequency]

Yeah, pretty sure that was his thinking, too.

[With detached coldness]

The crazy son of a bitch bit off his own tongue.

[voice]

[boundbyheart]

Stupid idiot. Wasting his life on something like that.

[voice]

[highfrequency]

Pretty common terror tactic, really. These guys think there's glory in dying for their cause. Wouldn't be surprised if they were brainwashed, either.

[voice]

[boundbyheart]

There's no glory in dying. Just idiocy.

Video - Private

[showmeyourwreath]

[Hay bro, sure lookin a bit different since she saw you last.]

Are you alright?

Video - Private

[highfrequency]

Yeah...I...

[Now he does glance into the camera. And he sees... her!]

You're real!

[It is a dumb thing to say and he knows it. Trolls and Dragons are real, why not fairies? But the memory of meeting her-on April 30th-still feels like a fever dream to him.]

[showmeyourwreath]

[Yeah, her being real is still a thing, Raiden.

That gets a tiny grin out of her. Nothing like the wider ones or smiles he might recall, if he does. No wings, either.]

Last I checked, yeah. I can come pinch you, if you like, the next time I see you.

[highfrequency]

[He offers a weak smile of his own]

No, it's... Uh. Sorry.

The day we met was kinda rough, that's all.

WOW I'M READING ONE OF HIS LOG THREADS AND HE'S SO RUDE. FAIRIES TOTES EXIST B(!

[showmeyourwreath]

You mean with the mission? Or maybe something else?

[Speaking of the mission, it wasn't her thing at the time, okay, maybe she'd managed to have a little fun with it, actually. regardless, she'd take breaking things over and over and over again compared to what followed. It feels so long ago.]

[highfrequency]

In general.

video;

[aphrodisiacs]

[ this sickness sucks. but, hey, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, and alisha cannot fucking wait to get there. however, before she can even think to say a thing, she has to beat back a coughing fit before she even tries to flick the communicator on. with a scratchy voice: ] What did you do with him?

[voice]

[highfrequency]

Killed him.

[He sounds tired]

He bit off his own tongue so I ended it there.

[voice]

[aphrodisiacs]

What did you do with him? Y'know, after that.

[voice]

[highfrequency]

Nothing. He's still here.

[voice]

[aphrodisiacs]

Isn't leaving his body in the middle of wherever just going to anger the pricks who did this?

[voice]

[highfrequency]

We're in an alley.

Not that it matters much, I kinda doubt we can piss these guys off any more than we already have.

voice;

[tyrantrave]

[Sol ends up letting out a huff that seems like a mix between amused and exasperated. Of course the situation wasn't the same as it was back then during the Crusades, but there were little details that seemed to make their way through no matter the enemy.]

Defiant until the end.

[His tone change to more of a pensive one as he continues:]

Doesn't sound like he would've said much anyway outside trying to reprimand us anyway.

voice;

[highfrequency]

Yeah. Whatever the United Earth told these guys, it was enough to make 'em fanatics.

voice;

[tyrantrave]

Probably wasn't much initially, just a gradual buildup of their own morale within the group and then enough of a push to demonize the opposition so that they thought their cause was righteous. [Sol snorts at that.]

voice;

[highfrequency]

Probably drugs involved, too. Something to dull the senses.

I hear the UE does shit like that.

voice;

[tyrantrave]

Wouldn't surprise me any. Not with the shit they're trying to pull on us.

Anything on him outside the vials?

voice;

[highfrequency]

Just verstatsi.

[Speaking of drugs]

[There's a rustling sound]

And there's a tattoo behind his ear. Looks like the solar system, maybe. Or something like an atom, I dunno, hard to make out.