[Maketh watches Drake for a moment. Most likely he's a criminal of some sort. A bounty hunter, perhaps?]
This position requires a certain amount of trust. I don't care what you did in your world. It doesn't matter. But I need to know that you will protect these people.
[She leans back in her chair.]
I had a minor military command, once. I've found no other world that recognizes the rank I held, though I believe it is comparable to a colonel.
[She sips her coffee, expression carefully empty.]
My officers were executed for failing in their duties. My crime was treason.
[ Well she's... really opening up. Drake's good at reading people, she's telling him the whole truth. But he can't have it known that he's a cop if someone else shows up. It's bad enough two people know.
There's one thing he can offer complete honesty about, though. He meets Maketh's gaze. ]
I will protect these people.
[ As for her, well... ] Treason's not always wrong. I've got an iffy history with authority, myself.
[That's all she needs. Drake will prove himself in the field. Maketh sips her coffee, watching him closely. Competent fighters are few and far between. She needs more Guardsmen, regardless of where they came from. So long as they protect the civilians, she'll forgive them their histories.
It's only fair. Hers has been forgiven as well.]
Hmm. If it matters to you, then I will tell you the story. Sufficient to say my world did not abide failure. I don't pretend my reasons were altruistic. Regardless, here we stand. And we must together or what we have built will crumble.
[ A competent fighter -- he's certainly that. Maketh is sure to have seen him training with Henry, and he's picking up the more archaic weapons of Hadriel quickly and with great skill. He's solid and strong and takes instruction well. His style fighting barehanded is pretty dirty, but it absolutely gets the job done. And he doesn't pull punches just because he's fighting a 'superior.' ]
I'll listen if you feel up to telling it, but. All that really matters to me is that you've got my back out there. Especially with the Null banging the door down and what sounds a lot like civil war brewing.
[Maketh considers Drake, wondering where to start.]
I don't know how it is in your home, but in mine, we have space travel. And as such, many habital planets. Many different people, many different beliefs and systems of government. And little order.
[She leans back in her chair.]
There was a war when I was young that destroyed most of the infrastructure, on both sides. In the aftermath, the few groups that had any military force to speak of united behind a single leader. That became the Empire. I enlisted as an infantry trooper, but I was recruited into the new officer corps. We were all -- quiet young.
[At this, she's quiet for a moment.]
I don't mean to excuse what was done. But you ought to know people were starving. Bowing to the Empire was better than risking a life with the warlords. We wanted to fix things.
We've gotten to the moon and that's about it. I've got a friend here who says they've colonized lots of other planets, though... and it sounds like at that point, things become kind of a mess.
[ He listens, then, tilting his head at her implication that this military force was automatically a bad guy. ]
That happens, sometimes. People fighting for control, killing each other to get it. Those who can't afford protection are crushed underfoot.
[She drinks her coffee, mostly for something to focus on.]
The Emperor promised unity, an end to the all the wars. He would bring order to places without it. No one would starve or be forced to sell their children into slavery.
[She thins her mouth.]
But control must be taken, of course, and it must be kept. Our loyalty must be absolute or we would be a threat to what the Empire stood for. The instructors made that clear on the first day. They shot one of the other cadets in front of us. She was weak. She didn't believe and so she had to go.
In a sense. [She sips her coffee, voice carefully even.] I was given a small command on a planet the Empire hoped to develop. The locals were--resistant, and my men were unable to apprehend the rebel leaders before they caused significant damage. And embarrassment, of course.
[Calmly, she sets her mug down.]
My lieutenants were executed for their failure. And as their commander, their failure was my own. Someone had to be blamed. And I--ran out of allies. So I turned to an enemy. I had intelligence the rebels needed.
[A shrug.]
It was entirely self-preservation. I don't deny that. And to their credit, I believe they did genuinely try to get me out. They were just--too late.
So... the empire killed you over basically a failed mission?
[ He isn't surprised to hear that she's dead -- he's probably dead, too, and a number of other people he's met have had similar stories. He is surprised that they'd execute for failure like that. They must surely run out of commanders if no one ever gets the chance to improve. ]
Failure must be punished. A warning to the survivors.
[She shrugs. It happened over a year ago and it was the expected course of events.]
Oh, one of my colleagues figured it out. Kallus, my counterpart in the Security Bureau. Command would have executed one of us regardless of what I did. Kallus simply...took advantage of the situation.
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no subject
[ He puts the sugar in and mixes thoughtfully, not sure how much he wants to tell. ]
I've taken martial arts since I was a kid, so I guess that's where it started? A bunch of different instructors as I moved through the ranks.
no subject
[That much is clear. Most of the Guardsmen are. But that's not really her concern at the moment. Maketh sips her coffee.]
But you know how to write a report and you don't strike me as military. Law enforcement?
no subject
I'm just a bouncer. I've filled out a lot of police reports when shit went down at the bar, that's all.
no subject
This position requires a certain amount of trust. I don't care what you did in your world. It doesn't matter. But I need to know that you will protect these people.
[She leans back in her chair.]
I had a minor military command, once. I've found no other world that recognizes the rank I held, though I believe it is comparable to a colonel.
[She sips her coffee, expression carefully empty.]
My officers were executed for failing in their duties. My crime was treason.
no subject
There's one thing he can offer complete honesty about, though. He meets Maketh's gaze. ]
I will protect these people.
[ As for her, well... ] Treason's not always wrong. I've got an iffy history with authority, myself.
no subject
[That's all she needs. Drake will prove himself in the field. Maketh sips her coffee, watching him closely. Competent fighters are few and far between. She needs more Guardsmen, regardless of where they came from. So long as they protect the civilians, she'll forgive them their histories.
It's only fair. Hers has been forgiven as well.]
Hmm. If it matters to you, then I will tell you the story. Sufficient to say my world did not abide failure. I don't pretend my reasons were altruistic. Regardless, here we stand. And we must together or what we have built will crumble.
no subject
I'll listen if you feel up to telling it, but. All that really matters to me is that you've got my back out there. Especially with the Null banging the door down and what sounds a lot like civil war brewing.
no subject
[She gives him a faint smile. It's not a refusal. She'll tell him if he asks.]
Yes. We face difficult times ahead. And I do not intend to sacrifice anyone to either the gods or the Null.
no subject
[ Drake nods. ]
Me neither. I don't trust either of them to give even half a shit about us, and I won't be used as canon fodder.
no subject
I don't know how it is in your home, but in mine, we have space travel. And as such, many habital planets. Many different people, many different beliefs and systems of government. And little order.
[She leans back in her chair.]
There was a war when I was young that destroyed most of the infrastructure, on both sides. In the aftermath, the few groups that had any military force to speak of united behind a single leader. That became the Empire. I enlisted as an infantry trooper, but I was recruited into the new officer corps. We were all -- quiet young.
[At this, she's quiet for a moment.]
I don't mean to excuse what was done. But you ought to know people were starving. Bowing to the Empire was better than risking a life with the warlords. We wanted to fix things.
no subject
[ He listens, then, tilting his head at her implication that this military force was automatically a bad guy. ]
How were they going to fix things?
no subject
[She drinks her coffee, mostly for something to focus on.]
The Emperor promised unity, an end to the all the wars. He would bring order to places without it. No one would starve or be forced to sell their children into slavery.
[She thins her mouth.]
But control must be taken, of course, and it must be kept. Our loyalty must be absolute or we would be a threat to what the Empire stood for. The instructors made that clear on the first day. They shot one of the other cadets in front of us. She was weak. She didn't believe and so she had to go.
An abject lesson. Of course it stuck.
no subject
That's... Can I ask, is that the kind of thing that happened to you?
no subject
[Calmly, she sets her mug down.]
My lieutenants were executed for their failure. And as their commander, their failure was my own. Someone had to be blamed. And I--ran out of allies. So I turned to an enemy. I had intelligence the rebels needed.
[A shrug.]
It was entirely self-preservation. I don't deny that. And to their credit, I believe they did genuinely try to get me out. They were just--too late.
no subject
[ He isn't surprised to hear that she's dead -- he's probably dead, too, and a number of other people he's met have had similar stories. He is surprised that they'd execute for failure like that. They must surely run out of commanders if no one ever gets the chance to improve. ]
Or did they find out about the betrayal?
no subject
[She shrugs. It happened over a year ago and it was the expected course of events.]
Oh, one of my colleagues figured it out. Kallus, my counterpart in the Security Bureau. Command would have executed one of us regardless of what I did. Kallus simply...took advantage of the situation.
[She smiles, utterly humorless.]
He was always clever in that way.