A knight's determination

[stupidhonor]

[1, shortly after the mission]
With Lord Moswar's death, a moot will be organized. He has left no one to call an heir, so his titles and the Lord's Arm will be given to others - all knights of Ankaia can participate in the moot and decide on that and other important matters.

But his death is just an excuse for the moot to gather. The real reason for the gathering will be to make a unified decision regarding Earth. Lord Moswar's faction lost its head. There is yet possibility of peace.

In the meantime, I will remain here. Lord Moswar's actions were against Earth's good - and Ankaia's as well. I made a vow to guard the innocents against him and the likes of him. I will not break that vow, so until that time...


I hope you will allow me to fight by your side.

[2]
[There is one more thing that a lot of people will probably ask Sielje about. The title Moswar used to refer to her, that made her so angry...]


Lord Moswar had in his grasp - the secret of Power Within. There used to be a time when that was the case for every of Ankaia's warriors, but nowadays only a few chosen know its incantation. The ultimate technique of self-actualization, any knight may use it once and once alone.

The reason for that is it draws upon the life force of the one who uses it. An old or weak person's life may become quickly extinguished... and even if you survive, you are not the same. Your strength, potency, are but shadows of their former selves.

Such a survivor is known as a Burned Out.


[3]
So the weapons of Earth are not powered by their wielders' might? Of course, they are not made from hide and bone of beasts of Ankaia... but does it not allow for even a weakling to excel in combat, if his or her tools are good?

[Sielje asks this question while sitting atop of a Genoace - the mobile suit took only a few steps from where it stood before losing balance and collapsing. You can probably guess who was the pilot, since she was the one who left the cockpit...]

Comments

1)

[tillallareone]

[Sielje, you find one of the machines that had fought alongside you against Moswar standing before you. Without any fanfare Optimus lowers himself to one knee and extends a hand towards you.]

Though the circumstances of your arrival were less than ideal, it is an honor to have you fight alongside us.

[stupidhonor]

Thank you.

[Sielje looks at the hand. How unusual, it'd be much more conveinent if the pilot would leave his machine... but she tries to grip it anyway as best as she can.]

I will not falter.

[tillallareone]

I know you will not. Your actions out in the field spoke louder than any words can.

My apologies for not introducing myself. I am Optimus Prime.

[stupidhonor]

I am knight Sielje, the Guard of the South. Well met.

Do you intend to stay inside your Arm for now, Optimus Prime?

[tillallareone]

Ah.

[Optimus has the good grace to at least look a little embarrassed.]

I apologize for not mentioning this earlier knight Sielje. What you see before you is who I am.

My fellow Autobots and I are not organic lifeforms like many who fight in the Unity Group's ranks. Simply put... I am an alien.

[stupidhonor]

You and your Arm... are one?

No. This is not it - is this your own body I see before my own eyes?

[tillallareone]

Yes it is.

[They don't have living robots in Ankaia do they?]

[stupidhonor]

I see.

My... apologies for making a mistake.

[She looks more embarassed than surprised, now.]

[tillallareone]

Apology accepted, but do not feel too troubled by this mistake Knight Sielje. You are hardly the first person to have believed me to be a simple machine controlled by others.

[There was a soft chuckle from Optimus. Not Mocking but simply just relaxed.]

[stupidhonor]

Simple, definitely not. I saw what you and your entourage were capable of during the battle with Lord Moswar, Optimus Prime.

[tillallareone]

As had I seen the depths of your own courage Knight Sielje.

Though in the case of myself and my comrades, we were simply upholding both a duty and a promise of our own.

[stupidhonor]

A promise? Did you swear your own vows?

[tillallareone]

Indeed. Though of all I have made, two in my lifetime have come to be the most important.

One was made a long time ago to an elder of my people... to end the war that plagued my people for countless millennia without sacrificing the ideals that those who came before me valued highly. To protect the Freedom of all Sentient Beings, to allow them to live their lives free of the threat of tyranny and able to seek their happiness.

Another was made recently, less than a year ago to a child on this planet - forced to fight by the cruelties of fate. That this world would not suffer the same as my own. That it would not be consumed by what many see to be a war without end that would devastate it completely.

[stupidhonor]

The seriousness of these vows...

[Sielje responds only after a moment. The gravity hit her like a sledgehammer.]

No ordinary person would pledge them. I will honor your words, and act not to force them to be broken.

[tillallareone]

Thank you Knight Sielje. Though it bears consideration... sometimes ordinary people in times of great strife may make the choice to transform.

[stupidhonor]

Transform... become something greater? Muster courage to perform great deeds?

[Sielje seems lost in thought.]

[tillallareone]

Indeed. Many of my comrades... myself included were not always warriors. A dockworker... an archivist... I had drifted through a number of trades.

Sometimes all it takes is the desire to make things right... courage soon follows.

[stupidhonor]

Courage...

Or death.

[Sielje sounds really grim for some reason.]

[tillallareone]

Perhaps. But that is why no one fights alone. In spirit or in form.

[stupidhonor]

...

Not always...

[tillallareone]

... If it isn't too much to ask, may I hear your reasoning on this Sielje?

[stupidhonor]

I think it is time for me to go.

Please excuse me.

[tillallareone]

I see. Farewell then...

And I apologize for any offense I may have caused.