Post by StaolDerg on Apr 18, 2021 19:18:41 GMT -5
Hikva sat before a long table with a candle lit before him, dancing upon its copper plate in rosy flames. His hands rested quietly upon the oaken furniture, toying with one of the rings upon his finger. Though he sat unbound, he very well felt like a prisoner even without the guards from earlier escorting him like hawks.
Looking up was not required to feel the glares of the tribunal boring down upon him from the opposite end of the table, flanked at the sides by a jury of other officers. They were discussing among themselves, a prelude to the trial itself- not that it’d matter. It was a kangaroo court, plain and simple. He would take the blame for his rash decisions- and given their shocked reactions when news came of Kapri and her group’s evacuation- worsened by the Ashigawan princess offering all knowledge on the Free National-Crown Army. They saw treachery, abandonment, and so in nature they had sought blame. And who better to hang than the one who brought them to Elenria?
He turned the ring over in his fingers as they concluded their discussion, starting the trial in a procession of accusations. He’d made it a long time ago, when he was scarcely a century old, on his first Expedition to what was now Franerre. The iron ring itself was small and simple, engraved with a few names- his first party of expeditionary members who had accompanied him. Simpler times, around a crackling furnace and forming steel from hot metal.
“ Wanderer Hikva Aporiat, you stand trial before the Army Tribunal under charges of unsanctioned political action with a foreign state, in addition to negotiating a honor-binding deal with the state, as well as confiding state secrets to the same party without authorization and leading a military agent of the foreign state to manipulate internal affairs and radicalize officers into attacking TAKPOE convoys without the appropriate measures, causing the civilian noncombatant deaths of tens of thousands through famine. Honor entrusts you with the assumption to understand what and who you work with before you act, of which the events of your resistance against the officer radicalization was disappointingly lacking.”
Well, not all was lost. He’d been promised his Expedition members were to be considered innocent and set free from their oaths to him, releasing them of any and all blame to the affair. They, at least, would live with the families with clean honor, even if it meant testifying against him. He would be lucky to be simply executed by firing squad by the next morning. He could hear the trial continue in the back of his mind as he rolled the ring around his index claw, barely paying attention.
He regretted much, from setting foot in Ashigawa, to not resisting enough when Kapri had talked to the assembly of officers those months ago. He was, despite all his experiences, not enough of a soldier, no officer.It was ironic really, that he could be this old and simply… go away, like this. He had always it would be at the blade of cold steel or from some accident abroad, perhaps even drowning in some faraway voyage. But he was no noble adventurer, because only a stupid person could’ve sat by inactively as he as those thousands starved.
“...Testimony from Commandant Elvoria has dictated that his involvement was nothing more than full cooperation with the conspiring foreign agent, who confided in him that a C.O.G.- friendly administration in Elenria was sought to oppose Kumosenkan. Such action is against the Verota Declaration of 1877, which vilifies any cooperation with a foreign power to alter the current administration, equivalent to treason. The defendant reacted with initial hesitance before accepting all terms for all of Elenria by personal honor. Such promises are above his rank, but due to the manipulation of the agent in question, subordinate officers of the Northwestern Command were radicalized into action without approval from High Command.”
His mind had been made up weeks ago to perish with diginity. He’d made an oath- one that he would keep with him to the grave, refusing to give up anything that could be used against Ashigawa- not that it mattered anymore, anyway. This was the consequence of his rashness. He wondered if they’d afford him the dignity of shooting his own brains out, or perhaps hand him a sword and order him to march to the coast and attempt kill as many Kumo as possible in redemptive service to Elenria’s people. Maybe even burn him alive, scattering his ashes to the winds without a proper burial.
He turned the ring over in his palm. So many options- they should choose a rainy day to kill him while at it. It sounded that they had finished showing off the evidence and finished coming up with a sentence. He peered up tiredly at the assembly of crows before him.
“Hikva Aporiat, Wanderer of Three Centuries, the court has found you guilty of all charges. How do you plead?”
He shook his head in defeat, muttering loud only loud enough to hear, “Just kill me fast, please.”
Hikva left the ring on the table as the guards took him away, the gleam of the flame waving in the warm reflection of the metal.
A distant slam of a door concluded the end of the meeting, the candle pinched out by a another set of claws as the room was emptied without a word.
“I hope you’re happy, Kalpes.”
The two inselni officers stood over a map of the Elenria, the generalissimo of the Royalists leaning against the table in thought, slowly shaving a statuette out of cork with a knife as the grey-streaked general glared at the figurines that dotted it with clenched teeth.
“I have no reason to be, Yaveri. Hikva was a loyal member of our resistance.”
Yaveri frowned. “What? You were on the verge of having him arrested when you first found out. And now, right after having him convicted of treason for the deaths of thousands and actually arresting him, you’re singing his praises-”
“Do not misunderstand me, General,” the Generalissimo interrupted, looking up from his carving. “He was fully guilty of the charges placed against him for his arrogance in acting without any permission from High Command. He acted in good intention, but good intention without appropriate education is flawed- and he was again, by all standards, was only a courier, meant to communicate with Far-Elenria. I am not singing his praises. I am acknowledging him as a loss of someone who, if he or anyone in his expedition had simply used his head for a moment, could’ve brought much more good for the Elenria.”
He returned to his carving, dusting off the shavings with a claw as Yaveri scowled.
“The entire command structure of leaving our officers with free autonomy to operate as they wanted was your idea alone from the outset of hostilities with the spiders invading Elenria. His failure is very much as much as our own failure to assess the dangers of the structure we built. We tolerated the arrival of the foreign agent as a necessary sacrifice and allowed them to train our forces with minimal supervision. We should’ve expected this as the High Command.”
The generalissimo’s yellow eyes flicked coldly at the General as he set down the carving to turn to the officer with his full attention.
“Then what were you doing, General? Hindsight is no use after the fact except to teach us lessons. And if this lesson is one of auditing our entire organization, then I would like to ask what you were doing that rids you of blame? You were beside me and fully present during the last few months. Even then, what do you recommend to fix this issue?”
“I said we, Kalpes. I am just as responsible as you are. I have not disputed that I was swayed by the agent’s arguments to using extreme measures- but nevertheless, I do have a resolution in mind: the radios were were equipped with can be ciphered to our use for a more effective system of communication. The weapons they have given us provide a great deal more superior firepower against the Territorials- we should seek to take advantage and improve our current tactics- for example, setting up sniper schools and firing drills would be more than vital to sustain our war effort. I think that we could maybe also make something out of the armored vehicles we were handed. Though ammunition will remain a concern, given the foreign caliber they come in.”
Kalpes nodded, picking up his carving. “A good start. The bullets use cordite for propellant- I know from our agents that a vital component within the mixture is nitrocellulose, part of which we can extract from waste fat and put the rest together in laboratories. I will contact our agents in Elna to supply us with chemicals and retooling equipment for machinery. Smuggling routes should see the parts arrive in a matter of months- enough time for us to make use of what we already have. ”
Yaveri nodded, in thoughts of her own when she looked up at his carving. “What is that, anyway? Another marker for a new enemy base?”
The Generalissimo smiled. “Close. Its a marker for the city of Kerat.”
Yaveri raised an eyebrow. “…What about Yasval? Our agents reported it was producing machinery for some of the armories up at Aundui Bay?”
Kalpes paused, looking at the map. His smile spread into a wry grin as he nodded, plopping the cork city onto the painted dot of Yasval.
“I like your thinking, General."
Looking up was not required to feel the glares of the tribunal boring down upon him from the opposite end of the table, flanked at the sides by a jury of other officers. They were discussing among themselves, a prelude to the trial itself- not that it’d matter. It was a kangaroo court, plain and simple. He would take the blame for his rash decisions- and given their shocked reactions when news came of Kapri and her group’s evacuation- worsened by the Ashigawan princess offering all knowledge on the Free National-Crown Army. They saw treachery, abandonment, and so in nature they had sought blame. And who better to hang than the one who brought them to Elenria?
He turned the ring over in his fingers as they concluded their discussion, starting the trial in a procession of accusations. He’d made it a long time ago, when he was scarcely a century old, on his first Expedition to what was now Franerre. The iron ring itself was small and simple, engraved with a few names- his first party of expeditionary members who had accompanied him. Simpler times, around a crackling furnace and forming steel from hot metal.
“ Wanderer Hikva Aporiat, you stand trial before the Army Tribunal under charges of unsanctioned political action with a foreign state, in addition to negotiating a honor-binding deal with the state, as well as confiding state secrets to the same party without authorization and leading a military agent of the foreign state to manipulate internal affairs and radicalize officers into attacking TAKPOE convoys without the appropriate measures, causing the civilian noncombatant deaths of tens of thousands through famine. Honor entrusts you with the assumption to understand what and who you work with before you act, of which the events of your resistance against the officer radicalization was disappointingly lacking.”
Well, not all was lost. He’d been promised his Expedition members were to be considered innocent and set free from their oaths to him, releasing them of any and all blame to the affair. They, at least, would live with the families with clean honor, even if it meant testifying against him. He would be lucky to be simply executed by firing squad by the next morning. He could hear the trial continue in the back of his mind as he rolled the ring around his index claw, barely paying attention.
He regretted much, from setting foot in Ashigawa, to not resisting enough when Kapri had talked to the assembly of officers those months ago. He was, despite all his experiences, not enough of a soldier, no officer.It was ironic really, that he could be this old and simply… go away, like this. He had always it would be at the blade of cold steel or from some accident abroad, perhaps even drowning in some faraway voyage. But he was no noble adventurer, because only a stupid person could’ve sat by inactively as he as those thousands starved.
“...Testimony from Commandant Elvoria has dictated that his involvement was nothing more than full cooperation with the conspiring foreign agent, who confided in him that a C.O.G.- friendly administration in Elenria was sought to oppose Kumosenkan. Such action is against the Verota Declaration of 1877, which vilifies any cooperation with a foreign power to alter the current administration, equivalent to treason. The defendant reacted with initial hesitance before accepting all terms for all of Elenria by personal honor. Such promises are above his rank, but due to the manipulation of the agent in question, subordinate officers of the Northwestern Command were radicalized into action without approval from High Command.”
His mind had been made up weeks ago to perish with diginity. He’d made an oath- one that he would keep with him to the grave, refusing to give up anything that could be used against Ashigawa- not that it mattered anymore, anyway. This was the consequence of his rashness. He wondered if they’d afford him the dignity of shooting his own brains out, or perhaps hand him a sword and order him to march to the coast and attempt kill as many Kumo as possible in redemptive service to Elenria’s people. Maybe even burn him alive, scattering his ashes to the winds without a proper burial.
He turned the ring over in his palm. So many options- they should choose a rainy day to kill him while at it. It sounded that they had finished showing off the evidence and finished coming up with a sentence. He peered up tiredly at the assembly of crows before him.
“Hikva Aporiat, Wanderer of Three Centuries, the court has found you guilty of all charges. How do you plead?”
He shook his head in defeat, muttering loud only loud enough to hear, “Just kill me fast, please.”
Hikva left the ring on the table as the guards took him away, the gleam of the flame waving in the warm reflection of the metal.
A distant slam of a door concluded the end of the meeting, the candle pinched out by a another set of claws as the room was emptied without a word.
“I hope you’re happy, Kalpes.”
The two inselni officers stood over a map of the Elenria, the generalissimo of the Royalists leaning against the table in thought, slowly shaving a statuette out of cork with a knife as the grey-streaked general glared at the figurines that dotted it with clenched teeth.
“I have no reason to be, Yaveri. Hikva was a loyal member of our resistance.”
Yaveri frowned. “What? You were on the verge of having him arrested when you first found out. And now, right after having him convicted of treason for the deaths of thousands and actually arresting him, you’re singing his praises-”
“Do not misunderstand me, General,” the Generalissimo interrupted, looking up from his carving. “He was fully guilty of the charges placed against him for his arrogance in acting without any permission from High Command. He acted in good intention, but good intention without appropriate education is flawed- and he was again, by all standards, was only a courier, meant to communicate with Far-Elenria. I am not singing his praises. I am acknowledging him as a loss of someone who, if he or anyone in his expedition had simply used his head for a moment, could’ve brought much more good for the Elenria.”
He returned to his carving, dusting off the shavings with a claw as Yaveri scowled.
“The entire command structure of leaving our officers with free autonomy to operate as they wanted was your idea alone from the outset of hostilities with the spiders invading Elenria. His failure is very much as much as our own failure to assess the dangers of the structure we built. We tolerated the arrival of the foreign agent as a necessary sacrifice and allowed them to train our forces with minimal supervision. We should’ve expected this as the High Command.”
The generalissimo’s yellow eyes flicked coldly at the General as he set down the carving to turn to the officer with his full attention.
“Then what were you doing, General? Hindsight is no use after the fact except to teach us lessons. And if this lesson is one of auditing our entire organization, then I would like to ask what you were doing that rids you of blame? You were beside me and fully present during the last few months. Even then, what do you recommend to fix this issue?”
“I said we, Kalpes. I am just as responsible as you are. I have not disputed that I was swayed by the agent’s arguments to using extreme measures- but nevertheless, I do have a resolution in mind: the radios were were equipped with can be ciphered to our use for a more effective system of communication. The weapons they have given us provide a great deal more superior firepower against the Territorials- we should seek to take advantage and improve our current tactics- for example, setting up sniper schools and firing drills would be more than vital to sustain our war effort. I think that we could maybe also make something out of the armored vehicles we were handed. Though ammunition will remain a concern, given the foreign caliber they come in.”
Kalpes nodded, picking up his carving. “A good start. The bullets use cordite for propellant- I know from our agents that a vital component within the mixture is nitrocellulose, part of which we can extract from waste fat and put the rest together in laboratories. I will contact our agents in Elna to supply us with chemicals and retooling equipment for machinery. Smuggling routes should see the parts arrive in a matter of months- enough time for us to make use of what we already have. ”
Yaveri nodded, in thoughts of her own when she looked up at his carving. “What is that, anyway? Another marker for a new enemy base?”
The Generalissimo smiled. “Close. Its a marker for the city of Kerat.”
Yaveri raised an eyebrow. “…What about Yasval? Our agents reported it was producing machinery for some of the armories up at Aundui Bay?”
Kalpes paused, looking at the map. His smile spread into a wry grin as he nodded, plopping the cork city onto the painted dot of Yasval.
“I like your thinking, General."