tvklogs | The Emperor and the Star

WHO: Garviel Loken, Saber/Nero
WHEN: August, before the next Dark Hour
WHERE: The very edge of the Business district
SUMMARY: Philosophy, art, and war.
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: None really, if you don't mind formal language and some tense looks.

< The knight kneels in the darkness preceding midnight, the barest edges of the new moon providing light for him as he awaits another battle, his blade sheathed, his pistol holstered, and his hands crossed across his chest like wings, making the sign of the Aguila. He contemplates the previous fights, his own isolation, his weakness.

This struggle is a fight against superstition, the supernatural, everything that is anathema to him. And yet.... it would appear his companions use the same powers which they oppose to fight. This weighs upon the phlegmatic warrior, but his face shows none of it, only a slight hunch in his shoulders as if further burdened by the knowledge.

He wonders, idly, if he should make an oath of moment, but dismisses the idea. He'll wait, at the edge, until the other warriors come. Knights, knaves, youths, kings, vagabonds, and children, they are all warriors now, and he feels responsible for keeping them alive, until this is all seen through.

And so, he kneels, burdened by his responsibilities and oaths.

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No need to kneel, Sir Garviel.

[]

The Astartes looks up at her, the shadows casting his clothing in grey, as though armored in gunmetal, but he rises, revealing just a white button down shirt and a pair of black pants, the legs tucked into the boots, and bloused out at the top of the bootleg. He looks calmly at Nero, and says, "I kneel to no one here, it is simply considered proper for a Legiones Astartes to kneel while considering his oath of moment before entering battle. It feels strange here, though. No banner, no war-plate, no bolter. I barely have a blade and an autopistol." He spares a moment to look at her bat, then offers his gladius without a second of hesitation.

"I suspect you would be better equipped with this gladius. While that bat isn't a bad bludgeon, someone called Saber should inevitably wield a blade." The ghost of a smile plays over his pale lips, and he will meet her eyes at this point.

[]

This will work. I trust you don't need this weapon until I can provide one for my personal use. About that...pistol...I don't know much of it, so it's appropriate you keep it.

So, looking forward to the main event, Captain?

"I can make do with what I have here. I prefer both blade and pistol, but it will be more effective in the hands of someone who needs a close in armament to fight than someone who can also engage at distance."

Garviel shrugs his massive shoulders, and looks sternly towards the building they must climb once more.

"It's just combat. I was made and trained for it, I shouldn't revel in it, it's a job that I will do, and take pride in doing, but my preference would inevitably for peaceful contemplation and study were the Shadows not leaking out into this world."

Garviel contemplates the pistol for a moment, racking the slide. "Would you like to learn to use this?"

War should be always be close and personal. At least that way the lives that are lost are engraved in your mind, forever.

[]

I find that interesting. Maybe we should meet sometime before this particular event and further explore our reasoning. You do seem to come from somewhere very different than me.

Also, keep the gun for now. You can teach me later, even though I am not particularly predisposed to use it.

"There is some merit in what you say, to be sure, and some of the Legions I fight with subscribe to your philosophy, but the bolter is as much a weapon of war as the blade, when prosecuting a war you intend to win."

Garviel nods, and says, "I would welcome the chance to discuss our ideas with each other. And... I have no doubt I do come from a very different place. Or more likely a different time. I come from the 30th Millennium of Mankind, and a planet called Cthonia."

He holsters the gun, and nods, "Yes. I have been taught to use it in concert with the blade, it makes for a very effective close combat combination, and gives you several options that two blades, or one of any weapon do not"

In order to win, you use every resource at hand. I can give you that much.

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Well, I have been in what could be easily described as the future already, but I come from times way past the current. Surely I am in need of some updating.

[]

We will have to test that theory sooner or later, then.

"A properly pragmatic view of war, that."

Garviel nods his head, and smiles at her briefly. "It would be my pleasure to teach you how to wield these weapons. I have done so for 30 years already, it was something of a specialty of mine, teaching. But I was asked to be Captain of the 10th Company, and later Mournival, and I accepted, not because of the honor, but rather because I could not say no to duty, or the request to serve."

Garviel cocks his head, and says to Saber. "You are a warrior. What sort of wars did you fight in?"

I due time, then. One's quest for learning should never end.

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Most were political, but when it was called for, I didn't doubt to apply force in my attempts to bring peace. []

"That situation sounds very similar to my own time, in all honesty. I was a man of war, crusading throughout the stars to bring humanity to peace and Unity."

He nods his head, agreeing with her about learning. "Yes... Many of my brothers neglected their education and learned only war-skill, but Horus decreed we should all be prepared for the time after we laid down our bolter and blades, so I spent many hours in the Library as well as the Sparring cages."

The Emperor and the Star

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