@MODERATUS | voice + attached image

[bloodings]

[ It's time. Mordred's in full armour, but without her helmet — just like her father would be during these moments. That way, her voice is clear when it rings out, clearly speaking towards her network audience as much as Kebechet. The BCE's can't transmit video, so this is the next best option. ]

I told you then, didn't I? You could never hope to stand against my father. Now face the judgment of the King of Knights. [ Always him. Always him, even as she wields the blade, hands down the decision. ] The punishment for rebellion— is death. It's time for your execution, Regency dog.

[ She'd know. It's quick, at least: Agravain was the torturer, not her, and they won't get anything else out of Kebechet now regardless. The doomed woman says some final words, translated over the BCE: Be unwearied, unceasing, alive; let not the heart be troubled during your sickly sojourn on this rotting Earth— until the vicious sound of a blade cutting through flesh interrupts her, and then a dull thud. Even without video, it's obvious what just happened. ]

The fool Kebechet is dead. Of course, you don't have to merely take my word for it.

[ Attached is a photo of the woman's head, bald with numbers tattooed along it, and complete with Mordred's armoured boot resting atop it. It's not as grisly as it could be (the neck is out of shot), but it's still... well, a severed head. Don't worry: she's not sorry at all for this.

Still part of the recording, but aimed towards those she's with: ]

Ensure her corpse is disposed of properly. I won't have her return to be a nuisance again. [ Then, more generally— ] This was the wish of our Commander as well. The dragon woman has proof of that, so speak to her about such matters. Oh, and give her all your complaints, too. I have no use for the wailing of soft-hearted idiots.

Comments

perma-private etc etc

[dorzalta]

[ A long and marked silence. Perhaps some would read it as dangerous. But then, in a rush of breath: ]

You think this was about making our allies fear me?

[mylawn]

I think it was about sending a message.

[To their cell, to the Regency, to anyone in COST who might be having second thoughts about what they're doing.]

I'm not sure it's the right one.

[dorzalta]

Why?

[ She sounds faintly frustrated. ]

She took from us. First with the kidnapping, and then again with Grothia. She had Grothia's head on a pike. Her execution was warranted, and it shows we are not to be cowed, and we will not kneel.

[mylawn]

I knew she wasn't going to make it out of this alive.

[That had been obvious from the start, and it's not what 76 is trying to argue. It's the method by which they killed her that has him rankled, no matter what Kebechet did to them. Despite all of the things he's done, it seems there are still some lines he won't cross.]

I don't think executing her like that makes us any better than them.

[dorzalta]

We didn't torture her. It makes us nothing like them.

[ A public execution is no different than a battle in her mind. And much like executing Mossador in Meereen for breaking her law, Kebechet met a similar enough fate. 76 is not one of the smallfolk, though, so his dissatisfaction is at least considered more so than it might otherwise have been. ]

People don't execute others in your world?

[mylawn]

People do.

[For as much good as Overwatch did, it wasn't as though they could completely erase the world of its worst tendencies.]

They're usually despots.

[dorzalta]

I am not my father, [ she says, voice dangerously calm. Too calm. ] If that is what you mean to imply.

[ It's a concept so foreign to her she doesn't understand why. No, that's not true; she's some idea, with what he implies. It makes her wonder what sort of ruler he's faced, and whether he suffered a personal loss. ]

You understand the Regency's access to our network when they wish it. If they are watching, they now will understand any war waged with us will yield fire and blood.

[mylawn]

I don't know anything about your father, so no.

[But it does seem he's hit a sore spot, in that she immediately contextualized it in something he knows nothing about.]

Or they could turn it into propaganda. COST only wants chaos, and this is what we'll do to achieve it. Safety lies with the Regency.

[dorzalta]

[ It does hit a sore spot, in that she's tired of being trapped in the shadow of madness that seems to haunt her family. But more than that is the niggling fear that one day madness may set upon her without her realizing it. ]

Arguing that point, anything we do can be used as propaganda against us. [ Which she knows isn't the point he's trying to make. ] We don't have recordings in my world, it's only word of mouth.

[ Seems he's finally made a point that's allowing her to understand why he's not happy. ]

[mylawn]

So we don't give them more than we need to.

[If he can't appeal to ethics, he'll appeal to logic--that, at least, seems to drive his point home. He doubts they'll be able to see eye-to-eye on the morals of public executions, but it's a matter of practicality as well.]

Either way, it's already done.

[So there's not much point in fighting about it anymore.]

[dorzalta]

Do you worry? [ she asks him, after a moment of silence. ] After everything that's occurred, they could have volumes of information on us to use against us in this propaganda. The mere fact that we exist is reason enough, isn't it?

[ It is done, and her frustration's subsided. ]

We can't give her the proper goodbye she deserves.

[mylawn]

Doesn’t matter what they already have. Point is not giving them more.

[But it seems the matter is settled either way. She moves on to what this is all really about, and 76 can’t say he doesn’t understand. He knows better than most what it’s like to want revenge, but he also knows better than most what it’s like to lose people in war.]

Proper goodbyes are a luxury.

[It sounds harsh, but that’s the reality he knows.]