“Very good. That is a choice you must make for yourself.” Even so, Voyevoda was pleased with his answer and his loyalty. It was not blind loyalty to governmental rhetoric, but loyalty forged of loyalty itself.
“Choose wisely.” The Fury intoned, “because you’re either with us, or against us, and you don't realize just how hot Hell really is, until you’ve been there for yourself.”
“I took a long walk in the woods to think things over. A very long walk.” That was putting it lightly, she knew, but the best explanation she was willing to give for her absence. “I spent time at Tselinoyarsk and there I realized that if any of you are to understand the decision I have made, you must first know my darkest sin.”
The Boss looked to each of her sons in turn; the Pain, with compassion that only came through great suffering, and he spared none of it for his enemies. The Fury, who pursued everything with the burning passion of a thousand suns. Snake, who lacked an emotion for battle, but fierce loyalty and determination. Then to the Fear, vicious and feral but not frightening, no, not under the bright light as he regarded her with concern. Last, the End, beside her, completing the circle. The Great Sniper, wise beyond wisdom and patient beyond time.
Voyevoda looked down at her hands, and realized they were trembling.
“The Sorrow is dead, and I was the one who took his life. Several years ago, I was sent here with two mission objectives: escort a defector to the other side of the Iron Curtain, and eliminate a Soviet psychic who supposedly posed great risk to the United States. The defector was Sokolov, the dangerous psychic was the Sorrow.”
She swept her hands through her hair, pulling her black bandanna free and tossing it aside.
“And now he’s dead, and for what? Nothing. Sokolov was given back to the Soviet Union by my country, in exchange for the Russians removing their missiles from Cuba. The Sorrow was never a threat to American security.”
Voyevoda sighed, “so here I am again. I cannot…will not…serve a country who barters the lives of its innocent citizens. A country so quick to search for enemies that it has its comrades murdered in cold blood. A country that would misuse the Philosopher’s Legacy to further its own political agendas to wicked ends, and I suspect, launch full-scale nuclear war on Soviet Russia. This is a mission I cannot complete.”
“Boss… this country is no better…” The Fury offered, leaning back in his chair to offset the weight of his jetpack. “Wrought with the same evil you speak of. It sends its sons to die in prison camps, while…”
“Your mission is purification.” she interrupted. “You told me. To purge the Earth of impurities with fire. And you…” The Boss pointed to the Pain, “said you’d give your life if only to see this world whole again. And the Fear as well, to see an end to the terror inflicted on innocent civilians by their own government. We saved this world once, and now we’re being called upon to do it again.”
The soldiers of the Cobra Unit were silent for a long moment; the hornet keeper took interest in the floor, the Fear shut his eyes.
“If there is anyone in this room who does not wish join me… this is your one and only opportunity to walk away.” Her gaze settled on Jack, and offered him a smile.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-08-10 07:39 pm (UTC)“Choose wisely.” The Fury intoned, “because you’re either with us, or against us, and you don't realize just how hot Hell really is, until you’ve been there for yourself.”
“I took a long walk in the woods to think things over. A very long walk.” That was putting it lightly, she knew, but the best explanation she was willing to give for her absence. “I spent time at Tselinoyarsk and there I realized that if any of you are to understand the decision I have made, you must first know my darkest sin.”
The Boss looked to each of her sons in turn; the Pain, with compassion that only came through great suffering, and he spared none of it for his enemies. The Fury, who pursued everything with the burning passion of a thousand suns. Snake, who lacked an emotion for battle, but fierce loyalty and determination. Then to the Fear, vicious and feral but not frightening, no, not under the bright light as he regarded her with concern. Last, the End, beside her, completing the circle. The Great Sniper, wise beyond wisdom and patient beyond time.
Voyevoda looked down at her hands, and realized they were trembling.
“The Sorrow is dead, and I was the one who took his life. Several years ago, I was sent here with two mission objectives: escort a defector to the other side of the Iron Curtain, and eliminate a Soviet psychic who supposedly posed great risk to the United States. The defector was Sokolov, the dangerous psychic was the Sorrow.”
She swept her hands through her hair, pulling her black bandanna free and tossing it aside.
“And now he’s dead, and for what? Nothing. Sokolov was given back to the Soviet Union by my country, in exchange for the Russians removing their missiles from Cuba. The Sorrow was never a threat to American security.”
Voyevoda sighed, “so here I am again. I cannot…will not…serve a country who barters the lives of its innocent citizens. A country so quick to search for enemies that it has its comrades murdered in cold blood. A country that would misuse the Philosopher’s Legacy to further its own political agendas to wicked ends, and I suspect, launch full-scale nuclear war on Soviet Russia. This is a mission I cannot complete.”
“Boss… this country is no better…” The Fury offered, leaning back in his chair to offset the weight of his jetpack. “Wrought with the same evil you speak of. It sends its sons to die in prison camps, while…”
“Your mission is purification.” she interrupted. “You told me. To purge the Earth of impurities with fire. And you…” The Boss pointed to the Pain, “said you’d give your life if only to see this world whole again. And the Fear as well, to see an end to the terror inflicted on innocent civilians by their own government. We saved this world once, and now we’re being called upon to do it again.”
The soldiers of the Cobra Unit were silent for a long moment; the hornet keeper took interest in the floor, the Fear shut his eyes.
“If there is anyone in this room who does not wish join me… this is your one and only opportunity to walk away.” Her gaze settled on Jack, and offered him a smile.