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Post by Karen on May 18, 2014 22:47:23 GMT -6
"I doubt we'll need much out of you. Ships don't run any differently with one extra person on board."
Either Selene was saying "don't touch anything" or simply saying that Karen had no need to worry about the matter. And with the way she was starting to quickly change the subject, it was hard to figure out just which one she meant. Karen still preferred this to the usual twisted words though.
"I have some errands to do, starting with an inspection of some new technology at the foundry. You may accompany me if you wish."
"I have nothing else to do myself. Always like this in one way or another. Come back, say a few words, off again in a flash." Karen shrugged, clearly used to the monotony of such a trip. "I suppose it's a good thing I haven't spontaneously decided to start keeping a garden. It'd be ridiculously hard to maintain. I'd have to buy new supplies every time I finally get back." She sighed with another exaggerated shrug of the shoulders, palms turning upwards as her upper arms rose too.
"So come, let us fly away on a journey to the unknown!" She finished up her satire for the time being with a "rousing" half-hearted call to adventure filled to the brim with latent sarcasm.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2014 3:25:08 GMT -6
"Hurry up and wait, mm?" Selene chuckled dryly, the eternal joke of military men of every branch and age. Expected to be at the beck and call of their superiors 24/7, said superiors having no compunction in making them wait eternally in turn. It was less cut and dried than that, of course, as she had learned over the years from being on both sides of the relationship - with so much to oversee, commanding officers did not have the luxury of affording freedom to laze about to their subordinates, and their own countless responsibilities could in turn interfere with their ability to be timely. "Gardening is relaxing. I wish I had the time for it."
The trip to the foundry went by in short order, with no one on the streets accosting them and no particular emergencies to attend to. An enormous complex dedicated to smelting, fabricating, and smithing; not quite a one-stop shop, but certainly one of the larger of such facilities in Etruria, one that provided a sizeable chunk of the weapons and armor that was in use by Etruria's finest. This particular one had other secrets as well, ones that even most of its workers might not hear about for years to come. But that was why they were here, after all; the proximity of the Church made oversight simple, and thus it was deemed a relatively minor security risk compared to many of its kin.
The smell of steel and fire was strong here, accompanied by the constant din from within. The clanging of metal on metal, the roar of flames and the shouts of men - it reminded her of the bustle naval base mixed with an eternal battle. A war between man and metal, she supposed. "Forging the future." She snorted, shaking her head a little at the small outburst. "This place feels like home."
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Post by Karen on May 19, 2014 3:36:14 GMT -6
"Gardening is relaxing. I wish I had the time for it."
Karen sighed slightly before replying in a somewhat whimsical tone. "I do wish I did as well."
It was rare for Karen to visit a foundry of any kind. Generally it was to trace a route of buyers and sellers back to a supplier that could be quite dangerous or quite valuable to acquire. Hammers rungs aloud, men and women shouted as they worked, plying their trade in order to make a living. Flames roared aloud as well, often burning higher and brighter at seemingly random intervals.
"This place feels like home."
Karen looked over to Selene, grimacing slightly. "Call me crazy, but I prefer the quiet myself." The Inquisitor wouldn't say she hated the foundry per say, but... The quicker their business was wrapped up and the ringing of the hammers and metal worked their way out of her hearing, it'd all be much better.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2014 11:19:49 GMT -6
"The future is forged in fire and steel, not peace and passivity." Selene smiled thinly, looking upward at the columns of smoke rising upwards from the building. "...Or by blades between shoulder blades. But that probably falls under the steel part." Certainly didn't fall under peace or passivity, unless she had a REALLY warped idea of how murdering people worked, and she was reasonably certain that she was a bona fide expert on how to make people stop being alive in a variety of fashions. "And I could do without the noise, but it's a small price to pay." For what, she left vague. Not that she didn't want Karen to know, the acolyte would soon enough even if she wasn't already planning on showing her, but it was technically still classified, and also she hadn't gotten to show anyone her new toy in a while and it was always exciting to see how people reacted.
Perhaps a little anticlimactically for how large the complex was, the entry was remarkably low-key, a relatively small room with a reception desk at the front and a sign helpfully informing people that the facilities were closed to the public and that trespassing was against the law. Standard boilerplate. There were guards at the inner door anyways, not men from the church but private security, which automatically meant that she could tolerate them much better. One of them, the friendly one - Karl was the name she remembered offhandedly - waved with a grin when he noticed her come in, to the accompaniment of his usual greeting of "hey, boss lady!" Selene snorted, suppressing a smile of her own with limited success as she waved back with significantly more restraint than he had shown. The fellow had taken a shine to her, or at least he seemed to have a stubborn determination to enjoy his job, and she could appreciate a little enthusiasm.
Jerking her head in Karen's general direction as she approached the pair, she informed the pair that "she's with me," bypassing what might otherwise have been a fairly lengthy investigation into appointments and clearance that she had neither the time nor the inclination for, and for that matter Selene actually wasn't quite sure what the hell her new Church acquaintance would refer to her position as, anyways. It was probably something euphemistic or religious sounding, the Church had a massive hard-on for garbage titles that completely obscured what the job actually was. The two men stood aside, leaving the girls to their own devices. Which meant she should probably explain why they were here, if only to be a reasonably cordial host. In a facility she didn't own.
Details.
"I'm here to inspect some equipment for the Sathanas before it's fitted and installed. It's already passed quality assurance, but I like to see what they're doing to my flagship beforehand. And it might give you some perspective on the our little adventure."
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Post by Karen on May 20, 2014 14:53:37 GMT -6
"There is a certain peace even in the kill. Wild eyes focusing on a single point, screams fading into silence, struggling limbs falling limp. And all goes quiet as everything stops. A complete and utter peace for eternity. No more struggle to worry about." Given what she had expressed earlier about the Church and how she sounded slightly disturbed with the turn, this time her tone was unnaturally calm, as if she was discussing what time of the day it was. "Perhaps not passive, no. But it is peaceful." The Assassin certainly did have a twisted way of defining "peaceful" methods alright.
They entered into the foundry now, certainly secure by the looks of the heavily armored and armed guards that stood watch around the place. One of the guards greeted the Admiral and was quickly informed of Karen being with the younger woman. It would seem that the flagship of the fleet was being outfitted with something. The question was what exactly the ship was being outfitted with. Well, Karen would certainly be finding out in a moment.
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2014 11:31:13 GMT -6
Yyyyyyyyyyyyup, Karen was typical Church.
Selene resisted the urge to sigh. She had hoped for more, but that was what you got when you dealt with the church. Soulless murderers and sociopaths to the last. Not that her trail of carnage was exactly less bloody, but there was an unspoken code of conduct in war that was not present in skullduggery - it was different to kill a man who had put his life on the line rather than someone who could never have defended themselves. No point in arguing the point, but the answer didn't sit well with her, forcing her to respond somewhat obliquely, her tone clipped but not outright disapproving. "Struggle is the nature of life... and the difference between murder and victory."
It was all a bit philosophical for her tastes, and Selene didn't really subscribe to honor and chivalry and all that rot, but neither did she like the idea of killing unarmed people. Pirates - they put their lives on the line in pursuit of their lifestyle, and while she did not agree with them, she could respect their decision enough to face them as opponents and cut them down to prove her own viewpoints supreme, to protect the people of Etruria and the Western Isles from their predatory ways. Stabbing a dissident from behind didn't teach you anything new, it didn't help refine your views, it was just silent murder. It was all rather academic, though; in the end, they both killed people, and Selene suspected that she was responsible for rather more deaths in total than any assassin. Objectively speaking, there was little difference in their sins, if one chose to subscribe to that sort of morality. Maybe she was just overthinking this. In the end, they were both merely tools, and her personal opinions didn't much matter.
The room they entered from the hallway was cavernous, lit only by barred windows that splashed its occupants in golden matrices of light, illuminating the weapons of war spread throughout it, some in neat rows, others large enough to require a significant area to themselves. Several massive ballistae to the left, two catapults to the right, and several smaller varieties spread further, from scorpios to polybolos, which would be fitted aboveboard. Mostly wooden, but stored here with the rest of it. Before them was a far greater treasure, though, hollow tubes of obsidian iron mounted on wooden stands. Unassuming and boring compared to the massive ballistae that flanked them, and yet in that underwhelming appearance lay dormant a power that dwarfed the stately ballistae and catapults that had for so long dominated siege and even naval warfare. Two dozen of them, in neat rows; a beacon to the future surrounded by relics of the past.
Relics that were, admittedly, significantly more effective in many circumstances, not to mention drastically cheaper. Her tone hushed, almost reverent, Selene spoke once more to her companion as she continued towards the objects of her affection. "Karen, do you know what these are?"
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Post by Karen on May 21, 2014 12:26:06 GMT -6
"Struggle is the nature of life... and the difference between murder and victory."
"Struggle drives everyone in just about everything we do. We strive to do more, to succeed in the face of odds that often favor anyone but us. Without struggle we would be completely stationary and never moving. We would never change and grow either. It would all be rotting stagnation as the world grew diseased from the inside out." Perhaps she missed the point of what Selene meant or perhaps she ignored it, but Karen certainly had much to say about the subject of struggling and it's nature.
The Inquisitor looked among much of where they now went. Various machines built for war lined the room that they had entered, from massive well crafted ballistae to the couple of mundane catapults. The weapons were well known for their use in siege warfare. On the other hand, these much smaller and metallic tubes were a true curiosity. Compared to the larger machines, they seemed out of place in this room of war.
"Karen, do you know what these are?"
She looked over to the Admiral briefly before focusing on these strange machines once more. "No, I can't say I do. What are these things?"
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2014 10:11:53 GMT -6
"The future."
Her words were filled with absolute certainty, a sort of wondrous admiration and belief that for a moment were almost reminiscent of childlike joy. An unusual vibe for the so-called Iron Maiden, perhaps, but she did not even think of it. "Beauty in simplicity, and yet violence in poetry." She patted one lovingly, staring down at it as she remembered the moment she had first seen one fired, and in that instant fallen in love. "Power that can crush stone, steel, ships - even dragons will fall before them." Many, many iterations in the future; there were countless issues with range, accuracy, refire rate, weight, cost, production, secrecy, and tactics that would likely take well beyond her lifetime to ever truly work out. Selene was love-struck, in her own way, but she was still pragmatic enough to recognize that the future would take time.
"A technology in its infancy, but one with potential to change the face of war forever." She did not know where that rabbit trail might lead, but she felt that combat would change in the future, a thought that both intrigued and worried her. If these things could be made portable, if they could become widespread... what would that to those who were but chaff in the wind before these beasts? Could a blade ever parry or block them? It was an alien concept to one so used to swords and spears, but the distant future of fire and steel was scintillating in its terrifying majesty, a set of lurid possibilities, each stranger and more brutal than the last. She could only hope that she lived to see them. Turning to Karen with a smile, Selene continued, curious to see how the other woman would react to these things. "You didn't think this campaign was just about bringing the good Saint to the people of the Isles, did you?"
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Post by Karen on May 23, 2014 13:35:40 GMT -6
Karen had adopted a curious expression on her face after Selene had started to speak, her enthusiasm a bit of a surprise, but it truly showed how much she believed in this new invention. It was something that could change the face of war as they knew it. According to Selene, it could even take down absolutely anything that came it's way. A boast that many made, though there was something to her words that almost made Karen believe that they could.
"You didn't think this campaign was just about bringing the good Saint to the people of the Isles, did you?"
"I'd have to deny alot of things if I said that I did, but this..." Could such a new invention truly revolutionize everything they currently knew about war? It was incredible in a sense, but the way Selene spoke with confidence was rather infectious and made one want to believe in what she was saying about these metal tubes. "Do you truly believe it can do all that?"
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2014 14:10:20 GMT -6
Of course an agent of the Church would know of the mix of objectives. It might have been amusing if she hadn't, but Selene had expected no such thing, and so was not disappointed when her companion was not a complete idiot. No major operation was ever as simple as doing a single thing - there were objectives, sub-objectives, tactical and strategic concerns to consider, and simple part and parcel of anything that was produced by committee was the fact that everyone involved considered certain things more important than others. Even if their 'glorious' campaign had initially been conceived as nothing more than bringing the word of the Saint to the western barbarians, it would have been polluted by reality by now.
But reality was stranger than fiction, sometimes, and these weapons, these cannons, beggared description in a way that not even myths of dragonkind could for her. "...I do." Sincere and unswerving, her certainty worn on her sleeves; Selene would never have made a good inquisitor or spy. "Of course, there are countless concerns before these weapons come into their own. They are incredibly expensive, loading takes longer than it does for ballistae, their effective range and accuracy at maximum range is significantly inferior to ballistae... it will take multiple iterations, very possibly beyond my lifetime, for them to truly replace their long-serving counterparts."
Selene looked up at the light pouring in from the ceiling, memories swirling back to the first time she had see them fire. "But to see them fire - it is a..." she trailed off, her medieval vocabulary struggling to express an age of gunpowder, "a ...blast of tremendous force, full of sound and fury, that propels an iron ball at speeds a catapult could only dream of. It travels through wood like so much tissue, crumbles stone, rips through iron. A weapon that weaponizes sound itself through sheer ferocity, one against which there is no defense but distance."
And they would fix that. Maybe not with this iteration. Maybe not in the next ten. Selene was no engineer; she generally understood their workings, but could not magically solve their issues. Perhaps it would take lifetimes before these weapons could fire to the horizon itself, perhaps even beyond, but she believed that one day they could and would. She held a fist up into the light, not so much a calculated act of showmanship as a thoughtless attempt to grasp the dim future she could view stretching before her endlessly, to make sense of it and see where it all might lead. "...And I would like to be there to see where this path might lead."
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Post by Karen on May 23, 2014 15:20:03 GMT -6
Hrm...
Not infallible, but neither was the catapult or ballista. Both took time to get where they are now as well and they still had their own kinks that never were truly worked out. It was definitely a new level of technology that was being reached, though time and tests were needed to iron out the kinks in it. And the Western Isles were rife to do just that. A perfect testing ground for these new weapons. And if they could get the Western Isles to break under the might of iron and fire, then who would be next?
"It truly is revolutionary. Just imagine, one day we might even be able to cut down their size and make them portable..." She'd heard of the concept before with ballistae, though she couldn't quite remember what they called the project. "I may not be an engineer, but it truly is inspiring." A pause and a slight chuckle emerged from the Inquisitor. "The future, huh? We may truly be looking at it here and now. I look forward to seeing what they can do."
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2014 20:20:10 GMT -6
"There's a reason I push so hard for these things," Selene stated with a chuckle. She knew quite well that her love affair with cannons was a source of both amusement and exasperation with Etrurian High Command, and she was equally aware that she pushed hard for them, to the edge of overstepping her limits as appropriate her rank. Toeing the line without quite crossing it; they had learned not to take her for just another obedient tool in lockstep with their beliefs, but whatever grudges she might have built up over time were vindicated when her ideas worked... usually... and she fully intended to debut the Sathanas in all its obscenely-heavily-armed glory when the time was right, to blow away all opposition to these unassuming tubes in a glorious cataclysm of unending fire.
That was going to be a really crappy day for whatever pirates were the unlucky sods to be her test victims. Uh, subjects. ...Eh victims was accurate enough. Selene patted the closest cannon fondly before abruptly turning to face Karen as she sat down atop it, crossing her legs as she appraised the Etrurian acolyte with a critical eye. She had spoken with the woman enough to get a very rough estimate of her character, but what people told you about themselves when they spoke of themselves - and more importantly, what they told you in how they did not talk about themselves - was crucial to understanding them. If she was to be on a boat with what was most likely an insane assassin, she wanted an idea of how to control the monster. Or at least reign her in when necessary.
"So... Karen. What is it that you do, exactly? And spare me the euphemistic garbage, I'd wager that neither of us is any stranger to death."
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Post by Karen on May 26, 2014 21:50:20 GMT -6
The daunting Admiral gave the newly forged piece of future warfare a loving pat before starting to shift over. Her pert bottom rested against the steel of the cannon and in this pose, Karen had to admit to the Iron Lady's true beauty. As Selene eyed her, so too had Karen begun to subconsciously eye her. The Admiral was rather breathtaking, really. And Karen winced mentally because of it. The Inquisitor was one who never paid that much attention to her own looks, not exactly concerned with them when she had bigger things on her mind. And yet, when she looked at a beautiful and voluptuous woman like Selene, she couldn't help but feel inadequate. But, besides that...
"So... Karen. What is it that you do, exactly? And spare me the euphemistic garbage, I'd wager that neither of us is any stranger to death."
An unknown and slight tinge to Karen's cheeks quickly disappeared as she was snapped back to attention by Selene's words. "Well... the better question perhaps is where to start. I kill, I spy, sometimes I rescue a hostage or other captured person of importance, sometimes I even retrieve important items. So on and so forth. My job is many fold and my skills are related to all of them." She looked at the cannons once more. They certainly spoke more to brute force more than anything.
"I also developed a slight hobby of painting." She shrugged slightly at this. "Sometimes sell them for an extra bit of gold to give to mother."
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2014 9:29:51 GMT -6
"Hah!" She couldn't help but laugh, very much liking this woman's answer. While Selene was capable of the fancy-talk garbage that her job sometimes required, she much preferred to speak frankly and intensely valued underlings who could as well; sycophants were good for the ego but bad for pointing out flaws in her tactics, and she relied on her crew's suggestions more than people realized to account for aspects she had missed in her plans. "I think we're going to get along just fine, miss Karen."
Crossing her arms over her chest, Selene continued, her mood somewhat lifted. "I fear I am no patron of the arts, but I can respect the time and talent needed for it. You ought to show me your work some time." Partially just making conversation, she supposed, but Selene did make an effort to get an understanding of the loves and lives of her compatriots, a genuine interest rather than perfunctory words. And while she wouldn't be caught dead in a museum to the arts, she did respect the people who could spend their lives perfecting their work. She would not pretend to understand it, but it was to them what the sea and fighting was to her. If everyone had something that important to them, something they were willing to live for... perhaps the world would be a better place.
She wasn't sure if it'd be more interesting. "Well, it's good you have some versatility. There is a rather impressive list of objectives we are to complete over the course of the campaign, design by committee, you know how it is, and I imagine there will be plenty more to crop up along the way, not least of which may include more time spent on the ground than I would prefer." At least she was honest about it. "There will need to be inspections, gathering information... I won't lie and say that I was initially enthusiastic to be saddled with a watcher, but any campaign requires a diverse suite of skills, and yours sound as though they may be useful. Are you adequate at combat?"
The thought of challenging Karen to a sparring match may have crossed her mind, but while it would be fun, it also ran the risk of damaging the equipment here, and that would just be horrible. The Sathanas would take even LONGER to prep for sortie! Oh and uh she'd probably have to write a report or something, but mostly she was already mad enough about how long the refitting would take that Selene was simply not willing to make it any longer.
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Post by Karen on May 27, 2014 13:10:58 GMT -6
"I think we're going to get along just fine, miss Karen."
"Just Karen please. And I think we will as well. I prefer direct to the usual twisted words I have to deal in." The Admiral was someone she could be frank with, an appreciable thought. Much better than usual when it came to working with another person. Either she got a snake like that Zerachiel or someone obsessed with their own righteousness. It got rather old at a rather fast speed.
"I fear I am no patron of the arts, but I can respect the time and talent needed for it. You ought to show me your work some time."
"Erm. I..." Karen briefly looked like she was caught off her guard, a tinge of her cheeks showing embarrassment. "I don't think you'd like them. It's just something I do to pass the time." The Inquisitor rubbed the back of her head slightly. She wasn't a bad painter, but Karen knew that she was hardly anything special. Just one of many in Etruria when it came to that art form. Another thing that was simply plain about her.
Yet the subject passed quickly enough, Selene starting to talk about various requirements for seeing the campaign to being successful. Spying, information gathering, the usual manner of things. Exactly the kind of stuff that Karen had no doubt been given to her for.
"Are you adequate at combat?"
"If I wasn't I wouldn't be standing here." Karen replied shortly before continuing on. "Everyone has a weak spot or several and I know how to take advantage of them. Even the thickest armor has it's own weaknesses."
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