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magicaddictHe wakes up. Again.
Shaking. Again.
It's the same dream, every time. It has been every night since he got his orders. A wave of invaders, rolling over the party one by one. All of them turn to face him as they fall, all of them ask him why here, why now, why me, what were you thinking...
He swings his feet onto the floor and sits up, rubbing his face. It won't be like that. They're going to be a good party. He's going to have several hundred head of Kingdom beef around him backing him up. The plan will work.
It bloody better, or a lot of people are going to die, and it will be his fault.
He walks over to the washstand and splashes water over his face. The flagstones are cold beneath his feet as he looks into his slowly de-fracturing reflection in the water.
Guard Lieutenant Gerrard Knight.
There's more at stake than that. This is real, with real people and real lives at risk.
Guard Lieutenant Gerrard Knight.
It's not just a test. If this is gotten wrong, it could start a war, it will kill people he cares about, people he's never met. It's so much more than an examination of his ability to command. In some way's that's good - he's always done better in live engagements than sealed conditions. Put his back to the wall, and he stops thinking about it so much, works on instinct, works...
Guard Lieutenant Gerrard Knight.
But there it is. Over and over again. It sits at the back of his mind, the thin end of a wedge with all the pressure of the mission at hand behind it. Getting it wrong isn't only not an option, it's unthinkable - the consequences literally do not bear thinking about.
Guard Lieutenant...
He dashes behind the screen to the chamber, and the sound of violent illness can be heard.
I don't care. I don't care if I don't get it. Let them all walk out of this alive, and I'll be a private and love it for the rest of my life.
But...if both are available...I wouldn't say no.
Shaking. Again.
It's the same dream, every time. It has been every night since he got his orders. A wave of invaders, rolling over the party one by one. All of them turn to face him as they fall, all of them ask him why here, why now, why me, what were you thinking...
He swings his feet onto the floor and sits up, rubbing his face. It won't be like that. They're going to be a good party. He's going to have several hundred head of Kingdom beef around him backing him up. The plan will work.
It bloody better, or a lot of people are going to die, and it will be his fault.
He walks over to the washstand and splashes water over his face. The flagstones are cold beneath his feet as he looks into his slowly de-fracturing reflection in the water.
Guard Lieutenant Gerrard Knight.
There's more at stake than that. This is real, with real people and real lives at risk.
Guard Lieutenant Gerrard Knight.
It's not just a test. If this is gotten wrong, it could start a war, it will kill people he cares about, people he's never met. It's so much more than an examination of his ability to command. In some way's that's good - he's always done better in live engagements than sealed conditions. Put his back to the wall, and he stops thinking about it so much, works on instinct, works...
Guard Lieutenant Gerrard Knight.
But there it is. Over and over again. It sits at the back of his mind, the thin end of a wedge with all the pressure of the mission at hand behind it. Getting it wrong isn't only not an option, it's unthinkable - the consequences literally do not bear thinking about.
Guard Lieutenant...
He dashes behind the screen to the chamber, and the sound of violent illness can be heard.
I don't care. I don't care if I don't get it. Let them all walk out of this alive, and I'll be a private and love it for the rest of my life.
But...if both are available...I wouldn't say no.
