For the People

Independant Thace from Voltron: Legendary Defender Written by Nick Some people aren't LOYAL to you. They are loyal to their need of you. Once their needs change, so does their LOYALTY.

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Agent Inquiry VR-002

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vin-robles‌:

     “I don’t care bout hiding. I was just wondering what reason you had for runnin’ me and this pale-assed freakshow to hell and back when it seems like all it’s gonna do is get us caught.” Maybe that was a bit harsh. it certainly wasn’t a term she would have called the human to her face, but it served well enough to exaggerate her apparent displeasure at their situation.

     “Fine, though. Fine. I get it, I guess. We’ll keep bein’ your errand girls if it means we can afford to not sleep in a gutter.” Not that some of the dives they’d crashed at had been much better. Vin wasn’t a fan of some of the things she’d felt crawling over her at night, but if that was the price to pay for a modicum of security, so be it.

     “One more question, though.” With that, she picked up an envelope that had been sitting at her side. She thumbed one of its metallic corners, her fingers pinching in on its sickeningly squishy center. “These rations. Do you people actually eat this stuff? How?”

   He thought to offer the option of her disposing of the alien in her possession again, but that options despite her complaining never seemed to appease her either. One day he thought he just might have to have some agents take that one into custody if their apparent unrest and bickering jeopardized both their lives and the missions, but for now as long as neither of them were in the clutches of the enemy being used as weapons, it would suffice. 

   What he assumed would be another question he’d already answered previously, and she never liked the answer to was then one about food. It was... not what he’d been expecting, so much so, he let out a lower breathy chuckle. “I have eaten it before, yes. Mainly on the field.” He shook her head a touch, pausing as he grinned despite himself. “I know it’s not ideal, but it is full of very important nutrients. If you can manage to cook and find some common savrian eggs and heat it with that, it’s much much more bearable to eat. They are a bit fragile, they’re eggs afterall, but they last a long while so keep a look out for them. 

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Agent Inquiry VR-002

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vin-robles‌:

     Vin’s ears burned. She’d done nothing but follow orders for the past couple of phoebs. Every move she made, every target she attacked, was at his command, and there he was, still lecturing her. It almost—almost—had her snapping her mouth open to argue. But thus far, doing so had little benefit. What the hell could she expect from continuing to prod him?

     She kept silent for a few moments after he’d finished speaking, her jaw clenched, her teeth grating as she mulled over how she wanted to bite back at him. Of course there were things she needed. She was on the run in a strange place, saddled with a woman that even she was regretting not having the guts to kill. But there was no asking for a few million GAC and a place to hide out without sounding like a spoiled brat.

     Like it or not, he was the only thing standing between her and the empire for the time being, and continuing to fight with him was looking less and less desirable by the moment. Kneading one of her temples, she sank back into her thoughts for a moment.

     What did they need? Not much, really, considering the cache would probably take care of most of their needs defense-wise, at least. If they needed more money, they could just earn it. That was the easy part, just going around and doing odd jobs or taking on hits for a few extra credits. It didn’t net them a comfortable existence, but really, what was ever comfortable on the road?

     Her features tightening into a scowl, Vin grumbled into the earpiece, “I think we got what we need. But I wanna know one thing. And I know I asked this before, but I always hated your answers: Why in the hell do you keep askin’ me to do all of this stuff? If I’m that dangerous, shouldn’t I be hiding or something?”

   “If I hid you away and told you to sit on your hands for an indeterminate amount of time - would you.” It was hardly a question, he knew the answer was ‘no’. It would and could work for a while, but there was certainly a ticking clock on that plan of action. He had already seen the way she responded in captivity. And if he did get so lucky as to her not finding trouble, it was likely that eventually it would find her. 

   “Hiding you has an expiration, it is better that you stay difficult to pin down and useful. You may not think the assignments I give you are important, but the small tasks build a foundation for larger accomplishments.” He felt like he was lecturing a child on the basics of duty and she wouldn’t be satisfied with this answer either. 

   An audible sigh. “I trust you to get it done. You have not given me a reason to question that trust yet. And despite your temperament, you say what you think. In the Empire it gets you beaten, out there, it lets me know where you stand. If hiding becomes a more necessary option, it can be done later. For now you’re better as an agent. ...Unless hiding is it what you’d prefer?” 

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Agent Inquiry VR-002

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vin-robles‌:

     Vin wasn’t quite adept enough to pick up on the change in tone. She did, however, take a fair bit of exception to the way he’d chosen to open the conversation.

     “’Concerns,’ huh. I dunno what you were so concerned about, considering I’ve been running my ass off at your beck and call.” She struggled to keep her volume only barely above an angry hiss, ever mindful of the slumbering human in the bunk below. “This broad and I’ve done nothin’ but follow instructions. But if you’ve had some sorta problem with our performance you shoulda spat it out long ago.”

     Still seething, but having gotten the majority of the venom out of her system, Vin settled back against her rock-hard pillow. “But anyway, for you’re information, yes, we’re fine. Still lagged from the travel, but we’ll get over it.”

   “I don’t need to remind you what the personal consequences are for yourself if you do fall into the hands of the Empire again. The consequences on a more universal scale are chilling at best if you or the weapon are used to the Empire’s full advantage. So yes, I had concerns. So much so I warranted it grave enough to send out transmissions despite the higher risks of it. So excuse me if I am less than pleased by the long standing radio silence from you.”

   This time he had put on more of his parenting voice, chiding her like a child who didn’t see simple consequences. So young, so naive these two beings were, running around with the clutches of the Empire just on their heels. So poised near danger and acting so flippantly about it. Perhaps it was his mistake for sending her in to do this recovery mission. Maybe it should have warranted a Blade intercepting and dispatching the threat the human woman held while he kept Vin’s attention on other things. 

   But as it stood, it was too late for what-ifs and should-haves, it was what it was, now two risky assets were travelling together. Still a shame that Vin did not have the stomach to kill the other woman and end that problem, but that was what he got for sending in a bleeding heart like her. He knew what he’d been doing. 

He let out another sigh and his voice calmed again. “It is important you are alright. Take everything you need from the cache. I will send you coordinates for Medical staff that are capable of removing the implant. Until then the scrambler should work well enough. I will send you quadrants that are too active right now for travel. Stay away from them.” He had a long pause, evaluating if he would regret asking but did so. “Is there anything you need?” 

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Agent Inquiry VR-002

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vin-robles‌:

      It’d been a peaceful few days ever since Vin and Aryn had dug up that cache, if only because the two of them were no longer on the verge of starving, and they’d managed to score themselves passage to a planet that was at least slightly less backwater than the last. It hadn’t been much, really, but it was enough to get by on, at least until they could pick up an odd job or two.

     What had also been a relief was the fact that no matter how hard she tried, Vin couldn’t seem to get her earpiece to connect. Not since that visit to the junkyard, with that seedy bastard who’d been just as keen on selling her all manner of other odds and ends along with the scrambler that she’d gone there to get in the first place. The thing had seemed dubious at best, but as it turned out, it worked. A little too well, at that. Whatever she tried, she just couldn’t seem to raise a response, not that she cared all that much. The silence was a nice reprieve.

     A reprieve that ended all too suddenly with a burst of static right in her ear.

       “Whoa, whoa! Ow, what the hell!” She shot straight up, only narrowly missing slamming her head into the ceiling above her bunk. “Are you tryin’ to make me go deaf?!”

   He gave her a good ten seconds to see if she would pipe out more anger before he decided to speak. “So you are alive then. I had concerns you couldn’t follow simple instructions and had gotten yourself captured.”

   One sentence in from both of them and it already felt like they were at odds yet again. He pulled in a deep breath and let out an audible sigh. Bringing his tone down a touch from it’s regular professional and monotone usual, to one he had used once upon a time on his children when a softer touch was required. Though she was not his child, nor should she be spoken to like one, so it was only a very slight degree of that tone as oppose to something truly gentle or nurturing. A metered step to see if waters could be calmed so conversation could be had. 

   “I am sorry for startling you. Are you alright otherwise?”  

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In Our Youth

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for-glory‌:

     Still reeling from the impact, Prorok paused just long enough to try and shake the stars from his vision. It was long enough, too, for him to catch someone shouting at him. A voice he recognized instantly. One he’d already disliked, now even more so that it was calling him an ‘oaf.’

     “You got a problem?” He spun on Rulve, his lip curling into the beginnings of a snarl. His temper already near its limits, it didn’t take much protest from the other cadet before his fingers were curling one by one into a fist. One that he drew back in preparation for the swing to end all, his free hand darting out to seize Rulve by the collar and drag him down to his level.

     “Well?” Prorok demanded again, his knuckles cracking ominously.

Rulve’s eyes darted a bit as he clearly reassessed the predicament. To push on and fight with this man who had just disable his compatriot so quickly, and was no laughing matter in size and build, or... to back down. Which was worse? It wasn’t an easy choice at all, but the moment for fighting was already gone once he’d been struck by indecision on any front and hadn’t just acted. 

His face contorted up in frustrated, but he hissed with no lacking bitterness. “No. No problem.” His gaze glancing to Thace, narrowing a slight bit more. It wasn’t over but they had just been embarrassed enough for one day, he didn’t also need to be decked on top of it. 

Thace watched, his brow raising a bit at the hateful look, but it seemed dealt with for the time being. He looked to Prorok for a moment before turning to go on his way. “A moment of your time?” 

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Agent Inquiry VR-002

   The cache had been picked up several cycles prior, so he knew at minimum one of them was alive. Likely settling in on that small planet in that small city now that they had some supplies to get themselves food and accommodations.he would have to relay to the Blades that that cache had been acquired and needed replenishing for the next round of use. It wasn’t often that anything near to civilians used the caches but this was ... extenuating circumstances. 

    It wouldn’t be enough to live off of for too long though, that one prioritized rations and medical supplies over non-traceable GAC but his agent seemed very adverse to spending credits so it would likely go far enough. He only hoped they had followed instructions and gone to the junk yard and got the frequency scrambler. Signs pointed to yes, since it was not easily traced once he stopped scrambling the sensor of the area like he had promised, but what he saw and what Soldiers and sentries in the area saw could be two quite different things. 

   Even so she had said she’d check in and thus far there had been no ping. He waited only until evening of that planetary cycle and then connected to her ear set, reaching out instead as he had a spare moment in his Fleet duties. 

@vin-robles

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Agent Inquiry VR-001

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vin-robles :

     He didn’t have to spell it out for her. Like it or not, he was well within his rights to withdraw his support even though it had been his idea for her to find and rescue the human in the first place, regardless of the incredible burden it placed on her shoulders.

     “Fine,” she hissed through her teeth. “I guess when you put it that way, we’re a little closer to what we need to get a couple tickets off this rock.” Not that much closer, but enough that maybe, maybe they’d be able to afford the trip a day sooner. That is, if they wanted to subsist on stale ration bars for the remainder of their time there, and likely for the duration of their trip.

     “Far be it from me to let the kindly whoever-you-are suffer on my account.” She half-meant it, at least. She’d only ever seen the inside of a cell and the labs during her little stint with the Galra. She couldn’t imagine that they treated traitors much better than that. 

     She just wished the cash could come sooner, but she already knew by heart every counter he could present to every argument she could give him. No sense in trying.

     “Guess that’s it for now. I’ll be in contact when Arby and I touch down at our next stop.”

   “I am not attempting to make this more difficult on you, you realize. I am trying to assist.” He stated, keeping his tone even, knowing she was not in high spirits any longer. 

   He supposed he couldn’t blame her for not wanting to just kill the woman, he had not simply killed her when he had learned of the threat she posed. Although killing her in custody would have been very suspicious and caused investigation. Much better that there be an escape that could be reasoned to be of some Galra or mechanical error and a series of unfortunate events for the facility. 

If any runaways could make there way off the planet with his assistance, perhaps it would be two weapons. “Call me what you will, we will speak again later when you and the package are secure.”

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Agent Inquiry VR-001

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vin-robles:

     The noise set Vin’s teeth to grinding, but rather than continue to antagonize the agent, she let off a stubborn little huff and set the whetstone aside. “How long is ‘a few,’ exactly? We’re pretty close to gettin’ the funds to get outta here, but what the hell’m I gonna do if we get caught short? I wanna make sure we can actually even get offa this rock, yanno?”

     She sighed, falling back into the couch cushions and shooting a look at Aryn, who seemed content to just nap through the entire conversation. Good enough. It wasn’t as if she actually needed to be privy to all of this; in fact, the less she knew, the better. It was bad enough having to drag this… human around without her getting nosy about things that were hardly her business.

     A moment later, she shifted her attention to the notification splashed across her datapad. She proceeded to thumb through the list, her features pulling into a sneer. A motel. Great. When she was running by herself, she could just hole up in any old cave or alley that she ran across. Now she had living baggage that she had to house and feed, and adding the numbers up in her head was just pissing her off more by the moment. 

     “What happens if you scramble the frequency for too long, anyway? They come and arrest you or something? I might not actually mind that.”

“I can give you three and a half quintants before it becomes too clear that it is not spacial distortion causing irregularities and disruptions.” It was not a very lenient timetable, but he had expected them to be off-planet already by that point. He would have been at least, but perhaps it was not fair to place the expectations he had for himself and other organization members on to what was essentially a rebellion debt-payer, with a particularly troublesome cargo. 

It was imperative it did not fall back into Galra hands though, and since this agent did not have the stomach to just kill the alien, then they needed to move quickly.

He let out an audible hum as he considered options. It was what seemed like a continuous problem that she had little funds. “Don’t try to reserve funds. The cache I sent you the location of, for when you arrive at your next destination will have untraceable credit chits.” 

“As for the rest. There is arresting, yes. Standard punishment for treason is death. I have never heard of an exception. And though it warms my heart to hear it would not bother you, I do quite mind. If you and your new compatriot would rather no assistance, however- ” He let the suggestion linger. 

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Pillars of Eternity (fan trailer)

YouTube

Hello and welcome to my attempt at a fake PoE movie trailer.  The song is Land of Confusion by Hidden Citizens.  Hope it turned out alright.

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Agent Inquiry VR-001

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vin-robles :

     Vin growled, likely loud enough that her cohort clear across the universe could hear it even over the shabby connection. She hated this arrangement enough to begin with. The only reason she’d even agreed was because she had so little choice in the matter; he was perfectly positioned to have her either rounded up again or killed if she refused. But the longer she worked for him, the more he seemed to push for increasingly outlandish things. Perhaps she was performing too well, or perhaps his network of ‘agents’ really was as thin as she’d expected. Whatever the case, this was pushing her to the point where she really had to wonder if she wouldn’t just fare better under lock and key again.

     “Hanuut,” she snorted, followed by the long, grating sound of a blade being sharpened. “I’m headed there as soon as I can scrape together the GAC for me and this shrivel-eared broad to get offa this backwater dump of a planet. There’s no work here on account of there’s not even enough of a population to make for a crime problem, so there’s hardly anyone to hunt. Go figure. I don’t suppose a member of the esteemed Galra Empire would be able to tell me why the population of a colonized world has completely gone to shit?”

     She ran her knife over her sharpening stone again, making certain that it turned out an extra high-pitched scrape. “Whatever the case, I’ll keep whats-her-face here alive for as long as I can, but no guarantees. And so help me she better not be tracked or I swear to whatever powers there are out there that I’ll let myself get caught just so I can come back there and break your damn neck for all this shit you’re draggin’ me through.”

There was silence on his part until there was a low even chuckle that left his lips, finding amusement in it all somewhere despite his ears flicking in annoyance from the whetstone. “Of course the prisoner is tracked. If you would like to be caught I can call off the Galra fleet that has been diverted away from your quadrant on ‘more important matters’ if you would really like.” 

He tapped his fingernails a couple times on the voice receiver to send her a return gift of annoying sound in her ear. It seemed she didn’t have the stomach for killing the alien and making both their lives a little less complicated. It... was not surprising. 

“I think it easier though for you to go to a junk shop on Hanuut when you arrive and purchase an EMF regulator and strap it to her lower back until you can get the tracker removed. I can continue to scramble the tracking frequency for a few more quintants, but no longer otherwise it will be too easily tracked back to the source of the disruption.” 

He typed in few things on his end and her pad lit up ticks later with a short list of locations on Hanuut. A junk shop close to the port, a location that was a cheap motel that he knew for certain had no working Empire surveillance and the location of where to find a small Marmora supply cache though it was not marked with a name or any description like the two others. 

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Agent Inquiry VR-001

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thaced :

vin-robles:

     “Oh for the love of—yes, I get why freeing slaves is important. Better than most, I guarantee it. But yanno, I’m not exactly the best equipped in the world to handle leadin’ someone around who’s been locked up for…” The connection is muffled, and she comes back a moment later just as riled as ever. “…well I dunno how long she was stuck there, but whatever the case, I got supplies and cash for one person, not two.”

     She only snorted at the orphan comment, knowing fully well that he was probably being as sarcastic as she was. And even so, it wasn’t a subject she wanted to delve into on the off chance that he should actually take her seriously. “Yeah, I’m off the planet now, just barely. Took almost every last GAC I had on me but that’s how it goes. And I- wait, weapon? I didn’t see a weapon on that ship, just this broad. I assume they just fucked off with the thing in a different shipment, so I grabbed her and ran on account of she got loose during the fight.”

There was a long moment of silence as he debated the details worth sharing. “It’s fine. You did what you were supposed to. If you tell me your destination I can attempt to have a supply cache made available to you. There are... a few options to you.”

He took a moment again to himself as he pulled up a screen to look over. Truly interested in what she would end up choosing. “Currently it’s imperative that this woman not be acquired again by the Empire with the current state of affairs. That can be accomplished in several ways. The simplest being termination, if you have the stomach for it. However, as a warning, this one was used as a Gladiator and was fairly...” He weighed the option of his words, not caring to sound like he was doling out praise. He had seen better in his time. “Efficient but brutal.”

“It might prove useful for you to have more muscle with you despite another mouth to feed. Or a drop-off in the next phoeb can be arranged with associates.” 

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Agent Inquiry VR-001

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vin-robles:

     Despite the less than ideal circumstances, Vin had actually been pretty glad for the consistent radio silence. Not only was she fully on the run when she’d have rathered she not be, but she had an unexpected guest to haul along for the ride, a little detail she was all but certain had been left out on purpose. It wouldn’t do much good to scream at him over comms, though. She wasn’t keen on making him angry; who knew what sorts of booby traps he’d put in place to force her compliance?

     So when her earpiece finally crackled to life again, she put all of her effort into masking the still-simmering anger in her voice. Whether or not she was successful, however, was entirely up to him.

     “Yeah, yeah, I read…” You miserable… “What the hell is it this time? Buncha orphans or something that you want me to take care of since you already got me babysittin’ some slave girl?”

     It seemed her effort to maintain her composure would be in vain after all.

He sat back in his chair and gave her a moment after that outburst, before he replied. Keeping his voice level. “I would think... of all people, you might understand the relevance of freeing slaves.” 

Again he gave her a moment to digest but cut it a bit shorter, not wanting as many opportunities for a tirade, she would still find the spaces to do it herself, he didn’t need to hand her the opportunity. “If you would like me to find you orphans, I am certain that is possible, I’d rather give you other tasks though. I take it then you acquired the weapon. Are you off-planet? Able to talk? Now would be a good time for a report.”

That and he assumed she had several questions and... tempered accusations. 

[maggie-stiefvater-deactivated20]

(fleuriemusic)

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Agent Inquiry VR-001

@vin-robles

He had quite a bit to say about receiving the message ‘I have company’ and then having her cut off comms. As much as he could guess fairly accurately at it and her grumpiness due to the situation, he could not know for sure if she had accomplished her mission how he’d intended it went down. 

His attention was called elsewhere to important duties that required his position in the Empire to be maintained. When he had a moment he looked into the reports from the mining establishment on the small planet where the pickup took place, but he could not get away to make verbal contact again until days later. 

In the meantime he was partly put at ease by reports of patrols being issued to go out on a search, and he put in requests for extra hands in that area to be diverted for ‘higher priority’ issues off planet, to weaken the efforts of such search parties. 

After a couple days, when it was safe, he attempted the comms again. It would be night planet side there but he hoped they were already aboard transit offsite, since the orders to restrict air traffic out of the small cities there had been ‘accidentally’ sent to the wrong districts. 

“Come in. Do you read?” 

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In Our Youth

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for-glory:

Moments earlier, Prorok had just sighed in disgust at what he was seeing on the viewscreen. All three cadets had been in their proper positions and following protocols, sure. But he’d been through these simulators enough times to know what was about to come. 

Sure enough, the proverbial ‘other shoe’ dropped in the form of an unexpected patrol - one big enough to have likely dispatched the trio had this not just been an exercise.

Or at least, it would have killed the two that’d been so set upon following the script that they hadn’t bothered to watch their flanks.

It was a mistake Prorok had made once. And the lambasting he received afterward was enough to convince him to never be complacent again. He didn’t envy the debriefing this group was in for, one that was likely to be made worse by the fight they appeared to be picking with one another as they exited the simulator.

Didn’t matter to him, though. He had more pressing matters on his mind, like the fact that his group was up next and already starting to leave without him. He stepped up his pace, hurrying to catch up, but just as he was about to pass the bickering group, he slowed as he caught some movement from the corner of his eye.

His vision exploded as the impact of a fist blazed a trail of pain across his face. Had he been any other in the group, the blow might’ve taken him from his feet. It’d only barely managed to turn him aside, though, and the moment he recovered he let off a snarl and blindly launched a punch of his own in the direction he assumed the attack had come from.

So much for training today.

Thace could not help himself but grin just slightly as the last minute strategy worked quite well. Now instead of two against one it was, two against one and one, which for the moment was well enough to be two against two. Either way the odds were slightly more in his favour. 

The other Galra looked up the the brick-house stature of the man he had just decked absolutely accidentally in the face of all place. In the face and still standing. His composure dwindled just a bit as the snarl came. “Wait, it was-” His hand went to pull his intended target in as a meat shield defense too slowly, and was struck hard in return.

Thace pulled back, finding the fist from the other trainee far to close for comfort as it careened past. For just one moment he did think it would backfire and he’d be on the floor with no one but himself to blame this time around. He huffed out some relief when that was not the case and quickly brushed his hands down the front of his shirt after being manhandled by the team-mate now on the ground. 

Rulve, though not the brightest, still understood what was going on, “Hey! You stay out of this you big oaf!”

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I’ll be taking the next little while to decide on how I want to approach this blog in light of Season 2.

Also thank you to the new followers, there were quite a few, it’s hard to go through everyone, so please if I don’t follow back, it doesn’t mean we’ll never rp, I’ll just have to get to know people more gradually is all I imagine. 

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Do the deaths of your comrades ever bother you?

Asks for the warriors among us

I suppose it would depend greatly on the comrade and if I had any part if the reason for their demise. 

Mostly I mourned the loss of potential and what was not yet achieved.

On average I would say, no, not particularly, but there are a few individuals I know I would mourn. By those I mean the person, not only what they can offer in means of services. 

There is merit in the hard work and traits of others, and it is not weakness to feel loss, so long as you do not allow it to take control of you and reign.