[ Brig's ears prick at the name Makoto. That was the name of the man in the gauntlets given to Josh that day with the Godslayer. ]
True Fae, sir? [ He twitches at the thought. Thinking of Brianna. And the Earthquake smackdown he wants to eventually bring down on them. ] Sorry about that. Just thought of my Blademate, sir. Durance.
Did their... our [ gotta' get used to that ] brothers and sisters get away safely, sir? And I remember Makoto's name mentioned as well to Josh that night Hikaru gave us these items. He was... very serious when he was giving them to us.
Brother [ really gotta' get used to that ] Kaien sounds like someone I would've liked to meet, sir. Someone I would've stayed behind with in that battle.
[There's a sympathetic nod when Brig mentions durance. Selene Vega. Tala Vega. He knows the feeling well.]
Yes. Every last person made it out alive, including the civilians. Hundreds, for the cost of two. [It's a little hard not to be bitter, even if he knows that it was right and probably would have done the same thing.] And yes, I do believe that the two of you would have gotten along. Few people could ever surpass a man like Kaien on the battlefield, off the battlefield, and as a friend.
[His hands clench quietly into fists.]
I would have stayed, if I had been given a choice in the matter.
You were ordered to stand down, sir? [ Something twists in Brig's stomach. He recalls the time he was asked to stand down and not go after Hawke. He went AWOL to try to save the Colonel ]
I would have... [ Brig pauses and his eyes fall to the floor ] would have liked to have met him.
I am sure that he would have liked to meet you too. [Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood and feel a little better:] He taught me how to hold my liquor the hard way.
[As for that other comment:]
It was the Darkest Vigil. We were all busy. I was... elsewhere.
[ Brigade laughs at the liquor crack. ] And hold it very well you do, sir.
I am so very sorry to hear that, sir.
[ Brigade eyes the box with the pipe in it ] The pipe, sir. Can it be fixed? Even if only to place it on his grave for him? I'm sure he would like it back. [ Brigade thinks of the photograph he burned for Rico's daughter at his initiation. He hopes it reached her, as the tales of Norse would tell. ]
[ The pain in his Sensei's eyes is immeasurable. ]
Only if you believe Brother Kaien would have wanted me to keep it, sir. Brother Hikaru also asked me to speak with you about it. It would feel wrong to keep his pipe without first getting his blessing. [ Brigade thinks of his shield and how he only really took it when the babbling old Eisenstein shoved it into his hands and vigorously insisted he bear it as his own ]
Is there anything I can do to help? I'll run to the appraisers and stay with it till they fix it, sir.
[He really, really does. An'yu himself used to keep it before he gave to Hikaru. The Blade King had known Kaien for much, much longer, and was in the habit of hiding his pain only too often.]
Inquisitor Henry Lim is good with these things. Pay him a visit sometime.
[And he trusts Henry. Henry was is a brother to him, and was technically his first teacher before they both realized that they were better as traveling companions on the journey of life. And yes, they were both dumb shits back in the day, so...]
I will visitor Inquisitor Lim, sir. I will bring it back to you when it's fixed. I hope he can. [ Brigade takes the box and carefully slides it back in his Netsach coat pocket. Taking it out of Sensei An'yu sight might be doing him a favor. He wasn't even looking at it anymore. Seemed like he couldn't. ]
And Gintoki, sir? [ He thinks on that first day in Kibo where An'yu showed him all the transmutations. ] Sadaharu surprised me, genuinely, sir. I don't often get surprised anymore. But reading up on Gintoki was... eye-opening. [ He thinks on a time when a young Pandoran took a chomp on his arm, before he cut its head off with his shield.]
Gintoki and I were traveling companions because he had traveled with my grandfather once, a long time ago.
[Time for some booze. Transmutating some of that for himself now.
That was another thing Kaien had taught him. Making decent sake on the fly.]
Hikaru was his first friend. He had been a Pandoran who had grown strong because of his grief and his rage. The Blade King had defeated him, and convinced him that there was another way of living. ...I never did find out how old he was.
They grow with age, sir, as much as I've read and learned through my encounters. I can't even begin to imagine how strong he was if he'd known your Grandfather and Hikaru.
[ Brigade stands to fetch some glasses but is surprised-not-surprised that An'yu has already made fitting cups of his own. It'd be fun to learn how to do that.
I guess, if you don't give up on someone, and treat them as a someone and not a something, you'd be surprised how different they can be. [ Brigade's thoughts flutter back to the HECATON in WWII. He was never a thing. He was as human as each one of them in their eyes. ]
I believe Hikaru told Gintoki something to that effect. It... it inspired him to change. To find a way to Redeem himself, and be human as though he were one of the Created and not a failure.
[Chuckling a little.]
He was an eccentric man. Secretive. But loyal. Loyal to the end.
[ Brigade feels something warm in him. Like his Azoth dancing happily to that thought. ]
I wish he had, sir. Maybe he could've proven everything we know wrong. That Pandorans aren't [ He says the next words reluctantly and with a bitter taste in his mouth. It wasn't their fault they were made. ] a failure. There really isn't much different with how we... I and they are born. The books say we're unnatural. That we shouldn't even be.
[ Brigade takes some sake and sips on it. ] I've never agreed with that view, sir.
[ He looks back at the shield. ] Is he really dead, sir? They're hard to kill. And there's something in that shield. [ No matter how weak his Azoth is, Brigade's still flickers near the dark shield. ]
Gintoki was killed defending Heimdall during Operation Nyx. There was nothing left of him but a small stone that Hikaru found when no one else was able to. And now...
[He reaches out, and places his hand on the shield.]
I suppose it grew while I wasn't looking. Hikaru agreed to hold on to it for me after the Black Christmas.
It... turned into this? [ Brigade makes a mental note to ask Hikaru what happened between the time it was a stone till it became a shield. He wasn't about to speculate with Sensei An'yu and wrack his brain over something which could be first ironed out. ]
Maybe... he's not dead, sir? Maybe he's still in there fighting to live? [ Brigade feels a sudden sadness for the shield ] Maybe he's... still trying to walk his pilgrimage to redemption?
Sir, I read in the Arcanum about the Bestowment called the Scrutiny. I know it's really for Prometheans and Alchemists, but Gintoki sounds like he was more Promethean, more human, than Pandoran really.
Is there a way [ Brigade thinks hopefully ] that we might be able to reach into the shield? See if he, or anything, is inside? Do we have any Alchemists with that Bestowment?
Thank you too, An'yu-sama. [ Brigade holds out his cup for a toast ] I didn't have the honor of meeting them. But I at least know their story now, and have the honor of drinking to them.
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True Fae, sir? [ He twitches at the thought. Thinking of Brianna. And the Earthquake smackdown he wants to eventually bring down on them. ] Sorry about that. Just thought of my Blademate, sir. Durance.
Did their... our [ gotta' get used to that ] brothers and sisters get away safely, sir? And I remember Makoto's name mentioned as well to Josh that night Hikaru gave us these items. He was... very serious when he was giving them to us.
Brother [ really gotta' get used to that ] Kaien sounds like someone I would've liked to meet, sir. Someone I would've stayed behind with in that battle.
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Yes. Every last person made it out alive, including the civilians. Hundreds, for the cost of two. [It's a little hard not to be bitter, even if he knows that it was right and probably would have done the same thing.] And yes, I do believe that the two of you would have gotten along. Few people could ever surpass a man like Kaien on the battlefield, off the battlefield, and as a friend.
[His hands clench quietly into fists.]
I would have stayed, if I had been given a choice in the matter.
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You were ordered to stand down, sir? [ Something twists in Brig's stomach. He recalls the time he was asked to stand down and not go after Hawke. He went AWOL to try to save the Colonel ]
I would have... [ Brig pauses and his eyes fall to the floor ] would have liked to have met him.
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[As for that other comment:]
It was the Darkest Vigil. We were all busy. I was... elsewhere.
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I am so very sorry to hear that, sir.
[ Brigade eyes the box with the pipe in it ] The pipe, sir. Can it be fixed? Even if only to place it on his grave for him? I'm sure he would like it back. [ Brigade thinks of the photograph he burned for Rico's daughter at his initiation. He hopes it reached her, as the tales of Norse would tell. ]
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[He... kind of doesn't want to look at it again just yet. Too much emotion, too soon. Too many ghosts.]
Hikaru gave it to you, though. I think he wants you to keep it.
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Only if you believe Brother Kaien would have wanted me to keep it, sir. Brother Hikaru also asked me to speak with you about it. It would feel wrong to keep his pipe without first getting his blessing. [ Brigade thinks of his shield and how he only really took it when the babbling old Eisenstein shoved it into his hands and vigorously insisted he bear it as his own ]
Is there anything I can do to help? I'll run to the appraisers and stay with it till they fix it, sir.
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[He really, really does. An'yu himself used to keep it before he gave to Hikaru. The Blade King had known Kaien for much, much longer, and was in the habit of hiding his pain only too often.]
Inquisitor Henry Lim is good with these things. Pay him a visit sometime.
[And he trusts Henry. Henry was is a brother to him, and was technically his first teacher before they both realized that they were better as traveling companions on the journey of life. And yes, they were both dumb shits back in the day, so...]
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And Gintoki, sir? [ He thinks on that first day in Kibo where An'yu showed him all the transmutations. ] Sadaharu surprised me, genuinely, sir. I don't often get surprised anymore. But reading up on Gintoki was... eye-opening. [ He thinks on a time when a young Pandoran took a chomp on his arm, before he cut its head off with his shield.]
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[Time for some booze. Transmutating some of that for himself now.
That was another thing Kaien had taught him. Making decent sake on the fly.]
Hikaru was his first friend. He had been a Pandoran who had grown strong because of his grief and his rage. The Blade King had defeated him, and convinced him that there was another way of living. ...I never did find out how old he was.
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[ Brigade stands to fetch some glasses but is surprised-not-surprised that An'yu has already made fitting cups of his own. It'd be fun to learn how to do that.
I guess, if you don't give up on someone, and treat them as a someone and not a something, you'd be surprised how different they can be. [ Brigade's thoughts flutter back to the HECATON in WWII. He was never a thing. He was as human as each one of them in their eyes. ]
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[Chuckling a little.]
He was an eccentric man. Secretive. But loyal. Loyal to the end.
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I wish he had, sir. Maybe he could've proven everything we know wrong. That Pandorans aren't [ He says the next words reluctantly and with a bitter taste in his mouth. It wasn't their fault they were made. ] a failure. There really isn't much different with how we... I and they are born. The books say we're unnatural. That we shouldn't even be.
[ Brigade takes some sake and sips on it. ] I've never agreed with that view, sir.
[ He looks back at the shield. ] Is he really dead, sir? They're hard to kill. And there's something in that shield. [ No matter how weak his Azoth is, Brigade's still flickers near the dark shield. ]
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[And drinking himself now, even as he's assessing the shield again.]
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[ Brigade wonders the history of the shield. And the history of Gintoki after he died, cause it seems there was. It wasn't in the files. ]
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Gintoki was killed defending Heimdall during Operation Nyx. There was nothing left of him but a small stone that Hikaru found when no one else was able to. And now...
[He reaches out, and places his hand on the shield.]
I suppose it grew while I wasn't looking. Hikaru agreed to hold on to it for me after the Black Christmas.
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Maybe... he's not dead, sir? Maybe he's still in there fighting to live? [ Brigade feels a sudden sadness for the shield ] Maybe he's... still trying to walk his pilgrimage to redemption?
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[Said with much fondness.]
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Is there a way [ Brigade thinks hopefully ] that we might be able to reach into the shield? See if he, or anything, is inside? Do we have any Alchemists with that Bestowment?
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I will need to borrow the shield. It's going to take a while.
[This was Gintoki, after all. The sheer amount of power that was radiating from the thing was already interfering with An'yu's senses.]
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[And then...]
Thank you, Brig. For asking me about them.
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True enough.