Aye. They sent two more zealots, to try and put pressure on us to give up a name. But since no one knew who it was who killed her, [he shrugs] they escalated it by kidnapping people and throwing them into these—mazes? Dungeons? Pocket dimensions, I suppose, that took the form of their worst nightmares, and formed a double who looked liked them but embodied their darkest secrets, their worst fears, their insecurities—all these things they hated about themselves.
[As he talks, he's plugging in the coffeemaker, filling up its reservoir, and sliding the little capsule of fancy coffee into place. Then he grabs a couple of cups.]
We went in to rescue our people, then we went and confronted the zealots at fault for the whole mess. They died by our hand, and then—well, for the whole of June, we heard nothing else.
I suppose we know why, now—they were preparing to strike this month, instead.
[Bailey is sure it wasn't a mugging, what with harming civilians and nearly killing one, but hey, if mugging's the accepted story...]
It astounds me that they thought tactics like those would work. [Bailey hopes those victims are alright.] So June was the calm before the storm...
And now we're all in this mess. The fact that they keep trying forceful methods like these is almost pitiful. The people of this city--especially the supernatural-inclined sorts--aren't the types to just roll over and let things like these happen. I wonder if they know that some consider the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
It sounds less like they're interested in keeping peace and more like they're interested in keeping themselves on top.
Doesn't astound me that much. I've met people who work for organizations like theirs before, they're all like that. Too stubborn to see their tactics won't persuade anyone to their side, too blinded by their own egos to realize that their idea of peace is little more than an illusion propped up by toothpicks. At best.
[Pouring out some coffee now for himself, then setting that aside to glance quickly at her.]
I imagine they know the definition. They just don't care. They're trying to show us they're more powerful than we can ever hope to beat. As a pirate, I'd say it's a piss-poor show they're putting on—I knew a barmaid who could terrify a whole ship full of hardened sailors into obeying, and she was a great deal more intimidating.
[Gesturing to the empty cup, which has a cute little slogan that reads: Good Morning, I see the assassins have failed.] You want milk and sugar or just black?
[It doesn't quite sound familiar, really, not even in that past self's experience way, but it sounds right.]
All the show is saying to me is desperation, frankly. With everyone here, we have more than just a fighting chance. [She chuckles a little at the mention of the barmaid.] Did you? She sounds like she was quite the lady.
I'm never wrong, [he says, handing her the cup of black coffee. Then he puts a lot of sugar in his own cup.]
Oh, quite. They can see it's going wrong and they're desperate to keep their power. So now here we are, ready to overturn the whole lot. [A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.] Aye, she was. [He raises his mug in a small toast.] To Anne Bonny. Fought like a she-devil out of hell, barked louder and rougher than I ever could. Wherever she is, I hope she's found something close to home.
[Or whatever it was she used to chase after, herself.]
Are you going off to the fortress, or staying out of it? I'll not force you either way, I know this is—far more than you signed up for.
Here we are, indeed. [She smiles and raises her own mug.] To Anne Bonny. I'd love to hear more about her sometime.
[She hums thoughtfully.]
I wouldn't call what I plan to do staying out of things, exactly. I'm not going to the fortress myself, but... While the Order's forces are going to almost certainly be concentrated at the fortress, I think it might be best if I stay behind--keep an eye out for stragglers from the machines, defend people if any of the remaining zealots decide to strike the city while its main fighting force is preoccupied... Make sure everyone has a city to come back to, you know?
[He misses her. He misses everyone from the bad old days, really, and he knows the whereabouts of only Adéwalé, his first quartermaster—Anne is in the wind, has been for years. He supposes he may never know where she's gone.
He takes a sip.]
Good plan. With many of their targets in hiding, I'm worried the zealots'll strike at civilians and loved ones to draw them out. We know there's three of them—this Shay Cormac's dead, and good riddance to him, but Cu's still alive and no one's been able to confirm any details at all about the third.
[Which makes Edward more than a little nervous.]
When I was still a pirate and I had a habit of raiding warehouses and the like, I'd find a way to draw out the guards while I snuck in through some back way and took what I wanted. It's a tactic that works wonders, in my experience. I wouldn't be surprised if they adopted a similar strategy.
[But there's more important things to focus on right now.]
Striking at civilians and loved ones does seem on the mark for their MO, from how they sound. [Thanks, she hates it.] Shay Cormac, that was the other one on Libra, then? ... I really didn't like what I saw of him. He set me more on edge than Cu did. But to not have any details at all on the third... I don't like that. While I don't doubt any capabilities Cu or Shay have or had, with those two, it would have been easier to grab an idea of what to expect.
[There's no way for that to happen with the third. A complete unknown in a chaotic situation...]
It's certainly an effective tactic. Makes it all the more important for some of us to stay behind.
They've done it before. Not even just here—they've a habit, from what I hear, of using loved ones as leverage against their agents.
[So fuck them.]
From what I've been told, he was a Templar. [He won't talk about Assassins but he's willing to freely give up information on the Templars. Fuck them. The more people know about their MO the better, in his opinion.] I'm familiar with his lot, they like to harp on about the evils of freedom and how if you'd only give up freedom, you'd achieve peace in the world. [Taking a sip of coffee while rolling his eyes toward the ceiling.] Daft idea, if you ask me.
[Said with the tone of a man who has heard enough villain monologues by now to be thoroughly sick of it.]
But you're right, that not having any details on the third puts us at a heavy disadvantage. All we can do against an enemy we know nothing about is shore up our defenses and pray they don't bring something that can break them in one shot.
...if this third zealot comes after you, be careful. Don't get yourself killed.
She listens quietly about the Templars and frowns.] That's stupid. Security and peace shouldn't come at the cost of one's freedom. Anyone who thinks otherwise clearly hasn't looked at history and isn't facing reality.
[Freedom is one of those things where trying to take it away never ends well.]
If the third zealot comes after me, I won't engage if I'm not with a group. [...] But beyond that, I'll be careful.
Some people will latch onto any excuse to justify grabbing at power they shouldn’t have.
[Edward ought to know.]
Good. [A breath.] I’m…truly sorry, lass, that this has dropped into your lap right out of the blue. I ought to have warned you and the other two, but it had been a while since they’d last made a move.
[It's said a bit distantly as a memory flickers across her mind.
... She'll unpack that later.
She takes a sip of her coffee and shrugs.]
I mean, apparently all of this took everyone else as off-guard as it did us. If anything, this was dropped on everyone. [Even those familiar with the Black Order were taken off-guard...] And it makes sense that people like this exist, as much as I dislike the thought.
You're right, seems like this caught everyone unawares at the worst time. Still—it feels as if we let our guard down too far, just because they hadn't done anything for a month. [He leans against the edge of the counter and pulls himself up so he's perched on it, heels absently knocking against the cabinets.] People like this have always existed, lass. They just get better at hiding what they are.
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no subject
[no it wasn't]
Aye. They sent two more zealots, to try and put pressure on us to give up a name. But since no one knew who it was who killed her, [he shrugs] they escalated it by kidnapping people and throwing them into these—mazes? Dungeons? Pocket dimensions, I suppose, that took the form of their worst nightmares, and formed a double who looked liked them but embodied their darkest secrets, their worst fears, their insecurities—all these things they hated about themselves.
[As he talks, he's plugging in the coffeemaker, filling up its reservoir, and sliding the little capsule of fancy coffee into place. Then he grabs a couple of cups.]
We went in to rescue our people, then we went and confronted the zealots at fault for the whole mess. They died by our hand, and then—well, for the whole of June, we heard nothing else.
I suppose we know why, now—they were preparing to strike this month, instead.
no subject
It astounds me that they thought tactics like those would work. [Bailey hopes those victims are alright.] So June was the calm before the storm...
And now we're all in this mess. The fact that they keep trying forceful methods like these is almost pitiful. The people of this city--especially the supernatural-inclined sorts--aren't the types to just roll over and let things like these happen. I wonder if they know that some consider the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
It sounds less like they're interested in keeping peace and more like they're interested in keeping themselves on top.
no subject
[Pouring out some coffee now for himself, then setting that aside to glance quickly at her.]
I imagine they know the definition. They just don't care. They're trying to show us they're more powerful than we can ever hope to beat. As a pirate, I'd say it's a piss-poor show they're putting on—I knew a barmaid who could terrify a whole ship full of hardened sailors into obeying, and she was a great deal more intimidating.
[Gesturing to the empty cup, which has a cute little slogan that reads: Good Morning, I see the assassins have failed.] You want milk and sugar or just black?
no subject
Yeah, okay, that sounds about right, actually.
[It doesn't quite sound familiar, really, not even in that past self's experience way, but it sounds right.]
All the show is saying to me is desperation, frankly. With everyone here, we have more than just a fighting chance. [She chuckles a little at the mention of the barmaid.] Did you? She sounds like she was quite the lady.
Black's fine with me.
no subject
Oh, quite. They can see it's going wrong and they're desperate to keep their power. So now here we are, ready to overturn the whole lot. [A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.] Aye, she was. [He raises his mug in a small toast.] To Anne Bonny. Fought like a she-devil out of hell, barked louder and rougher than I ever could. Wherever she is, I hope she's found something close to home.
[Or whatever it was she used to chase after, herself.]
Are you going off to the fortress, or staying out of it? I'll not force you either way, I know this is—far more than you signed up for.
no subject
Here we are, indeed. [She smiles and raises her own mug.] To Anne Bonny. I'd love to hear more about her sometime.
[She hums thoughtfully.]
I wouldn't call what I plan to do staying out of things, exactly. I'm not going to the fortress myself, but... While the Order's forces are going to almost certainly be concentrated at the fortress, I think it might be best if I stay behind--keep an eye out for stragglers from the machines, defend people if any of the remaining zealots decide to strike the city while its main fighting force is preoccupied... Make sure everyone has a city to come back to, you know?
no subject
[He misses her. He misses everyone from the bad old days, really, and he knows the whereabouts of only Adéwalé, his first quartermaster—Anne is in the wind, has been for years. He supposes he may never know where she's gone.
He takes a sip.]
Good plan. With many of their targets in hiding, I'm worried the zealots'll strike at civilians and loved ones to draw them out. We know there's three of them—this Shay Cormac's dead, and good riddance to him, but Cu's still alive and no one's been able to confirm any details at all about the third.
[Which makes Edward more than a little nervous.]
When I was still a pirate and I had a habit of raiding warehouses and the like, I'd find a way to draw out the guards while I snuck in through some back way and took what I wanted. It's a tactic that works wonders, in my experience. I wouldn't be surprised if they adopted a similar strategy.
no subject
[But there's more important things to focus on right now.]
Striking at civilians and loved ones does seem on the mark for their MO, from how they sound. [Thanks, she hates it.] Shay Cormac, that was the other one on Libra, then? ... I really didn't like what I saw of him. He set me more on edge than Cu did. But to not have any details at all on the third... I don't like that. While I don't doubt any capabilities Cu or Shay have or had, with those two, it would have been easier to grab an idea of what to expect.
[There's no way for that to happen with the third. A complete unknown in a chaotic situation...]
It's certainly an effective tactic. Makes it all the more important for some of us to stay behind.
no subject
[So fuck them.]
From what I've been told, he was a Templar. [He won't talk about Assassins but he's willing to freely give up information on the Templars. Fuck them. The more people know about their MO the better, in his opinion.] I'm familiar with his lot, they like to harp on about the evils of freedom and how if you'd only give up freedom, you'd achieve peace in the world. [Taking a sip of coffee while rolling his eyes toward the ceiling.] Daft idea, if you ask me.
[Said with the tone of a man who has heard enough villain monologues by now to be thoroughly sick of it.]
But you're right, that not having any details on the third puts us at a heavy disadvantage. All we can do against an enemy we know nothing about is shore up our defenses and pray they don't bring something that can break them in one shot.
...if this third zealot comes after you, be careful. Don't get yourself killed.
no subject
[Fuck them!!
She listens quietly about the Templars and frowns.] That's stupid. Security and peace shouldn't come at the cost of one's freedom. Anyone who thinks otherwise clearly hasn't looked at history and isn't facing reality.
[Freedom is one of those things where trying to take it away never ends well.]
If the third zealot comes after me, I won't engage if I'm not with a group. [...] But beyond that, I'll be careful.
no subject
[Edward ought to know.]
Good. [A breath.] I’m…truly sorry, lass, that this has dropped into your lap right out of the blue. I ought to have warned you and the other two, but it had been a while since they’d last made a move.
no subject
[It's said a bit distantly as a memory flickers across her mind.
... She'll unpack that later.
She takes a sip of her coffee and shrugs.]
I mean, apparently all of this took everyone else as off-guard as it did us. If anything, this was dropped on everyone. [Even those familiar with the Black Order were taken off-guard...] And it makes sense that people like this exist, as much as I dislike the thought.
no subject
[He's including himself in this count.]
You're right, seems like this caught everyone unawares at the worst time. Still—it feels as if we let our guard down too far, just because they hadn't done anything for a month. [He leans against the edge of the counter and pulls himself up so he's perched on it, heels absently knocking against the cabinets.] People like this have always existed, lass. They just get better at hiding what they are.