A Necessary Betrayal

[Neobaron]

A tired looking fox sat hunched in contemplation, head in paw, behind a desk full of papers, notes, and declarations in a room full of relics. The walls, tables, and shelves were all covered in memories of past victories and achievements

Behind the Fox was an ancient looking coat of arms crested with the symbol of the BAº and adorned with it's motto.

Prosperity through Peace
Peace through Power

This was the Fox's life. His raison d'etre. In the past, the Fox was known as a defender of justice and peace. Despite his relative inexperience as a general, he was always able to motivate and unify entire populations to stand for these basic values. Armies and empires had risen and fallen around him, and no matter what, he always stood for the weak and unprivileged. Of course there were good times and bad, but the Fox never changed.

Unbeknownst to the Fox, however, the world changed around him.

Honor and integrity were no longer important to the various warlords who roamed the countryside. Where once there was a mutual respect and understanding, there was now only apathy. The land and its inhabitants were treated no differently than the tax, food, and soldiers that they produced. Where once warlords would respect one another, now they only hurled insults. The worst of it was that where once a defeated warlord would bow his head in concession and endeavour to rebuild his empire, now the defeated only stood at a pulpit screaming foul and expecting to be coddled by the gods and by those who defeated them.

Strewn about on the desk were letters from nearly 20 different warlords and spies, detailing all manner of things. GLaDOS - with whom a peace was recently concluded - was still planning to assasinate a member of BAº despite their insistence that they were done with the war. Marlfox's second in command was threatening mutiny if war was not declared on BAº on account of the Holby Alliance daring to defend the people it had liberated from tyranny. The deposed leader of GLaDOS was attempting to build a new coalition, but the Fox had agents in it before it was even formed. Reports from the forests detailed something about a faceless army appearing out of thin air and capturing a fifth of the continent before again vanishing into nothingness. Tensions were high. This wasn't new for the Fox. He had always made it his job to be everywhere at once, so it was understood that every bit of information was to be weighed and counted against reality. How much of the content of the reports was realistic? Would Marlfox really declare war? The Fox never thought so. 70% of their alliance was indirectly under his control. Was GLaDOS a real threat? No, of course not. Their stockpile was overseen by a warlord friendly to the Fox, and could in an instant be turned over to forces of the BAº. Was the faceless army a threat? Perhaps, but the fox recognized the actions and was on amicable terms with the warlord behind the veil. Peace had finally come to the Fox and his allies and friends. Now prosperity could reign.

But it was not to be. As the Fox was taking his morning tea, a soldier had stormed into his office and stuttered out a story that put the Fox at a loss for what to do or say, something that had never before happened. Paukenschlag, an old acquantaince of the Fox and his second in command, had rebelled and took all of the holdings of BAº with him, as well as the loyalty of the warlords that stood with BAº, many of whom had done so for nearly a decade. Within minutes, a courier arrived wearing a heavily modified uniform of the army of the BAº, and handed the Fox a detailed letter which explained the whole scenario. Peace was not acceptable. Despite public agreement, the warlords of BAº secretly despised the idea of allowing their enemies a continued existence. Paukenschlag was going to make war on all of them. He was going to burn everything, and spill as much blood as he could to prove some point lost on the Fox at that moment.

Even as he was reading the letter, a tear ran down the Fox's face. This was not the outcome he had worked so hard to achieve. Although things had changed in the world, the Fox still felt it would be possible to rebuild the old order and inspire other warlords to emulate the achievements and qualities of the past. Paukenschlag did not think this possible... the walords roaming the countryside had to be taught hard lessons to remind them how difficult the world could be in the absence of imposed order. Nearing the end of the letter, the entire keep shook around the Fox, but he did not look up. He read the last line aloud, realizing what was coming and simultaneously accepting it;

"I hope this gets to you before the army. Your ideals are admirable, but our ways are dead and gone, forgotten by the successors to the world we built. I do regret having to do this, but die happily knowing that one way or another, the old order will be restored. They will be made to understand.

Peace through Power,
Paukenschlag"

The Fox was devastated, but understood why he had to die. Bidding his retainers good luck, and explaining for them to flee into the forest through the tunnel beneath the keep, the Fox retired to his office, and slumped down in his chair. The ghosts of a hundred battles came to the Fox as he sat in comtemplation, remembering all the others he had met and dealt with in the past. At the opposite end of the room from the Fox, side by side on the wall, were the relics he was proudest of. One was the crest of Juskabally, personally scavenged from the ruined keep of that great warlord of old at the conclusion of the first war that the BAº was involved in. The other was the coat of arms of the Forsworn, headed by the Fox's polar nemesis Dead Eye, which had once threatened to subdue the entire continent, but at the 11th hour was stopped by a defiant alliance of warlords headed by the BAº. The thought of these accomplishments gave the Fox hope for the future. If he, a warlord of average skill, could manage to unify the entire continent to fight injustices such as these, then surely there were other, more capable warlords somewhere waiting for their chance to become the shining beacon that BAº had been for all of its existence. The keep shook again under bombardment from afar, and the hint of smoke crept into the office. With this, the Fox rose and... smiled. Taking one last look around his office - his museum - he walked out, locking the door behind him, and in no particular hurry, walked towards the terrace overlooking the countryside.

Opening the door revealed a beautiful day, something the Fox had not gotten to enjoy much of late. Birds flew high in the blue, and very few clouds could be found. As the fox approached the edge of the terrace overlooking his keep and the area around it, his smile grew wider and wider. The river flowing around the island on which the castle was built was choked with skiffs flying the BAº flag, but assaulting the keep with fire arrows. In the field around the castle, rats and stoats wearing hastily modified BAº issued uniforms scaled the walls, meeting almost no resistance. And in the distance, the weasel siege engines were systematically targetting the highest structures on the castle - every tower was down, leaving only the keep itself with the terrace the Fox was standing on being the logical next target. The Fox found it strangely beautiful, and began to openly weep. But not from sadness.

The Fox raised his arm as if to signal stop, and not surprisingly, every single rat, stoat, skiff marine, and weasel broke off of their engagement and stood at attention. They all understood what was necessary. Most of them had been there from the beginning, or knew or were related to others who had fought or died for the cause of the BAº in the past. The BAº was finished, but they were still respectul of their old leader, and would fight to the death to see a restoration of the ways the Fox had defended for so long.

Smiling lovingly at the soldiers below, and with his arm still in the air, the Fox raised his head and said only one thing;

"PROSPERITY THROUGH PEACE."

In response, every soldier yelled;

"PEACE THROUGH POWER"

in perfect unison. The Fox nodded and lowered his arm, and immediately the fighting restarted. For the first time in a long time, he felt genuinely happy for the future, and as he stepped up onto a parapet and leapt to his destiny, he said something to himself;

"They will be made to understand."

And with that, on a beautiful spring day, an era ended and a revolution began.

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ooc:

Now I'm going to into hiding, lest I be mocked.

I know Kilk is going to mock. I only wish my posting was as excellent as his.

I will not reply further to this. This is extraordinarily out of character for me, but I thought I would give it a try.

[Kilkenne]

+1, this is a good thread.

[Firetooth]

OOC: "Despoed leader?" and "trying to build a coalition?" :P

I have built a coalition...I did not expect KIlk to turn your whole clan and I had made a clan in response that was meant to take in new members, but oh well.

That said, that was some neat writing. When some more stuff happens, I'll do an IC reply :)