Finding the Soul of Xhairs
Sallust: hello Mr. Barchus
Sallust stops sneaking
Sallust: Don't be alarmed
Xhairs: Huh? You should be carefull sneaking around like that. People might get the wrong ideas.
Xhairs glances around.
Sallust: The area is safe, I wanted to make sure we had an opportunity to speak openly
Sallust: away from civilization and non-personal surveillance devices
Xhairs: Oh? And what would the Pilgrims want to talk to me about?
Sallust: about you Mr. Barchus
Sallust: you're a very passionate individual
Xhairs coughs.
Xhairs: First time i have heard it called that.
Sallust: Yes, well few try to get to know the Souls of others as we would like to
Sallust: I know your heart is not as cold as this land here
Xhairs: Now ya lost me.
Sallust: Come, I will make a fire in this place and we can talk at length
Sallust: I'd like to give the people of Rubi-Ka the chance to get to know who you really are
Xhairs: Sounds ok by me. I have been running around so long the joints in my armor are freezing.
Sallust clears some snow to make a fire pit
Xhairs sighs.
Xhairs: Much better.
Sallust: have a seat
Sallust: So Mr. Barchus, better known as Xhairs
Sallust: you weren't born to Omni-Tek were you?
Xhairs: Eheh. Done your homework have you? No, i was born of Clan parents.
Sallust: and you weren't always a soldier either, but a family man.
Xhairs: Depends on how you look at it. I was trained to be a Clan guard, and that is what i probably would have been in the long run if it were not for certain..... incidents.
Sallust: Will you tell us more about your early life?
Xhairs: Not that much to tell. Born of normal Solitus parrents. Grew up in Tir, and spent most of my time there when i was younger. Went to the Athen War academy for terms. Went back home and just tried to live my life.
Sallust stokes the fire
Sallust: a family life more than a war minded military life wasn't it?
Xhairs warms his hands over the fire.
Xhairs: Yeah. I did what was asked of me. I went on patrol when asked and so. But mostly i just wanted to live in peace with.....
Xhairs voice catches in his throat.
Xhairs: Sorry.
Sallust: it's okay
Xhairs: With Linda.
Sallust: Linda was also of the Clans wasn't she?
Xhairs: Yes.
Xhairs: We grew up together, and there was always this... bond.
Sallust: how did she feel about the Clans?
Xhairs: Oh she was just as loyal as me. When the Clans called, we were ready. But mostly we just wanted to live in peace.
Xhairs: Fat good that did us in the long run.
Sallust: what happened to Linda?
Xhairs lights a cigar on the fire, taking several puffs.
Xhairs: Cyborgs.
Sallust: it is very hard to keep a fire going in these snowy wastes
Xhairs voice drips with hatred.
Xhairs: Damn Cyborgs caught us all.
Sallust: What did they do?
Xhairs snorts.
Xhairs: What didnīt they do.
Xhairs: You have any idea what Cyborgs does to prisoners?
Sallust: I've no first hand experience, but i know something of it
Xhairs: Let me tell you, i would not wish it on my most hated enemy to be taken alive by Cyborgs.
Xhairs: Cyborgs does not hold any kind of empathy for other lifeforms.
Xhairs: They donīt feel pain the way we do, so they ignore it as a "base feeling".
Xhairs: And then there is the case of spare parts.
Xhairs: Cyborgs are built. Organic and mechanical parts.
Xhairs: Mechanical parts can be found anywhere. But where do you think they get the organics?
Sallust: and the Organic parts come from prisoners....
Xhairs: Exactly.
Xhairs: If the prisoners is judged "worthy" by a series of tests.
Sallust: what happened to you there?
Xhairs: Itīs.... hard.. to talk about those weeks. Letīs just say that i got scars that will never heal. Both physical and psychological.
Sallust: how did you escape?
Xhairs: Not thanks to the Clans leadership at least.
Xhairs: To cut it short, the Clan i was part of pulled in a lot of favors and set up a strikeforce that got me and a few other survivors out of there.
Xhairs: It was....
Xhairs: Terror.
Sallust: so in a way, you do have a clan that helped get you through it
Xhairs: Yes. I was a member of the Ravens of Odin.
Xhairs: So many lost their lives there.
Sallust: and your Linda....
Xhairs: Linda......
Xhairs: She was in the interogation and testing room when the attack came. The strikeforce could not get to her. Cyborg reinforcements were arriving from the deeper barracks and from other outposts. They had no choice. They had to pull out.
Xhairs voice is hollow and vacant.
Xhairs: Cyborgs would have killed or captured us all.
Sallust: and in your heart, is this what you blame the clans for though?
Xhairs: No.
Xhairs voice returns to itīs normal crispness.
Xhairs: What I blame the clans for is their inability to listen.
Sallust: Listen to?
Xhairs: Most Clans are so bogged down in their thinking that they can not, will not, realise that there are other threats. They see Omni-Tek, and thatīs it. Omni-Tek as it is today is far from what cause the Clan uprising originaly. The war just goes on due to habit.
Xhairs: I tried talking with the Council of Truth.
Xhairs: I tried talking to Clan leaders.
Xhairs: In the end it was all for nothing.
Xhairs: The Ravens were dissolved due to outer pressure and that we lost so many in the fight.
Sallust: So do you believe Omni-Tek can recognize Cyborgs or Midia's attacks as greater than the Clans?
Xhairs: Maybe, but I doubt they can do it on their own.
Xhairs: That is why I went over.
Xhairs: Omni-Tek has an impressive military force, and could easily exterminate the cyborgs if they so wished.
Xhairs: I am there to make sure that they will get that wish.
Xhairs: As a General in the Omni Armed Forces I can command troops to be trained, scouts to be sent out, and surveys to be made.
Xhairs: And quite frankly, the Clans lacks the recources and the cohesion to do something like that.
Sallust: why specifically the Disciples of Omni-Tek division of Omni-Tek?
Xhairs: Several reasons. First, the Disciple President Kalikinaka is a good friend, and a great man. So are several others in the Disciples division.
Xhairs: Second, the Average Disciple is... Close to fanatical is the best way I can describe it. They make for excelent fighters, and will not fall back easily. That is something sorely needed when fighting Cyborgs.
Sallust: so was linda ever discovered among the Cyborgs?
Xhairs: And if i can turn the Disciples as a Division towards to goal of destroying the Cyborgs, more Divisions are sure to follow.
Xhairs: No. Not to my knowledge. I spend most of my free time up in the Perpetual Wastelands, searching. But still no luck. I hope she was allowed to die.
Xhairs hangs his head.
Sallust: hmm, what do you think of the fact that Dust Brigaders and Cyborgs have been seen working together?
Xhairs: Yeah. I heard about that.
Xhairs: I also heard about Midia working with Cyborgs.
Xhairs: And while there has not been any proof, I believe both cases to be true.
Xhairs: And that means I now have two new targets.
Xhairs: Or an even larger original one, depending on how you see it.
Xhairs: If it is as I believe, then Omni-Tek alone will be hard pressed to stand up to this new threat.
Xhairs: And so we are back to the most important issue of them all. We all live here. Wheter we be Omni, Clan or Neutral. We all need to pull in the same direction in this matter, and that is what i have been trying to convince my superiors about.
Sallust: do you think the Cyborg's allies could have had anything to do with Linda's fate?
Xhairs: Depends how long they have been working with the Cyborgs.
Xhairs: But just the fact that they chose to work with them are evidence that they do not wish anything but total dominion over Rubi-Ka.
Xhairs: And Midia.... Everything about that woman screams genocide to me.
Sallust: would you even turn your back to the Clan and Omni-Tek conflict to lead the front against threats?
Xhairs ponders the question for a while.
Xhairs: Yes.
Sallust: I think the people will now know who you are Mr. Barchus
Sallust: I present to Rubi-Ka, Xhairs
Sallust: Defender of Humanity
Xhairs glances around.
Sallust: thank you for your time Xhairs, and may you go in Peace
Xhairs: The same to you Sallust. Maybe I will visit you in Tir one day, when this pointles war is over.
Sallust: I would like that, take care.
