Event: The Sun Never Sets (Day 6, LE)

[Andrea DeTroyes]

Andrea sighs and steps back, she flicks on the private comms. "...is it really over?" She hadn't defeated a mech in this battle despite her best efforts, and she was probably about to get yelled at by either Bruun, Yuri, or both.

[Comstar]

Silence fell across the battlefield, broken only by the howling wind and rattle of fallen leaves, interspersed with the strange pops of cooling metal as the mechs vented heat.

The hatch of the Battlemaster popped open, and a man, blood streaming from his arm, exited the mech. Like most mechwarriors, he was lightly dressed, in shorts and a cooling vest, and he carried a pair of blades in his hands.

Those of his crew able to do so also either unbuckled from their ejection seats or crawled from their cockpits, gathering their comrades under the watchful eyes of the Fortunate ones, fragile mortals under the eyes of metal giants, powerless and broken now.

The commander faced the armless Grand Dragon and yelled, his voice feeble in the wind, "You know what we must do. I require a second. You are a man of honor who fought alongside the coordinators son! Even though you treat with Davion curs, you have at least chosen ones that fight like lions. Please... give me this much. Let me face my ancestors as a warrior."

There was silence for an uncomfortably long time before Yuri said, quietly, into the comm channel. "Don't interfere. Those of you with lasers, target the enemy pilots and wait for my signal. Make sure it's a clean shot so they won't feel any pain."

Then his own cockpit opened, and he was lowered to the ground by the retracting ladder, from which he stepped.

Dressed in a cooling vest and long shorts, with big tanker boots, he must surely have felt cold, but he gave no sign, surveying his defeated enemy who approached with blade in hand. No sign of fear. After they were close enough to shake hands, the opposition bowed, and Yuri said, simply, "I'm awful with a blade. I'll use my father's gun, Hiroyuki-san."

The man nodded, undoing his samurai topknot and kneeling.

"I do not have a final meal, nor paper. Hear my final poem."

A slow breath, and then he spoke: "Beneath a cold sun, a world long dead shall become, grave for the dragon."

Then he plunged the blade into his gut, and, across the field, his compatriots drew their own small blades and did the same, carving three cuts. Yuri did not flinch, drawing his large bore revolver and placing it in line with the man's head, and then pulled the trigger.

Raising his hand so his company could see, he then let his hand fall.

With a final blaze of light, the Black Dragon would be no more.

Walking back to his mech, Yuri didn't have a lot to say as he prepared for the walk back to the Calico.

Fortunate Ones -- Total Victory.

[Dorgan Bruun]

Bruun followed the orders, and thanked all the gods and avatars of luck he could think of that this shot, the kind that had to be spot on, went straight through the Black Dragon pilot he'd targeted. And then he spent a while taking deep breaths, comms off and trying to not throw up in his cockpit.

[Gillian Chow]

Gillian's mouth tightened as the enemy pilots were executed. Lacking lasers on the Cicada, it appeared she wasn't required to take part in the lethal ceremony.

It seemed brutal, but Gillian had seen worse in her day. The battle was over, and her side had won; that was what was important.

[Snorri Tycho]

Snorri gulped as the "die with honor" and the Major's order came. He was going to need to ask the Major about that someday.

But here he was in the present, with men who wanted to die.

"Kuso baka."

These men had tried to kill him. Had robbed him of his greatest possession in the world. A certain girl, for whom Snorri had fondness for, had also suffered under them, in a fight that had been entirely of their own choosing. He should have felt nothing, but he did.

It wasn't enough to stop him.

Medium lasers flew, at least granting immediate deaths.

[Maja Eklund]

Maja watches quietly, the laser flashes illuminate the pilot in her cockpit and what might be a trace of a smile.

She'd always been taught to only say good things about the dead.

They were dead. Good.

[Marik Wa Mo Ishtal]

The Crab, of course, fired as required for the ceremony.

It appeared that a warrior's death was a thing even in space, as well.

But then he remembered something, flicking on his comms.

"Major, the pilot in the vindicator is unconscious - forgive my ignorance to their traditions, but what should we do with him?"

[Felicity]

The Valkyrie stayed silent. Felicity didn't know about Draconis ritual suicide and didn't much care to be part of killing unarmed mechwarriors. To her the entire thing was some bizarre and brutal act that made a mockery of life. She wanted no part in it. Besides, there were enough other mechs with lasers to kill all the enemy who were busy stabbing themselves.

Felicity thought about the whole situation. There was definitely something inherently wrong with the mental health of such people. That the Company was aiding them, by fulfilling their wishes, after they had attacked them unilaterally and also attacked the civilians? It was hard for her to fathom. It all seemed surreal.

[Yuri Creed]

Yuri didn't turn his mech, simply stating into the comm line, "They'll have to choose for themselves when they wake - their honor may dictate a different path - they did not surrender, so they are not obligated to fight or die."

The Grand Dragon continued on its way.

[Andrea DeTroyes]

Andrea watched the whole thing play out and shook her head. While she understood the sort of pride that drove one to end their lives rather then suffer the indignity of capture...especially when it likely meant a fate worse then death...the whole scene was just so dramatic. The former Davion mechwarrior leaned back in her seat, hands off her weapons as the last of these Black Dragons died.