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Titanlåvenite had been going through the motions of hunting alternately energy in its general, or hunting the final pie-in-the-sky prize of trying to bring home live prey as captive prize to his betters. Tonight had been the latter, and when he'd found a scout signature near, he'd wasted no time in tracking closer and closer, puzzling that it did not flee or approach itself.

When the scout shouted out across the lake, the lieutenant's brow knit close and hard. What was that even supposed to MEAN when you were in a war? There was no such thing as desire for it or not. Not for any of them. He kept jogging around the loose approximation of path until there was a count of yards that didn't require yelling across it to converse- but stayed far enough away that it wasn't immediately an aggressive, combative distance. "Solitude is yours on a battlefield whether you want it or not, even in a sea o ffoes or allies. But if it is that you don't want to fight, you shouldn't call your power to hand. That is how you have no friends or foes in a war. You scouts transform from people into what you are. Stay a person."

"Otherwise, fight. "

He was not impressed. Titan's mouth curled down like a horseshoe overtop of his goatee. "We all have a purpose. If bait is yours, then I don't envy you. And your time will be very, very short. Not beyond this night. "

Though the precise use of bait was a little concerning. Was the scout admitting openly that this was a trap? He supposed the senshi could lay traps as well as anyone else. They didn't seem to have enough infrastructure to want to take prisoners though. He didn't feel anyone else near. He wondered how that would work. Laying traps was certainly not his area of expertise. Being trapped probably wasn't either, since his size would probably make it hard. But it made him clench one of his fists at his hip, and he looked around at their surroundings just in case while listening to the other talk. "Were I you, I would hope to strive and see if I weren't something better. Something with greater use. "

At the name Bischofite, though, Titan snarled behind bared teeth, then spit like the action was a curse itself. "Some lords may have use for mad dogs. Plague doesn't know friend or foe."

"I serve the honor of my lord. That one serves his madness and himself. But he's put down than given the time to spread his disease."

"Don't judge anything, your own nobles or ours by madmen. It is good to want to learn, but why hold onto that when you call yourself bait? Bait is expendable. It is used once and then it is eaten. It doesn't need to know it's purpose, it just needs to lure and be done."

"If you want to learn, do not be bait. Be something meaningful to your people. Or join ours, where we know our laws and our goals. Who and what we defend. "

"I do not like him." The real name for that officer didn't matter to Titan, nor did the use of any name for him. His conduct to Bazzite- the self interest and disregard for simple recognition of tragedy. Bischofite had no honor.

"I don't know if I understand much, but I spent long trying to learn. I was just a man, a civilian haunted by this war. "

"Tell me.....what is any man or woman to do against your magic? If your kind chose to use it against regular people? Nothing. Normal people have no defense against 'magic'. Not without great losses. "

"It is a peasant that holds a plow against a knight with sword."

"The energy taken from the people of this planet is a sacrifice. It is wrongly taken from them, but it is to keep them safe. It is the only way ever found to allow their nobles, their defenders....to be more than peasants. It powers our resistance and allows us to stand with real strength against you. Not with pitchforks."

"The world we stand in now...the world of this war...the regular people do not remember it in their history. But this was a kingdom. Earth was a kingdom, like the home you speak of. And Earth did not want to join the Moon. That kingdom is us. We fight for Earth, for the independence of that kingdom."

"I do not think that you are wrong, or evil. It is kingdoms on each other's land. You are a foreign noble, you recognize it yourself- your heart is there in that far place in space. That is where you belong if you swear to support the Moon. I understand....I have heard from one of your own people, a high ranked lady among you that all your homes are ruined. Defending your nobility there is meaningless, then. If you would find a new home, one not alone and ruined, this one you were born to now...join us and support the kingdom of Earth. "

"When this land is secure, its nobility secure, then there is no need to sacrifice. No need for warriors. No need for anyone to hurt."

Titan shook his head, "You call dirty what you will. Leaders make hard choices, and they are wiser than me for certain. You for certain, who doesn't even know who he is himself."

"There are many stories of ends justifying means. Many that say they do not. They are both right. It is what right you choose. I believe in my lord. He has fought longer than I have, has more experience."

"You cannot be both there and here. That is a child's dream, to have the cookie and eat it both. And you are not 'just like' any of us. You are a sailor scout. You are a noble. Magic is born in you"

"Whether you chose that or not doesn't matter- is a matter of cowardice to complain of it. You are what you are. What you choose to do with your power is what will define your worth."

On the matter of civilians, Titan shrugged, "Try to tell them, then. Where is the proof to hold up against the history books they teach you in school? Magic. You know, I hated that word. You ask science to recognize magic. How is it I cannot tell who you are? Or you me? It is magic. But we are not wearing masks. Tell science and the public to accept that. Or to accept that there was a kingdom on the moon that NASA just hasn't seen."

"You tell me how that goes."

"I am sworn to General Obsidian. He is not a kind lord. He is deliberate, but not gentle. He is a warrior. Obsidian valued me, made me strive, and promised to make a weapon of me worth wielding. Having watched this war a year in already, and having been part of it as a bystander, that he was willing to speak to me, to help me to no longer be a victim- and to have the power to prevent needless waste further...has meant a great deal."

"They only looked like strong hands before. Now mine can truly move mountains and build bridges."

"You could be the same- a lord that could command. You could also find what I have in one of our high lords or ladies to learn from and serve. You would have purpose and find where your strength is. You would have a home and we would be your family. You and I could be brothers. "

"I will defend my brothers even to death. " Even from themselves. Sometimes his lord's smiles were not cruel, not calculated, not even human. There was growing space between the general's soul and his darkness, and he wasn't going to pretend what made a man a man always won out in that sort of struggle. But that was for another day and another time, and not for senshi at all. It would be between Obsidian and his vassal, or vassals should Titan be so lucky to have companions someday.

"There is a place for you, if you want it. If you want it enough to take it with your own hands. It is the right of all to want, but it is privileged to have. You have to earn the privileged, to prove that you are suited and fitted to it. I did. But if you do,...just like with me, you will be rewarded. And you are already a noble. I was just a man. "

"Will you think about it? It's no good just making a decision in a night. But think about it. We can meet again, you can help me gather energy, see that I and others do not slaughter our own Kingdom. You can feel what it is to stand beside another as a brother. We can be to each other as shield and spear. Then you can decide."

"Well, my own path and service I can show you. The very gates and the throne I cannot show you. They are ..." He had to search for proper vocabulary for a long moment. "It is sacred. The place of tragedy and it has many memories and the ghosts of memories are very present. Ghosts are stuck...they only know the moment of their end. They died in the first days of war, and they were fighting the Moon Kingdom. "

"You are their enemy. "
"I must respect them. The do not have much peace except their solitude. I cannot show you the throne or the seat of the Earth Kingdom unless you have joined us and let one of the General Kings mark you as ally. "

"No tricks- meet me here in a week. I will bring no others with me. I will trust you will not lay a trap for me. I will take you on my duty, and we can work together, as I said. Brothers for a night. "

"I would like to see your home, someday. That there have been other people, and other worlds, is very sad. But I like the idea of how much there must have been once. Like how many countries there are on earth, many a much as the stars in the sky. I like the sky. "

"Loss makes us appreciate and defend what we have."

"I will talk to my commanders, and ask them for specifics. I must admit, I do not carry information well, but I will write things down right after I meet with them. "

Titan considered their surroundings, the slow changing of clouds and light that accompanied time moving as they had talked. As he had not tried to attack this scout. He had more than one instance to talk to the superiors about. Important situations that might help Information, or might be very sensitive. I don't want to betray my people out of my own stupidity. It is no good that these situations have arisen around me. Still, if I am approachable, it cannot be wholly bad to see that made productive. It would be better for them to join us, rather than have to kill them. They do not have homes. They should join our kingdom, bending knee and swearing to cleave to this Queen.

"I should be going, at least. My business is not done for today. What is your name, scout-that-I-will-meet?"

"I'm Titanlåvenite. 'Titan' is easier, though." Shortening it to start was more companionable- a step towards expressing true sentiment and intention as a day of brothers to come.