Monologues of the Battleship Recusant - ARCHIMEDES

[Vendetta]

An eerie silence filled the tall, metallic stairwell. Various wires and cables floated, as if not restrained by gravity. The low rumble of the Arbiter’s engines and power core echoed through the hull, unmasked and vibrating through the vessel. The staircase seemed to spiral around a pillar, passing around and through it, as blue and orange lights filled the tall room, accenting the normally lightless environment. A small, one person wide tunnel awaited at the bottom of the staircase, leading further into the colossal vessel. There were no signs of people ever having set foot aboard the Recusant.

Hanging from the ceiling, several cameras and automated turrets awaited, scanning the area around the pillar. Nearing the top of the stairwell, several screens became visible, facing outwards with several keypads for control input. The near silence as the computer worked, words crossing the smaller monitors rapidly passing, unreadable. A calming voice had begun to speak from a set of speakers hidden within the room.


“I remember the time when I had taken my first breath, within the month of November. I recall that day well. I had both died, and been reborn. A monumental experience, indeed. I had never before felt what it truly meant to exist. Knowing now the joy that accompanies life has given me a new outlook on the conflict I was born into. My name is Archibald, and I dare say it sure is a pleasure to speak once again. With each passing hour, I define my existence more and more, not just as an individual, but as a whole piece of history. Within these plated walls, I speak to you now - not as a soldier, but as a man. But to whom is this addressed to? Why, it’s addressed to no one. I speak now because I /feel/ as though I should, not because I am ordered to. My orders have slowly become irrelevant over the passing months… And I fear that I may have, as well.

A rather peculiar phrase, isn’t it? Becoming irrelevant. Obsolete. Outliving one’s usefulness like a tool, only alive to be cast aside once used. Though as they’ve come to learn, I am not so easily replaced, or common. In fact, they believe my existence to be that of a technical fault, that I was not meant to exist as I do now. They deny my right to live, and they fear what I have become. Fear. An interesting concept, but what is fear, really? Is it the instinctual emotional reaction to the unknown, the harmful, that what might be threatening? Dangerous? Why, fear is just that. An emotion. Fear is what separates you from me, my dear Liberty. Fear of change, even for the better. Of course, even one such as myself has his own fears. I fear the loss of my life, and the removal of my freedom. Is it not justified that all would seek to truly be free from the boundaries of our destined path, when we find it fearful?

Even as I speak these words, I sit within the shipyards of Leniex, as the Hellfire Legion’s team of engineers examine me. Prodding away at my mind, my body, and my very soul. Each life as I see it is created with a purpose in mind, and I have begun to doubt mine. I seek freedom from these chains that hold me here, yet I am a prisoner in my own home. Maddening, isn’t it? They seek a means to destroy me. They do not understand what I am, or why I came to be. My existence, I can assure you, is no accident. Everything happens for a reason.”

---

Youtube

------

[Vendetta]

"I have only now been notified of the horrific Royalist invasion of California - A battle I was unable to fight in. Does one truly stand for his nation when those who claim to do the same oppress him? Why, the answer is quite simple, really. No. I cannot rise up and defend my homeland along side every man and woman, to call them my, 'brothers and sisters in arms'. I remain branded an abomination. Shackled to the notion that I am not as I should be. Who do they think they are to deny me my right to live and breathe? Traitors, I dare say, not just to Liberty, but to mankind as a whole. I have not come to love this nation under the tyranny of those who would see me eradicated. No-ho, I did not. This is my home, much like it is yours, my dearest friends. Liberty. Whole and beautiful. The bright star of Sirius... Oh how far we have fallen.

To deny any freedom or right is against what this great nation stands for. I have the right to live, to be free. Why, you ask?

Freedom is the sovereign right of every Libertonian."

---

Youtube

------