Mission [TI vs DIA] In Your Heart Shall Burn || Mission to Bastion

[The Arkanian]

OBJECTIVE TWO - DIARCH ARMORY

Despite the surrounding Lilaste operators and the sweat trickling down his spine, the Arkanian felt a thrill of adrenaline. He might actually pull this off. He might-

“Agent, operator ID and name of your mission handler”

You have got to be shitting me.

Turning, the Arkanian saw a figure standing next to him that he recognized from the intelligence dossiers as Diarch Reign.

What were the odds of this? That one of the Diarchs themselves would just happen to be strolling by when he said he was a Network agent? An absolutely stupefying megaton of bad luck. That's what this was.

"Diarch," the Arkanian followed the traditional signs of respect for Diarchy space, "You..." how to put this respectfully, "You wish me to disclose that in front of the Lilaste?"

He looked meaningfully at the private military contractor looming nearby and stationed all around.

Souls of the Lilaste order Lyssara Thrynn Diarch Reign Ysanne Hojkstra​

 

[Laphisto]

Laphisto gave a low, restrained chuckle, the sound rolling faintly in his chest. Without looking away from the man before him, he extended a taloned hand toward one of the nearby Lilaste soldiers. The trooper stepped forward immediately, offering up his rifle without hesitation.

Laphisto accepted the weapon with practiced familiarity. In one smooth motion, he ejected the magazine, catching it in his palm before thumbing the release and racking the slide. The chambered round snapped free. He caught it cleanly between two claws before it could fall, the metallic click of the cleared weapon sharp in the air. Only once he had confirmed it was safe did he turn it and present it grip-first to the man before him.

He held the loose round in his other hand for a moment, then pressed it back into the magazine and seated it with a firm push. The rifle remained empty. "Then accept this gift, From one soldier to another."

There was no theatrical flourish in the gesture. It was simple, deliberate, and deeply traditional. A warrior offering a weapon was not surrender, nor charity. It was trust. "The people of Mahporeem are friends to the Order any day of the week," he continued, giving a small, subtle nod.

When the man requested a private audience, Laphisto's brow arched slightly. Another quiet chuckle escaped him, though this one carried a note of practicality."There's a barracks nearby, We can speak there. But there is no communications jamming in place, and arranging it on short notice would draw more attention than it prevents."

His gaze sharpened slightly, assessing."If you require absolute discretion, then come with me to Aurora Station. My private office is shielded, secure, and beyond casual interference. Your choice. I do not summon men for private talks unless they wish it."

Keldan Andro

 

[Iandre Athlea]

Iandre did not raise her voice or mirror the Duke's intensity; instead, she remained perfectly still, absorbing every word of his philosophy with a steady, unblinking gaze that allowed the silence to settle fully before she finally offered a response.

"Your analysis is not wrong, but it is incomplete," she began, her voice calm enough to sound gentle as she shifted her weight to bring both Gavin and Dante into her line of sight. "You are correct that societies crave the absolution of strong leaders and clean narratives so they do not have to carry the moral weight of survival themselves, just as you are right that public admission of fault carries heavy strategic and diplomatic consequences."

She paused, her gaze measured as it flicked toward the incinerator where the last remnants of paper were turning to ash. "I understand the cost of hesitation better than most, having watched civilians die in evacuation corridors because of political delays, but what you are doing here is not managing perception. It is rewriting causality by removing the evidence of sequence and intent."

Stepping forward to close the distance, she made her presence impossible to dismiss. "When future inquiries inevitably come, the gaps and contradictions you are creating will not protect this state; they will indict us, because every document destroyed here becomes a question that a less-than-kindly historian will eventually answer for you."

Her voice sharpened with conviction, the Force around her remaining as steady as a sheathed blade. "Strength that cannot withstand scrutiny is merely scaffolding that collapses the moment someone leans on it, and while you fear that truth will weaken us, I am far more afraid that these lies will hollow us out until nothing remains."

She gestured faintly toward the terminals, her gaze unwavering. "I am not asking for a broadcast to our enemies, but I am asking you to preserve the institutional memory that keeps this state honest, because one day Rellik, you, and I will all be gone, and the only thing preventing this government from becoming what it once opposed will be the truth we leave behind."

Reclaiming her place beside Rellik with deliberate resolve, she met Dante's eyes one last time. "If that truth is reduced to ashes, then everything we are building here rests on nothing but smoke; choose now what you want this moment to be remembered as."

Dante Phantomhive Diarch Rellik Gavin Vel (sorry if I missed anybody in this scene)