Snippet #1384442

Gilgamesh was done with the mine foreman. Accompanied by Helios while the rest of the Nine had gone to join Odin in training their recruits, the general had moved to the top of the cliffs, and was now approaching Amebra from behind. The automata sat on a rock, studying the human soldiers-to-be below them with his glowing, mechanical eyes, his strange, stick-like weapon at the ready. Gilgamesh gestured for his silent bodyguard, Helios, to stop at some distance, as he himself approached the automata.

"We are different, you and I." He said suddenly, revealing his presence to the machine. He continued without pause. "You are a man of metal and flesh. I am a halfbreed and feeble servant of the gods." He sat down. "But that doesn't mean anything. What truly matters is, I'm not perfect. I was never made to be perfect - unlike you." He gazed up at the sun.

"I have doubts, sometimes, as to whether or not my path is the correct one. Your people were constructed not to feel doubt." He looked at the automata as he added: "But remember, that's not necessarily a good thing. There comes a time when I hope you, too, will feel doubt as to the righteousness of your actions. Feeling doubt is a sign, not of weakness, but of morality. A wish to do what is right." He stood up. "When that time comes, Amebra...remember, when that time comes, you've become fully human. And at that point, you will be truly free of any influence but your own, and you will be your own master."

He took a step away from the automata, but stopped, and added:
"Mindless robots do not belong with the Nine, but even if you do not know it yourself yet, you are different. You are not mindless. You're one of the Nine. Whether the Empire shuns you, whether your entire system of belief is uprooted...whether you decide to side against the Empire - even if you one day have to face me in battle, make no mistake about it..." He patted the automata on the shoulder as he walked away, adding while leaving: "...you will still be a member of the Nine, and they will still be your family. That's the pride, curse, and comfort of being a soldier."

As Gilgamesh walked away accompanied by Helios, the human asked him:
"What good will it do? Is he truly different? He's just another automata." Gilgamesh shook his head.

"No, he's not. And one day he and you both will realize it. He's got humanity within him. And I intend to bring it out. A warrior without a soul can never reach his full potential in battle. Amebra's soul has been covered in sooth and blood, by the manufacturing plants of the Gods. But it's not yet lost."

Gilgamesh proceeded down to the forests where Odin and the other Nine were training the humans to become soldiers. The Elohim was ruthless in sparring them, but a skilled trainer he was, no doubt. When Gilgamesh and Helios arrived, he was fighting a human mercilessly to the point where the human was broken and beaten bloody, trying to crawl to his feet to fight again. Gilgamesh nodded to Odin as he walked up to the human. The slave looked up at him in confusion. Gilgamesh crouched next to him, taking his arm lightly, and helping him to his feet.

"Do not attack blindly." He spoke to the slave, not in a cold, but rather, friendly or outright fatherly tone. "When facing a larger opponent such as my Elohim friend here, you must not put your focus on attacking. He is, by nature, naturally more protected than you because of his sheer size. Instead, you must thus focus on defense, or rather, on avoiding his attacks. Be fast, nimble, and when you see your chance, strike hard and ruthlessly. The key, however, is, knowing when that chance appears." He looked at the Elohim, and added: "Only experience can help you know that. And that is what my giant friend here is offering you. His training may be harsh, and seem brutal to the untrained eye, but it is so for a reason. He is preparing you as best he can, to allow you to survive the hell that is the battlefield. Listen to him...follow his instructions...suffer through his blows... And he will turn you into a great soldier."

The slave nodded slowly, his eyes wide. Gilgamesh patted him on the shoulder, and added:
"Welcome to the Nine, human. You are among friends now. Outside your training, you may relax, recuperate from the Hell that is the mines. Grow strong, corageous and fierce. Fight side by side with your fellow soldiers." He turned to the other humans, and added with a louder voice: "You are all free men now. And as free and proud men you must fight to remain so. The Nine are your family. We will protect you, and fight side by side with you. And one day when somebody seek to enslave you once more, we will fight at your side to protect that freedom you have regained today. Like you, we do not betray or desert our family. Welcome to the Nine, all of you. We will be your family."

He turned to Odin, and gestured for him to follow.
"You've done good work, Elohim." He said. "Continue as you are. Train them harshly, but fairly. Do not make them hate you, however. At some point, you may have to come to rely on them to fight at your side." He looked up at the giant, and added: "Instruct them to make a camp for the night, and put out guards. We will stay here and rest. Tomorrow morning we leave, and it would be best if they were well rested by then."

The general wandered through what would soon be a camp, followed by his Elohim soldier. Finally, he leaned against a tree, looking towards the lights in the night, that marked the mines.

"Tell me, Elohim..." He said, suddenly. "What is your home like?" He gazed up towards the cliff where Amebra was poised, and continued: "The Nine is known to recruit stray dogs...warriors of all races, who all lack a home. Amebra, the automata, was made in a manufacturing plant, or so it would seem. Helios, my loyal bodyguard - his family was butchered by Barbaroi when he was a mere child, his village burnt to the ground. I found and raised him, earning his friendship and loyalty as I did. Me, I never knew my mother, and my father was as cold and distanced to me as they came, caring about nothing but the glory I would bring to his name. It was hardly something to call a home. In a way, it was no different than what you're putting our human recruits through right now." He gave the Elohim a wry smile.

"In a way..." He continued. "...you're an anomaly. You're the only one here who can claim you come from a home. What was it like? Do you have family? Friends?" His eyes grew distant as he gazed back at the glowing lights from the mines, and he mumbled: "I yearn for such a thing, yet I have never known it, and nor will I ever do. So tell me, Elohim...what is it like? To have a family, I mean? A real family? A home to call yours..."