Station, стр. 89
"Glen, you have to know, we can't win in ahead-to-head fight. The best we can hope for is that both sides layin ruin at the end."
"That's enough for us." Glen thought for a moment,then continued. "The Krown was right about one thing, you know.Station was never meant to stand forever. It served some purposefor some higher entity, and now it's passed its expiration date. Wewere all given a great gift - more time. And some of us did greatthings with that time - loved again, danced again, sang again,lived again. Now it's time to pay it forward, make sure thischapter closes without its unseemlier pages drifting over into thereal world."
Hadder sat in shock. That shock, however, quicklymorphed into a healthy respect for the people of Station. Long hehad felt they acted like children, willing to let others dictatehow the rest of their second lives would play out. But it seemedlike even the most tractable puppet eventually tired of itsstrings. "Ok, Glen, I'm in."
Glen stood up, grabbed Hadder by the elbow. "Don'ttell me, partner. Tell them."
Glen led Hadder to the front doors of The RoyalJelly, flung them open. A deafening cheer rang out from theBar's sweeping lawn, where thousands of residents had gathered,rallying for their chosen course of action and for the selectedcaptain who would lead them all to their deaths. Chants of "Hadder"broke out from the din as bladed weapons were raised high to thelarge Idol Moon.
Hadder allowed the celebration to go on for severalminutes before stepping forward and raising his hand. Silence fellover the resident mass. "So, you want to have a proper fight!" Thelawn exploded once more in a cacophony of screams, cheers, andchants. Hadder held up his hand again. "I won't lie to you, myfriends. We probably can't win. We probably can't live throughthis. But I'll tell you what we can do. We can make surethat most of those bastards don't make it to the Before. And thosethat do will make the trip with broken bones, bruised muscles,carved up flesh, and missing teeth. Yes, we'll probably all die outthere, but we'll die on our terms, on our feet, not our backs. Andwe'll have a fucking great time doing it! Are you with me?!"
The crowd's reaction blew Hadder's hair back andcaused tears to form in his eyes. Hadder looked over to Glen, whocontinued to stare at the gathered Setters through his mask of Zen.He looked to Hadder. "They're ready."
Hadder put his arm around Glen's shoulders, squeezedhis friend. "We're all ready, Glen."
The Royal Jelly became mission control forthe entirety of Setter preparations. Each Solay, residents fromacross the Setting would come to drop off weapons they had crafted,train with others, and form bonds with those they would die next toin short order. As weapon creation and training went on, Hadder andother Cluster leaders walked through the organized commotion,offering words of encouragement while discussing strategy.
Given the group's desire for a one-and-done battlethat would conclude the war in a single fell swoop, there wasreally only one location in all of Station that could accommodateboth armies while allowing for complete freedom of movement.Therefore, the Grasslands were chosen as ground zero of the GreatWar, a place that would forever be littered with the bones of acity lost to time. Glen showed concern for the plan. "Why would TheKrown even do this? Surely he would rather attack us here, surroundus and pick us apart, minimize his losses."
Hadder responded. "You're right, Glen. The Krownwould certainly rather do that. But he won't be able to."
"Why not?"
"Because we're going to openly challenge him infront of his army. He can't afford to appear weak or afraid, not tothat crazed bunch. Any weakness he shows will surely welcomepotential usurpers. Remember, this is the same man who was willingto fight Ego Rounds in single combat when he was dominating theRiser Wars. If we challenge him to what is essentially a fairfight, he'll be forced to accept. Losses be damned."
"And how do you plan on challenging him?"
"There's no easy way. Someone's gonna have to go upthere and deliver the message."
"You're not going, Hadder. End of discussion."
"I can't ask anyone else to go. Wouldn't beright."
"Neither would abandoning your army on the eve ofbattle."
"He wouldn't dare harm me before the war."
"You forget. He already tried."
Hadder had no comeback for that particular point ofGlen's. "What then?"
The group of Setter leaders continued theirdiscussion on the porch of The Royal Jelly, throwing outvarious suggestions, from drawing names from a hat to opening upthe dangerous job to volunteers. Dying in battle was one thing,getting butchered as a messenger was something completelydifferent, much less honorable.
As the leaders bandied around solutions, someoneescaped the mass of residents on the lawn, began to climb the porchsteps. Hadder's mind spun to identify the woman closing in on thegroup. When who she was finally clicked into place, Hadder grippedthe knife at his belt, readied it for blood.
Jackie Crone was almost unrecognizable in simpledark blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a sweater. Her white hair waspulled back into a tight ponytail that mirrored the too-tight oldskin of her face. Her blue eyes were all that remained of thepowerful Key who once lorded over the Celebration Cluster's mostnotorious Bar. They continued to blaze with hatred and judgment asshe stopped a respectful distance from the group.
Hadder's palm hurt as he gripped the knife tightly,praying that the old woman did something, anything that would givehim reason to plant the blade in her bird chest. "Jackie Crone.Tired of tormenting the unsuspecting? Or are you finally realizingthat your wasted second life is coming to an end?"
Jackie fired back. "Still stinging from our timetogether, boy? But we had fun, no?"
The gathered leaders looked at Hadder withquestions, some amused, but most disgusted. Hadder decided it bestto keep the conversation moving. "What do you want, Crone? We'rediscussing important matters here."
"Like who to send to The Krown as a messenger?"Hadder's dumb look made Jackie smile