Post

3rd of June, in the ruined remains of the town of Brascon, multiple hours after Rioeste’s conversation with Niko.
“What exactly do you think you could offer me?”
“sigh You know, I should probably tell you about myself, seeing as I know so much about you” James was quizzically and coldly staring up Ladislaus, however where before he had no patience for the man in front of him, now he was willing to humour him. Ladislaus, for his part, still continued to confidently smirk at James, sure on his own plan. “My name is Ladislaus Mítlis: I’m the descendant of the emperors of Kkhano, you know what that means?”
“What, exactly?”
“Hmm... you hold grudges against a lot of people, yes? Well, let me tell you this: you and I have the ability to help each other take over revenge on the people who’ve wronged us in the past” The more Ladislaus talked, the more and more James was starting to pick up what he was putting down, however he still remained skeptical.
“What exactly do you have that would help me get back at people?”
“Well, on the more boring side I have an army of soldiers born and bred to serve and die for me, a bunch of military years h acquired from around the globe through various means including theft, government embezzlement, business transactions, and repurposing old stuff... that may or may not have been stolen- ok look the methods may not be clean, but when all’s said and done it’s a means to an end. Oh, and if you want to get a little bit more... interesting, have you felt something a little, let’s say, strange, recently, about how everything feels; like the world is out of balance, perhaps?”
“How could you know th-“ Before James could finish that thought, Ladislaus grabbed a hold of his left shoulder and looked him in the eyes, realising now was the time to make his winning play.
“Yeah, that’s right: I’m like you, in more ways than that. I know what you’ve been through - I can help you; but more importantly I’m willing to. Marle lacked backbone, she had no vision and couldn’t actually help you in the end. But I will. We can stick it to all those idiots that took everything from us and give them what they deserve” After saying this, Ladislaus took his Han over James’ shoulder and relocated it to about a metre in front of him, holding out an open palm as an invitation. “So what’d you say?”
James’ response wasn’t audible, but rather he took the hand offered to him with his own, then looked Ladislaus in the eye and have him a confirmatory nod. Ladisalus, for his part, gave him a smug grin, very pleased with himself to see his plan succeed. “You’re a smart man James, I’d knew you’d make the right choice”
“So what’s our course of action going to be?”
“Well, as you probably noticed, or felt, the reservoir has been reopened, which I can only assume has something to do with the absolute trash-state the whole world’s in; and with that back the plans of my for-father’s will finally be able to go ahead... once I get my hands on my beacon again, of course”
“Wait, you lost your beacon?”
“No no, it’s not like that. Let’s just say... it was misplaced in the wrong hands”
“... Is that not just losing it”
“No, not at all! Whether or not you consider that losing it or not, the fact of the matter is that it’s being kept here, in this country, in the province; there’s a museum which keeps it hostage - it really is sad to see an item of such power being held by people of such little worth... Anyway, I was hoping that seeing as you know the local area so well, you could help me get it back, that sound like a plan?”
However, as Ladislaus asked the question, a response came from a third voice who previously hadn’t spoken yet. A long, drawn out, and rather maniacally sounding laugh caused both James and Ladislaus to swivel their heads around to find the source of the noise; and they were met with the figure of a short man in a pitch black trench coat, a mop of black hair on his head which seemed to spread itself out across the top of a ghostly pale face.
“Oh-ho-oh, you are exactly who I’ve been looking for, Mr.Ladislaus!” Despite the rapidly deteriorating situation - being caught wasn’t particularly part of the plan, Ladislaus continued to try and play it cool and nonchalant.
“You know I’m flattered that you know my name, truly I am, so that must make you a part of some kind spy organisation, correct?”
“Doesn’t really matter, does it? All that matters...” The man then pulled out a handcuff, and started twirling them around while once again letting out one is his trademark humourless laughs “Is that once we take you in, I’ll finally be taken seriously”
That line, however, made Ladislaus realise that this all in all pretty terrible situation could be turned into an opportunity.
“They don’t take you seriously, do they?”
“What does it matter to you?”
“Well, I’ll be brutally honest with you and say that the way human nature is, I guarantee you you still won’t be getting the treatment you deserve; humans absolutely live for the thrill of putting others of their own kind down - it’s quite shameful, really, but it’s true. So, they’re not going to stop putting you down, not taking you seriously, whatever, just because you bring me in; they’ll want to keep beating up the little guy until there’s an even littler guy to beat up” Ladislaus’ words were having a visible effect on the man in front of him, which he was very pleased with, however he still wasn’t convinced.
“Alright, big talk mate, but bringing you in will make me a bigger guy, and I won’t have to pick on anyone else to get my kicks”
“Oh, but it won’t. People don’t stop playing with their toys until they’ve completely destroyed and aren’t worth playing with anymore. You’re far from that state, but if you don’t want to reach it, you’re going to have to change course drastically”
“Really? And how would I do that?”
“I assume your agency hasn’t told you why they want to bring me in the first place right?”
“No...”
“What a surprise, they won’t trust you
with any information. See, I am the leader of an organisation that will become a nation dedicated to putting the world back on the right track that it has been deviating from for so long: no more small guys getting picked on by big guys; no more world powers flaunting around and playing each other off weak nations; no more leaders lounging around not doing any work: no more world wars, no more neglected international treaties, no more government corruption: one state, with on administration, allowing everyone to live the best life they possible can. Integralism, my friend, that is what shall save this broken, unbalance world”
“... Is that not what Kkhano tried at and failed miserably?”
“Well, yes. But you see, old Kkhano made one fatal error; they did not realise that people who are not ready to give up their freedom for the greater good have a tendency to fight against it. We” Ladislaus stressed that word, trying to incorporate the man in front of him into its meaning. “will make people want to give up their freedom. And once they do, we’ve already won. A pretty great plan, no?”
“... why are you telling me this?”
“Because you could play a key part in this world’s redemption, my friend. A double agent on the inside of an annoying nation could prove to be a very key asset to us - and trust me, I’ll give you a much better time than those idiots at the SISN ever would”
“One more thing...”
“Anything you want to know, I’ll answer it”
“How can I trust you?”
“What’s your name?”
“Niko Kappí” a hand was then put on Niko’s shoulder, as Ladislaus stared into his eyes.
“Welcome to the Kkhanoese administration Kappí”