Guns at high noon [CLOSED, attn Inyursta]

[Brytene]

This is a spin-off of the Inyurstan Whistleblower Crisis thread, in which a retired Inyurstan sniper has just challenged Aoife Brighteye of Dyflin to a duel with firearms.

Please, no direct military involvement here - diplomatic responses only. The Whistleblower OOC thread can be used for discussions about this thread.

Pepper Atoll, 11:50 local time

---

Soundtrack

---

The beach

It was close to midday, but the Queen's private security escort had arrived the previous evening, securing the area and making sure that none of the rogue Manaagnwe Militia, the power in these lawless parts, were nearby.

Satisified that the location was secure, they had called in Aoife's team and the Sea Eagle VTOL had dropped her and more of her guards off, as well as another media team from the BBC. A Brytscop team had also made their way to the location, both teams with sets of cameras, eager to record what was bound to be another thrilling duel to the death.

The beach was long and sandy, and backed by jungles that led to high hills. Whether the elderly Colonel Armando Nuelle wished to fight a typical duel on the clear open beach or a battle of wits in the dark and steamy jungles, he would no doubt find the whole place to his satisfaction. What he did not know was that Aoife was a Hlasyctere, a graduate of the prestigious Fleet Sniper Academy, and was more than ready to take him on.

A small party waited out on the wide open beach to meet the Colonel and discuss the terms of the duel before beginning. The Colonel had already been publicly promised that, unless he were to attempt to break the terms of the duel, he would not be harmed or impeded by anyone other than Quee Aoife herself. The beach had been tamped down and was clearly marked with flares so that the Colonel could arrive safely, whether by plane or by boat.

[Allied Connurist States]

Aoife at it again!

Aoife, Queen of Dyflin.

^{SHARE THIS:}

Jane Gennery (@JaneGennery)
^{Friday June 12 2015, 11:30 | Pepper Atoll}

Will SACTO never learn?


It appears that the Santiago Anti-Communist Treaty Organisation really doesn't like Queen Aoife of Dyflin. Whilst the civilised world sees the 30 year old woman as not only an accomplished baseball player, a military veteran and a fair and noble Queen, but as an inspiration and a guardian of social progressivism - that ideology that gives people freedom from slavery, gives men and women equal rights and a fair say in society, and opposes oppression based upon matters of sexuality - the frankly barbaric member states of SACTO such as Inyurstan and Nihon like to see Queen Aoife as a 'feminazi' and they certainly haven't forgotten about when she slew General Fujikawa (neither have we, albeit for totally different reasons). It strikes me as a little odd that such hatred could be found against her by these nations - after all if she were a feminazi, half of her would be the epitome of what their alliance stands for, and I'm not on about 'femi'.

If you remember last time Aoife went up against someone in a duel, it involved blades swinging like a golfer on amphetamine over in Nihon, but this time is different. Reportedly, we can look forward to a firearms duel between the Queen of Dyflin and the Inyurstan Colonel Armando Nuelle, which no doubt will be interesting. What truly amazes me personally though, is that Aoife actually decides to go up against these opponents. Nothing says she has to, and it's almost as if she has a deathwish, but nonetheless, that is a part of why we love her. On the other side of the hostilities, it begs the question 'When will this stop?'. If Aoife triumphs today, how many more men will SACTO send? If Aoife loses out, who will (if anyone) step up? Whatever the answer may be, I get the impression that this is almost like a game of Tekken or some other fighting game, but with more stages. At this rate, one almost imagines that we could go through the entirety of the upper levels of governance and the high commands of militaries in SACTO nations.

But what really captivates me isn't the main event. It's the sheer insanity on display from people who are supposed to be in charge and have responsibilities. It hardly fills you with confidence to know that whoever commands your armies or rules your land is willing to take such risk to prove a point, and then you start looking around and notice that the people who are trusted with guaranteeing our safety and our future are quite crazy. Take our own heads of state for instance, Emperor Connor and Empress Alice. Connor is an entirely different man than who this country elected back in the summer of 2009, no doubt about that, and his antics with the Empress really do leave us all wondering how we don't have a young Prince or Princess yet. But when we go back to his election campaign, we did in effect vote for craziness. He was the young candidate that won the hearts of a people in want of change, a man who demonstrated that young people were interested in politics, and certainly different to the same old guard of boring, balding men, and women lacking anything that set them apart from their colleagues.

Regardless, betting odds are in favour of the Brytisc woman across the country, who has already demonstrated her prowess when it comes to a 1 v 1 situation. Guns are something she has experience with, having served at Pepper Atoll and being a graduate of the Fleet Sniper Academy, where 40 Connurists are enrolled at any one time. Will she strike again? Only time will tell.

More leading articles

• Thoust Ani Throbs for Thy Affection - masterpiece or abomination? 5,574,892 views
• Connurist scientists discover Cane Flute Woman 3,856,078 views
• Atlas World Cup about to get underway 1,520,025 views
• Feng's Obsession with Cinoth - what's it all about? 489,762 views
• Carlossian-Hayabusan tensions rise - Carloso unveils CT-70 tank 216,025 views

Comments [ 2456 ] | E-mail


2498 comments

---

REPLY LIKE | DISLIKE

Comments:

---

Comments

By removekebab - 8 mins Ago

CAN'T CORNER THE DORMER

---

560 Likes | 126 Dislikes

Reply | Like | Dislike

Show Replies

By bishopofbanter - 10 mins Ago

top kek

---

430 Likes | 340 Dislikes

Reply | Like | Dislike

Show Replies

By ShrekisloveShrekislife - 16 min Ago

I think everyone is being a little bit ogreaggressive here.

---

2110 Likes | 0 Dislikes

Reply | Like | Dislike

Show Replies

[Inyourfaceistan]

Medilla, Central Marindino

---

Bright rays of afternoon sunlight came down over the upland jungle slopes following the earlier rainshower which was almost a daily occurence this time of year. Thin trails of steam rose from the ground as the late tropical sun heated the cool water sitting idle on the ground. A slightly older, caramel-skinned man with a grey-and-black scruff around his chin was sitting on a stump sharpening his long bowie knife. As he scrapped the heavy blade against the grind rock, a man approaching up the muddy gravel path through the tall grass seemed to go unnoticed against the evening bird calls and legions of tree frogs, dart frogs and neotropical chorus frogs looking to get lucky after the rain.
"What do you want, Martin?" Armando said, apparently knowing exactly who was walking up to him.
"Why are you doing this?" His younger brother, a man who looked almost identical save for a clean-shaven face and longer, curler hair, asked him.
"You know, to shut the bitch up, to show that freedom will triumph over tyranny, truth over lies, that a common man can kill a royal - Que tenez-vuez?"
"Bullshit. You have always been patriotic, but never that blind patriotic. And don't give me empty dogmatic splurge and half-hearted Duvalierism as an excuse. You committing suicide, you selfish asshole; even if you do win do you honestly think those gringos will let you walk out alive?"
"She did give me her word..." Armando replied as he then stood up and holstered his belt, walking away from the trail and the grassy hill overlooking the roadside community and instead higher into the forest with his nagging brother just standing there by at the end of the trail.
"And you believe her? Listen, your not too old to find someone and if you think you don't have any family you forgetting about your nieces and nephews from both me and Maria. How the hell are we supposed to explain to our kids that their uncle decided getting killed was preferable than being around them, how do we explain to Mèma that her son walked out on her just like his useless father did?" Martin screamed as Armando slowly vanished into the jungle.
"I'm a fucking killer. It's what I do. You've always known it, now get over it..."

---

Flight 7730, Outbound from Cordoba International - One Day Later

---

Armando had booked a flight out of Cordoba, a large city nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Mirages in central and north Marindino. He would have to catch several connected flights, considering no Inyurstan airliner flew anywhere near Brytene, and no Inyurstan in their right mind would step foot anywhere near the Brystic-sphere after recent events.

The rough, former commando in his late thirties sat in a window seat next to an American tourist couple obviously in their early or mid twenties. As the stewardess came around, he declined any free meals, but ordered a two-dollar cervesa (which was overpriced by Inyurstan standards) and made sure to grunt to the young flight attendant about how the "no liquid containers" rule was a sham.
Instead, he pulled out a brown paper bag and removed a pile of cooked, white meat, salted and lightly seasoned. The two Americans beside him looked on in confusion as he viciously but slowly devoured his meal. Finally he turned to them and said:
"It's bushmaster, you want a bite?"

[Brytene]

The Colonel's journey

---

Since Pepper Atoll was not in fact Brytisc territory, it was easier to get there from Inyursta than one would imagine. A couple of flights bought him to the only airport on the archipelago, a small two-strip runway outside of St Joseph. From there, cheerful Peppur natives offered him a variety of rides, eager to get their hands on his valuable foreign currency. Whether he chose to go by light airplane, boat, or truck, he would eventually arrive safe and sound at the designated spot. If he chose to pay the natives a little extra, they would probably hang around and wait to take him away if he survived [OOC = you can control the natives if you want, two guys either in a boat, a light plane, or a truck].

Waiting for him on the beach was a scattering of Confederate personnel and civilians. Two teams of journalists hovered with expensive-looking cameras and sound booms, whilst in front of them all was Queen Aoife, smiling graciously.

She was wearing, oddly enough, a pencil skirt and a bottle-green blouse, her hair loose and her feet bare. The only martial thing about her was the weapons belt around her waist. She was tall, 5"9, and almost instantly noticed that her opponent was shorter than her, unlike the malformed giant she had duelled last time. This time size did not matter though - a wee man could shoot just as accurately as a tall one, and was harder to hit as well.
"Colonel Nuelle, a pleasure." she said, stepping forward with her hand outstretched. "I am Queen-Elect Aoife Brighteye of Dyflin. Thank you for coming."

One of her men spoke up.
"Colonel Nuelle, the rules shall be as follows. Each party shall be allowed to use one handgun of their choosing, with a single clip or magazine as applicable, up to a maximum of twelve rounds. They shall stand back to back, and shall turn on the count of ten, taking one pace per second. Upon the count of ten, both parties are free to fire at will. The duel shall last until both participants run out of ammunition or until one participant is incapacitated or dead. If both parties survive uninjured, the matter shall be considered settled honourably. Do you have any additions or amendments to these rules?"

Once the rules had been discussed and, if necessary changed, the men around the two duellists took a few paces back. Aoife patted her KA-P7 pistol in its holster before stopping, as though she had just thought of something. She clicked her fingers and one of her guards passed her a couple of A3 pieces of card. She held the two up. They were the photoshopped images from the SACTO attack, one the picture of her being mutilated, the other the unmentionable fake image of King Cenwulf.
"Just to clarify, when I sent out my tweet challenging these photos and daring people to try, you responded. So you are laying your life down to defend these images?" she asked innocently, throwing a sickly sweet smile at the camera.

[Inyourfaceistan]

Pepper Atoll

---

The retired colonel was pleasantly surprised by the weather here, and careless gave his jacket to the first local or tourist which wanted it. As followed the locals, he was equally as careless with his money as he was with his useless jacket - as he believed there was little chance he would need much of it later. Still, the U.S. Dollar was a powerful currency (Inyursta, like Ecuador and Panama, used the US Dollar as its currency) - even though it stretched much further in Inyurstan markets than it did in its homeland - and the locals were none the less eager to get their hands on a dead man's money.

As he came to the beach he recognized a tall blonde woman. She was by no stretch of the imagination a pleasure to the eye - everything from her masculine form to her wretched and eye-smothering hair tone stood in stark contrast to the dark-haired, tan-skinned and slim beauties he was used to. Regardless, looks meant nothing when it came to ability to kill - or better yet just to make a statement - and he doubted she thought his rough and washed-up military look was any more attractive than he though her.

"It's Colonel Retired." He said as he simply nodded his head in respect of his foe's courtesy. Nuelle was actually promoted to his rank at his retirement, a sort of going-away recognition of the man who had outgunned Lollohian leader Nillary Hinton (OOC: The other player made up that name, not me). Nuelle had subsequently caught the shrapnel of an IED to his left shoulder, on the outskirts of Dekkar protecting the occupational commander's convoy and was honorably discharged - wherein he received his post-service commendation.

He was not easily distracted by her callous talk and display of a few pictures which were little more than the subsophmoric creations of a few Internet denizens.
"Considering you actually met me here, I should be asking the same of you. Interesting choice of words, however, choosing some silly photos as the cause behind this fight, despite all the reasons someone like you and someone like me would have to kill one another..." he replied as he crouched down and retrieved a locked case from his backpack. He inserted a key and unlocked the box, revealing a silver, seven-shot revolver with a black carbon-fiber receiver and grip.
It was known as the Tocquan .45 ACP. Named after a vicious warrior tribe from the north which spread down through Geurroca into Marindino and the northern reaches of the mainland Inyurstan territories which forced the other tribes into the swamps and hills before they were driven from the reaches of modern Inyursta by British militia forces in 1833. Still, they were known for their ferocity in battle, and it was a fitting name for the locally-produced revolver which now rested in the hands of Armando Nuelle...

[Brytene]

The beach

---

Since Aoife didn't come from a barbarian, sexless, repressed country where women were nothing more than fat, fleshy ornaments designed to be draped over beds or couches, but instead came from a fun and enlightened country where people weren't confused by differences in hair colour, she did not register anything about Nuelle's looks. Not that Nuelle had any way of telling, regardless - all either of them was doing was monologuing in their own head. All she saw was the piggish contempt in his eyes, the hate and the callous indifference.
"Of course not, you're right; we shouldn't pretend this is about ideals or morality."

She drew her own KA-P7 with her right hand, checked the magazine, flicked the safety off, and then moved to the appropriate spot in the sand, turning her back on Nuelle. She breathed in the salty sea air, the smell fresh and vibrant, as a light wind ruffled her hair and played on her exposed skin.

The Brytisc guards stepped back, clearing a space and making sure that no-one, civilian or otherwise, was in the line of fire at either end of the beach. The guards themselves remained nearby though, safeties off and ready - the Inyurstans had proven to be rather headstrong, and if Nuelle decided to go down in a blaze of assassin's glory, they would happily oblige.

Both the BBC and the Brytscop reporters were talking into their cameras, the one calm and collected, the other excited and animated. Since Nuelle had come alone, it was up to them and some SACTO news teams who had apparently arrived to broadcast this event to the world. Those teams were being carefully watched by the guards, just in case.

Ratings, predictably, were high, especially in Brytisc-allied and SACTO-aligned nations, as well as Inyursta itself.

The duel

---

Theme

---

Once Nuelle took his position back-to-back with her, Aoife whispered over her shoulder."Good luck, Colonel."
She winked at the Brytscop camera, a grin on her face, as one of the guards began to count, holding a watch to ensure his timing was totally accurate.
The two paced the full ten steps, though on about the fifth step Nuelle would have heard a mild thud, the sound of metal on sand.

When the guard called out '10', two things happened.

Firstly, the moment Nuelle turned around he would see Aoife quite clearly unarmed, her pistol lying on the sand some 12 feet away from her, roughly a quarter of the way between herself and himself. She was, however, crouched a little. She smiled and waved as he turned. If he didn't open fire immediately, she would call out to him.

Secondly, he would notice that all of the guards around them had levelled their weapons at him. There were perhaps a dozen marines immediately visible, armed mostly with rifles as well as a couple of light carbines and what looked like a shotgun.

"Well Colonel, you have your chance. I'm not armed, I'm not even moving. You can shoot me, and rid the world of another dirty gringa bitch. You can use violence to achieve your aims. So go on. Take your shot. That's what you came here for, isn't it?"

[Flardania]

Pepper Atoll

---

Keiji Minatoya wished he didn't have to cover such a stupid story. He had to cover the ugly aging Inyursta man and an ugly man lady queen duel for a stupid reason. Also the guards were showing favoritism to their media and eying SACTO member media, this irked him because FBC was unbiased and has no problem critiquing SACTO actions. Nevertheless he had a job to do and CP 9 was interested in this affair as well. The duel was to be recorded live on the FBC website with a disclaimer then later censored for mainstream media. Keiji turned to Yamato who was calm and collected. FBC did not care for the outcome they were here to report and would remain professional.

The camera followed Aoife movements carefully and noticed when she became unarmed. "So she is going to try and be a martyr huh." Keiji whispered to himself

[Inyourfaceistan]

Counter-Theme

Pepper Atoll

---

Nuelle spun fast on the count of ten, coming around and landing on one knee while drawing his pistol and bringing both hands onto his gun. He brought the barrel straight at Aoife's chest before he noticed the bitch was unarmed. Whether he would have put one through her chest or simply fired his pistol in the air in a normal situation was anyone's guess - however, it was the guards surrounding him with their guns leveled on him the caused him to keep his gun aimed dead center at Aoife's chest.
He had figured the lying cunt was full of it and would have her guards try and double-cross him, although he assumed it would be following the draw.
"Well then, looks like we have a Mexican stand-off..." He said as he took a second moment to cast a split-second glance at Aoife's henchmen.
"Order them to drop their guns if you wanna keep your spinal chord in one piece." He said directly to Aoife...

[Brytene]

Pepper Atoll

---

Aoife laughed, shaking her head. "If I was going to have my soldiers kill you, you'd already be dead. You've got your chance. Shoot me." she called, spreading her hands wide.

Behind her, the guards were tense - Nuelle had his pistol pointed straight at Aoife's chest, but they had their orders.

After a pause, Aoife lowered her hands and smiled.
"You've got your chance. It'd be easy as anything. Put a bullet into my chest right now. I'm not even armed. Sure, you might not survive, but isn't this what you wanted? To go down in a blaze of glory to protest...whatever it is that's wrong with my country?"

There was a silence, broken only by the faintest of breezes and the gentle roar of the ocean.

"If you're not going to do it, then the boat's right there. You can get aboard and leave."

[Ardoki]

Unified Progressive Republic

---

A Beach
Pepper Atoll
About Noon

Chariclo Jacinthus Sostratus Juturna Junia (C. J. S. Juturna Junia) was one of the finest female television celebrities in the Unified Progressive Empire (UPE), her humorous cooking show, where she cooks terrible food and then force-feeds it to reactionaries, is watched by hundreds of millions ever week and is shown in high schools across the UPE for cooking classes. The Supreme Chancellor herself sent J. J. as she is commonly known as (she is also known as 'J.J. the Cooker' affectionately) was sent to cover the good Queen Aoife's latest duel against a misogynistic SACTO savage. She brought a film crew, along with a couple local bodyguards to protect them, to the beach and set up just in time to watch the latest 'Duel for Women Worldwide'.

"Hello UPE! This is J. J. here, covering Round Two of the Duels for Women World Wide!" she screamed. "Queen Aoife is back in the progressive corner, sporting a terrific new look for the woman fighter. In the reactionary corner we have a dirty Inyurstan savage barbarian, who looks worse than a diseased stray dog." she back-flipped, then yelled: "Let the battle begin!"

What happened next was magnificent. Aoife did what was right, and put the barbarian out of his misery before he would know what hit him. She fired flames of feminism onto the sexist scum, burning him severely, before emptying her clip into him. This was a day of joy.

[Inyourfaceistan]

Counter-Theme

Pepper Atoll

---

Nuelle kept his gun aimed firmly at Aoife - square at the chest.
"Twelve henchmen with rifles and shotguns pointed at is hardly 'unarmed' on your part..." Her guards seemed unwilling to drop their weapons, which was real good indicator that further negotiations would be futile on his part.
Nuelle had already done the calculations in his head. If he turned his back he was probably dead, if he kept his gun pointed at Aoife the range on his pistol would be superseded by the rifles of her henchmen and he was probably dead. If he got on the boat they could just shoot him in the back or send in their own boats or helicopters to get him, if he got back in the jeep there were probably already roadblocks waiting for him. Assuming by the grace of God he made it to the airport it was probably crawling with R-DARK and Fleet personel, if he managed to get back on a plane they could just turn it around...
His odds of coming out of this alive were pretty much 1:6 - and that's assuming all options were equal in likelihood.

With his gun aimed straight at the upper center of his target's chest he squeezed the trigger. Between the heart, lungs, spinal chord and several major arteries paired with the size of the hollow-point bullet once it entered the body there was actually a very large circle of area in which the shot could land where the impact would be fatal instantly, and from the lower shoulders down to the midsection and up to the neck was a rough "diamond" area where a hit would likely result in mortal injury.
And Nuelle was no rookie shot...

"VIVA LA LIBERTAS!!!" He shouted after the trigger had been pulled, knowing the eyes of the world were on him and deciding to make his final moments worth watching.
Naturally the aristocratic and 'civilized' elite and their sheepish minions would call him a murder, others would be indifferent to a shootout between to rival beings, while the empowered and patriotic masses of the lesser-developed world would mark this day in history when one of them killed one of the elite - and did it on camera. Many would cry that her majesty was unarmed and that the greasy savage killed her in cold blood; yet others would attest that Aoife actually had more guns on him than he had on her.
Regardless, the trigger had been pulled, and there was no going back now.
Nuelle had already began the instinctive process of lining his gun up for a second shot...

[Brytene]

Pepper Atoll

---

Theme

---

Aoife had been unsure if this little runt would take the bait or not. He didn't seem bright enough to realise that if she wanted to have him murdered outright, she wouldn't have run the risk of letting him point a pistol at her - he'd've been dead the moment he got off the plane. But then the man squeezed the trigger, firing a single round directly at her torso.

Even with .45 ACP hollow point rounds, shot placement was king - a direct hit to a vital organ was needed to kill instantly, and simply hitting 'within a large circle' just wasn't good enough. Missing the heart by an inch wouldn't do it - even hollow-point ammo only had a spread of maybe 0.8-.085 inches. The ACP certainly had stopping power, but it was still only a pistol round.

The shot hit like a sledgehammer, drilling just to the right of her spinal column, on a level with her heart. The shot punctured a lung and stayed there, the hollow-point ensuring that the bullet didn't pass through the back of her body to leave an exit wound. She staggered, and then collapsed backwards. Almost instantly, members of the Lantern Guard around her were rushing to her aid, putting in a call to the nearby Fleet vessels as the Sea Eagle VTOL down the beach began powering up its rotors.

Before she had even had chance to stagger, however, and before Nuelle could squeeze off a second shot, an easy half-dozen guards had opened fire on him. A blast of 12. gauge shotgun ammo lashed at his knees from perhaps 4 metres away, whilst bursts of 5.56x45mm carbine fire and 7.62x51mm battle rifle rounds hammered at his torso from several directions at once, and they would keep firing until he fell.

[Inyourfaceistan]

Counter-Theme

Pepper Atoll

---

Nuelle caved back on his knee as several rounds impacted him almost simultaneously, killing him in a matter of seconds. He had, at least in some sense of the word, died on his feet. What Aoife trully had planned in that sick mind of hers was yet to be seen but the whole set up from drawing him out here just to throw her gun to the ground to bringing twelve guns against his one in a 1v1 gunslinger show down didn't make an ounce of sense - and under no circumstances would he be taken alive.

Rather than let his enemy decide the terms of his death, he had been first on the trigger - a feat he came here to do - and a thick splash of bloodspray when his bullet struck Aoife let him know that he had not chosen to go down fighting without a good chance that his enemy had gone down with him. Her vulgular and masculine face seemed frozen as he watched the bullet impact in slow motion as the agents of his own death flew at him from all sides.
It's almost as if she didn't expect him to pull the trigger, or didn't even think it could strike her like it did...

[Flardania]

-Retconned-

[Brytene]

Pepper Atoll

---

Aoife was stretchered into the VTOL almost immediately, as Captain Nakama Kisa of the Lantern Guard began initial first-aid measures. Within moments, the Sea Eagle was thudding into the sky, leaving eight of the Lantern Guard and the news crews alone on the beach with Nuelle's body.

Lt. Colonel. Saigo Kuribayashi, commanding officer of the Lantern Guard battalion, stepped forwards. He alone had not fired a round at the retired Inyurstan fool - he had known what was to happen, but it did not diminish his respect for the fallen enemy. Bushido, much like chivalry, was a more theoretical concept than a literal one, invented by scholars around the 17th century, but Kuribayashi understood the importance of duty and the value of bravery. His duty was not to think, but to obey and protect, and Nuelle had done just that - he had not thought, simply acted.

It was a shame, however. Kuribayashi had had strict instructions not to fire upon Nuelle if he chose to leave peacefully - Aoife's plan had been to disgrace the Inyurstan, not necessarily kill him. Walking away without firing could have been touted as hypocrisy and cowardice, whilst shooting an unarmed woman would turn the event from a brave last stand into a sordid act of hate. The Inyurstan had chosen the latter, but either way he was denied the glorious shoot-out he desired - at least this way, he had achieved something material.

"Take his gun," said the Lt.Col, his voice low and calm. One of his warriors bent to retrieve the man's gun from where it had fallen in the sand, before taking position over the corpse. The Lantern Guard would not behead it or defile Nuelle's body. They were no barbarians, though they had heard rumours of SACTO militiamen desecrating the corpses of their enemies they would not stoop to such a low. Instead, the warrior simply reversed her katana and shoved it through Nuelle's braincase, making sure of his death, before wiping the sleek steel blade in the sand and returning it to its sheath.

Meanwhile, as the other troops spread to the perimeter to await extraction, Kuribayashi crossed to the waiting cameras and gave a brief speech, as Aoife had instructed him to do. His accent was perfectly Brytisc, despite his Chilokveri features.
"Today, Queen Aoife stood up to the idea that violence can replace truth. Unarmed, she faced down this barbarian and offered him a choice between life, and hatred. He chose hatred. Now he is dead. This is the fate which awaits all who think they can use violence to silence Brytene."

He bowed, nodding to the cameras, just as a second Sea Eagle arrived, dispatched from the nearby carrier group led by the CFS Pelegiad. He and his soldiers, followed by the two Brytisc news teams, climbed into the Sea Eagle. They would be taken to the Pelegiad, taken through decon as per protocol, and then the news teams would be delivered to St Joseph airport for return home.

Nuelle's body lay on the sand, blood splattered in several directions and puddled by his head, his torn shirt ruffled by the breeze which slowly picked up as the tide drew in, the waves creeping closer and closer to his prone form...the beach was quiet...

[Flardania]

Pepper Atoll

---

It was relatively silent over by the News area as no one truly won. Also once again proving the lack of sense and propaganda power the people in fellow SACTO nations had in the eyes of Flardanians. With all the news coverage here, he could've dropped his gun and if anything happened the whole would would know what a crook and barbaric nation Aoife was running instead she is now a martyr dead or alive. Keji Minatoya waited for the statement from the lantern guard.

"Today, Queen Aoife stood up to the idea that violence can replace truth. Unarmed, she faced down this barbarian and offered him a choice between life, and hatred. He chose hatred. Now he is dead. This is the fate which awaits all who think they can use violence to silence Brytene."

As a Fladanian black hawk arrived. Risako Kodama gave her concluding remarks to the broadcast.

"No ladies and gentleman let's look at the whole picture before we call this a battle of good and evil. What we had here today where two foolish people who got worked up so easily that it led to a duel. Clearly Inyurstan figured he had no way out and tried to off Aoife himself for whatever reason. Not thinking that if he dropped his gun the whole world would see what would happen to him. As much as a fool he may have been we at FBC always try to look at the whole picture and we do acknowledge he may have felt trapped being surrounded by forces and with the current accusations against Brytene did not feel safe. As we speak this man will not be left in the wilderness as I've been told Flardania will deliver this body to Inyursta for a proper burial. This has been Kodama Risako for FBC News signing off."

Once finished with the broadcast Sgt. Haruguchi covered Nuelle's body with a white sheet before placing him in the black hawk. As dictated in the Lake Shore Order, leave no one sans a final resting place so that family and others can see them. The crew also boarded the helicopter as it prepared to make it's way to the nearby IBS Ryusaido. The only thing that will remain on this beach will be the blood stains that dirtied the sand.