One Tail at a Time

No Virtue in Honor - 2

"Today, the road ahead will be frought with many dangers and some you won't even see, but these are merely stepping stones, your commitment to the peace and freedom for all souls that you have individually chosen to uphold.   This is no easy feat to accomplish and no one but yourselves can understand the fears you are privately facing, but I ask you now to set those fears aside and think about your children, your parents and your elders.  They are the reason why you are here today.  Not for rank or privelege, but your own personal desire to maintain the life styles that those you love still cling to.  And that means, our goals are not for victory over the weak, but a victory for the freedom that you and yours are entitled to."

"Make no mistakes.  Our enemy holds the same values, so not only are you going to fight for what you believe to be of greater value, but so are they and this is where many obstacles will present themselves.  But you are not them and you will never be, so in your minds, hold fast to the memories of those you love and let them be your guide to justice, righteousness and freedom and forget about virtues and honor because they do not exist on the battlefield not when your enemy is unwilling to include you in their dreams."

"And let make myself very clear right now.  There is no room for surrender or withdrawal either, we stand and fight until the bitter end.  So I say,  should any of you choose to walk away right now, your virtue will remain in tact, however, once you enter your designated formation, any thoughts of leaving will be on the battlefield itself."

Falling quiet, no one makes a sound as they wait for the withdrawal of any soldier who has changed their minds and wants to leave.  It is long enough for the front row to bypass the multitude of bowed heads who do not dare to look, but not a single toe enters the aisles, every man and woman here, has chosen to remain, so the final speech continues.

"As I have said.  There is no virtue in war and nor is there honor because war is not glorious.  It is brutal, savage and cruel, but there is one thing that I myself see when I look out at each of you. I do not see bravery after all there are many ways to be brave, and nor do I see valor.  I see sacrifice.  It is not enough to say I am grateful for your courage and determination to beat all the odds you will be going up against, but I and the world, must and do honor the sacrifice that each of you are willing to make.  Many of you here right now will not live to see the sun set again, but I want each of you to know, that your dreams, hopes and desires for the future, will be picked up and carried forward so no life here will end in vain."

"Thank you to each and every one of you.  Go forth and conquer!"

And that was the end of the speech, though I can't help but giggle a little into my hands.  Shifu really is such a big fat cheater because not only was that speech given by the Demons Overlord to his troops before the last war, but it was almost word for word!  Of course so few here would actually know that because for one, most were born well after that war and secondly because there are only two Demon War tomes in existence.  One is on Kunlun Mountain and the other is in the Celestial Heavens Library which needs a permit from Donghua Di Jun to access it.

But Shifu is looking rather pensive seeing as so many here are now both excited and fearful for a war that he all but admitted will be brutal, savage and cruel.  Then again, Shifu never sugar coats anything especially when it involves real lives, so it isn't hard to imagine the horrors we are about to walk into.   And so for a while the entire contingent of troops remain quiet out here on the large field that has been set up for this exact purpose seeing as no tent is big enough to hold us all, while watching as Shifu leaves the podium to speak with Donghua and his generals.

It is just past dawn and we can already hear the Demons war drums pounding in a new day which is being taken up by our own drummers.  It is almost time to leave, so I stand with my brothers to make our way to the horses.  I have a small army that will be entering the battle in the third wave.  Shifu thinks that because I will be one of the main targets, he is relying on most of the Demon Clan to be tired out by the time I enter, so I do not have to hurry but I do stop to spend a quiet moment with Fu Yu who is going to be entering with me.