Men-at-Arms

"We have a problem," Tassyn said.

We have a problem? Coda wondered as she looked at the woman opposite her. Or you do?

"The urgoth are coming. The Sentinels don't have the manpower to keep them at bay indefinitely, and the Freelancers aren't exactly surging in numbers either." Tassyn took a gulp of her fire wine and thumped the goblet down on the table between them. "Where's the army you promised me Freelancer? What happened to that new beginning?"

"Tassyn-"

"What's happening?"

Coda couldn't help but smirk, and given the look on Tassyn's face, she must have noticed. "Amusing," Coda murmured. "Lady of Corvus wants me to explain what's going on."

"Do enlighten me Freelancer, because right now, I need the information." She took another sip of the fire wine. "The Dominion is defeated. The Monitor's dead. This should have been the start of a new beginning, but now it feels like we're left in the dust."

Coda took a sip of her own beverage - iceflaus, it was called, exported from Stralheim in the north through illicit means that Tassyn no doubt knew about. "Has it occurred to you that because the Monitor's dead, and that the Dominion's been routed, is the reason in of itself why people aren't joining the Freelancers and Sentinels?"

Tassyn frowned. "I don't follow."

"Then follow this – Freelancers fall apart because of our failure at the Heart of Rage. Dominion comes. Monitor comes. You rely on me to be a hero and save the day. Am I correct so far?"

Tassyn nodded.

"Monitor's defeated, and it turns out that his motivations went no deeper than power because he's an evil guy who does evil things. So, that leaves any potential Freelancer to do the same thing over and over," Coda said. "Fly around. Kill Scars. Get material. Bring it back to Fort Tarsis. Rinse and repeat. Maybe clean up a few Dominion stragglers on the way."

"That's the job, isn't it?"

"It is the job," Coda said. "And Shapers help me, I'm still doing it. But if that's all the Freelancers can offer, to go through the same shit day after day, fighting enemies that can never be fully defeated, and rounding up stragglers serving a man whose name is already forgotten, can you blame people for not finding the appeal in that?"

Tassyn took another sip of her fire wine. "It's what we do."

"What we do," Coda said. "Look around you Tassyn at the people in this tavern – what do they do?"

"They-"

"They get on with their lives. Wake up, work, eat, drink, sleep, repeat. If a role in the Freelancers is going to offer the same thing, but with them risking their lives for it, how many are going to choose that life?"

"You chose it."

"I did. And who's to say I don't regret that sometimes?" Coda took a sip of her iceflaus, the chill within her not entirely due to the beverage. She thought of Owen. What he was doing. Where he'd gone. What he'd done…

"So what do you suggest?" Tassyn asked.

"Hmm?" Coda looked back at the Corvus agent.

"What do you suggest?" Tassyn repeated. "You promised-"

"I promised I'd do your job and save Antium. I never promised you an army."

"…fair point." Tassyn took a final sip of fire wine and put the empty goblet on the tray of a passing bartender. "But that still leaves us with the problem of the urgoth, and how, when they arrive (and they will arrive, don't delude yourself into thinking otherwise), we won't have the manpower to stop them."

Coda shrugged.

"Is that all you have for me?"

"I'm the one who gets sent out there to kill things for ember and glory. You're the one who points me in the direction." Coda took another sip of her iceflaus and leant back in her chair. "Figure it out Tassyn. You want to save us from the urgoth? Good – I'd like to be saved. You want to get more Freelancers and Sentinels? Good – I agree that needs to happen. But that's on you and Corvus. Not me. I'll keep fighting and killing, but you find a way to make it exciting."

"Exciting? The urgoth-"

"Are the stuff of nightmare – fables told to children to get them to behave." Coda nodded to the patronage of the tavern. "You think if you asked the people here what they're most concerned about in this world, the urgoth are going to be near the top of the list?" Coda got to her feet. "Now I've got to go. More Scars to slay, more loot to find, more killing to do." She smiled bitterly. "Because that's my life, isn't it?"

If Tassyn said something, she didn't hear it. Because she just walked out.

For her, the cycle of life continued.

It would always continue.

A/N

So is it fair to say that Anthem is kind of dead?

From where I'm sitting, I think a case can be made for that. Which is a shame. Like, I'm not really a BioWare fan, and heck, haven't even played the game, but I was actually hoping that the game would do well. Like, if you spend six years on a game, I'd like it to do well on release.

Anyway, drabbled this up.