[Epilogue] Requiescat In Pace
- Lord_Montague
- Posts: 913
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:39 pm
[Epilogue] Requiescat In Pace
The New Brittanian Fleet was in mourning. One of their commanders, their First Lord of the Admiralty, had died. With him died a way of life. And now, after his body had been flown off the deck of HNBMS Tulip to a 21 gun salute from every ship in the 1st Battle Squadron, Admiral Charles Lord Montague, neé deMontford, Viscount of Stanleybridge and Duke of Hyarnustar lied in state in Admiralty House, Willow. His funeral was scheduled for later that day in Willow's St. George's Cathedral. Now, as people lined the streets to glimpse the funeral procession that would follow, TV crews from New Brittania's channels set up to broadcast the event. Back on HNBMS Hood, Vice Admiral Paul Hastings watched the coverage via satellite. For the entire morning, he had watched stills and videos of Montague's departing on the very same ship to try and turn the Circum Raynor War back to New Brittania's favour. Those had been dark days for New Brittania, with her armies under siege in Sudentor, but Montague's brief victory over an apparently invincible Grand Commonwealth Carrier Group had offered a short lived ray of light to a people who had expected better (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0N3Axbs ... ed&search= ).Other videos followed, showing Montague's other highlights with New Brittania and even showing some moments of glory he had had with Royal Lovely Navy. Hastings noted wryly to himself that the fact the New Brittanian Secret Service had sought to have Montague summarily executed for treason had been airbrushed out of history.
He looked over the programming as TV commentators commentated on the life and times of Lord Montague, not only his war time achievements but also his forays into political life. Hastings remembered a saying Montague had once said to him, war is a tough and dirty business, but politics is far worse. The funeral music had been left in Montague's will and had been faxed through to the authorities for the event. He also knew he was to make a speech in the homily, including Montague's final wishes. He wondered how he was going to make it through the entire event after his mentor had died, but he felt a reassuring presence squeeze his shoulder.
"Thank you, Emily." he muttered quietly as the television pictures showed Montague's coffin coming out of Admiralty House. The commentators made the point, already known to everyone, that as the Naval Ensign, Army flag and FAA ensign and finally the New Brittanian flag was lowered down by the flagbearers representing each branch of the armed forces that as those flags were lowered it was the first time and only time in New Brittanian history that such a symbolic gesture had been made to anyone but a Monarch.
The procession started off with the Admiralty Staff laying the coffin on a gun carriage to be carried across Ponton Bridge, around the Imperial Square and past Wellington Palace before entering into St. George's Cathedral. The service would be Roman Catholic, Montague's religion, and would be another first as St. George's had only held Anglican masses. The procession was in silence as New Brittanian citizens watched in stoical sorrow as their First Lord of the Admiralty, their old Monty, was taken to his requiem mass escorted by the finest of New Brittanian's Armed Forces with a fly past across the Ponton Bridge by the White Angels and a raising of the guns aboard HNBMS Valar and HNMBS Matbaa in a salute to their fallen First Lord.
Soon, after about half an hour, the procession arrived at the front of St. George's. The Cathedral was packed with the great and good of Micras. King Ray and Prime Minister Schaf of Lovely had even ventured, warily, into the cathedral and micras society to pay their respects to one of their Lovely Brothers. The coffin was given to new pall bearers, figures from Lovely's past and therefore Montague's. 5 men and one woman; Trip, Field Marshal Newton, Guido Zambelis, Professor Strangelove, Babs and Ellie carried Montague's coffin into the cathedral. Meanwhile, 4 trumpeters flanking the doors to the cathedral made the signal to their counterparts inside the cathedral as well as the Royal Corps of Drums to begin playing the processional tune as the coffin was carried up the aisle.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGYQtNAHbX4 you'll need to turn the volume up on speakers to hear it properly or at least you had to do that on my PC)
The mass began soon enough, with the Rt. Revered the Archbishop of Willow and the Roman Catholic Cardinal of Home blessing the coffin and all the other assorted rites. Soon, it was time for Vice Admiral Hastings to begin his address to the Cathedral via a live link between HNBMS Hood and 2 large TV screens inside the cathedral and one in Imperial Square. The Archbishop of Willow introduced to him to all the honoured guests and the people of New Brittania.
"We are gathered here because of the death of just one man, who at once rose so many different feelings in the peoples of Micras. Before he died, he left some instructions to be carried out upon his death. As such, here is what he wishes to be his final words to a great host of you." began Hastings before beginning to read off a slip of paper in his hands.
"To Augusto Benavides, His Imperial Majesty Edgard II and the other citizens of the great Empire of the Alexandrians; I must say sorry. To the great people of New Brittania and my own people of Lovely; Thank you for being such able support throughout my long years. Finally, I must end on a sour note. To Will Tomsett; I'm sure you'll find somebody else to demonise at my demise. To the people of Novatainia and Tokidoki, you butchered my family. I did, I will admit, underestimate you. Yet, I will avenge the murder of nearly all my family. May God have mercy on you if we meet in battle again, for I know that I will not show you any. I will hunt you down and I will make you pay for the misery you inflicted upon me and the suriving members of my family. God bless to all my friends, my adversaries and my colleagues." finished Hastings' reciting of the letter.
"I will say this now, that letter was written in the immediate aftermath of the tragic events that claimed the lives of Lady Montague and others in the Montague family. He, Lord Montague, did confide in me in recent weeks that he considered Demon, Prodigy and Sorongath something approaching worthy adversaries and his hatred of Novatainia and Tokidoki, and the desire to avenge his family, had lessened. But nobody must be mistaken that the only thing that kept him going was the desire to try and make up for his mistake of underestimating the enemy."
"Lord Montague was at heart a good man. His gruffness and adversarial nature was down to a simple mentality; the mentality to win. He made more foes than he did enemies due to this. In war after war, he believed that antagonising the opponent lead to them making mistakes with irrational steps. It was a strategy that, to his credit, often worked. How he did this often varied. It can be said that some of the things he did in war could have made Babkhans feel morally superior and it can be said that at times, Montague made humanitarian gestures beyond what normal military men would do."
"Yet, I will finish as this. It will be up to history to pass its final judgement upon Lord Montague. He built an image, a myth around him to aid himself during time of war. In effect, he built his own history and he was always quick to quote Churchill 'History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.' But for now, all I ask is that we pray for him and may God bless his soul. Amen." ended Hastings.
The image of him faded as it was replaced by the image from HNBMS Tulip's flight deck. An image of an entire crew giving their old commander a farewell in perfect unison, while the guns of HNBMS Hood could be seen being raised in salute in the background and firing off another 21 rounds of salute (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj-15O-BTDw). Afterwards, the images of Montague's life were played out on the screen with many of the videos from the TV coverage being re-used here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn53MFdL ... ed&search=). Meanwhile, the Cathedral Choir of St. George's, with the aid of the New Brittanian Armed Forces massed bands, sang the Libera Me from Fauré's Requiem. Hastings remembered what Montague had once said had influenced in choosing to have this Requiem played at his funeral; Its the Requiem without the final judgement. I've had everybody else judge me in this life, I don't want God to bloody judge me too. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZnmBVkI ... ed&search= again turn the sound up a bit more )
The mass progressed on as the Eucharist was prayed over and the other Roman Catholic prayers were said. When it came to Holy Communion, the Choir and the Massed Bands played and sang The Agnus Dei from the Fauré Requiem as the congregation filed past the coffin and gently patted it. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSi-7lxT ... ed&search= again turn up the sound especially at 2:10 into it, even if that choir mucks that up abysmally)
After the Holy Communion, the members of the Royal Family made speeches about their experiences of Lord Montague. King Joesephus observed that Montague had served at least 4 Kings while Prince William of Shalta gave a light hearted speech, noting that Montague could be an obstinate git which drew a laugh from a majority of the crowd, also noted that he would never find a better obstinate git to call a friend.
The service ended. Montague's coffin was carried to St. George's Lady Chapel, where a special tomb had been commissioned for him. Montague's son, Anthony, went there along with a smaller crowd of those who knew him as the coffin was placed into the marble tomb. As he was carried up the aisle, a soprano soloist with a string quartet sang Dido's Lament by Purcell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8CHfGr3W5s again turn the volume up a bit) . The tomb was sealed and Montague was laid to rest with his legend and his mystique intact.
P.S do listen to the music because its very good and sets the tone. At least in my final act, I can bring some culture to you Philistines! [/url]
He looked over the programming as TV commentators commentated on the life and times of Lord Montague, not only his war time achievements but also his forays into political life. Hastings remembered a saying Montague had once said to him, war is a tough and dirty business, but politics is far worse. The funeral music had been left in Montague's will and had been faxed through to the authorities for the event. He also knew he was to make a speech in the homily, including Montague's final wishes. He wondered how he was going to make it through the entire event after his mentor had died, but he felt a reassuring presence squeeze his shoulder.
"Thank you, Emily." he muttered quietly as the television pictures showed Montague's coffin coming out of Admiralty House. The commentators made the point, already known to everyone, that as the Naval Ensign, Army flag and FAA ensign and finally the New Brittanian flag was lowered down by the flagbearers representing each branch of the armed forces that as those flags were lowered it was the first time and only time in New Brittanian history that such a symbolic gesture had been made to anyone but a Monarch.
The procession started off with the Admiralty Staff laying the coffin on a gun carriage to be carried across Ponton Bridge, around the Imperial Square and past Wellington Palace before entering into St. George's Cathedral. The service would be Roman Catholic, Montague's religion, and would be another first as St. George's had only held Anglican masses. The procession was in silence as New Brittanian citizens watched in stoical sorrow as their First Lord of the Admiralty, their old Monty, was taken to his requiem mass escorted by the finest of New Brittanian's Armed Forces with a fly past across the Ponton Bridge by the White Angels and a raising of the guns aboard HNBMS Valar and HNMBS Matbaa in a salute to their fallen First Lord.
Soon, after about half an hour, the procession arrived at the front of St. George's. The Cathedral was packed with the great and good of Micras. King Ray and Prime Minister Schaf of Lovely had even ventured, warily, into the cathedral and micras society to pay their respects to one of their Lovely Brothers. The coffin was given to new pall bearers, figures from Lovely's past and therefore Montague's. 5 men and one woman; Trip, Field Marshal Newton, Guido Zambelis, Professor Strangelove, Babs and Ellie carried Montague's coffin into the cathedral. Meanwhile, 4 trumpeters flanking the doors to the cathedral made the signal to their counterparts inside the cathedral as well as the Royal Corps of Drums to begin playing the processional tune as the coffin was carried up the aisle.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGYQtNAHbX4 you'll need to turn the volume up on speakers to hear it properly or at least you had to do that on my PC)
The mass began soon enough, with the Rt. Revered the Archbishop of Willow and the Roman Catholic Cardinal of Home blessing the coffin and all the other assorted rites. Soon, it was time for Vice Admiral Hastings to begin his address to the Cathedral via a live link between HNBMS Hood and 2 large TV screens inside the cathedral and one in Imperial Square. The Archbishop of Willow introduced to him to all the honoured guests and the people of New Brittania.
"We are gathered here because of the death of just one man, who at once rose so many different feelings in the peoples of Micras. Before he died, he left some instructions to be carried out upon his death. As such, here is what he wishes to be his final words to a great host of you." began Hastings before beginning to read off a slip of paper in his hands.
"To Augusto Benavides, His Imperial Majesty Edgard II and the other citizens of the great Empire of the Alexandrians; I must say sorry. To the great people of New Brittania and my own people of Lovely; Thank you for being such able support throughout my long years. Finally, I must end on a sour note. To Will Tomsett; I'm sure you'll find somebody else to demonise at my demise. To the people of Novatainia and Tokidoki, you butchered my family. I did, I will admit, underestimate you. Yet, I will avenge the murder of nearly all my family. May God have mercy on you if we meet in battle again, for I know that I will not show you any. I will hunt you down and I will make you pay for the misery you inflicted upon me and the suriving members of my family. God bless to all my friends, my adversaries and my colleagues." finished Hastings' reciting of the letter.
"I will say this now, that letter was written in the immediate aftermath of the tragic events that claimed the lives of Lady Montague and others in the Montague family. He, Lord Montague, did confide in me in recent weeks that he considered Demon, Prodigy and Sorongath something approaching worthy adversaries and his hatred of Novatainia and Tokidoki, and the desire to avenge his family, had lessened. But nobody must be mistaken that the only thing that kept him going was the desire to try and make up for his mistake of underestimating the enemy."
"Lord Montague was at heart a good man. His gruffness and adversarial nature was down to a simple mentality; the mentality to win. He made more foes than he did enemies due to this. In war after war, he believed that antagonising the opponent lead to them making mistakes with irrational steps. It was a strategy that, to his credit, often worked. How he did this often varied. It can be said that some of the things he did in war could have made Babkhans feel morally superior and it can be said that at times, Montague made humanitarian gestures beyond what normal military men would do."
"Yet, I will finish as this. It will be up to history to pass its final judgement upon Lord Montague. He built an image, a myth around him to aid himself during time of war. In effect, he built his own history and he was always quick to quote Churchill 'History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.' But for now, all I ask is that we pray for him and may God bless his soul. Amen." ended Hastings.
The image of him faded as it was replaced by the image from HNBMS Tulip's flight deck. An image of an entire crew giving their old commander a farewell in perfect unison, while the guns of HNBMS Hood could be seen being raised in salute in the background and firing off another 21 rounds of salute (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj-15O-BTDw). Afterwards, the images of Montague's life were played out on the screen with many of the videos from the TV coverage being re-used here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn53MFdL ... ed&search=). Meanwhile, the Cathedral Choir of St. George's, with the aid of the New Brittanian Armed Forces massed bands, sang the Libera Me from Fauré's Requiem. Hastings remembered what Montague had once said had influenced in choosing to have this Requiem played at his funeral; Its the Requiem without the final judgement. I've had everybody else judge me in this life, I don't want God to bloody judge me too. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZnmBVkI ... ed&search= again turn the sound up a bit more )
The mass progressed on as the Eucharist was prayed over and the other Roman Catholic prayers were said. When it came to Holy Communion, the Choir and the Massed Bands played and sang The Agnus Dei from the Fauré Requiem as the congregation filed past the coffin and gently patted it. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSi-7lxT ... ed&search= again turn up the sound especially at 2:10 into it, even if that choir mucks that up abysmally)
After the Holy Communion, the members of the Royal Family made speeches about their experiences of Lord Montague. King Joesephus observed that Montague had served at least 4 Kings while Prince William of Shalta gave a light hearted speech, noting that Montague could be an obstinate git which drew a laugh from a majority of the crowd, also noted that he would never find a better obstinate git to call a friend.
The service ended. Montague's coffin was carried to St. George's Lady Chapel, where a special tomb had been commissioned for him. Montague's son, Anthony, went there along with a smaller crowd of those who knew him as the coffin was placed into the marble tomb. As he was carried up the aisle, a soprano soloist with a string quartet sang Dido's Lament by Purcell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8CHfGr3W5s again turn the volume up a bit) . The tomb was sealed and Montague was laid to rest with his legend and his mystique intact.
P.S do listen to the music because its very good and sets the tone. At least in my final act, I can bring some culture to you Philistines! [/url]
In Battle; Unbeatable.
In Victory; Unbearable.
In Victory; Unbearable.
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- Posts: 5024
- Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:34 pm
- Location: Novatainia
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Decent music! Wonderful!
Personally, I'm a big fan of the Mozart Requiem, but that's probably because my choir sung it ...
Personally, I'm a big fan of the Mozart Requiem, but that's probably because my choir sung it ...
Andreas
"He showed up three or four years ago and accidentally took over the micronational world by being way more competent and enthusiastic than everyone else. Now he sort of rules us all, but it's a benevolent sort of thing, as far as we know."
~Scott Alexander
"He showed up three or four years ago and accidentally took over the micronational world by being way more competent and enthusiastic than everyone else. Now he sort of rules us all, but it's a benevolent sort of thing, as far as we know."
~Scott Alexander
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- Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:34 pm
- Location: Novatainia
- Contact:
Hey, Reqiuem's are important.
Besides, I did my Monty death comments *mentally calculates* in the Monty Grave thread (in character one), Monty leaving micronationalism MNN thread (friendly one) and in war (hospital one).
Besides, I did my Monty death comments *mentally calculates* in the Monty Grave thread (in character one), Monty leaving micronationalism MNN thread (friendly one) and in war (hospital one).
Andreas
"He showed up three or four years ago and accidentally took over the micronational world by being way more competent and enthusiastic than everyone else. Now he sort of rules us all, but it's a benevolent sort of thing, as far as we know."
~Scott Alexander
"He showed up three or four years ago and accidentally took over the micronational world by being way more competent and enthusiastic than everyone else. Now he sort of rules us all, but it's a benevolent sort of thing, as far as we know."
~Scott Alexander
- Lord_Montague
- Posts: 913
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:39 pm
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- Posts: 5024
- Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:34 pm
- Location: Novatainia
- Contact:
I take it you're in a choir too then?
Andreas
"He showed up three or four years ago and accidentally took over the micronational world by being way more competent and enthusiastic than everyone else. Now he sort of rules us all, but it's a benevolent sort of thing, as far as we know."
~Scott Alexander
"He showed up three or four years ago and accidentally took over the micronational world by being way more competent and enthusiastic than everyone else. Now he sort of rules us all, but it's a benevolent sort of thing, as far as we know."
~Scott Alexander
- Lord_Montague
- Posts: 913
- Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:39 pm