Where the Truth Lies, 2013

Nace Bilby

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"Sometimes I Lie Awake.
I Dream of Everyone.
Who Walked the Path I Take.
Who Ran Beneath the Sun."
- Where the Truth Lies by the Exchange

(Note, the song comes fro the Prince Valiant animated series theme. A link is below)

---

Having just returned from Afghanistan Nace sat at an outdoor cafe in London, not far from Regent Park. He telephoned Rey, his older sister, that he'd be coming by later to pick up Goliath, he just needed a bit of time to himself.

Sipping at a cup of chai he had ordered, he sat down, looking as the pale sun burned away London's ever present fog. He had remembered listening to the song Where the Truth Lies by the Exchange. It was a favorite of his from the tele he watched as a boy.

The lines about lying awake, dreaming of everyone before him made him remember generations before him. Four generations of Bilby had served both British Crown and the nations of Rhodesia, now defunct, and South Africa.

May I have done well by you lot. Nace thought as he reflected on the four generations before him.

His great great grandfather, Corporal George Samuel Bilby had come to the continent of Africa with the 24th Welsh Regiment of Foot and elected to be pensioned in Southern Africa following an injury sustained fighting the Zulus, purchasing a small plot for himself with money saved from his army days. He died peaceably in his bed surrounded by his two children and grandchildren.

His great grandfather had served in the First World War, leaving behind three children and his wife in 1916 after the birth of his youngest boy. He served with the 1st South African Brigade at the Battle of Delville Wood. Lance Corporal Martin F. Bilby would never see his family again, dying in No Man's Land, remains not to be found until nearly a century later where his great grandchildren, Rey and Nace, would arrange for him to be repatriated home to South Africa.

Requiem Im Pace, great grandfather. Nace thought.

His grandfather Major Allan Bilby had, after apprenticing as a gamekeeper, joined the British 8th Army in North Africa first joining the Long Range Desert Group and later the Special Air Service as a private where he fought in the Mediterranean and France. Finishing World War II at the rank of Captain he settled in Southern Rhodesia after the war he was recalled to active service in 1950 to serve in Malaya with C Squadron, 22 SAS. He would later command C Squadron as a Major before returning home to Rhodesia and retiring. After his aging mother's health started to fail Allan returned to South Africa to care for her in her last years.

Loyalty to one's kin, in all things, Grandpa. Nace thought.

Senior Chief Warrant Officer Second Class Jason Bilby, his father, enlisted in the South African Defense Force as a boy soldier at the age of seventeen and spent the next thirty years in the South African military. With a few exceptions most of his father's service was in the South African Recce Regiment, South Africa's answer to the Special Air Service of the United Kingdom.

Loyalty, all we truly have. Dad, you taught me that by how you live. Nace thought as he fired off a text to his family in South Africa, saying he had arrived in London just fine.

You walked the same path I do, that of a soldier, all of you provided an example for me to follow. May I do well by you with all I do. Nace thought.
 

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    ((OOC: So, I am still here (at least, while ACP is still a thing, then I have to tether my phone to my laptop, send it's internet to Ethernet to my router and setup my other laptop to access that... I managed it once totally by accident)... updating stuff I'm working on is not a fun process (if anyone checks my stories folder on my Google Drive) anymore... the laptop at my desk is old (Core 2 Duo, 2Ghz, 4 gigs RAM, Win7 Ultimate)... Chrome won't update, Drive won't work... I'm stuck using FreeFileSync to keep stuff up to datep things synced. I have plans of getting a job and having money to have something better (a doorstop is better)
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    [continuing] I'm sorry if any of my posts are/could be inflammatory or anything... some of them are stuff I've had in the pipeline for a while, and I messed with it enough to get it postable... that's why there are dates showing when I started working on stuff... I'm not, and never have been, trying to step on anyone's toes or say "this is how it should be"... I have no say here, not sure who does these days (like I posted... maybe this is a test to see if we devolve into chaos). Posts like Hierarchy were started long ago, and meant as a guideline and not because I'm the voice of Sauron.
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    [continuing] I don't have the time to be here a whole lot, I don't have much beyond mom to help with my rent (and once I have a job, that'll take up more time, though I will keep working on stuff (both for here and not) as often as possible, and post when possible on here. I have a question that needs some clarification... being that we are supposed to get permission from the person if we use their character in an addition/story/post, how would that apply if the character is core to the universe (like Carmen... I can replace @Chase, maybe cobble someone into @Ivy's place... but, like @Carmen, being that she's a major character, as long as I don't have her acting or write a major part for her, would that circumvent the rule at all?
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    [continuing] I'm just curious... the absence of the major's leaves a gap that I'm not sure what to do with anything... we (the Left Behind) could do a story together (or some stories separate), and that'd be cool, but without being able to use any major's, I'm not sure where to take anything. And, yeah... you can probably guess what my typing is like here (or anyplace else)... I type here or in Word, I type something (or notepad), and 15-20+ seconds later it shows up, so I have to stay on top of my grammar and spelling. I have to keep on top of all that, because I'm working on the big Carmen story at the same time, so I can't slip off my game.))
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    @Jon Eckart Not exactly sure if I understand all your computer probs. I hope you get those resolved soon. Yes, I have many probs with my basic Google Chrome, too. I think it's fair to say we all have a love/hate relationship with technology. 😆 As far as your stories are concerned, you can use any cannon character you like, whether there is a person playing that role on here or not. Say the story is a fanfiction; and that the version of Chase, or Carmen (or whoever) from the computer games, gameshow (or whatever). We don't do Netflix Carmen, mostly because of the violence. And because it is fanfiction, you can also create other characters and situations to suit your story. Now, Chase, Carme, Ivy (or whoever) were here, of course, you would ask their permission; tell them your idea; and if they like it they might write it with you. 🙂
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    @Jon Eckart Now, if you for a friendship with someone on--and off-site, you might form a partnership with them, and write stories together (like Chase and Carmen; or Chase and Ivy; or Lucy and I) and then you will just put a statement saying that this story is a co-write with whoever. In fact, if you collaborate with this person a lot, people will just assume they have your permission; although you should always say it anyway, just as a common courtesy. In fact, ironically, the only people whose permission you must always ask to use their characters are "original" characters, who are creations of their individual writers (which most of us on here, are) specifically because we are not cannon. I hope that makes sense. 🙂
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    @Jon Eckart Now, if you want to write something, but don't have a lot of time, I would suggest posting a status; or replying to someone else's status. Or you could start a guessing game. Look under Forums/Guessing Games, and look at some things other people have done, to give you ideas. I hope that helps. 🙂
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