Town meeting

[ezra_of_lothal]

WHO: Ezra and anyone who shows up or messages him directly
WHERE: The amphitheater or network
WHAT: Call for a town meeting and the meeting itself
WHEN: A couple of weeks after Coruscant event end
WARNINGS: None yet

After they all get back from the 'mission' to Coruscant, Ezra's of the opinion that the work on newly appointment Temple and calls and offers of help on the network are good signs. The right direction at least. Still, it seems to him that there's not a lot of momentum as a group to actually figuring anything out about this planet and their general situation.

He knows he's not the only one curious or bothered, so what gives?

After talking a little more with some of the other Temba residents, he puts up a written message on the network, that he's labored over longer than he'd care to admit to anyone:

I'm inviting everyone to a town get together or meeting, midday tomorrow at the amphitheater. Talking as a group, face to face, might be productive. I'll send out another message right before I head that way myself, so everyone knows when to show up.


He debates putting on his Jedi robes for the meeting, since that's the closest thing he has to formal wear, but decides the full get up might inadvertently send the wrong message. He's fully believes getting the community together to talk is a Jedi thing to do, but he's picked up on the ideas some co-residents have about authority and religion. He ends up wearing one of his new brightly colored sets of clothing, and throwing a brown cloak over it.

Then he goes to the stage area of the amphitheater and waits for people to show up. Once he's pretty sure most of the people who are coming are there, he gives them all a smile and says a few words.

"Thanks for coming, everyone. I'm not going to stay up here. I didn't ask you to come, so I could be 'in charge'. Or even because I have a list of things I want to accomplish, really. But...as long as we're all here together we are a community, whether we like it or not. So I thought, it might be a good idea to at least compare notes and talk about concerns. Things that might take more than a person or two working on it to get done. Goals.

Life here isn't bad, but I believe it could be better, if we work together. So let's talk about how we can do that. That's all I really wanted to say."

He gives them all one more smile and goes to pick a place to sit among the gathered.

Comments

[kree_soldieress]

"Oh no," Lauri-Ell answered, shaking her head. "I was not a child. I did not have a normal life. I was genetically engineered, aged in my tube, and mentally trained. It is a rare Kree origin, but as the war progressed, genetic engineering became a bit more deliberate. You must understand, we had been at war for a million years. What is more, this is only a common practice among children of officers in the military, current or former. These children inherit the rank of their parent."

So the son or daughter of a captain began as a captain after their training. And ever did the military grow. They had no other choice, to protect their homes.

"I do not know Skrull patterns of behavior, but even Kree are different. Other Kree join the military later as recruits. They are new."

[thesepreciousthings]

"A million years." Stars exploded behind Starling's eyes, full of pain and sympathy. "God, that sounds terrible. Do you even remember why it started?"

[kree_soldieress]

"Of course we remember the origin," Lauri-Ell answered.

She had learned both the true one, and the one that was told.

"It came down to one peaceful, advanced race with a very narrow minded view of how a planet and its species might be uplifted, one lower, violent race being driven by revenge and hunger for growth, and one last peaceful race, who only ever suffered from the others and from the beauty they made."

[thesepreciousthings]

She winced, seeing a parallel or two with Earth's history even in such a simple structure. "I take it the lower race rebelled against the advanced one, and the artisans got caught in the middle?"

[kree_soldieress]

"We did not rebel. We were angered over the artisians creating something beautiful and being elevated. So the Kree killed them, slew the Skrull who offered our world technology, and then stole the tech. We became one of the quickest growing violent empires in the universe, and created a great war with the SKrull to last a million years."

Yeah, it was not so simple.

[thesepreciousthings]

"Oh my God," she said softly, feeling sick to her stomach. "Your people ... committed genocide over jealousy?"

[kree_soldieress]

Lauri-Ell sighed and looked away, clearly ashamed of this fact.

"Yes. And attempted it against others later. Further on, my people in the past performed genetic experiments upon humans, and worked to build a galactic empire through might and dominance. The Kree have much shame, and it will take us many more millenia to begin to see it righted, to find true honor. It is my hope and belief that our Emperor will bring us to this, a united people."

The Kree had done horrible things. In the eyes of some, Lauri-Ell herself might be one of those horrible things.

[thesepreciousthings]

She knew what it was to be ashamed of one's heritage, to be sure: Americans had slavery, racism, sexism, and any number of atrocities against the indigenous people to account for. So she could just barely scratch the surface on empathy for Lauri-Ell. Clarice reached out and gently touched her broad bicep in a gesture of comfort.

"As long as y'all keep trying, there's hope for it," she said. "And you're being a good representative of that unity here, for what it's worth."

[kree_soldieress]

Is she? Lauri-Ell looks shocked by that proclamation.

"I am no good example. I was a warrior. I was made for the war," she whispers, sounding a bit pained, a bit defeated.

[thesepreciousthings]

"Bullshit," Clarice says: the word is harsh, but her tone is gentle. "Where you come from or what they meant you to do doesn't define who you really are. What you do, and the things you care about do. And given how much you seem to care about protectin' everyone here? That's what I see when I look at you. Someone who cares. Not someone who destroys."

[kree_soldieress]

Lauri-Ell looks at the human woman with wide eyes. Truly? Did she truly believe that? Amazing.

“I shall aspire to prove your faith in me well placed.”

[thesepreciousthings]

"Atta girl," she smiled, giving her a reassuring clap on the shoulder. "You just watch, we'll all turn this place around. I get the feeling most of us are too stubborn to let it play out any other way."

With that, she settled back in her chair, half-turning her attention back to the meeting, not wanting to keep Lauri-Ell from missing anything more.