Open Council Post [timed to after Shore Leave]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

They'd all had their fun, now the time had come to attend to business.

Having sent out word about it, the Council gathered, as was its wont, to conduct matters, make announcements, take inquiries, and generally govern things and so forth. All crew members were invited to attend, either to watch or to raise questions as they saw fit.

This meeting was now in session.

Comments

Announcement of a New Chairperson

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Re: Announcement of a New Chairperson

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

She still didn't know why they'd picked her, but that was neither here nor there. They had, there she was, and so it was time to let the rest of the ship know about it as well. Standing up, Nehaalista signed swiftly and hoped that her hands would not cramp. The bright gem in her necklace caught the light as she "spoke."

[Crewmen, with the death of the former Chairperson, and the repodding of the replacement after him, the other members of this council have thought it wise,] though I do not see how [to assign me as new chairperson to this council. I shall do my best to promote the transparency we've prided ourselves upon in the past, and work to create a smoother-running environment for you in the future.]

Nehaalista flexed her fingers before continuing, [That said, and with the permissions of my fellow councilors, I will open this meeting to the general public.]

Councilor Bight is Also Crucible!

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[dragonlordbight]

Bight had remained somewhat reserved during the initial announcement of the new person, though he showed nothing but respect for the rest of the council during that moment. Knowing the next issue that was to be addressed he stood himself tall from his seat on the council and walked out before the rest of the council. His head still held high, though still reserved that usual air of confidence remained about him as he bowed his head respectfully to the seated councilors before he began.

"Councillors, Crew members, as many of you now know I am more than I appear, while Hogan Bight of Sanction I am and have been for a great many years, I am also the bronze dragon known as Crucible," he spoke in a level tone, "It is for my deception in this matter that I put myself before this Council, to explain my actions and let the entirety of the truth be known,"

"After I have put forth my case, I will stand by whatever decision the council takes,"

[governorkang]

Kang knew that he was not going to enjoy this particular meeting. He'd told the truth when he'd said to Crucible that he'd still serve alongside the dragon, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it, or like even being in the same room. He was also sincerely hoping that certain crewmembers would exercise a bit of tact and not try to bring out why there was such enmity between them.

He stayed silent, having to put a great deal of effort into keeping his expression neutral. He couldn't keep the rest of his body language from betraying his anger, though.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"For my part, I say it doesn't matter," the book said from his stool. "We've already established that it's okay to keep secrets and certain stuff private, unless it becomes a possible danger to the crew at large. There wasn't any danger from this I can see."

[on_errantry]

Rhiow put her ears back and sighed. "I am disappointed that you wouldn't choose to be honest with us," she said. "The crew should know that we were also deceived, although I can't see how that will make a difference when so many of them don't trust us already."

She fixed her large green eyes on Bight like he was a kitten she was trying to figure out how to scold, for all that he was many centuries older than she was. "You concealed your identity from the crew. They elected you as a representative - they most likely would have done so whether they knew your true identity or not. However, this office needs to have some measure of integrity if this crew is going to trust us."

[dhianeila.livejournal.com]

"Despite Counselor Bight having two different appearances, it would seem that he is still the same person we've all come to know over our time on this ship together." Dhianeila spoke slowly, and sent Bight a small, reassuring smile. "I do not begrudge anybody for concealing a secret, because every single one of us possess them as well, whether we wish to admit so or not. You have done an excellent job and been a more than helpful friend and ally to us all, Counselor. I believe that is the most important thing to remember."

[theregularguy.livejournal.com]

"I dunno," Sokka piped up from his spot in the assembled crew members.

"I think it's a pretty big deal to, you know, be elected on what is essentially a lie. I mean, we have a self-proclaimed Evil Overlord on the council, why would being a dragon matter to us?" Sokka doesn't like that guy either, but that's a different battle.

"If he's willing to lie to us about his identity, why should we trust him to continue serving on the council? I think his dishonesty kind of puts his election in a new light."

How soon do laws go into effect upon waking?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[battorch]

"Laws should be enforced immediately; the constitution is provided promptly, and they're important to be maintained. We shouldn't be giving leeway for things that the crew, for all intents and purposes, should understand early on. The laws are the laws, regardless of similar or dissimilar they are to those of previous worlds."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Hey, 'immediately' says that as soon as you wake up, you're under the gun, no matter what things were like or who you were where you came from," Zetta said. "This is all coming from where Azula attacked Zuko when she saw him right after she got out of the pods, unless I'm way off. If I was in her position? If I thought my enemy was responsible for this situation? I'd have probably attacked too."

[knifeurrib.livejournal.com]

"You're also an idiot," Mai chimes in from the back of the room. Why does she bother coming to these again?

"Just because someone is new doesn't mean they should get leniency for attacking people. Ignorance isn't an excuse - at least it wasn't at home."

[on_errantry]

"We should be sure to rush their case, though," Rhiow said. "People attacking others just out of the pods shouldn't be blamed. It's a disorienting situation and none of us knew what to make of it. I agree that we must arrest and hold anyone who commits violence on the ship, but I do think we let Azula's case stretch on for a ridiculous amount of time. It should be enough for security to question whoever it is and, if the attack was a mistake or the result of a cultural misunderstanding, make sure they know what we won't tolerate on board. Then release them under supervision to go about settling in."

She curled her tail around her paws. "I propose we judge each criminal case as we always have; on a case-by-case basis."

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

"Justice isn't justice if it's case-by-case."

This was the one issue that was difficult for Hiccup to deal with. On the one hand, it was personal, so he knew he should probably step back since his personal feelings colored it. On the other...it was personal. And it was a problem.

"Whether or not it's disorienting or a cultural misunderstanding isn't important. There are some cultures, after all, where it'd be perfectly fine to kill a dragon, but one of my best friends is one, and so are other crew members on board, and if one of them were to die because of a cultural misunderstanding, the fact that it was a misunderstanding won't undo the fact that they'd be dead, would it?"

"It's not a matter of blame, it's a matter of keeping order and keeping people safe--that's what a government and laws are supposed to do." Someone had been hitting the politics books lately--at least he'd been when he hadn't been GLaDoSed.

"I think this conversation would be entirely different if Azula had killed Zuko, and the fact that the situation worked out with someone only almost dying shouldn't color how we look at this situation. It might not always work out that way--people might die."

He tapped his fingers against the table.

"What if we got Stacy to agree to brief people on the laws from the get-go? During her whole...thing. The voice-in-your-head thing at the beginning? Or even just some of the basics, if not the whole Constitution? 'Don't hurt anyone else, don't kill anyone else, or there will be legal consequences.' The important ones. They'd know right from the start that there are laws, that there are consequences to breaking them. That would make it fair for there to be consequences if they chose to break them anyway. And it is something Stacy might agree to do."

Project Planner

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[thewunderkind]

Oh good. now Lash could finally talk about her plan. Without raising her hand (only because she didn't know better) she stood up and spoke.

"So I've been thinking, since the SHODAN stuff, and due to the fact I'm the Weapons Officer on board, I figure it's high time we start putting up our own security measures around the ship should something like that happen again." She most certainly hoped it did not. "We still had our communication systems to talk to each other when it happened because it's independent of the ship...at least I assume that's why. And I'm sure Stacy herself must have a bunch of weapons that are just being unused that we could be activating. I'd like to surround myself with a team of people and we could go weapon hunting, so to speak. Could be interesting!"

As interesting as working with Lash would be.

[curiousredsoul]

Celena, who had been quiet for the majority of the meeting nodded as Lash stood up and put forth her idea. Waiting a moment before speaking up in turn.

"It could well be a viable idea indeed to have weapons stored in locations that could be accessible in the event of such a situation. I have been thinking that after recent events, this would be the perfect time to establish additional proper shelters and defensible points both in the city and other locations on board ship, these shelters could be the prime locations to store such weapons, should they be required,"

"The construction of the shelters can easily take place amongst the repairs to be conducted within the city, and those buildings too damaged to be repaired could easily provide the required materials to construct such shelters,"

Councilor Openness, Now and In the Future

[badassfreakingoverlord]

The Daligig

[futureisclear.livejournal.com]

"I would like to know how much longer you intend to allow the daligig to lead us about by the nose," Ildraniath stood, hands folded into the sleeves of her robes.

"We have many powerful combatants, more than a few scientists and engineers, multiple ships and a literal armory of some of the most powerful weapons in the multiverse. Why not coordinate our efforts toward seizing control of Stacy - real control, not the poor control we have now - and forging our own path without regards to daligig interference? If my research is correct, a group of pirates managed to disable Stacy's security measures. Surely we must be able to do the same."

Re: The Daligig

[hit-girl-mindy.livejournal.com]

Oh jeez. Of course someone would say some bullshit like this. Hit Girl rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure, let's just let ourselves grope wildly in the dark," Hit Girl said. "It's not like the Daligig are actually invested in keeping us alive, or help us or anything. If we could figure out how to man Stacy and everything by ourselves, we would have done it, and there would have been no punishment. Have you even seen those bodyguards of the Daligig? Assuming we actually have shit with them, which we don't since they're supposed to be on our side, that would just cause useless bloodshed, and divide people. We need everyone to fight the Ohm. But bringing that to light, what exactly HAVE we learned about the Daligig since they've been on the ship?"

Not believing she should steal Stacy from the Daligig didn't mean she trusted them.

[futureisclear.livejournal.com]

"From all appearances, they aren't particularly invested in us. If we die, they'll simply revive more from the pods. We're disposable. Tools. They may treat us as if we are special, but they also refuse to tell us anything that would actually shed light on the situation. Hardly the work of allies."

Arguing with children. Had she comes this far?

"And we have learned nothing. They tell us nothing and give us nothing aside from vague reassurances. I would much rather grope blindly and be free of their meddling and constant use of us as shock troops or problem-solvers than be continually leashed to them and their particular war effort."

dialogue-less tag yep yep

[monster-san.livejournal.com]

Fuu wasn't sure she would have much to contribute to this Council meeting. She'd been here long enough to witness another pod drop and go on a few missions, but not enough to feel as though she truly understood the situation. She just held to her skepticism and tried to learn as much as she can.

When Ildraniath and Hit Girl spoke up, Fuu took notice. She knew that there was a general mistrust of the Daligig among the crew and from what she'd studied, probably with good reason.

[azulescarabajo.livejournal.com]

"I have to admit, I agree with Farseer Ildraniath. The Dalgig aren't doing anything for us and don't even answer the most basic questions. Like, for instance, why we're so damn important when they supposedly have soldiers who can go head-to-head with Superman." God rest his soul. The mention of the fallen hero gave Jaime pause. But also the resolve to press on.

"While I don't think we should kill anybody, I definitely think we need to actually take control of our lives. Just because we have a council and a captain doesn't mean they actually do anything. It's well and good for us to give ourselves titles and responsibilities, but I want to see action, by this council and by our captain. I don't like being in the dark anymore than the Farseer."

[hit-girl-mindy.livejournal.com]

Christ, and she was sure she was being seen as the child, they were talking about doing something this extreme. Not that she thought much of the council or the captain, she merely understood why they existed. Like in her world, you needed government and rules and enforcement, otherwise people turned into animals, even if what united them stared them in the face. It was why she tended to not want to get embroiled into shit like this: it just made her hate humanity a little more.

"Well let's say we do all that stuff proposed, take Stacy for ourselves: where do we go from there? This isn't some mission we can fly by the seat of our pants on, this is the war we've been preparing for. We need allies and answers and ways to actually defend ourselves. It's all well and good to talk about breaking from the Daligig, but if we don't have a well thought out plan to get these answers we need so much, it'll sound like suicide to anyone else."