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War Theory, Thursday, 4th Period

She was clad in her Grayson uniform today, bright blues standing out strongly against the neutral khaki of the beach and the stark black of the Tankersley beyond. Her combination cover was on the sand next to her feet, and Nimitz hovered just inside the cabin of the ship, avoiding the graininess and moisture of the sand. Brown eyes followed a stone as it skipped a few times across the channel before disappearing into the murky waters of the Potomac.

“Good morning,” she said, squinting slightly at the late morning sun. “We’ll be departing shortly, but I wanted to speak with you for a few moments before we board.”

Honor bent forward, picking up the combination cover and regarding it before she spoke. She then rubbed her nose briefly with a hooked index finger. “What you see me wearing today is the uniform of the Grayson Space Navy, referred to in acro-speak as the GSN. The epaulets you see on my shoulders designate me as an admiral in that service. You will see very few – if any -- women in this uniform during your brief stay. And if you do, many of them will likely be Manticoran officers on loan to the GSN. To explain this, I’ll draw on somethings my mentor told me before I visited Grayson for the first time.”

A wry smile twitched across her lips as she recalled the briefing given her by Admiral Raoul Courvoisier so many years ago. “Yeltsin’s Star was settled even before my homeworld, Manticore. About five hundred years before, actually. The original settlers set out from Earth for a planet that had not even been surveyed, in a time when the cryo-process for such long term travel was still fairly crude, and had only been publicly available for about ten years. They, as your notes mention, used starships to escape from 'the corrupting, soul-destroying effect of technology.’” These were the words Courvoisier had used, and the very words that had stuck with her…even if her opinion of Grayson had changed by leaps and bounds since then.

“The founder of the Church of Humanity Unchained, Reverend Austin Grayson, managed to scrape together several billion dollars for his little plan, promising a ‘technology-free Garden of Eden’ awaiting the travellers at the journey’s end. He spoke a little too soon.”

Glancing down at her cover, she brushed a stray bit of fuzz off the visor. She then looked back up at the class. “Remember when I said they hadn’t surveyed the planet before departing? That came back to bite them. They arrived on Grayson to find it a beautiful but very deadly planet: the heavy metal content of the atmosphere, of the soil, meant that they couldn’t consume any of the water, plants, or animals native to the planet, or grown on the planet. They would need technology to survive, and likely even more than the Earth they had left behind.

“This was a truth that Reverend Grayson was reluctant to admit. You could say that he was in a constant state of denial until his death. After his death, one of the current protector’s ancestors joined forces with the commander of the colony ship. They steered the society away from the ‘technology is evil’ bent, and attempted to structure a life more ‘in tune’ with Biblical teachings.” She pursed her lips, eyes dancing with amusement as she recalled Courvoisier’s speech. “This included the theory that ‘Man is the head of Woman.’

“This was the situation when I arrived on Grayson. Women, at that time, had no legal rights. They could not vote, could not own property, and could not serve in the military. I stand here before you, however, as an example of Grayson’s growth and change: I am a female Steadholder, the equivalent to a landed peerage in the Star Kingdom, wearing a Navy uniform. So… I have property and I serve in the military. I also serve as the political and military leader for Harrington Steading.

“These are, however, things that spurred much of the change on Grayson – not the result of change on Grayson. Protector Benjamin has been nudging his planet into the common era with no small amount of opposition.

“I’m telling you this because I think you have a right to know.” She levelled her gaze at the women in attendance. “There will be some animosity toward you. Partially because you are with me; partially because you are outsiders; and partially because you are women with no small degree of independence. It will likely manifest itself as a rude comment or gesture, maybe as a simple snub. If you are provoked, I ask you, please, do not respond.

“In Harrington Steading, you have little worry of this. Outside the steading, my armsmen will be close by if things get out of hand.”

She smiled. “And just so you know, not all Graysons are stuck in the dark ages. Most Graysons are very positive about these changes. Especially,” she noted, “since they are being pushed by the Protector himself.”

Drawing in a deep breath, she tucked her combination cover under her arm. “Now, with that depressing bit of business out of the way, we should really be leaving.” She gave the widest smile most of her students had ever seen before turning and leading the way to the Tankersley.

[...now in the right place. OCD threads ~~coming~~ up! Arrival thread will be on fh_trips, and I will edit the entry to provide a link once that is done.]

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Peter nodded. "I went running this morning, but I didn't get a chance to get to the salle. This afternoon, I suppose - or two days from now's afternoon."

"Isn't that just going to seem so strange? To be gone for so long, and then return to discover only an hour has passed?"

"It seems time always moves strangely here," Peter agreed. "The same thing happened when Anakin's workshop went to Coruscant. And...when I went home in the summer, it was two months there."

She shook her head lightly. "I haven't experienced anything of this sort before, not here. There was this one thing back home with a repeated day, but that was minor. I worry that I'll feel terribly disorientated when I get back. Did you have trouble adjusting?"

"For Coruscant, it was the morning before the Jell-O dragons, so I was too focused on that to worry, and when I went home, I was just relieved it hadn't been two months," Peter said apologetically.

Setsuna nodded, thoughtful frown still on her face, and she shifted, slightly, uncomfortably, in her seat.

Peter noticed her discomfort and was a bit worried. "Is everything well? Or just the strangeness of it?"

"The strangeness of it," Setsuna told him, "and just general worry about this place. I don't know if you noticed, but Harrington-sensei has place a lot of emphasis on the place of women in this society...." She let herself drift off; if Peter couldn't understand what her concerns were from just that, it probably wouldn't do much good to try to explain them, either.

"I did notice," Peter agreed. "It does seem awfully strange. But then, perhaps our presence - you girls especially - you and Isabel and Alanna - might help their ladies see how it could be."

Yes, he was being excessively optimistic. And yes, he was rather ignoring the fact that Narnia wasn't exactly a feminist's paradise. But he thought that would be less than useful to bring up.

Setsuna hoped her grunt at the irony that Peter designated them as 'girls' during this whole discussion wasn't too obvious. "Perhaps. I doubt our presence would have that much of an impression on them if the existence of women like Harrington-sensei cannot influence them. My main concern is my ability to control myself around such things. I mean, Japan is still a very gender influenced society, as well, but I've always been...part of a special caste..."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "You're a warrior. Of course you can control yourself around people."

Setsuna gave Peter an odd look. "In battle, yes," she said, realizing that Peter obviously knew very little about how she handled social situations. She couldn't necisarrily blame him; their interaction with each other did mostly tend to revolve around swordwork and battle theories more than anything else.

Peter looked at her back, slightly confused. "How is it different?"

"Well, I highly doubt it would be wise of me to approach social society on this planet the same way I approach a battle, especially with all that Harrington-sensei has been saying...."

Peter laughed. "That's not what I meant," he said. "Just that...isn't part of your warrior training how to behave diplomatically and chivalrously at functions and balls and embassies? It's the same thing here."

Setsuna stared at Peter for a moment, blinking rapidly afterwards. "Um, no." She took in a deep breath. "I'm sure you remember, Peter, an occation or two where I was a little upset with you for distributing the title of 'lady' to me. Because I am not the kind of warrior trained for diplomacy. I am the type of warrior trained to fight, and die, and nothing else."

"Well, the occational spy mission, too, but the point remains."

"I do remember that," Peter replied. "I..." thought you were being modest, he added mentally. "That seems strange to me. All knights are trained for battle and more social graces at home."

"Ancient samurai were given the permission to slice a man's head off in a public square if the man looked at him incorrectly," Setsuna said, to highlight her point. "They are expected to protect social graces, not necissarily have them themselves."

Peter considered this and tried to think of a responce. "I see. Does it bother you?"

"...Sometimes," Setsuna admitted after a long, thoughtful moment. "But then I remember that my death will be from protecting something I love, and that makes it worth it."

"I know that feeling," Peter agreed. "But I don't believe that one only has to fight and die. I believe the duty of the warrior is to serve his - or her - country in peace as well."

Setsuna merely let out a thoughtful hum in response to that, nodding a bit before settling back in her seat. She was trying to imagine a time in her life when there might have been such a peace. Things were peaceful now, but she still feared it was just the calm before the storm. Things were peaceful back when she first started, too, but that was only because she didn't know anything back then.

The word seemed so foreign. Peace...

They rode along in silence for a bit before Peter looked over towards Setsuna again. "Perhaps sometime, if you can be spared, you might like to come to Narnia."

Setsuna nodded, offering him a small smile. "I'd like that very much, Peter, thank you. It sounds like a lovely place..."

"It is," Peter agreed. "It's not where I hope it shall be one day, but it's still rebuilding."

Re: Boarding and En Route

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