fandomhigh | Mad Kings and Queens [Wednesday, June 26th, 2nd Period]

The class met in the Danger Room today, as Ghanima had ~~handwavily~~ ordered. The room was configured, oddly enough, to look like their classroom.

"Over the last few weeks, I have given you some examples of rulers gone mad," Ghanima stated. "We have seen that the best way to survive such a monarch is to, quite simply, keep your head down. If you don't make waves, you'll probably survive the experience. Some may call this cowardly, but it is quite simply common sense. Unless you have some way to change the status quo, your best option is to try and wait it out."

"There are many ways to remove someone from power." Hopping off the recreation of her desk, Ghanima picked up a marker and twirled it between her fingers. "Assassination, a military coup, a legalized change in the laws of succession, an conspiracy by other family members, bribery, kidnapping, the list goes on and on."

"Today we are discussing how to be a successful revolutionary, as well as how to keep and hold power. For those of you who favor the democratic methods, I’m going to ask you to set aside your personal feelings for the time being. Our focus today is on the various ways to overthrow a government. I’m not interested in hearing about the right or wrong just yet, that’s up to each of you as private individuals."

"We're going to discuss what revolutions can be used for, how they can be put together, and why a failed revolution can be just as effective."

"Weapons. Organization. Tactics. Propaganda. Intelligence." Ghanima turned to the wipe-board at the front of the room and began writing as she spoke. "These are some of the basic resources on both sides of the divide. However, these alone are not enough to overcome a government. It requires teamwork, coordination, a willingness to make hard choices, determination, and passion. Despite what romantics and poets may think," she said, turning back to the class, "there is no such thing as a one man revolution. While one person can start the ball rolling, they most assuredly will not win without an organization backing them."

"What is the difference between a revolution and a rebellion?" Setting down her marker, Ghanima grabbed some handouts from her desk and began distributing them. "Is it simply the matter of selecting an adjective, or is there a fundamental, underlying difference between the two? How do you decide if you are rebelling, or beginning a revolution? If you are an emperor, how would you portray such an insurgency? To the ruling faction, is there a difference, or is the only distinction in the eyes of the opposition?" She asked, smiling quietly at each of the students. "These are difficult questions, and I do not expect you to have conclusive answers already prepared."

"Now, how is the battle fought?" More handouts were passed around the class. "Guerilla warfare, the army, irregular soldiers, special forces, spies, propagandists, strategists, tacticians, all of these people are employed by both sides of a revolt. You don’t just need to win a fight on a physical battlefield, half the battle in a revolution is spiritual. You need to win the hearts and minds of the people. No matter which side you’re on, if you do not gain the support of public, you will never win. Never. You might win a reprieve today, or tomorrow, or for a week or a year or ten years, or ten thousand years, but you. Will. Lose."

"As the ruler of a country, what would you do when faced with a revolution? Don’t say 'negotiate', or 'listen to their grievances,' because realistically that is not what’s going to happen," she said, stalking down the rows of desks. "You are the God King of the Universe, born, bred, and trained to the position, and you have some nobody telling you that you’re not doing your job properly? Are you actually going to listen to these people? No, you are not."

"Remember – sometimes a failed revolution can do just as much good as a successful one, if you play your cards right. However, is a dead revolutionary really a successful one, even if his or her cause succeeds?" Ghanima leaned back against her desk, neon eyes swirling. "I will leave that up for you to decide."

[OOC: ~~Wait for the~~ OCD ~~to go~~ up, ~~before you~~ go have your fun!]

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After class, Reno stepped up to Ghanima, in ever his casual saunter, even if is demeanor was perhaps a little more stiff than usual.

"What he did there. That was... really somethin'." He nodded to the area of the room where the simulation had played out. "I mean, physically, sure. But... I dunno. After all that, what happened?"

"Still happening, to be accurate" she said, smiling slightly. "These events took place a few years ago."

"Unlike Alia, neither Leto nor I actually wanted the power," she mused, swinging her feet against the large throne. "But the cost of not taking control was too high, and we couldn't let that future happen."

"Now, Leto rules from the citadel, and I teach here. I was proving to be a bit, ah, restless for being constantly cooped-up in the castle." That, and if she threw another vase at Farad'n, Leto was going to shake her silly. "So, he decided to be a bit of a bully and send me on a 'vacation'."

"Shockingly, he still sends me all the paperwork."

Reno nodded faintly.

"Yeah, I can picture that..."

Both the fact that they were still fixing things, and the fact that she still wound up with the paperwork. Been there, done that himself.

"I, uh. Didn't know where you were from was so bad off." He shrugged his shoulders a little. "Mind if I ask, what you're doin' to fix it?"

No reason.

"Fixing it..." Ghanima shook her head. "We have a choice, Reno. We can return the ecology of Arrakis to the status quo, and let humanity stagnate and die off, or we can do something much, much more terrible than Alia ever dreamed."

She turned her gaze towards the frozen Leto, and her face softened. "You must understand, that we are a family of oracles. Precognition is the Atreides curse, and we know, Reno. We see each shining and terrible path laid out before us. Is it 'fixing' it to save humanity, at the cost of their short-term happiness and Leto's soul? I don't know, but it's the only choice we have."

"And we would both do it again."

Reno looked out at the tableau laid before them again, nodding slowly.

"We don't get that... curse. I mean, maybe there are precog-whatevers hiding somewhere around Gaia, but nobody out there can really tell us if what we're doin' is even helping anything anymore." He shrugged one shoulder, frowning. "Humanity ain't doing too hot there, either."

"Ah, but you're trying, aren't you? You're making the effort, rather than just letting the situation fix itself." Ghanima tipped her head back, seemingly fascinated with the ceiling. "I don't see the future, not like my brother does. I see probabilities and flickers, where he sees the golden path."

"What I can tell you, however, is that when humanity is given a challenge to rise to, they will meet it. We're stubborn bastards, we'll claw and bite against the enemy we can see coming. It's when we become complacent and willing to absolve ourselves of responsibility that we run the risk of losing the battle."

"Somehow, that doesn't strike me as your style."

Reno shook his head a little.

"Already learned the hard way that pretending it ain't my fault and ain't my problem just digs the pit deeper. Guess I just gotta try harder to find a starting block somewhere. 'S gotta be out there, yo."

It did, dammit.

"It's there," she assured him. "What's your biggest stumbling block right now? Identify that, and look in the opposite direction. That's usually a good place to start."

Reno had to consider that one carefully.

"The biggest one? I dunno. There's people gettin' sick, and there's no real government body anymore, and there's ground that nothin'll grow in... Bunch'a things all kinda addin' up, yo."

Ghanima pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Lack of government means lack of resources to combat the other problems," she said finally. "Although I can understand being wary of authority figures. If you can't organize a leadership, you may want to start with cleaning up your water supply, see if that helps the ground problem. Clean food and water may go a long way to clearing up the sick people."

Reno chewed on that one for a while, then nodded faintly.

"There is a group, the WRO. They're startin' to do a lotta that. But the problem ain't really in the water. It's... the planet itself. Best way to describe it is that it's dead, yoto. We took too much outta it and we bled it damn near dry, and there are places where it's healing, and there are places where it wasn't ever really hurtin' bad in the first place, but areas like Midgar are..."

He shrugged.

"I dunno. If it was a person, and Midgar was a leg, a doctor would probably just decide it was gonna have to be cut off or somethin', to keep the rest from goin' down with it."

Mad Kings and Queens [Wednesday, June 26th, 2nd Period]

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