fandomhigh | Diplomacy, Relationships & Tactics: the Art of War [Monday, Period 1]

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Diplomacy, Relationships & Tactics: the Art of War [Monday, Period 1]

Today when the students arrived the desks were gone in favor of Ghanima's preferred set-up of rugs, cushions, some divans, and large pillows, the classroom having been redone in Fremen-style for the rest of the semester. In the center of the room was a pile of small red books, one for each student to take and keep.

"Good morning," Ghanima said once the majority of the class seemed to be settled. "Welcome back, I'm glad to see I did not frighten any of you off. Today we are starting with the first chapter, 'Laying Plans.'"

"War." Ghanima surveyed them sharply, making sure she had everyone's full attention. "The term calls to mind battlefields and generals. The most successful battles, however, are not fought with soldiers, but behind closed doors with words. They are the battles you never hear about, because there is no glory to them."

"There is the war of the sexes, the war between companies and corporations, economic wars, ideological wars, political wars, and wars between the social classes, all of which tend to start on a more basic level, and escalate to the stereotype. Whether you are wooing a romantic partner or a business rival, or meeting an enemy with your weapon drawn, the same principals hold true."

"The Art of War." Picking up a well-loved red book from her desk, Ghanima flipped it open to her marked page and began reading. "The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining int he field. These are: One - The Moral Law. Two - Heaven. Three - Earth. Four - The Commander. Five - Method and Discipline." She snapped the book shut and placed it beside her.

"The Moral Law," she announced, hopping off her desk, "causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger."

"Heaven and Earth are metaphors for the conditions you face, which is slightly more applicable to physical confrontations. However, if you view each type of terrain as a mental condition, you will have a large advantage over your opponent," Ghanima said briskly as she walked through the rows, hands gesturing as she spoke. "Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons, whereas Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death."

"The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness."

"By method and discipline, it is to be understood that it means the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure."

"These five heads should be familiar to every general," she recited, eyes glowing bright for a moment. "He who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail."

"Now, when you take these five factors, you must decide how to apply them. Luckily for us, Sun Tzu provided seven ways you can weigh them before making your decision."

"First, which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law? Who has the army and the populace behind them? Because without the support of your people, you cannot win." Ghanima turned to face all of them as she leaned against a wall. "I cannot stress that point enough. Even if it is simply your friends, or the other members of your company, you will win nothing without the support of your 'troops', if you will."

"The others are more basic; which of the two generals has most ability? With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth? On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced? Which army is stronger? On which side are officers and men more highly trained? In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?

"Now, I'd like you to pair up, and discuss which of the five constant factors you feel to be the most important, and why."

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In a commanding fashion!

Price Sidon

Peridot

Breq

Aloy

Jason Lee Scott

June Iparis

Take notes, pass notes, raise your hand with a question, stare at the very strange woman with the blue-on-blue eyes.

Notes. So many notes. By the end of the semester, there was sure to be an Art of War in Hylian as translated by Prince Sidon of the Zora. This was some really good stuff!

Blue on blue eyes was weird? Peridot really didn't have much frame for reference, there. She did appreciate the classroom layout, though. She could sit on a cushion without having to worry about the way her nose practically hugged the table part of the desk! Yes, good!

Breq was used to people having strange eye colours, although that particular blue-on-blue had not been either fashionable or natural anywhere she had been. Instead she paid attention to the lecture, considering how it compared with her own experiences.

Aloy said nothing, and took no notes.

She sat back and watched Ghanima, matching her words to hard-earned and cherished advice from Rost.

Find a partner, and discuss the five factors!

Sidon rubbed his chin a little, shifting through all his notes, trying to squeeze in a little bit of review before he located a partner to discuss the topic with.

Breq hadn't spoken to the tall, fish-like student before, but perhaps she would be an interesting partner for this discussion.

"So, which one's do you find the most important?"

And Sidon looked up from his notes with a sharp grin, pleased that the question fielded to him was one he didn't feel he needed to consult the notes for at all.

"Oh, well, for me, that's easy!" he said, and stated it proudly. "Number one, the Moral Law! And I believe Lady Ghanima said it quite best: what good is a leader, what good are his troops, if he does not have the people's support, if the people do not wish to follow him? What is the purpose, then? Then again, the Zora are a very communal people; my people and their happiness and safety mean everything to me. Which ones do you find most important?"

With her usual expressionless face, Breq replied: "I'm inclined to agree, but for different reasons, I think. The leader has to have a system of beliefs that support her, or she will have no power."

"An emphasis on the moral," Sidon pondered, in his far less than expressionless fashion. "Wonderful! But, surely..." And here that enthusiasm faltered, his brow drooping with a thoughtful frown, and perhaps something much, much deeper in his shiny yellow eyes, "power cannot derive from belief alone. It can help, of course, to maintain power, but it does not create power itself. Perhaps I believe, with all my heart, that a fleet lotus can grow in the middle of the Gerudo Desert. My belief is unfortunately misguided, because no amount of belief will give something that only grows in water the power to blossom in the desert. What happens when the people believe something that the leader does not actually have the power to do?"

"Then they lose," Breq said. "I think that the book is clear that there are several things needed, and the reality of the situation are covered in the other factors. I mean that without belief in their leader, people will lose faith. War is never easy, or pleasant, despite heroic tales, so trusting in a higher purpose is essential."

Then they lose.

Bright, enthusiastic, cheerful Sidon, who seemed on a non-stop roll of excitement since he arrived was very quiet and somber for a long, thoughtful moment.

"And what," he finally ventured, "if the higher purpose that the people believe in....is themselves?"

"I suppose that depends if they can live up to how they perceive themselves."

Sorry, Sidon. You were talking to a two thousand year old military spaceship. Breq had opinions.

And Sidon was dealing with a very fresh wound borne from too much belief in a princess who simply did not have the power they all believed she did. He shifted uncomfortably, as if he was still trapped in the odd chairs and desks that the other classrooms had.

But then a smile returned to his face, a bit soften than usual, but definitely more of his usual self. "Yes," he said, "that's fair. That's quite fair! There may be limits to believing, it's true, but one can still accomplish amazing things if they believe in themselves! Especially through the other factors to guide them! Sometimes, we misplace our belief in the wrong things, but the belief is still there. And it is our ability to pick ourselves up from being wrong that will determine our victory or defeat!"

"Admitting you were wrong is often a good way to reevaluate a situation," Breq agreed. She was suspecting that her classmate had a particular situation in mind, yes.

Sidon barked out a wry laugh. "Would that you could tell that to the Elders!" he said, shaking his head, and he sighed. "I must be honest with you. This is all hitting on a very personal level for me right now. We are in the midst of a war back home, and now long ago, we suffered incredible losses when something we pUT all of our faith into had failed us. I was too young to remember it first hand, but as I grow, I wonder if our relince on ancient technology and wisdom and methods was ultimately our doom. That's why I am here. If we are to succeed aND defeat Calamity Ganon, we must change our ways. The old ways, the old faith, failed us. But the Elders are so stubborn! It is quite frustrating! That is why I am hesitant to put too much power into beliefs, but perhaps we simply believed in the wrong things... "

"The older generation often resist change," Breq noted. "Perhaps finding what to replace it with would convince them."

She had seen this kind of thing before, not that any people had stood much chance against the Radchaai, not even the Garseddai, although that had had other consequences.

Humans, that is. Let's not talk about the Presger.

Sidon's head bobbed in a nod, stroking his chin thoughtfully again. "Yes," he said, "that is very fine advice, though I do sometimes wonder if, by the time I'm able to convince them of anything, I shall be old enough to join their ranks myself!"

"Do you know what you want to replace it with?" Breq asked. "That's a good start."

It usually was, in her experience. And even if you had that things could go really wrong. She wasn't going to say that.

"And therein is the catch, I'm afraid," Sidon admitted, shaking his head. "That is still quite the work in progress, but I know we'll figure something out. We must! For the good of Hyrule!"

Peridot looked thoughtful as she stared at her copy of the book, trying to puzzle out which of the factors had been the most important in the Gem Rebellion for the fate of the Earth.

This was harder than she would have figured.

Jason glanced over at Peridot. Because yeah, he was having much the same dilemma.

He and the other Rangers had had eleven days to figure out how to be superheroes. The odds had been almost certainly stacked against them. Even Zordon had been dubious regarding their chances of success. And yet they'd pulled it off.

He bit his lip thoughtfully and then spoke. "Moral seems the obvious choice," he said. "But... what if both sides think they're doing the right thing? If both commanders have the confidence of their troops, then they're going to fight with just as much intensity."

"And that doesn't even include troops that have been so thoroughly indoctrinated that the idea of questioning their commanders doesn't occur to them," Peridot replied, nodding a little. "Troops who have been made to know nothing but loyalty might not necessarily be serving a commander who has the moral right. And fanatacism can carry a war entirely too far, too."

"Right, exactly," Jason nodded. "And the commanders are so used to being able to just-" he snaps his fingers- "- make people do what they want, that maybe they don't take possible threats seriously anymore. Because they're so used to winning, they forget that losing is a possibility too."

"So the troops are just..." Peridot paused for a moment. "Fodder? Fodder is the word, isn't it?"

Jason nodded. "Maybe the commander matters to them, but they don't really matter to the commander, because if it comes down to it, they can be replaced."

Yeah, that... that kind of reeked of Homeworld.

"Easily manufactured loyal soldiers are the best kind to have at your disposal if you can't be bothered to care," Peridot said, carefully. "And if that's the tactic you're going to take, then discipline and training become more important."

Rita and her putties, too. Which... may have been part of why Jason and the other Rangers had been able to eke out a victory. Because for all that the Power Rangers had been new to this whole fighting thing, the putties had been brute force and not much else.

"Method and Discipline keeps your troops believing you have the Moral Law on your side, because they don't have the opportunity to question it," he agreed.

"And if you're good enough at lying, they might never even think to," Peridot said a little more quietly. Her eyes found the floor for a moment and her gaze remained there. "Method and discipline and having your story straight for thousands of years can go a long way."

"I don't think it can last forever, though," Jason mused. "Eventually, someone's going to decide their way is the right way and challenge them, won't they? I mean, that's what happens here on Earth all the time."

Peridot shrugged her shoulders.

There had been a rebellion. Millions of Gems had died. Millions of humans had died. She hadn't existed yet, and Homeworld had clearly given her a biased account of the whole ordeal.

But she'd been in that situation herself.

"Eventually, somebody will challenge them," she agreed. "But it won't be easy to do. And it might be in the heat of the moment, when realizing that they aren't all that they'd said they were. And the aftermath might not cost those commanders anything at all, comparatively."

Or it could cost them a geoweapon meant to destroy a world.

She's around, before and after class.

To prop the Monday up.

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Diplomacy, Relationships & Tactics: the Art of War [Monday, Period 1]

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Talk to Ghanima

OOC