fandomhigh | Practical Diplomacy, Friday, January 18, 2018

Practical Diplomacy, Friday, January 18, 2018

"While much of a diplomat's life depends on their way with words, it's a simple fact that the words we are saying might not be what the other side of the negotiating table wants to hear," Anakin said, "and their reaction might get very ugly and dangerous." He gestured around the Danger Shop, which had been set up with a series of obstacles.

"Therefore, all diplomats must be able to have at least rudimentary knowledge in self-defense," he continued. "Today we'll practice racing through a crowded market place to evade a tail, driving a vehicle out of a roadblock ambush, and firing a weapon."

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Ready to run!

You are in a crowded, hot, busy marketplace. It's full of vendors selling produce and fish, baskets, fabric, household goods, car parts, wigs, jewelry, elaborate and ugly hats, electronics, etc., etc., etc. The streets are a maze, and the cars that get through the cross-streets are slowed to a crawl due to all of the pedestrian (and occasional goat) traffic.

You've noticed someone following you: he stops when you stop, goes where you're going, and even though he's casual about it, is definitely watching you. How will you ditch him?

Another day, another traffic jam, but this time as you drive along a road (or lurch, or strip the gears, depending on your level of ability to drive already. Anakin doesn't have time to teach you that part), the cars around you seem to be herding you in a particular direction--stopping in an intersection so you can't turn, slowing down so you miss lights and drifting just a liiiittle too close for comfort into your lane.

There are pedestrians along the side of the road--no sidewalks here--and open sewage ditches that are channels at least six feet deep along where a road's easement should be keep you very effectively penned in.

And then you seen the men at the end of the road with guns. Get out, get out, get out!

Now that your heart is pounding nice and hard and the adrenaline rush has hit, it's time to take this lovely 9mm handgun and try to shoot a target accurately!

Don't worry, Anakin pretty much expects you to miss. That's why it was at the end of the exerise.

Afterwards, if you'd like.

This is absolutely a real course--it's known colloquially as "crash and bang."

Prince Sidon

Breq

Ahh, yes. The inevitable 'try to slip away unnoticed in a crowded street' scenario, which was always a little bit of a difficult one for Sidon considering he was easily at least a foot taller than everyone else around him. And also mostly red.

So his first thought was to pursue a channel of escaping that suited him rather well the last time he was faced with such a delemma in a class, and that was, while taking as many twists and turns in hopes to shake the person pursuing him, looking down, for any sign of a sort of manhole or other opening to a sewer that this particular city might have.

It was a messy and unpleasant business, sure, but it had so far proven effective for him in these situations.

Lana Beniko

This was one Lana had no problem with - she was short enough to find someone in a ridiculous hat to duck behind, and then she could just sort of crouch down, slip to hide behind someone else, and get under a table. A bit of Force suggestion to ignore her made sure nobody made a fuss about it.

Then she'd just have to wait until her tail was gone. Or passing her - was catching or killing them in the spirit of the class?

Lana turned and leapt out of her vehicle and ran in the opposite direction. If they hadn't shot at her yet, hopefully they wouldn't start.

Lana could shoot a blaster reasonably well.

What even was this weapon?

She did her best, and winged the target when the recoil kicked in. Honestly, what was this thing?

Well, this was certainly not going to be Sidon's best activity, considering he'd never really been in a car, much less driven one, so he very much had no idea what he was doing, combined with the chaos of the activity itself.

So in his desperate attempts to avoid hitting people or hitting other cars, Sidon was finding out that the sewage option was not always a good one, as he crashed into one of those channels, and, well...he tried, it was the very least he could do, and he suspected he was going to fare much better on foot anyway.

A handgun was certainly a new weapon for Sidon as well, so he did not have the highest hopes for this part of the activity, but, again, he was certainly going to try his hardest, while thinking the whole time that he'd be doing a much better job if he had a nice trident or, really, he hadn't had nearly enough opportunity to show off his archery...

Breq had the advantage of being able to move faster than the humans of her universe, although in a crowd that might attract attention. This was the kind of situation where being in just one body was a huge limitation. She dived into a narrow alley and tried to get around the building and end up behind whoever was following her.

Vette

Breq instinctively activated her armour, creating a metallic shimmer around her body, then leapt off the vehicle and ran. The armour deflected the bullets, but she didn't want to get caught, and looked for a place to hide.

It wasn't the kind of weapon she was used to, but Breq had used a lot of different ones over the centuries, and did quite well, considering. It was actually a nice way to end this class.

Nell Ingram

Nell was pretty good at not being seen when she didn't want to be and was able to slide alongside people in one group and then join another going another way.

Nell didn't have any idea how to drive, so there wasn't much herding going on with her non-moving car. She did flee out the passenger side door when she saw the gunmen, though.

Ah, finally something she could do easily - even with the adrenaline rush. Nell planted herself firmly, took a deep centering breath, and easily bullseyed the target.

Nell made sure Lana could see her and then said politely. "If I might? I could maybe help."

"You can shoot one of these?" Lana smiled and sighed in exasperation. "Please. It's almost nothing like a blaster."

"I c'n do lots of things that might surprise you," Nell said with a shy smile. "Guns are important for hunting and stuff."

She moved to stand a little closer and adjust Lana's grip. "That's better. Then you have to brace yourself." She demonstrated. "When you're small like us, you gotta be careful of the kick. Then take a deep breath in and let it out slowly as you squeeeeze the trigger."

Lana frowned as she braced herself as Nell suggested. She took a deep breath, then let it out and squeezed. Still not a bullseye, but she made it onto the target this time.

"Thank you," she said to Nell, smiling. "You're right, I wouldn't have pegged you for knowing weapons. You do a lot of hunting?"

"Enough to get by," Nell said. "It's how the church people get most of their meat. I mean, we have chickens and such, but hunting sure fills the pot well."

She ducked her head and smiled a little. "Most all women there can handle a gun, but I maybe took to it pretty good."

"That's good," Lana said. "You should be proud of that."

Jack

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Practical Diplomacy, Friday, January 18, 2018

Sign in 11/18

Elude your tail!

Get out of the ambush!

Bang, bang, bang!

Talk to Anakin

OOC

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