Fandom High School

Today's class was out in the Preserve. Zayne had e-mailed the class and posted a sign outside the normal classroom to make sure people knew.

"Thanks for meeting me out here, everyone," Zayne said. "I know this has been kind of a heady class for the end of summer, and I've spent a lot of time on morality and whatever tragedy may be in your past. But this is the last week of class and I'm ready to make sure that at least part of this class is fun. And so? Paintball."

"There's no prize to the victor and this is only for our class," Zayne said as he unveiled the paintball equipment. "I don't want this getting out of hand. Just go out there and have some fun shooting paint at each other."

Zayne was sitting at his desk when the class started. He was pretty sure he didn't need a real lecture this week, so he was keeping things at least slightly casual.

"So. Anyone learn anything over the past week?"

"Personally, I learned that I'm lucky that each time I've been in jail in my real life it's been for a fairly short time and not years. Also, I'm a much better fighter now than I used to be," Zayne said. "Anyone else?"

"In any conflict between two people, both sides are going to think they're right. Of course. Why else would there be a conflict?" Zayne asked. "As the conflicts get bigger, that still holds true. Either side in a war feels strongly enough that they're going to send armies out to defend that point of view. But when you have a conflict that size and scale back down to the individual soldiers, their reasons for fighting might not be the same as their army's reason. They might not even be that focused on the bigger picture."

( On individuals in war. )

"Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to a class about war. Taught by a pacifist. Who is now an officer in the Republic Navy back in my home galaxy after only being drafted two months ago," Zayne greeted. "My name is Lieutenant Zayne Carrick of the Republic Hammerhead frigate Reciprocity, and for the past couple years I've been increasingly involved in a war between the Republic and a nomadic group called the Mandalorians."

( War. What is it good for? Class material. Uh, sing it again. )