From: Adrian Tymes <wingcat@pacbell.net> Subject: Re: [PW!] Message To The Troops Date: Tuesday, December 28, 1999 10:43 PM Hedgehogey wrote: > Cinder walked slowly towards the tavern. His usual aggressive stance was gone, > replaced by the shamed look of a defeated commander. This was not the same > Cinder who charged, enraged at vorge. Who was recognizable anywhere in the > resistance for his bravery and ferocity. > > Cinder sat down next to doppler and ordered a jack daniels. He gulped the > drink, trying to calm the questions that rattled around his skull. But the > drink just seemed to fuel the fire that burned in his head and his belly. > > He turned to Doppler. > "I need some advice, from an experienced commander like yourself." "And you shall have it, but not necessarily from a commander of military forces." Forming into a grey robe, he began walking towards an inner exit. Cinder's brow creased as he followed. "Please, Doppler. I need *your* help." "And you shall have it." "But you said..." "Too bad you were not here only minutes ago. How did I put it? 'Scientist, soldier, artist...we all have our part to play. No two of these could have much effect without the third in today's world.' You, Cinder, have been a soldier. You fight, you battle...but do you dream?" "...I don't follow." Having left the bar and reached a secluded balcony, Doppler gestured to the cavern below. A soundstage occupied most of the room's floor; various beings moved to and fro, setting up or cleaning up pieces of equipment. From this distance, it was nearly impossible to tell the humans from the machokes, especially the ones whose skin was obscured by the omnipresent grey robes, and most of the shorter pokemon were not distinguishable from one another. "Look down there and tell me what you see." "A movie set." Cinder shrugged. "I wouldn't have expected to see that here, but I guess you have to have some recreation." "What if I told you one of our most powerful weapons was being assembled down there? Look again." Cinder peered with undisguised interest, scanning the area inch by inch and triple-checking. "Where?" "The scripts. The message. The magic. Propaganda." Cinder pulled back and regarded Doppler. "No, seriously. Where?" "Seriously. Think for a moment: all else being equal, which will win when a small force fights a large one?" "The large one, of course. But..." "And what if the small force gains members and support from the larger, until it *is* the larger? Who would win then?" Cinder rubbed his chin for a moment. "I see your point. But all else is never equal, not in real combat." "Not strictly, no. But consider...what are you fighting for? What is it that you wish to achieve?" "Freedom for our kind, what else?" "And what fate for those who would enslave us?" "Death, if they fight us. Maybe they'd make good slaves themselves." "So, if you win, their only choices are death or slavery. Whereas, if you lose, things continue as they are now. Not much of a choice for them, is it?" "I don't believe it. You, Doppler, actually *defending* our enemies?" "Not defending. Merely giving them a way out. A reason to fight with us rather than against us. Yes, I do kill, but I kill those who will never turn. I want there to be no more slavers...and if those who capture our kind renounce their ways, that achieves that goal as thoroughly as if they were dead. Even better, in practice, because they in turn encourage others, thus growing our numbers, whereas corpses are merely subtracted from the opposition. Why, for example, do you think we have never attacked the League's prime champion, Ash Ketchum?" "But we have..." "Not my followers. It is because he is the type of trainer we encourage: every pokemon he captured, he has set free - or at least handed to Professor Oak, who then lets them run free. Those he keeps with himself are ones who chose, without compulsion of poke ball, to go with him. *That* is what a trainer should be." "..." "Some pokemon will choose to fight, and some even for the entertainment of others. The choice is their right - so long as they *choose* it. Many of our kind are never allowed to make that choice, and are instead forced to fight when, left to their own devices, they would follow other paths. Almost everyone here *can* fight, and we will fight to the last, or at least until we are all evacuated or dead, if our sanctuary is ever attacked. But does this look like a military base?" "Parts of it. Part looks like a subterranean town." "Exactly. We practice daily the vision we would ask others to follow. That is how we know we do not ask the impossible. And it will take all of us, and more, to win this war." Cinder pondered that, then shook his head. "You're missing the simpler solution. You, yourself, once ravaged whole cities. You could just do so again." "It is true, I once took on the world alone. But I failed. Why? Because, no matter how powerful any one of us may become, each one is still only one. Physical power is not the only asset: the minds, the shared intelligence...properly harnessed, that can overcome physical power, as it did to defeat me. Even were I as powerful as Mewtwo, or even stronger, if all souls in this world thought themselves in a battle for survival against me, be assured that it is I who would inevitably perish. Power on that level must be gathered, true, and it must usually be done by oneself or with a small group of allies. But it is only with the support of the many that one can keep said power once held for any length of time. Use it against the masses, and they will take it away, for they collectively outpower even the strongest individual. Use it in ways that are perceived by the many to help, or at worst in ways that few if any care about, and one may stay in power." "Umm..." "Consider. What would be your ideal world? Not your fantasy world, but one that embodies your nobles ambitions. Would it really be a world full of hatred and desolation? I doubt that, for you are not insane." Doppler held up the newspaper. "But that *is* the result of undirected attacks such as this. People survive, people know who attacked them, people hate those who make their lives miserable. If they could but see it is not us, but the Team and the League, that are truly holding them back from even better lives than most hold now, our enemies would dissipate like dust in the wind. Remember that those organizations are but collections of people and pokemon. Without any members, they cease to exist. *That* is why we play them against each other, and disguise our attacks as their attacks on each other." "Why fight at all? It sounds like you could do more with that propaganda." "Soldier *and* artist. There is a time and a place for violence. Our enemies can not raise their voices to counter our own if their throats are slit. Small unit tactics like that are what we usually practice in our simluators; we use them for large wars are only once in a while, and then more for fun than serious training." "You said scientist, too. I suppose there's a portion of this lecture about technology?" "Science is not as opposed to war and peace as they are to each other - though make no mistake, it is possible to kill and turn hearts at the same time." Doppler waved his hand around. "Everything you see here, save the cave itself, was made...and even some of the rock has been altered from how nature shaped it. Knowledge, and application of that knowledge, is what enables us to *be*, as well as merely strengthening our efforts to achieve victory. There are those out there who, while they may not fight or preach for us, will aid in developing knowledge just so that they may learn what we discover. Science itself is neither good nor bad; it is merely the application, the applier, and most importantly how the applier is viewed that determine any use's 'moral' value. Knowledge is a form of power, and like any power, it must be used correctly to be of value." "..." "Now, tell me, do you dream?" TBC?