                                Star Wars 

                           Wizard's RPG Stories

          source : http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=starwars/newsarchive
          upload : 10.IV.2006


     Manifesto My Foot

     By Morrie Mullins

     Former Living Force Plot Director and Campaign Designer

     A trio of privates in the Cularin Militia offer their  interpretation  of
Reidi Artom's recently discovered "expansion manifesto." The  general  feeling
of these grunts: She may have been a great explorer, but she didn't know  much
about war. Check it out in our latest supplement to the Living Force campaign!
This article contains potential spoilers of events in the Living Force  "Night
Eyes" trilogy. Please don't read any further until you've played that trilogy.
If you choose to read this article anyway, the campaign staff  asks  that  you
please keep your player knowledge separate from your hero's knowledge.

     A few weeks ago, the Tarasin came forward with the location of  a  hidden
cache of treasures - - in the form of information - -  left  behind  by  Reidi
Artom over two centuries ago. Among these  treasures  (which  continue  to  be
explored by xenobiologists, sociologists, and various other academics)  was  a
document that was published immediately, at the behest of  Mother  Kasslan  of
the Vriisan irstat. In  that  document,  Reidi  Artom  outlined  a  number  of
elements of her philosophy, both as it relates to expansion as  a  whole,  and
also as it relates to war.

     Different portions of the manifesto have evoked different reactions among
the people of Cularin, but perhaps the most contentious of her statements have
to do with war. Artom wrote the following:

     It's a curious thing we sentients do - - we pick a sector of  space  that
"belongs" to no one (or if it does come close to  belonging  to  anyone,  it's
someone who was here eons ago, before we even  considered  coming  here),  and
argue most vociferously over who controls it.

     We often call this "war."

     I don't suppose I need to proselytize about the evils of war. People die,
the survivors live off anger and hate and a dozen other harmful emotions,  and
the galaxy changes, if at all, for the worse. No one wins.

     Given the current state of affairs in Cularin, it is not surprising  that
a number of individuals have taken issue with this statement.  Notably  absent
from the discussion have been opinions from Osten  Dal'Nay  or  Broof  Yurdel,
commanders of the Cularin  Militia.  Early  this  morning,  a  trio  of  young
individuals made their way to the offices of Cularin Central Broadcasting  and
requested an interview with Yara Grugara. While they  have  asked  not  to  be
named, these three males - - a Human who asked to be called "Mack,"  a  Cerean
who identified himself as "Pac," and a Trandoshan who insisted we refer to him
as "Grunt" - - are now ready to talk to Yara  about  their  opinions  on  what
Reidi Artom had to say. We have  granted  this  interview  because  all  three
possess credentials that name them as privates in the Cularin Militia.

     Fade in. Yara sits on one side of a broad, sparse stage. Her side is well
lit, and she's trying her best to smile while continuing to look very serious.
It's obviously pretty tough on her. The opposite side of the stage is  not  at
all well lit, and we see three shapes seated in chairs. On the far left  is  a
body with a very clearly Cerean head, to his left is a Human, and on  the  far
right is a Trandoshan.

     Yara: Mack, Pac, and Grunt. Three of Cularin's  finest.  Members  of  our
Militia, defenders of our homes. Here today, with Yara, to anonymously dispute
claims made by a great woman who's no longer alive to defend herself. Welcome,
gentlemen.

     Mack: Thanks. I think.

     Yara: Let's get right down to business, shall we? Yara  understands  that
the three of you would like to say something about the recently  re-discovered
expansion manifesto written by the great Reidi Artom, who,  by  the  time  she
reached Cularin, had already visited twice the number of star systems most  of
us will see in a lifetime. Oh, and that you speak on  behalf  of  the  Cularin
Militia.

     Pac: Yara, if I may? I'm already noticing a pattern in your questions - -
or rather, in your statements.  Twice,  you've  referred  to  Reidi  Artom  as
"great." We don't dispute that she  was  a  very  important  person,  or  that
without her, Cularin might not be what it is. You also seem to  intimate  that
we are here to attack her in some form, when that is most  certainly  not  the
case.

     Grunt: 'Cept for when she's wrong. Then she's pretty dumb.

     Pac: Do be quiet.

     Grunt: Sorry.

     Pac: Where was I?

     Yara: You were about to confirm for me that you're here  to  provide  the
Militia's perspective on what Reidi Artom had to say about expansion and war.

     Mack: Not so much about expansion. See, most of that seemed okay to me. I
mean, I only read that part of it once, so I guess it was okay.

     Pac: Her opinions on expansion are largely irrelevant, as is  her  belief
that war is a result of "fads." I'm not sure where she devised such a  theory,
but I find it bizarre in the extreme. War is the result of  conflict,  whether
that conflict is natural or unnatural, and that conflict's unwanted escalation
into violence. And I would like to add that we do not speak for the Militia as
a whole. We speak for ourselves, as representatives of the Militia.

     Yara: But since no one else from the Militia has spoken, that  means  you
speak for the Militia as a whole - - doesn't it?

     Grunt: Yeah. But only 'cause we're right.

     Pac: I asked you once to be quiet. Please don't make me ask you again.

     Grunt: Okay, don't ask. Can I talk about why Artom's dumb now?

     Pac stands up, walks to the Trandoshan, and smacks  him  on  top  of  the
head. He then returns to his seat.

     Grunt: Guess that's a "no."

     Yara: So, the position of the Cularin Militia is  that  Reidi  Artom  was
dumb.

     Grunt: Yup.

     Pac: Mack, smack him.

     Mack backhands Grunt.

     Grunt: Ow.

     Pac: No, that's  not  the  Militia's  position  at  all.  That's  Grunt's
position, but you  must  understand  that  Grunt  is  rather  extreme  in  his
perspective.  He  enjoys  fighting  with  things.  But  he's  not   completely
unrepresentative of the  Militia,  so  he's  here.  Neither  am  I  completely
unrepresentative, nor is Mack. There is a great diversity  of  opinion  within
the Cularin Militia, and if you believe that any one of us speaks the  literal
"truth" of the Militia's opinion, you would be mistaken.

     Yara: Right. So, Yara's a little confused. It's not  the  case  that  the
Militia thinks the pending war with Thaere is a good thing?

     Mack: Pending? You fuzzy-tailed little sand panther, you're the one who's
been reporting the news! We're at war. Most of it's still  out  in  space,  or
away from the civilian centers, but it's war all  right.  And  of  course  the
Militia thinks it's a good idea. If we didn't, we wouldn't be fighting!

     Yara: So you do speak for the Militia as a whole, then.

     Pac (resigned): Yes, I suppose. But only on that.

     Grunt: Thaere bad. Can I say that? Thaere really bad.

     Pac: Yes. That's fine.

     Yara: I think we should get to the meat of this discussion, gentlemen.

     Grunt: Meat? Mmm... meat.

     Mack smacks Grunt. Grunt sighs.

     Grunt: Thaere bad.

     Yara: What in the manifesto do you find objectionable enough to come down
here and request an interview on the network?

     Mack: She never fought a war. I mean, all due respect, but she  was  good
at exploring. She wasn't a warrior, so there's no way  she  could  understand.
War's a lot more complicated than what she made it out to be.

     Yara: Specifically?

     Mack: Like, she said there aren't any  winners  in  war.  But  there  are
winners and losers about war as a whole, you know? Say you're standing outside
a cantina and there's this guy who's hopped up on spice and Rodian ale and  he
wants to fight. Now, you don't have to fight, right? But if you do  fight,  by
her logic, there's nobody who wins, because it's just violence. Say you  don't
fight, and the other guy, he just comes over and starts pounding on your face.
If you don't fight, and he beats the goo out of you, he  wins  and  you  lose.
There's a winner if somebody wants to fight and somebody else doesn't, and the
winner's always the person who fights.

     Yara: Some would claim that the person who didn't  fight  won  the  moral
battle.

     Pac: Moral battles hardly matter when losing means that  one  ends  up  a
slave, or dead.

     Mack: Yeah. What he said.

     Grunt: Thaere bad.

     Yara: So war is justified if someone else is attacking you.

     Mack: Sure. I guess you could say that war for the sake of war is  wrong,
but who does that? You wouldn't catch Commander Dal'Nay  or  Commander  Yurdel
saying we should have war for no reason. You'd have to be pretty dumb to  want
war just because you can have it.

     Yara: Interesting. What do you think about Artom's statement - -  let  me
quote this to make sure I have it right - -  that  "the  right  to  'claim'  a
particular place is not a function  of  military  power."  That  it's  more  a
function of who was there first. Thoughts?

     Pac: Na?ve.

     Mack: Unrealistic.

     Grunt: Dumb.

     Mack tries to smack Grunt, who catches his hand and puts it  very  gently
back on the arm of Mack's chair.

     Grunt (low, emphatic): Dumb.

     Yara: Right. Any of you want to spend more than a single word - - or  the
same word, repeated twice - - addressing this question?

     Pac: I think the word "na?ve" sums it  up  fairly  well.  She  speaks  as
though there is an original species for every place in the  galaxy,  and  that
species should be given primacy in determining who does and does  not  have  a
right to be in a place. Her language implies  that  there  is  sometimes  -  -
perhaps not always - - a symbiotic relationship between a species and a place,
and that this relationship should be respected by people who carry really  big
guns. But here's a news flash: People with really big guns  don't  care  about
symbiotic relationships and indigenous peoples. They don't care if someone was
here before them. That's why we call them "invaders" - - because they come  in
somewhere they weren't invited and take it  over.  I  speak  for  no  one  but
myself, but I don't like war, and I signed up for the Militia to  prevent  war
from happening, or, if it did happen,  to  be  available  to  help  defend  my
system. I don't like going to war, but I'll do it.

     Yara: I think that's a good question to end on. Mack, Grunt - -  we  know
why Pac signed up. What about you?

     Mack: To defend Cularin. It's  my  home.  I  never  liked  Thaere,  never
trusted them, always thought they had some kind of plan we didn't know  about.
Looks like we were right. Of course, if you'd  given  me  the  chance,  I'd've
invaded them first. Take out Burnout, maybe some of their other stations.  But
that's not how it happened.

     Yara: Interesting. Grunt?

     Grunt looks at Pac, then Mack. He sighs.

     Grunt: Thaere bad.

     Yara: Right, that's what I thought. This is Yara  Grugara,  signing  off,
with special thanks to these anonymous representatives of the Cularin  Militia
for providing a counterpoint to a brilliant woman's insightful analysis of the
horror of war. Good night, Cularin.

     Fade out.