ximilia | ✨ XIMILIA TOWN HALL MEETING ✨ ( video/audio/action )

[ some morning in the middle of the week, during their return to the station, an invitation will be taped on the door of every orber. though the calligraphy would suggest this must have been typed on a computer and printer, each invitation is actually very carefully hand-written and reads as follows: ]

[ the idea is for everyone to meet in the mess hall at the intended time, but if some choose not to attend, the meeting can still be accessed by the earpieces, allowing all orbers to watch or listen in and contribute however they wish, no matter where they are.

however, for those who do decide to attend, the mess hall features a full display of bagels and donuts, along with plenty of fresh coffee, all to help everyone wake up and feel refreshed for the meeting that's about to take place.

a makeshift little stage, arranged by stacking together a few metal boxes is at the center of the room, atop of it being the one and only rita farr herself, with a bright optimistic smile. when she sees enough people present and settled, she speaks up, loud and clear: ]

Hello, everyone! Welcome to our first Annual — or monthly, or however we decide to do it — Town Hall meeting! Thank you all for coming and please enjoy the food to your heart's content. For those who don't know me, I'm Rita Farr. Now— though my name does appear on the invitation, this is hardly about me. This is about all of us.

After our ... last mission, it became quite clear that our group could use a bit of improvement with how we approach our next missions moving forward. And I thought the best way to plan for that is to allow all of us an opportunity to discuss how we all feel about what we've done well and what we could do better. After all, everyone deserves a say in this, right?

[ she points behind her where a giant board is on display on an easel, once again, hand-written with careful and precise calligraphy in giant letters: ]

Here, I've written some sample questions we can all try to offer answers to, but the floor will also be open for any other questions and suggestions that anyone might have. Remember, there are no wrong answers! We're all here for an open forum discussion. But before that!

[ she reaches over to the board, pulling it off to reveal another one behind it. this one reads as follows: ]

Please consider the "Keys to Success", not only on our missions, but as we talk together in this room right now. We'll go ahead and take turns either stepping up here on the stage or speaking out from wherever you are. There are no microphones but the earpieces should get your voices out to everyone. Now, who would like to start?

( this post is open to all! the idea is that everyone is taking turns in each thread to speak out to the entire group (whether from within the room or from elsewhere), but thread-jacking and hopping around for discussion is the key here! feel free to run wild with ic suggestions or questions regarding mission layouts or planning or whatever floats your boat (ic complaining/protest is always an option too). though rita is organizing it, it's open to whatever people are inclined to discuss. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Unfortunately... [he looks over with a sympathetic frown.] That just leads us all in circles. If-this, if-that... All speculation, even when limited data is given us.

There is...so little time to take in information...let alone prepare contingencies...for contingencies. Even...based on experience.

True. Every mission has been very different, and what worked in Gyeonje would not have worked on the next mission. We're going to have to make choices with limited information, every time.

[Sabriel frowns.]

But... Still, based on what we've experienced, I think our first course of action should be to try to negotiate for the orb, if it's claimed. Most of the time, people who have it have been willing to hand it over, if we help them with their problems.

Is that...not what we have done? When it was viable. Or is that...not even incontention here.

There's been disagreement. Sometimes, people argue that whoever has the orb cannot be trusted, although they never offer a suggestion about what we should do instead. And instead of waiting, and having a vote about it each time, we should just negotiate as soon as we know they have it.

[mnh...]

Has it been done before? Foregoing the others, simply advancing...

Well, often, things happen that render all debate irrelevant, because we have no choice but to respond to what's happening. And in Giva and Viveca's world, we made choices that affected what happened without consulting the crew as a whole.

But as far as I know, none of us have tried negotiating for the orb without consultation. If we offered something that the rest of the crew wasn't interested in giving, things would go badly.

Then... The disagreement will stand. Until...such time...consequences are realized.

And we have to make those choices based on a various amount of other factors. Where we are, what's happening around us, who we're with, what we've found, how much time we have to make a choice, depending on what it is.

There has and there will continue to come times where there's no time to reach out to anybody else and those there will simply have to act based on what they know and what they feel is right. We've done that numerous times on these missions, with numerous outcomes. And I hate failing or making the wrong choice as much as anybody else does, but there's only so much cohesion and control we have when things escalate or we split up. Given our constantly limited and changing information, I think this team isn't doing that bad a job when it comes to action taken, all things considered.

Stealing one would be so much easier if there were no bargain attached to whoever had it in their possession. But most of the time, in a case like that, there is. [ Look a little innocent thievery is just fine if they don't have to kill someone over it. Not that he hasn't killed to steal before, that's how he got a Gundam. ]

True. The problem is that we don't have a way of knowing if there is a bargain until we take it. And if there is, the orb's current owner will be far less disposed to negotiate with us.

[So if they're lucky, mission accomplished, if they're unlucky, resolving things peacefully just got much harder.]

They could be less disposed if they catch on to why we're trying to help them, too. Knowledge of the orbs has varied in the places we've been. Entr'i, for example, caught on that we didn't belong there from the very start and had suspicions. But we were lucky that she wasn't a bastard in the end; someone who is, though, would be a lot harder to deal with.

True. Although even if we'd immediately approached the Highest One... We wouldn't have been able to negotiate with him, but I think we'd have understood how rotten he was much sooner. And if the one doing negotiations was supernaturally sensitive, how different he felt from the people of Giva.

But... aside from him and Cheruvia, most people we've encountered with an orb haven't been that bad. I wonder if it's just that there aren't many rotten people, or that orbs generally have other criteria for their preferred wielders.

[Like being massively magically powerful?]

I'd like to hope for the former, but it's probably a mix of a bit of both.

To be perfectly honest, while it's never a bad idea to come up with advanced plans, I think part of the core issue here isn't so much what we do when we're down there, but rather when it doesn't line up with someone else's limits, it becomes an argument. Take Viveca's new body, for example.

✨ XIMILIA TOWN HALL MEETING ✨ ( video/audio/action )

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