La Femme et LaFlamme dans La Gemme

[Thyrzul]

La Gemme d'Istres Restaurant and Pub
Monte Carlo Station, Provence

12:20 SMT
23 Septembre, 824 AS / 740 AGS

[Exploiting a working economy the wrong way and wasting resources is about as good as not having a working economy at all], Mademoiselle, [the results are the same.] - Pierre responded. - On the other hand, a nation's wealth wasted on warships then sent to be wrecked further from home than the two most distant points of Gallia, while poverty is not at all eliminated yet, can hardly be considered a sign of power.]

[Shelco]

"There is no place in Sirius where poverty is defeated and there never will be." She said with an expression on her face that turned a little sad. "When did the Council decide that it was time to overthrow la Couronne? The very early beginnings." She proceeded to ask. The situation got a bit more comfortable for her the longer she was sitting in front of him. It started to feel like a normal conversation with time.

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[Thyrzul]

La Gemme d'Istres Restaurant and Pub
Monte Carlo Station, Provence

12:30 SMT
23 Septembre, 824 AS / 740 AGS

[Well, that is also an interesting subject,] - Pierre allowed a slight smile himself while looking away, dvelving into thoughts, memories. - [especially because initially the Gallic Liberation Movement, from which the Council originates, was not even agains the Crown.] - he looked back at her for a moment. - [Mind that most of our history dates back to before my time, those parts I was only told of and taught as well.] - he looked away again, to browse his memories, occasionally looking back at her to keep/reinstate eye contact.

Á l'origine le Mouvement de Liberation Gaulois [was a progressive yet still monarchist movement, and consisted of people from all classes united in their desire to prevent the war against Sirius. They tried to discuss and reason with the Crown, but to no avail, which began to split the more monarchist part of the movement from the more progressive elements. The final push towards the formation of The Council was when King Louis IV forcefully disbanded the Movement in 636. We - well, I mean my predecessors - retreated to the shadows, and after a year of planning they began to turn the organization into a paramilitary, similar to what it is today. It was also during these times when the Council decided to pick the peaceful reunion with Sirius as their goal, the idea behind that was to prevent a hostile first contact with them, and that if the Crown doesn't listen, perhaps the Sirians will.]

Pierre sighed before the closing thoughts of the history class: [Then the revolution of Marne happened in 711, the Council took over the entire system in three years, and from that point the rest is history, which I assume you were made aware of as well, weren't you?]

[Shelco]

"Je ne sais pas, that is why I am here, I don't know what to believe at this point." Florence paused a few moments and stared at the table, nervously tapping around with her index finger on its surface. She needed to think quick, avoid uncomfortable silence. "Why is the Council not engaged into any form of politics anymore? Where has it disappeared? Is there only a fight, or did you just lose the power to do so?" She asked hastily as she remembered the last time she saw a Council ship. She was skeptical about her own question at that moment and wondered if it wasn't too passive aggressive.

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[Thyrzul]

La Gemme d'Istres Restaurant and Pub
Monte Carlo Station, Provence

12:40 SMT
23 Septembre, 824 AS / 740 AGS

[The Crown has made it clear they will do everything to erase any and all peaceful opposition by force.] - Pierre continued the explaination. - [It started with taking over the originally objective media and turning it into the Crown's propaganda tool against any criticism, including the addition of personal attacks and other dirty tricks into the arsenal of tools utilized by said media. The whole process turned more and more violent over time, and eventually culminated in the disbandment of our movement when the Crown realized they can't get rid of the opposition even through mildly dirty means. Ever since then, any voice against the King or those on his side is hunted down and exterminated.]

After a brief pause he concluded his point: - [The Crown made it clear they will go as far as to use brute force to silence us, which in turn forced us to go as far as to use brute force so that our voice can still be heard. We in The Council do not want this war, but we cannot stand idle as long as this oppression exists, and if things don't change for the betters through words, they will have to through actions.]

He then added: [Of course that does not mean we are not trying to fight for our cause through peaceful means, but a propaganda war, while being more effective in the long run, still takes a lot more time, effort, dedication, and is not effective merely in itself. Currently we are trying to gain a bit more of a foothold inside Gallia before focusing on conquering the hearts and minds of the whole populace.]

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