Description: What starts out as a groundbreaking ceremony for the "Freedom Monument" in Southtown turns into... a really awkward history lesson from the Empress of Ezo. And then... EXPLOSIONS?!!! (no, no explosions)
A lot of people here are gathered here, for an event that will be significant for two reasons. For one, it's the groundbreaking ceremony for a monument which will be built on this very site, a tranquil clearing that alongside the road heading north into the Northwestern Forest. Not by accident, the sign marked "Justice High" lies just a few hundred feet north along the road from this site, marked off by orange temporary fencing. Two large posters announce the monument and showing the intended architecture of the monument - a tall obelisk, with curious geometric shapes along its length, and a plaque at the bottom reading 'EZO FREEDOM MONUMENT'.
And for a second, this will be the second set of official proclamations from the Empress of the newly-designated Republic of Ezo. The first proclamation, of course, was the one in which the Empress had officially announced the formation of said Republic of Ezo, and crowned herself as its monarch. The Empress is here... as are a retinue of about twelve guards in bright blue uniforms that might look more at home on a police squad, and a rather impressive showing of plainclothes security forces. Some might consider them mercenaries, especially considering the hostile political goings-on occurring in Southtown as of late.
The Empress herself is resting beneath the shade of a small tent, as people filter in. A podium has been placed near the area designated for the audience, not far from the posters, and the public is invited -- welcomed, even -- to peruse the posters until the Empress begins the formal groundbreaking.
Not far off from the throng of guards is yet another figure. The indomitable Mr.Burr stands there, in his usual clean formal suit, shined shoes, and bowler hat. He stands up straight as the proceedings occur, hands centered in front of him squarely on his cane. He listens to the events as anyone else there would, putting in the appearance like any good chap would.
Occasionally, he turns to scan the rest of the crowd, his intense gaze locking eyes with those who draw his attention.
A rather big event, with a surprising turnout considering the recent conflict in the city. It's been a few minutes since one apparently middle school age girl arrived, now browsing the posters. The small girl wears a red baseball cap advertising Southtown Zoo somewhat low on her head over her brown hair, pulled back into two small puffs just above her neck. She's also got a slightly oversized blue windbreaker that seems to hide her hands half the time and a ruffled tartan skirt that goes just shy of her knees.
...Of course, if someone managed to get a good look at the girl, they might recognize her as the actually high school aged Hinata Wakaba, currently doing her best to use her small size to her advantage.
Lots of strangers, posters, a familiar face, and security. Two of these four things unease Jira, one just makes her antsy. Honoka is currently the target of her gaze, glowing and pink as usual. She's finally out of her uniform and in newer clothes that keep the contrasting dynamic with her hair- though the polarity of her hair and clothes have changed in recent days.
She has her arms crossed, standing plain and still in a rather central area with a stare and half smile for her friend up at the stand.
Not too far from the girl in the tartan skirt, a rather...taller man in a baseball jersey and long black slacks is seen browsing through the posters. His own head covered by a baseball cap of the Southtown team, the man is conspicuous just by height alone. After all, even in Southtown, the height average isn't THAT tall.
Of course, the conspicuous American isn't a local at all. Much like his comrades, Brett Neuer is in disguise...or at least the best kind of disguise he could manage. He feels naked without his skates at the moment, but, you know, it'd defeat the purpose of of said disguise.
Batsu tries to be subtle.
He is wearing a oversized blue sweatshirt, with the hood over his face, without changing his regular blue slacks.
Batsu is trying, okay?
The hot-blooded teenager strides through the crowd warily, keeping close to his band of hellions. Brett and Hinata. Keeping close to them, he looks around at the pair, before scowling up at the tent where the Empress was keeping at. He gives Brett a nudge. "You see that?" He mutters, keeping the hood low.
Not suspicious at all, right?
Emerging from the tent into the muted late-afternoon glare of the sun -- a pleasant departure from the ash clouds which had been choking the life out of Southtown until recently -- the Empress of Ezo strides toward the podium. Her retinue of blue-uniformed guards trails along behind her -- notable as most appear to be quite a bit taller than her, and are likely foreign to the island nation. They are wearing sunglasses to shield their eyes from the glare, and armed with rifles slung across their shoulders.
The Empress herself has seen fit to don her new robes -- the Ainu call them 'attush', but the untrained eye might easily mistake the garment made of elm bark fibers to be just a silken kimono. The untrained would be wrong, of course -- and the Empress fully expects several in the crowd to be... wrong.
A spokesperson -- some may recognize him as the ringmaster for the bright Sun Circus -- takes the podium for a few moments. "Citizens of Ezo, I welcome you today to this, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Freedom Monument, which we hope to be a lasting memorial to the triumphs of today, and welcoming the diversity of the future! We thank you all for coming today on this momentous occasion, and truly..."
As the ex-ringmaster prattles on, the Empress strides up beside him, glancing around to those assembled here. Some familiar faces, she notes... and some conspicuously -un-familiar faces. In one sense, she is glad to be surrounded by a clearing. And in another sense, she idly muses about the effective range of the sniper rifles of those in her service.
The ringmaster gets his schpiel in -- "And without further ado, may I introduce... HER HIGHNESS, THE EXALTED EMPRESS of the REPUBLIC OF EZO!"
The Empress steps forward as the Ringmaster yields the stand to her -- and even she is a little embarrassed. "My humble apologies, I could never get used to him," she offers, eliciting a nervous laugh from some of the crowd. "It is my greatest honor today, to introduce to you this. The testament to years of preparation, and what I believe to be the -end- of centuries of passive discrimination to those of wildly various ethnic backgrounds."
The guards behind her shuffle their feet lightly as they settle into position, scanning the crowd.
When the ceremony begins, the young middle-school aged girl perks up away from the posters and up to the stage. In a rather excited tone, she speaks up, "Oooh, look, onii-chan! She looks just like a princess!" As she does this, Hinata gives Batsu's sleeve a tug, and then moves a bit closer to the front, ducking through the crowd to get a better view, while still surrounding herself with taller figures, trying her best to just be part of the crowd.
Jira's eyes and expression remain rather statically affixed to Honoka, in a desperate attempt to ignore the gathering crowd and the setup of everything. Her half smile does break, however, once the monarch speaks and turns into an honest one. Jira's a little tall for a native japanese woman, and even more in heels. Her white hair and tritails also make her stick out, if her glossy outfit and embroidered symbol didn't do so already. She nevertheless stays quiet and maintains her posture.
As the 'excited middle-schooler' starts to move closer to the stage, tugging her 'onii-chan' along, the tall man in the baseball uniform moves in to cover them in a way, stepping into the hole they leave behind as he looks over to the posters a little closer. As he looks up to the stage, he watches the 'Empress' start on her address and the guards shift.
He doesn't need to act much to look confused, scratching the back of his head a bit as he looks between the posters and the stage. After all, Brett is still not completely caught up on the entire thing with 'Ezo' and Honoka's power grab. At least he's clear on just how much of a detail she has protecting her right now. His head swivels around though, just in case, you know...there are plants.
As she speaks, the Empress's eyes cast to the little child -- is that a boy? -- who references her princess-like garb. Noted. Was the child hoping to be unnoticed? She continues, "It may be known that this is not the first time the name Ezo has been used. Indeed, the island we know as 'Hokkaido' was once known as the land of Ezochi. It was only shortly after the end of the Boshin War that this land was stripped from the Ainu people, commandeered by the Japanese revolutionaries, and denied all the trappings and benefits which you here enjoy. Or rather... we were -humbly granted- such -benefits-, but not allowed to participate in our own storied and glorious culture, which was subsequently -ground under the heels- of an uncaring majority."
The one formerly known as Honoka -- to call her such a lowly name now is a grave insult to the Empress -- rises to her full height, gripping the podium with white knuckles. "There are those who do not... believe in my vision, my -dream- of a future in which there will be no prejudice, there will be no discrimination... but this monument -will- stand the test of time. This monument will be erected as proof that, while there have been small roadbumps along the way, the land you knew as Japan -- the land we all now know as Ezo -- will rejoin the world in the twenty-first century, cast off its intolerant trappings... and emerge once again, as a phoenix from the ashes!"
There is some cheering to that... especially those less educated, those less-versed in pre-Meiji-era history as the Empress. To them, this all starts to make some odd kind of sense, and ... really, who would stand out against tolerance and dignity?
Surely not the newscasters, gobbling up every bit of news coverage they can. One of the conditions of being reconnected to the communications grid is that they cover this, after all ...
And surely not the guards behind the Empress, who are taking special note of the few in the crowd who =didn't= cheer. But this a Republic, right? They're free to express dissent.
A lovely speech to inspire morale and denote purpose. There might have been some more cheering from one in particular, but she was overcome with pride and happiness for her friend. But, that damned eyeliner is stealing most of her attention. Ugh. Jira's problem runs rampant in her part of the shared thoughtspace in her head, while her partner- whos presence is denoted by that curiously glowing gun- remains calm and analytical of the situation as a whole. Investigating the nearest people, looking for paths to run to, sizing up interesting people. And keeping aan eye for things to throw incaase a distraction is required.
If it were easy to actually get a good look at Hinata in her current position in the crowd, some might notice that she gets an uneasy look at the crowd begins to cheer, but there's only a brief hesitation before she joins in the clapping and cheering with what seems like youthful overexcitement from a young girl who wants to be part of something big and exciting. Now's not the time to start trouble, not after she's lost track of where her friends are in this crowd.
As the applause occurs, Burr gives a mellow golf-clap. Anyone that looks closer at his expression sees complete boredom and disinterest in the proceedings. Still, he's been paid well, and on top of that, it would be rude to not at least show the outward expression of adulation, would it not?
As the Empress finishers her speech, Brett starts to clap, if only to fit in with the rest of the crowd. Mind, he clearly doesn't know enough about Japanese history to know just how true or how twisted the Empress's version of events are. He's seen what he's seen, and that's as much as he knows to comment on.
Still, he feels uneasy, mostly because it's not hard to see how much of a propaganda rally it is. Again, he doesn't need to act TOO much to pull off the confused foreigner deal. That's a good thing, since he's not much of an actor to begin wtih. But that doesn't help him from being terribly uneasy, especially after losing track of both Hinata and Batsu after they tried to dive deeper into the crowd.
While Hinata is appluading, so is Yuri. She seems to be smiling, but something about it seems to be a little forced with that smile of hers. Then again, given what's been going on, it's hard for just about anyone to smile. Nevertheless, she applauds and cheers as best as she can.
"We -are- standing on the right side of history here. Many have been lost... and it seems likely that many more will be. The loss of life -- any life -- is tragic, and believe me when I say that I feel each and every loss. It is not without sorrow that I feel these changes -must- have been made... that as painful as the process has been, we are still advancing steadily into the future. The pain I felt growing up... the suffering that came with knowing there was no one who could possible keep our Ainu heritage alive... no one will suffer that any more. The Ainu community has been revitalized in the wake of this tragedy, and my own robes are a testament to that enduring spirit, the embodiment of nature, of soul. But don't let yourself become fooled into thinking this a victory speech -- for it is not my people who gain the most. The 'eta', or 'burakumin' have also been marginalized, pushed aside for crimes their fathers committed. Ryukyuan people, from the southern islands. -Women-, for crying out loud... half of our people are women and yet we have been subjected to the crime of segregation, discrimination..."
The Empress slams her fist onto the podium, a pitiful whine crying out from the PA system. "That, ladies and gentlemen... ended this week. Discrimination is over. Never again will we have to suffer the indignity. Never again will we sit idly by while -men- decide our fate in boardrooms and pooh-pooh all the perfectly good ideas we may cook up... and then systematically rob us of our rights as well."
The Empress draws back to her full height, glancing around the crowd to mixed applause. That was... inspiring? But maybe a little bit crazy? She takes cautious note, and ratchets back the rhetoric a bit. "... And this monument will stand as a memorial to those who gave their lives... for this dream."
Her gaze flits about the crowd, gauging, studying, as a beast waits for its prey to edge away from the safety granted by its brethren, until her ringmaster hands her the shovel.
"Today, Ezo... we mark history," she states, stepping away from the podium, and stepping on the shovel to break ground.
This is all problematic. These are the speeches of a dictator, not a freedom fighter standing up to a corrupt system. Hinata's brow knits into a frown, hidden from all those higher than her by the brim of her cap. All of these reporters here... this whole event... it's not good for the resistance, it's not good for the country to let people think that Honoka's actions were justified.
There are too many guards here, too much danger... but perhaps it's worth the risk. Still trying to appear for all intents and purposes a middle school girl, she pushes a bit further forward in the crowd. Things are quite noisy, everyone's paying attention to Honoka up at the front, she's going to have to make this work...
"Is that's why it was okay to murder all of those people? And why you needed to try to kill all those kids... and you keep making explosions around the city?" It's just loud enough to come out over the din of the crowd, and Hinata projects it all in the curious, innocent tone of a child to the best of her ability.
Jira turns her head down to the source of the noise, but SHORT LITTLE GIRLS are hard to see amongst adults. Jira sighs and casts a look back to the empress, instead of wasting time scanning the horizon of heads, she'll keep tabs by listening.
Yuri is about to talk when Hinata speaks, literally saving her from having to do the work herself. And as Hinata speaks, Yuri's attitude echoes what Hinata is saying. Her smile is gone, replaced by a fierce scowl and a pair of clenched fists. Her eyes narrow at Honoka and her teeth can be seen gritted through slightly parted lips. It's obvious that Honoka's speech has made Yuri rather angry.
Stiffening up as he recognizes Hinata's voice, Brett looks over toward the sound of her calling out the Empress in the best way she could while still 'undercover'. It's a good thing so many people are focused on her right now, considering the grimace that the American has on his face. He really has no idea how sound an idea that was.
Trying to wade his way closer in the crowd, his eyes turn toward the guards, really hoping they're not going to try to move and act yet. The numbers aren't exactly in their favor right now after all...
Hhmm? Burrs piercing, slightly mad gaze turns to Hinata. He stares at her intensly, listening to every word. Oh, this IS interesting now. He wonders what is going to happen next!
The Empress smiles faintly as she hears the word 'murder' cried into the late afternoon sky. Weak cheering fades, as the words hang in the air, the crowd's voices stilling as the Ainu Empress steps aside, posing for photos with her former ringmaster, the loyal guards standing behind her looking onward, at the ready. She holds out the 'v' sign, smile broadening as the official press photo is snapped, amidst a sea of cameras. See, with the audience quieted due to Totally-Not-Hinata's question, no one can disturb her. GENIUS. Thanks, Totally-not-Hinata!
"I must say, that is a quite... interesting choice of words there," notes the Empress. "How quickly we forget the lessons of the past, child. How quickly we gloss over the number of casualties in the Meiji Revolution, the one Japan holds as its crown jewel, the deciding victories which ended the rule of the Shogunate which had dominated for centuries past, and installed the corrupt... the complacent... and ultimately the defeated so-called 'democracy' of Japan."
Honoka smiles, even throughout all this. "A simple difference of opinion... between the people of Ezo...." She gestures her hand in a broad sweeping gesture to the side -- and waves of nervous people suddenly shuffle to the side as indicated, not wanting to be caught up in her... terrifyingly simple hand motion. "And the people of Japan..." she continues, sweeping her hand to the right -- and likewise, people move out of the way.
Spotting Hinata, Yuri, and Brett should be no trouble at all, now, unless they too succumb to the gentle directions offered by the Empress's hypnotic eyes, glowing a faint pink.
"It is a mystery, how people can get caught up in the emotions of an event, and forget... the lessons of the past. The fact that what's written up as a 'bloodless' victory in the history books... was anything but."
The Empress smiles back. At Yuri. At Hinata. And at Brett.
Jira hums.. Honoka has pink too? Cool. She listens to the reply, and remains still as ever even through her sweeping gestures. The woman giving a kind ear to her friend- but Jira's support here is twofold.. In her eyes, she is loyal to the archipelago now dubbed Ezo, no matter which flag it runs under. And to her friend, whom she will support without (much) question.
There it is... there are few people in the world who have had more experience dealing with mind control than Hinata. Individuals seeking power by supressing the very person of others as if they were nothing... it makes an uncharacteristic fire burn deep in Hinata's stomach, her hands clenching inside her overlong sleeves as now, with pretense tossed aside, she stands staring down the self-proclaimed Empress.
"It sounds to me like you enjoy making excuses too much." Hinata tosses aside any idea of some young girl's voice (although in fairness, it's still hardly the most mature). "You believe that any method is acceptable to reach your goals just because you know better than everyone else. You get to rise up against the people who use techniques like this because it's wrong, but you let yourself justify it when it's at your own hand."
This isn't a good situation, but there's no real way to backdown now, so Hinata takes a few steps forward. "Do you know that you're full of crap or have you had to suffer so much that you don't even know you're wrong anymore? I've seen people like you before... people who don't really understand what they're trying to achieve."
Hinata took the words out of Yuri's mouth. This woman is full of crap, and even someone with a cold could smell that! Hinata does the talking while Yuri simply chooses to let the emotions show on her body while her classmate (and best bud!) talks. Once Hinata is finished with her speaking, Yuri decides it's time she spoke as well. She steps towards Honoka slightly and points at her with her left hand. (And yes, she knows pointing isn't polite, but that's tame compared to the crap Honoka has done!)
"You're a filthy liar!" Yuri yells. "You're so full of crap that I bet someone across the globe could smell you just fine!" Her breathing begins to speed up and her teeth are clenched harder than before.
Looking to each side as Honoka, somehow, gets the crowd in her thrall enough to part it liket he Red Sea, leaving him and the other resistance folks rather...exposed at this point. And as much as he sticks out like a sore thumb, he can't exactly duck his head and shuffle to join the group fast enough to avoid looking horribly out of place. Sweating, he casts his eyes Hinata's way.
As she continues to try and call out the Empress, Brett finds himself on the spot as well, being near the others who are already making their voice heard. "...I honestly don't know enough about the history around here," he finally voices, sounding meeker than he should considering his size, at least according to the usual stereotypes about Americans anyhow. "...but aren't you pretty much doing the exact same kinda thing you said happened in the past as reasons for taking over?"
For his part, Burr is doing a good job hiding his amusement. It took quite a bit of effort to not laugh aloud as the outbursts continue from Hinata and her group. However, such would be unbecoming of a gentleman, and he keeps his composure, despite his wide and amused smile, as he listens.
"Please, please... children." The Empress, age nineteen, settles her hand upon her chest, stilling her heart from all this sudden pressure at being called out. Or at least acting like she's trying to calm herself -- for this is kind of what she was planning all along. Working the crowd, such as it were...
"And what, exactly, would you like me to admit to? That my goals were -anything- but motivated by the purest of hearts?" Honoka sighs, perhaps too overdramatically, as she folds her hands behind her back. "I know that people may disagree with my methods. May disagree with my choice of partners. May disagree with my goals. And these people are free to leave. Peacefully."
The Empress glances at Yuri for a moment, before turning pointedly to Brett. "Exact same... in the sense that progress must be achieved by moving forward, never by standing still and complacent. A country that does not change with the times, cannot keep pace with its contemporaries... is dead in the water. A relic of the past."
The Empress turns to Hinata again. "Are you happy with your lot... under Japanese rule? The rules which say that you will never, ever, -ever- be queen, the rules that keep you from advancing in society." She turns to Yuri, "Are you happy with your role? The one that says you will never be good enough as your brother, your father? Just because you were born female?" She turns to Brett. "And are you happy at the looks you get walking through Tokyo, the terrified looks of people who cower before the tall, scary American?"
The Empress sighs noticeably. "I wasn't."
"And you believe that the way to give people freedom is to control their minds?" Hinata doesn't even flinch, she just takes a few more steps forward.
"You belive... that the way to give people their freedom is to hold them at gunpoint?" Again she walks forward.
She puts her hands on her hip, losing a bit of gravity as she's forced to shake them slightly to get them to stick out of the end of her sleeves. "I've know what actions you took. I've heard what your motivations are. I've heard what you claim the goal of all of this is, so let's just forget about that, okay?"
Hinata adjusts her position slightly to look Honoka dead on in the eyes, refusing to look away. "Why don't you tell me what you've actually done to make things better? Not words and promises, what have you accomplished besides becoming a dictator?"
Jira is finally able to give a proper ear to the two girls and their American, her eyes lowering from Honoka and onto them discerningly. Nobody would notice, probably, the twitching of her trigger fingers and the wicked smirk that's starting on her lips. Her eyes shine brighter, glowing luminously. The symbol on the back of her vest lights up pink with her energy building, readying to do something.. wanting to spring into action.
Yuri watches Hinata speak before saying, "Don't bother, Hinata-chan! She's not going to own up to her mistakes! If she did that, she wouldn't be a true dictator!" She then looks to Hinata with her arms folded and says, "Of course, not like you'd ever admit to being a true dictator. No dictator that I've heard of ever has admitted to being one!"
Rubbing the back of his head, Brett finds himself frowning more little by little, becoming far more uncomfortable the longer this goes on. It becomes apparent they really don't have many allies here, mostly out of fear rather than actual sympathy toward the Ezo Empress. That's a distinction without much difference though at the moment, as the numbers are still limited on their side.
As he looks up, he frowns more and more at the Empress. "No one said this country was perfect before. I mean, if most of what you said is true, it's kinda like any country. All got skeletons in the closet. But honestly...what makes you different? It all sounds like you're trying to avenge rule by force with rule by force. Isn't it?"
He rubs the back of his neck when she asks him about people cowering near him. "...ain't that much different from home in that sense, honestly."
The Empress takes a stride away from her podium, motioning with an open palm to both Jira and Burr. Their eagerness for battle is encouraging, but Honoka feels absolutely confident in her oratory ability. Manipulating crowds was the performer's thing even -before- she learned how to entice their minds into following her will.
She drops the smile she'd worn, lest it seem disingenuous. Okay maybe it was disingenuous the whole time, details... "Who said anything about /control?/ I've never taken -control- of a mind, child. I've only helped show people how to accomplish what they've always wanted."
Turning to Yuri, she raises an eyebrow. "I'm actually not denying it. Until you help me craft a constitution, until I -listen- to what you're saying and help build a country anew... I suppose you can call me whatever you choose. But rest assured that I -did- call this a -republic- for the -people-... and certain allies of mine would assuredly hold me accountable if it were anything less."
She turns to Brett, trusting her friends, and her guards, to keep Hinata and Yuri from getting any closer. "Trust me when I say that threats of force are necessary to prevent force. Name a peacekeeping force that has ever marched into battle without a gun. Go ahead."
As for Hinata's later question, she smiles faintly. "How much good have you done in the past week, then, recklessly antagonizing the boundaries which were set for your own protection? You got hurt, as I understand -- you all did -- and to what end? To let the Japanese military come in... and stand around? What freedoms have I robbed you of, in the past week?"
Hinata just continues to look up at Honoka. "Really.. for our own protection? Why did you have a bunch of mercenaries running around building walls and attempting to kill anyone who approached them?" She points up to the barely fading bruise on her cheek, "This one is from when one of your people tried to shoot me in the face at point blank range. In fact, your men were the one who started the fight..."
She throws her hands out to the sides. "You've robbed us of the freedom to leave our own homes if we choose. You've robbed us of the freedom to expect safety within our own community... You attempted to rob many of us of the right to even live.
She gives Honoka a smile, "By the way, you owe me a new school uniform, you had a lot of bullet holes put in my old one."
Despite his expression, Mr.Burr has no eagerness for battle from all this. He honestly finds this VERY interesting! If he had some popcorn, he would be eating it with ferver, curious to see who does what next. This COULD be interpreted as a want to fight, if one didnt know him well, however.
Which is more or less mostly everyone here, but still!
Somewhere out in the corner of someone's eye, way, way to... Honoka's left, from her point of view, is a curious man in distinctly Japanese clothing. Long black hair. A headband. A red chestguard over a gi top. Those hakama trousers. He stands crouched over in the crowds, looking highly intense as he draws a hand inside his gi top to reveal...
A fan. He holds it in front of his face as it is closed, opening it with a flourish to proudly(?) show the mighty colors of J-- Ezo?!
He peers out the side of his open fan to look at this. He frowns, throws it away, holds up a finger to no one in particular as if to say 'wait, hold on.'
Once again, he repeats the process with all dramatic, drawn-out timing, drawing forth another fan after rustling deeper into his gi top. He turns it, opens it to reveal...
Another Ezo flag. Horrified, he drops this on the ground as he digs inward to pull out more and more fans, looking more flustered with every passing discarded fan. Each and every time, the exact same one (aside from one instance of Mexico for some reason).
Before long he just runs away screaming in terror without any top on, drowned out by the protesting statements. What reason was he even here for?
...Oh, well.
It's a good thing Todoh wasn't spotted, since Yuri is a huge rival of his, and he does NOT want to be on Yuri's bad side at this time. She does grin at Hinata about the school uniform before turning to face Honoka. "Those are pretty expensive, but I'm sure you've got the money for that. Or are you all talk and now action, hmmm?" She gives a raspberry with an evil grin.
The Ainu Empress looks back levelly at Hinata, and Yuri. But only for a moment. "The Republic of Ezo will compensate you. The mercenaries will be disciplined and asked to rein it in. And you'll get a brand new uniform. Additionally..." The Empress nods back towards one of her guards, waving him forward. She'd planned this?! "I'd like you to be my conscience. Or more appropriately, my watchdog. You see, my associates tend to get a little... overly eager. And I want accountability. But, as you can see, I am but one woman." She reaches back to her guard, who's holding a box. (It's not full of diamonds)
She opens the box and offers it to Hinata. "I want you to take these ribbons. No trickery, no tracking devices, just... simple ribbons. And give them to your friends. All of your friends. And if any violence is committed by my government, or my associates, towards anyone holding one of these ribbons, I'll show you exactly how serious I am committed to freedom. In all forms."
The box is placed on the podium... while some guy has trouble with... flags. Honoka raises an eyebrow at that... but then again, she's used to people being disruptive during performances. Mild irritation at best. Addressing the three rebels again, she adds, "It is much more difficult to accept responsibility than to place blame. I will no longer be held accountable for your lack of initiative, if you should choose not to accept these." She offers a faint, but not overbearing, smile towards the three rebellious teens.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I profusely apologize for the delay, but as you should all now know... speaking with my people is my highest priority as a Ezosian head of state. I thank you for your time, and look forward to allowing a more formal vehicle for your voice to be heard."
And with that, the Empress would nod to her associates, and start the walk back to her military vehicles. Presuming she's not interrupted, of course.
With a highly amused smile, Mr.Burr tips his hat to Hinata and company, and moves to depart as well with Honokas forces, not saying a word.
Jira just listens and quickly calms down, relaxing into place as things fail to escalate further- her eyes remaain on Honoka until she turns to exit and she herself turns about and begins walking away and back to south town. Her symbol glowing like a shimmering pool of pink light was rippling just under the refractive fabric embroidering the back of her vest.
Quite honestly... Hinata wasn't certain how things would end up. She wasn't even certain she was going to step out from the crowd, but she did... and now it's not some climactic confrontation, it's essentially a draw. Although, Hinata does begin to wonder just how this might end up reported in the news.
She glances back to her friends, looking uncertain for a moment before walking up to the podium and taking the box. As soon as she has it under her arm, she begins to make her way back toward Southtown, past her friends. "...This is just going to make things more complicated... we're going to have to talk about it with everyone else."
Brett is clearly skeptical...but he's not the one leading the charge, he just doesn't know enough about the underlying dynamics and he'll be the first to admit that. And honestly, Honoka has proven that she knows how to talk. Being charismatic has never been Brett's forte, so trying to trade words with someone with clear compelling presence isn't going to end well for him.
He just follows Hinata's lead for now, looking over her shoulder at the box as he follows after her. "We should have them checked just in case," he whispers to the Taiyo student as he walks after her back into Southtown. Trust but verify, don't ya know.
Log created on 19:58:49 09/26/2014 by Honoka, and last modified on 01:10:55 09/27/2014.