Military Democracy

[AuruemSaber]

Lieutenant Anthony "Doorstop" Capley
Fighter Pilot

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The years had taken effect on the former Lieutenant, now sporting a seemingly permanent stubble and any semblance of an adherence to uniform regulations, as he now wore his flight suit, which had any of its former military patches stripped long ago and the arms wrapped around his waist revealing a stained white t-shirt underneath.

Capley was among the first to raise a hand after carefully listening to the captain's speech, and once his turn came to speak, Capley jumped up onto one of the tables before beginning. His voice ran steady and confident. Perhaps the Lieutenant had been expecting this for some time.

"I won't even bother with explaining why the Edge is a shitty idea. You're all smart enough to realise that, even Tate."

The Lieutenant cast a gaze over the crowd that had been amassed, a fond glint in his eye as he looked over the men and women he'd spent the last three years in exile with before continuing on.

"I know what you're all thinking but, I want to ask you all one simple question. What good did the strict military doctrine and the focus on a conventional fight of the Legion or Harmony get us? What did a steady neutrality get the people of Erie?"

A cautious gaze was cast over the assembled crowd, Capley clearly taking care not to push the emotional issues to the point of offense but enough to provoke some serious thought for the argument he was about to make, only continuing after he allowed a moment for the seed of thought to burrow.

"The Platform didn't have to help us, but they did. And I can already hear the cynics and nihilists. Yes, maybe the potential prospect of the Klaxon among its forces was the only goal; I'll even admit I thought as much as well at first. But, if the Klaxon itself was truly their only intention, they had three years to make a move, so why didn't they?"

A paused breath and the beginning of a slight grin formed on the Lieutenant's face.

"Way I see it, we tried the conventional method, it's time we got unconventional. The people here aren't bad folks, and they could use our help, just as we once needed theirs, I'd say it's about time we returned the damn favour."

Capley's slight grin had broken into a wide smile as he walked off the table with an uncharacteristically casual attitude, his boots dropping onto the floor. The time spent among the men and women of the platform clearly has had an effect on Capley, the once-reserved and ever-tactical pilot, now a willing anarchist ready to join the ranks of the radical left.