[video]

[jirk]

[Jim's sitting in his suite, wearing his command golds, looking serious as a heart attack. He's leaning forward, one hand braced against the armrest of his chair, the other fiddling with something on the console. Satisfied, he leans back more fully and nods once to the camera.]

Okay, let's get the introductions out of the way first. Name's Jim, Jim Kirk. Captain of the USS Enterprise. I serve in Starfleet in the year 2259 - Starfleet being a space-based armada focused on peaceful exploration and the discovery of new forms of life in the universe.

[There's a slight quirk to his brow, he coughs and then continues with all due charisma,]

I know there's people out there that've been here longer than I have, so I'm asking for your help - and the assistance of anyone willing. We know we're here to fight something, some of you know what and why. While I can understand the reasoning behind keeping that information to allies, I'd like to stress the fact that we're all in this together, regardless of worlds, races or creeds. This isn't something we can or should fight blind. So I'm proposing a broader alliance, a centralized repository of information, and the consideration of a unified front to face whatever's coming.

Additionally, I'm interested in the martial capabilities of the landed foreigners, any contingency plans that have been put in place to deal with the situations we're potentially facing here, and the sorts of scenarios that've been dealt with in the past.

[He exhales a little more sharply than necessary, and then he gives the camera a brief, two-fingered salute.]

Kirk out.



[and edited in after the fact, private to Kyle Rayner.]

We should talk.

Comments

[jirk]

[Jim flashes her a bright smile.]

Part of being an adult is looking out for everyone else, you know. It's not always about what you can do.

[anomia]

[This topic is actually somewhat close to her.]

But it's hard for them! [she insists.] My brother tried to protect me, but he was left doing it all alone. I'm not so weak that I need protection at someone else's expense.

[jirk]

[Jesus, he just. Stares for a minute. Excuse him he's going to get up and get a glass of water out of the kitchen to cover for the fact that he really needs a moment to breathe. He shouldn't be hearing this from a kid. Any kid.

He comes back, sits down, flicks the reply on.]

I didn't say you were weak. But having time to be a kid's important too.

[anomia]

[Raimei is completely oblivious to this, as usual, but moreso because to her, fighting as a child is normal, just as she'd said. It's a tragedy that no one in Nabari can afford to acknowledge.

She shakes her head.] I do plenty of that. It's important to do the things that you're fighting for, or you forget why you're fighting.

But how am I supposed to stand back while Raikou's... [She trails off, unable to find the words. She doesn't want to say that he'd been what amounts to an assassin, an enforcer for an enemy village, because he couldn't bear to put weight on her. Raimei doesn't want to make the conversation more personal than it already is. But she's also incapable of holding anything back, fundamentally so.]

[jirk]

I get it. You don't have to explain.

[Ugh, this conversation feels a little like getting kicked in the ribs by someone wearing steel-toed boots.]

[anomia]

[She's starting to notice that maybe something's off about his reactions still.]

Then what's with that look you keep having? [she persists.]

[jirk]

Huh?

[ABORT, ABORT.]

[anomia]

Don't try to cover up! I know that trick!

[Kouichi and Miharu do it on her all the time. ... Or Kouichi used to. Not thinking about the past tense there. Nope.]

[jirk]

[He laughs, but it's a little bewildered because help???]

I have no idea what you're even talking about, man.

[anomia]

Yes you do! You're not nearly as subtle as my... as a friend I had about it.

[Kouichi is a master at misdirection.]

[jirk]

I'm not trying to be subtle. You are seriously reaching.

[UGH TINY CHILD STOP.]

[anomia]

If you don't want to talk about it, you should just say so.

[jirk]

[UGGGH he just gently encrypts this conversation.]

You reminded me of my brother, that's all.

encryption of some number??

[anomia]

[That jerks her to a halt. She suddenly turns more reserved, openly trying to listen.]

Your... your brother? He's like me?

starfleet encryption

[jirk]

What? No. I -- no. He's nothing like you.

[He shakes his head.]

But he tried to stick up to me too. So I get it.

starfleet encryption

[anomia]

Sometimes older brothers just need to remember that the person they're protecting has their own feelings, too.

[She's consciously trying to lighten things, because although she's incredibly fond of Raikou now, trying to talk about him seriously could quickly lead down a darker path than she wants to go.]

But that's good, because you're nothing like my brother. You don't have pink hair, for one thing!

starfleet encryption

[jirk]

[Yeah, well. His brother walked out on him when Jim was too young to fend for himself afterwards, so his 'feelings' were pretty much never in the equation to begin with.]

Pink hair, huh?

[He laughs, shakes his head.]

Can't say I ever have.

Re: starfleet encryption

[anomia]

He's really blond! [she insists.] I don't know why he dyed it pink!

I didn't see him for years, and then when I saw him again... [All the exasperation of a younger sibling, here.] It was this big dramatic fight, but he looked so ridiculous.

starfleet encryption

[jirk]

Maybe he just really likes pink.

[It could happen!]

starfleet encryption

[anomia]

I think he went crazy when he joined Kairoushuu, [she huffs.]

--That is, he switched sides? Sort of? Ahhh, don't make me explain ninja politics to you.

starfleet encryption

[jirk]

Hey, no. Politics. Right up my alley.

[jim no.]

starfleet encryption

[anomia]

[Skeptically,] For real? I don't know how much sense it'd make to you.

starfleet encryption

[jirk]

Try me.

starfleet encryption

[anomia]

[Sigh fine okay. She gathers her thoughts. She's never had to explain the whole thing to someone completely uninvolved before. And Nabari is a very talky, exposition heavy series, so although she's not usually the one doing the exposition, she launches into it without second thought.]

Well... conflict in the world of Nabari is really ideological conflict. There's something called Shinrabanshou, or the hijutsu [forbidden art] which contains all the wisdom in creation. The possessor of the hijutsu has the ability to change reality if they wish it. But it's... there's consequences. [She's growing more and more serious as she goes on, and it's not hard to see where the maturity she'd hinted at earlier comes from.]

It's not that simple. It's difficult to control. And different shinobi factions have always had different ideas about what to do with it. The Shimizu clan-- ah, that is, my family-- have always taken the stance that it shouldn't be used at all. It's not meant for human use, and the line between Nabari and surface world needs to stay clear.

But not everyone feels the same way. Kairoushuu is-- was... a group that thought they could use Shinrabanshou to better the world. To stop conflict altogether and create peace. When my brother joined them, he was betraying hundreds of years of clan tradition.

[Raimei shakes her head.] But Kairoushuu aren't bad people. Calling them 'the enemy'... They have their own goals and their own dreams.

starfleet encryption

[jirk]

[Contrary to however he acts, Jim actually follows this perfectly. He's got an eye for detail and a head for politics, even if he stays away from them as much as possible. There's no way around it when you've got any rank of note in the 'Fleet, really. Part of the job description is defusing those delicate social situations that come about because of various political structures clashing.

So he nods along as she speaks.]

That's true for anyone, though.

[Even the Gorn. Even Marcus. Even - hell - Harrison. Everybody's got their own aspirations. Sometimes it just happens to coincide what's traditionally or classically seen as 'evil'. The thought makes him frown contemplatively, and he reaches up to scratch a finger against his browbone.]