This Can't Fail

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Between the two suns of the meeting, Ava had nailed the dynamics of the members of the pirate council. There were four groups, two pertaining to the larger more established pirates and two belonging to less accomplished or newer pirates. Theo was in one group which Ava had dubbed 'Uncilo's coalition' they represented a large majority of the bigger captains. Then what she had dubbed 'the opposition' which was a grouping of big pirate names that rallied behind Fletching, which she had learned was called the morality brigade. They were a minority of the big names but still very vocal and could make an impact with their relentless drive to pick apart the other groups. They tore down suggestions, ridiculed their logic, and resorted to nasty name-calling at times. The other two groups were less vocal, representative of their lesser involvement with pirate politics but they followed the same dynamic as the bigger names. The majority of the smaller crews supported Theo and Uncilo's Coalition but came to frequent debate with the minority, supporters of the opposition.

And proof of her hypothesized model came to light when the agenda for proposals was set. Each of these four groups had submitted proposals to be heard. First up was the group Ava had labeled "Fletching Followers." Their proposal was admittedly boring but the ensuing debate was entertaining and Ava's stomach muscles were sore by the time Uncilo called for a break because of how hard she was trying to keep in her laughter. They had proposed to call pirates back to Corinspe, set out to form cities in neighboring islands, and grow the pirate stronghold. It was consequently blasted from all sides. It was a waste of money, time, resources, and the pirates didn't have the numbers to expand territory. It also did nothing to solve their current problem.

Upon return from the break called after the first proposal, the next group went. The supporters of the Uncilo coalition. Their proposal was more feasible but still not to the likings of most of the room if the debates were any indication. They suggested providing Corinspian money, a pool of gold made up of classifications of contributions from crews, to fund the expansion of a Corinspian Navy to protect the island. In addition, further, arm themselves and perhaps fund an expedition to find out more about hand cannons. They suggested to pull back the pirates, similar to how the previous group had, and hedge their bets that The Center would stop pursuing them soon. It seemed as if the two proposals left would be the only ones to be seriously considered. Ava still took detailed notes on reactions to the debate, in case it came up.

Uncilo predictably called a break after ceasing debate on the second proposal and Theo retreated to her usual room with the other captains in the coalition to provide last-minute adjustments to her speech based on Ava and Xyra's notes of the critiques of the previous proposals. If Ava was tired after the stressful meetings, she couldn't imagine how Xyra felt. Xyra managed to write all of her observations down, take Ava's and rewrite them in Aelizan, and write notes for Theo to read all at the same time. Her efforts kept Theo and the rest of the Uncilo coalition well informed. Ava, during the break, took an unhealthy amount of whatever it was that Cooker kept giving her and she was ready to go. She was aware that the constant drug usage would come back to bite her in the long run in terms of running out of energy and crashing but that would be a problem for another time. After the meeting, though, Ava never wanted anything up her nose again.

The meeting was called back into session and Theo didn't even bother to sit back down once it began. She stood with her feet shoulder length apart and with one arm behind her back. The other hand stayed at her side. She introduced herself and who she was speaking on behalf of and received a round of whoops from her Coalition and a few other Captains around. Without wasting time, she jumped into an elaborate speech about their proposed solution. Before getting to the meat of her argument though, she captured the attention of the pirates and stroked their egos by retelling anecdotes that showed their strength and resilience. Then she expertly switched the tone of her speech to highlight the grave injustices they were facing. The crowd was like wet sand under words, easily moldable. Even those on the Fletching's coalition enthusiastically nodded along to what she said and hollered their approval along with other pirates. Finally, Theo presented their plan.

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