02-15-2021, 06:08 AM
Mallacaland City
Taiaho Waaka helped tend to victims of the gang action and the police crackdown at the makeshift hospital. From his calm demeanor, and his deft and precise aid, one would have no idea from mere observation that he was furious. But he was.
Not many people in the IDU knew much about Milintica. This was for many reasons, its marginal place in the economic and political power games of the IDU and its distant location in far south Caxcana being the biggest. What people did know about Milintica tended to be about the island's Huenyan-descended population, as they tended to be the more outspoken of the two peoples who shared the island.
The Paora, by contrast, tended to be viewed as quiet, humble people who didn't share the militant streak and the warlike tendencies of the Huenyans. Ever since the Paora had agreed to share their home island with Huenyan refugees centuries before, the myth had developed that Paora were kind to the point of being passive. Their cooperative and communal preference for governing and organizing society only built that myth more.
But like any myth, there was a lot behind it which few really understood. In the era before the Huenyan refugees had arrived, the Paora had indeed developed a culture that utilized ritual fighting, coupled with dispute resolution and cooperative governance, to solve disputes and organize themselves. They had developed such a culture because before that, the various Paora iwi had fought wars amongst each other so vicious that they had nearly wiped themselves out. The Paora "pacifist" culture had thus developed out of necessity as much as any great measure of enlightenment.
The Paora were usually pacifist, but that was by choice. They could choose to not be pacifist as well - and when they did, they were capable of a level of violence that made Huenyans look like children playing army in comparison. The apparatus that was propping up King Hassan would soon find that out, if Taiaho Waaka had his way.
A sharp whistle made Waaka look up. Xoacoca, his fellow Milintican and another activist with the PFM which had been sent to Mallacaland, gestured him over. Waaka handed off his medical equipment to a Mallacan to continue treating patients, and walked over. "We just got word back - we're cleared for direct action," Xoacoca said.
Waaka smiled slightly. That was what he had been waiting to hear. "Let's go meet with the protesters. They've been getting pushed around long enough. It's time for them to start pushing back. Are our supplies en route?"
Xoacoca smiled as well at the word supplies. "The first shipment has already arrived." He pulled a tarp off a wooden box, pulling a key out of his pocket and unlocking it. Inside the crate, several rifles gleamed darkly. The MR-1 was the standard rifle favored by Milintican soldiers and guerrillas alike. It was easy and cheap to mass-produce, even by unskilled workers. It was incredibly durable and reliable, even under the worst conditions. The running joke was that it was Milintica's most valuable export.
It had now arrived in Mallacaland, but not as the actual export. It was instead the tool of Milintica's truly intended export - revolution.
Taiaho Waaka helped tend to victims of the gang action and the police crackdown at the makeshift hospital. From his calm demeanor, and his deft and precise aid, one would have no idea from mere observation that he was furious. But he was.
Not many people in the IDU knew much about Milintica. This was for many reasons, its marginal place in the economic and political power games of the IDU and its distant location in far south Caxcana being the biggest. What people did know about Milintica tended to be about the island's Huenyan-descended population, as they tended to be the more outspoken of the two peoples who shared the island.
The Paora, by contrast, tended to be viewed as quiet, humble people who didn't share the militant streak and the warlike tendencies of the Huenyans. Ever since the Paora had agreed to share their home island with Huenyan refugees centuries before, the myth had developed that Paora were kind to the point of being passive. Their cooperative and communal preference for governing and organizing society only built that myth more.
But like any myth, there was a lot behind it which few really understood. In the era before the Huenyan refugees had arrived, the Paora had indeed developed a culture that utilized ritual fighting, coupled with dispute resolution and cooperative governance, to solve disputes and organize themselves. They had developed such a culture because before that, the various Paora iwi had fought wars amongst each other so vicious that they had nearly wiped themselves out. The Paora "pacifist" culture had thus developed out of necessity as much as any great measure of enlightenment.
The Paora were usually pacifist, but that was by choice. They could choose to not be pacifist as well - and when they did, they were capable of a level of violence that made Huenyans look like children playing army in comparison. The apparatus that was propping up King Hassan would soon find that out, if Taiaho Waaka had his way.
A sharp whistle made Waaka look up. Xoacoca, his fellow Milintican and another activist with the PFM which had been sent to Mallacaland, gestured him over. Waaka handed off his medical equipment to a Mallacan to continue treating patients, and walked over. "We just got word back - we're cleared for direct action," Xoacoca said.
Waaka smiled slightly. That was what he had been waiting to hear. "Let's go meet with the protesters. They've been getting pushed around long enough. It's time for them to start pushing back. Are our supplies en route?"
Xoacoca smiled as well at the word supplies. "The first shipment has already arrived." He pulled a tarp off a wooden box, pulling a key out of his pocket and unlocking it. Inside the crate, several rifles gleamed darkly. The MR-1 was the standard rifle favored by Milintican soldiers and guerrillas alike. It was easy and cheap to mass-produce, even by unskilled workers. It was incredibly durable and reliable, even under the worst conditions. The running joke was that it was Milintica's most valuable export.
It had now arrived in Mallacaland, but not as the actual export. It was instead the tool of Milintica's truly intended export - revolution.
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