Greetings Council Members and whomever else may read this,
I am Hermiaa, a fixer of some small accomplishment, and current leader of the clan organisation, Reign in Fire, a small and at the moment not very active organisation that has thus far done it's best to stay out of politics and warfare at large. But, recent actions in Borealis on the part of Omni-Tek have, I fear, forced my hand and compel me to attempt some measure of political activism.
My fear is, that the true target of Omni-Tek's actions in Borealis, may just ultimately be the Clans. Please bear with me while I paint a scenario for you to illustrate my point. First obviously is the Omni invasion of Borealis which I'm sure requires no elaboration on my part. The general sentiment is running high towards the anti-omni side of things. The Clans see this as a prime opportunity to make deep inroads and perhaps finally convince the Neutrals to side with us once and for all. So I see three possiblities that I fear may lead us down a road we do not wish to travel.
Firstly, the Clans aid the neutral factions and manage to liberate Borealis. Presumbaly with the heavier firepower of the Clans from being on more of a war footing and better prepared to fight it out against a familiar foe, Omni is removed by some overwhelming push and Borealis is restored to freedom. However... the danger of this is that the clans may ask, not unreasonably, for Neutral conversion or cooperation in the larger war. This is a peril that must be avoided. I can almost assure you that the bulk of neutral sentiment is to remain precisely that, neutral. Making demands after a show of friendship and solidarity is only going to make us look like opportunistic politicos, not all that different from Omni in their minds. Respect of their neutrality must be maintained if we're going to call ourselves champions of freedom and liberty.
Secondly, I see a possiblity of the Clans deploying troops to other Neutral cities and settlements to bolster the defenses against a possible push by Omni-Tek. Again, I see this as a grave mistake. The Neutral factions are going to see this as a land grab, and again, we're no better than Omni in many neutral eyes.
Thirdly, if the other two come to pass, what I see this situation devolving into is a three-way war, with Omni probably coming out ahead in recruits from neutral ranks. Omni just took Borealis, but those Clanners are going after everything else... just imagine how that's going to look. Sure, well get some recruits from the ones who see the manipulation, but I suspect that will be a minority. And whoever is left over remaining neutral is gonna get crushed between when Silverstone and his sympathizers start getting involved against the ingrates who at the moment are defenseless and dispossessed. And what he and his cronies miss, I'm sure Omni won't. And whichever ones they miss aren't going to waste time hitting back at the ones who took their cities... and more than likely, if we've moved to reinforce, we're going to be the most frequently hit target, not Omni.
My true hope of what comes out of your deliberations is essentially a simple recommendation that the Clans offer material support and logistical aid, whatever succor might be required to give the neutrals the best chance they can have in their fight, but ultimately to let them fight it out themselves with a minimum of Clan participation in the fighting. Ultimately I see the Clans participation as potentially damaging and counter productive. If the clans get heavily involved, there will be a not unreasonable expection on the parts of many that the neutrals come to our side, and essentially become clanners in either fact or deed out of gratitude. This would be a mistake. Our assistance must come from a hand of friendship, without expectation of reward or fealty on the part of those who are aided by us. Neutrals, from what I have seen, desire to stay precisely that for as long as they can. Given Omni's actions, I think that if we wait to get involved in anything other than support, they're either going to have to declare neutrals as enemies of Omni and issue orders to their troops that they be treated as such, or... they're going to have to fold and abandon Borealis. I don't see it as likely that the new CEO's military mind will allow him to maintain the situation he's created, as it won't remain tenable for long. But, let the mistakes be made by Omni, and not by us walking into the traps they are setting.
My read of the situation is that our esteemed new CEO of Omni-Tek, with his black and white views of 'with us or against us' is attempting to force that situation down the throats of the neutrals and is probably trying to goad us into helping him unwittingly. We must resist the temptation to interfere overmuch, lest we run the risk of alienating the very people we seek to assist. I seriously think that perhaps the time has come to force at least a tolerance of Neutrals on the part of Mr. Silverstone. His continued hatred and persecution of them, combined with the fact that your council meets in his backyard is only going to confirm to the neutrals that we don't care about them and only want them as bodies on the front lines. We have an opportunity here to strengthen our relationship with the neutral members of our beautiful planet, and perhaps win for them the freedom they desire.
I can already hear the complaints that they don't deserve that freedom if they aren't willing to fight for it... but I could not disagree more. To my mind, the Clans fight ultimately for freedom from the yoke of tyranny and oppression. We stand for something higher than ourselves, for a dream and ideal that springs forth from the depths of the soul, something Omni cannot suppress with guns or profit. We must be better... or at least strive to be. We cannot be perfect... but why should we compromise our ethics and ideals because of mortal frailty just because we have flaws? Striving for those ideals in the face of our flaws is what gives our movement meaning... otherwise we are just the terrorists that Omni brands us. We must do our best to curb those among our ranks that misunderstand freedom and see it as an excuse to indulge in base anarchy, ruled by whim and instinct, crueler masters than Omni could ever hope to be. Freedom requires responsiblity, something that must not be forgotten. And that responsiblity requires us to fight for the freedom of all thinking beings, not just those who wear our colors.
Thank you for your time.
Hermiaa
