Barbara Gordon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bodilesswarrior) wrote2014-08-18 01:05 pm
bodilesswarrior) wrote2014-08-18 01:05 pm
Entry tags:
28 - Video
[Barbara hasn't reached out much, since the Joker's takeover. She's kept an eye on the network, made sure the people she loved came through, responded here and there.
But she's been busy.
She took a break for the port - all work and no play tends to make shoddy work - but after that, she focused on little else.
Now, finally, she's finished everything she needed to. She's ready to make her proposal.
She's set the device opposite her control centre. She sits in the middle of it all, bathed in ghostly light.]
For anyone who doesn't know - I'm Barbara Gordon. I've been a Warden here for over two years. Before that, I lived in Gotham city, and I worked with vigilantes.
[She snaps her fingers, and various projections appear - weapons, combat suits, protective gear.
Look, sometimes she just wants to show off.]
Obviously, the priorities are different here - but not entirely. We need to protect ourselves, and each other.
[Her lips twist with a dark, wry humour.] The Joker's takeover - it reminded me that we can't trust anyone, even if they deserve it. Any one of us could be twisted by outside factors. I'm not saying we get paranoid, or distance ourselves. I'm just saying "be prepared".
[With a wave of her hand, several images come to the forefront. They look like typical clothes - thick sweaters, long jackets, dark trousers.]
These are made with bullet-resistant material. It's the kind of stuff we use on our costumes, back home.
[Another wave, and they're replaced with tasers, pepper spray, smoke grenades. Everything is labelled and described.]
Lethal force - even serious damage - isn't always needed. Extensive training isn't always necessary, either. I'd suggest keeping something on you as often as you can, just to help you get away if you need to.
Of course, training doesn't hurt. We've got a lot of fighters, here, with different perspectives and styles. I know some of us are teaching people already - made we can make it an organised effort.
[Another gesture, another rotation. These are harsher weapons, blades and firearms and crossbows.]
I don't want to encourage rampant bloodshed, here, but we all know violence can be necessary. I'd rather people knew what they were doing.
[A slight shrug.] This isn't a foolproof solution. We can end up in port without any gear. We can face people impervious to everything I - or anyone else - can give you. We can be too slow, too distracted, too hesitant. [She doesn't want to make false promises, doesn't want anyone to get too complacent.] And I understand if you don't take me up on this. But I believe it will help.
[She's quiet, for a moment. She's tried to make this all business, but she knows that only reaches so far. She allows the grim, aching frustration into her words.]
I'm tired of just waiting for the next catastrophe, and I'm tired of being hurt by people I care about, and I'm tired of watching people I love die. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
[Private to Iris, Cassandra, and Stephanie]
[No, it doesn't actually end there.]
Which leads me to my next point. [She taps her headset.] My transceivers still work here, it turns out. I've been making transmitters. [Almost unconsciously, her hand brushes the golden canary at her neck.]
I'm still figuring out who I want to give them too - and I'm open to suggestions - but you three are first on the list, if you want them. [They know how she works, and in ideal circumstances, she trusts them more than anyone else.]
Cass - you should talk to your Warden, if you want to. And, relatedly - how would you feel about teaching people to defend themselves?
But she's been busy.
She took a break for the port - all work and no play tends to make shoddy work - but after that, she focused on little else.
Now, finally, she's finished everything she needed to. She's ready to make her proposal.
She's set the device opposite her control centre. She sits in the middle of it all, bathed in ghostly light.]
For anyone who doesn't know - I'm Barbara Gordon. I've been a Warden here for over two years. Before that, I lived in Gotham city, and I worked with vigilantes.
[She snaps her fingers, and various projections appear - weapons, combat suits, protective gear.
Look, sometimes she just wants to show off.]
Obviously, the priorities are different here - but not entirely. We need to protect ourselves, and each other.
[Her lips twist with a dark, wry humour.] The Joker's takeover - it reminded me that we can't trust anyone, even if they deserve it. Any one of us could be twisted by outside factors. I'm not saying we get paranoid, or distance ourselves. I'm just saying "be prepared".
[With a wave of her hand, several images come to the forefront. They look like typical clothes - thick sweaters, long jackets, dark trousers.]
These are made with bullet-resistant material. It's the kind of stuff we use on our costumes, back home.
[Another wave, and they're replaced with tasers, pepper spray, smoke grenades. Everything is labelled and described.]
Lethal force - even serious damage - isn't always needed. Extensive training isn't always necessary, either. I'd suggest keeping something on you as often as you can, just to help you get away if you need to.
Of course, training doesn't hurt. We've got a lot of fighters, here, with different perspectives and styles. I know some of us are teaching people already - made we can make it an organised effort.
[Another gesture, another rotation. These are harsher weapons, blades and firearms and crossbows.]
I don't want to encourage rampant bloodshed, here, but we all know violence can be necessary. I'd rather people knew what they were doing.
[A slight shrug.] This isn't a foolproof solution. We can end up in port without any gear. We can face people impervious to everything I - or anyone else - can give you. We can be too slow, too distracted, too hesitant. [She doesn't want to make false promises, doesn't want anyone to get too complacent.] And I understand if you don't take me up on this. But I believe it will help.
[She's quiet, for a moment. She's tried to make this all business, but she knows that only reaches so far. She allows the grim, aching frustration into her words.]
I'm tired of just waiting for the next catastrophe, and I'm tired of being hurt by people I care about, and I'm tired of watching people I love die. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
[Private to Iris, Cassandra, and Stephanie]
[No, it doesn't actually end there.]
Which leads me to my next point. [She taps her headset.] My transceivers still work here, it turns out. I've been making transmitters. [Almost unconsciously, her hand brushes the golden canary at her neck.]
I'm still figuring out who I want to give them too - and I'm open to suggestions - but you three are first on the list, if you want them. [They know how she works, and in ideal circumstances, she trusts them more than anyone else.]
Cass - you should talk to your Warden, if you want to. And, relatedly - how would you feel about teaching people to defend themselves?
no subject
Her brow creases, fingers tapping against her wheel as she considers.]
I don't know how well classic boot camp would work, in this context. ...Especially throwing full-powered Wardens into the mix.
no subject
It's not gonna do everything for you, but you're in a hell of a lot better shape when you're getting grenades tossed at you and you know just from the noise it's making if it's gonna miss or land on your buddy's head because some crazy ass Sargent was throwin' them at you a couple weeks before you landed.
[All of this is being said 100% seriously, like they're discussing I don't know. Something Bucky learned about whales recently that was mildly interesting and sort of worth sharing.]
no subject
I understand what you're saying. Training the mind, the heart - that's probably more important than training the body.
[Her lips quirk, just slightly.] I almost wish there was a mandatory vigilante bootcamp, it'd be a lot easier than learning on the fly. [Probably not as fun, though.]
no subject
Which is a real thing that happened. And is probably actually safer here than back home, really, because if something does go wrong, well.
People come back. Back home, they don't.
(Still, fatal accidents during basic training are a lot less common than people getting blown to bits on the field, so.)]
Either way, learning how to use a rifle and not wind up getting bayoneted by a friend's probably a decent place to start. A lot of the stuff I'm supposed to be keeping an eye out for's kind of on a bigger scale than the stuff we'd be prepping for here.
no subject
Probably, yeah. Maybe you could incorporate more modern weaponry, too, I know we've got some experts around.
no subject
[He sounds vaguely doubtful about other people being able to take on the right attitude for an instructor, though.]
no subject
no subject
[Not to discount other people's experiences, but he's doubtful most of the people on board are familiar enough with the circumstances he's had to learn under to be fully on the same page as him.
Of course, he'd be happy to be proved wrong, but for now, he doesn't really want to pass the reigns over to someone who has no idea what they're doing beyond point and shoot.]
no subject
no subject
But it's not the same. I could train a squad for years and they still wouldn't be ready to get thrown into that.