Noah has a PR department that can polish speeches for him. I don't. So, before I put this bit in the doc, I invite suggestions for edits...
Recreational Park, Level 1, Odyssey Station
21 November 2016, 08:00 UTC (Event T+56 hours)
"Ladies, gentlemen, and others, thank you for coming to Odyssey on such short notice. I called this Convention because I knew that something terrible had happened on Earth. After gathering the evidence of what actually did happen, I have to admit that I underestimated the situation.
"You've all seen Tyger Tyger's video played on the screen behind me. Most of you have heard the recordings that Azu Squadron made. Many of you have heard rumors about what the SMOFs discussed yesterday. Some of you have read Captain Garret's report. I doubt there's anyone here who hasn't either read Mr. Turtledove's books or at least asked a Yomiko about them by now. So I won't waste everyone's time explaining what happened just before I called this Convention.
"Those of us who had families and friends in the continental United States have suffered a loss - one made worse in that we don't actually know what happened to our loved ones. But as long as we live and think, we can work toward finding the people who have been taken away from us. Yes, we have been left behind, but that just means that we should follow the path before us, once we can find it. I'm not going to lie to you - this will be a long and difficult task. But we are Fen, and I believe we can do anything we set our minds to!
"Before we set out in search of our loved ones, we have a more pressing matter to deal with. We have new neighbors - ones currently confined to the cradle of Mother Earth, but only a fool would think they will remain in their homelands for very long even if we don't offer to share our road to the stars with them. And I don't need to tell you how willing they are to take up arms against their fellow man. We must speak with them - not with artifice, not as disembodied "Mysteron" voices on the radio, but honestly, openly, and face to face, from the leaders in their highest levels of power to the most humble men and women in their poorest slums.
"We must do this because there is no indication that they will be leaving our Earth any time soon, if ever. Every sign we have seen shows that our homeworld with all its faults is a kinder, gentler place than theirs is. If we do not teach them how to work with the nations of our Earth, the blood they shed will be on our hands.
"Our goals here are threefold: Make contact with the people currently living in the continental United States, make peace with them but not "peace at any price", and find our lost friends and relatives. This is a tall order, but I see no reason why we cannot accomplish it if we work together.
"With this statement of intent, I declare this Emergency Convention open."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Recreational Park, Level 1, Odyssey Station
21 November 2016, 08:00 UTC (Event T+56 hours)
"Ladies, gentlemen, and others, thank you for coming to Odyssey on such short notice. I called this Convention because I knew that something terrible had happened on Earth. After gathering the evidence of what actually did happen, I have to admit that I underestimated the situation.
"You've all seen Tyger Tyger's video played on the screen behind me. Most of you have heard the recordings that Azu Squadron made. Many of you have heard rumors about what the SMOFs discussed yesterday. Some of you have read Captain Garret's report. I doubt there's anyone here who hasn't either read Mr. Turtledove's books or at least asked a Yomiko about them by now. So I won't waste everyone's time explaining what happened just before I called this Convention.
"Those of us who had families and friends in the continental United States have suffered a loss - one made worse in that we don't actually know what happened to our loved ones. But as long as we live and think, we can work toward finding the people who have been taken away from us. Yes, we have been left behind, but that just means that we should follow the path before us, once we can find it. I'm not going to lie to you - this will be a long and difficult task. But we are Fen, and I believe we can do anything we set our minds to!
"Before we set out in search of our loved ones, we have a more pressing matter to deal with. We have new neighbors - ones currently confined to the cradle of Mother Earth, but only a fool would think they will remain in their homelands for very long even if we don't offer to share our road to the stars with them. And I don't need to tell you how willing they are to take up arms against their fellow man. We must speak with them - not with artifice, not as disembodied "Mysteron" voices on the radio, but honestly, openly, and face to face, from the leaders in their highest levels of power to the most humble men and women in their poorest slums.
"We must do this because there is no indication that they will be leaving our Earth any time soon, if ever. Every sign we have seen shows that our homeworld with all its faults is a kinder, gentler place than theirs is. If we do not teach them how to work with the nations of our Earth, the blood they shed will be on our hands.
"Our goals here are threefold: Make contact with the people currently living in the continental United States, make peace with them but not "peace at any price", and find our lost friends and relatives. This is a tall order, but I see no reason why we cannot accomplish it if we work together.
"With this statement of intent, I declare this Emergency Convention open."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012