Second Reconnaissance

Like a two-story bed, History is both hard to get to the top of, and also bunk. Seen from far away, and with occlusion of detail, the grass is greener, the sunset brighter, the world generally better. It is on those principles that the Second Reconnaissance is founded, and when the trade fleet leaves the solar system, there are usually a number of them aboard, during the long gap between gates they mostly hang around their fastidiously decorated ships, drink and sing.

The truth about how they were founded is, somewhat ironically, lost in the mists of time. Some say the founders claimed an island, the better to perfect their art. Some say they've always been around, in small groups and gatherings, and it was only when they bound together and let the flag fly you realised how many there really were.

The Second Reconnaissance started out as a group of people who loved history, and wanted to imitate it. Their club is fairly tightly contained to a period of far history, the time of the Second Reconnaissance, a period of 500 years or so beginning in the 1600s. It's a sad fact that a lot of media from that period ranges from the primitively crafted to the poorly stored, attempts to narrow the focus of any specific "band" - their name for smaller groups within the whole - tend to blur around the edges. Many specific members proclaim themselves experts in specific regions of time, though, and while much of what they claim is unprovable, the discussions of it are undeniably enthusiastic and far-fetched. While the specific details of chronology are debatable - Nobody can quite work out whether cavalry was armed with laser pistols or more primitive automatic rifles - they will stand fast behind the obvious benefits of learning from history. The classic image of Winston Churchill and George Washington shaking hands after the gulf war proves that where there's history, there's hope.

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Nicholas Avenell