Through Hell and Back: Unquiet Interlude
30 Apr 2021Seth Bradwell
“Real Marlinists abhor violence. Marlin Duval herself was a staunch believer in pacifism unless acting in self-defence. It should not be that surprising to you that one is supporting the Marlinist cause and simultaneously supporting the fight against the NMLA, no matter what Patreus and his mouthpieces at the Imperial Herald may have you believe. Those colonies by and large want nothing to do with the NMLA and will actively seek their apprehension as vigorously as anywhere here. But how does this helps me get my licence reinstated?”“It is all part of the psychological evaluation as we go over your recent past, which led to your unfortunate ordeal a month ago. So, what happened after your food runs?”
“Well things got a bit quiet on the political front, at least as far as we are concerned, whilst it was the Feds' turn to have one of their dramas – nowt to do with an Imperial patriot like me mind you. So I just went back to mining on the fringe of the Bubble for the next few weeks, protected the inhabitants from the local pirate scum, took out the odd criminal, that sort of thing...”
12 Feburary 3307 – Moon Camp, HIP 71938 4e
“So what wondrous gems have you managed to extract today, good man?”
“Osmium, mostly, with some silver. Managed to strike lucky with a handful of void opals but that's about it. Oh, and a couple of tons of low temps.”
“Okay, so at current market rates... that is about 397,000 credits.”
I nod in resignation. “Okay, if that's the best I will get then cash me in.” Good stuff has been hard to find lately, and worse still the price of low temperature diamonds has completely bottomed out, six months ago I could easily had made a million with my latest foray. Mining has become more about the enjoyment of the action, the anticipation of finding something good, than actually making a profit right now, and, in my case, the solitude that comes from working just outside the Bubble, in an already sparsely populated sector where the few criminal elements present are quickly sent scurrying away once a skilled bounty hunter gets on the scene. Especially one with my reputation.
“Your transaction has been processed and your credits are now deposited in your account. Thank you for using Social HIP 71931 Partnership Commodity Services, Mr. Bradwell.”
I slowly start walking away from the commodity market offices, back to the Kellingley. Events have become a bit too quiet since I finished my last food shipment to the Marlinist Colonies some weeks ago, yet I remain on high alert for NMLA activity throughout the galaxy. Yet my disdain for entanglement in wider Imperial politics remains as great as ever, so I spend my time out here keeping a low profile, biding my time until the next big event. The recent news has been predominated by corporate scandals inside the Federation, and the revelation of a secret Imperial prison just over a week ago, which the Empire of course flatly denies, which means there is definitely something there they do not want the rest of the galaxy to know about, the significance of which will probably become apparent in due course. Presently GalNet has been covering the building up to the much vaunted Galactic Summit, an idea conceived by Pranav Antal of the Utopia
My train of thought is abruptly stopped when I hear a familiar voice from the commodities office. “Two hundred thousand? Are you serious? I could be flogging Lavian brandy to the far corners of the the bubble for more than that!”
“Sorry Mr. Morgan, but the market for low temperature diamonds has seriously bottomed out since you were last here. Maybe try looking for void opals, or go back to more traditional resources, I have heard painite is making a comeback –”
“Ugh. Enough. Just hand over the credits and tell the management I send them my deepest disregards.”
“Very good, Mr. Morgan. Now if you would just confirm this transaction with you thumbprint, we will credit you for your sales.”
“Fine, let the whole galaxy know that Arthur Morgan is presently getting shortchanged in some Void-forsaken rock on the biowaste end of the Bubble. Just as well for everyone I nowadays take out my angst on bugs and rocks – hey Seth, how ya doing?”
“Morgan! Long time no see. Good to see you, how's life?”
“Entertaining, to say the least. Been out serving a higher purpose, after being inspired by our little revolution last year. What about you?”
“Well, still a cold-blooded assassin, but seem to be doing more humanitarian work these days, doing rescue runs and mercy missions after a load of unpleasant business with the NMLA – I am sure you have read the GalNet reports. So in many ways, likewise.”
“To be honest my line of work doesn't give me much time to worry about politics. Signed up with the AXI – bug splatting is what keeps me going these days. Find that Thargoids are a far more honest enemy than people, which suits me to the ground. Anyway, don't know about you, but after today's shortcomings, I'm up for a drink, so let's say we head down the Diamond?”
“Suits me, but it's not called that anymore...”
The Inevitable Disappointment (formerly the Low Temperature Diamond Moon)
“Inevitable Disappointment? Well, it's apt, but what kind of name is that for a bar?”
“You tell me, Morgan. Quite a bit's changed here these past few months. It's busier, for one thing.”
“You mean people want to actually do business in this dump? Guess our role in the changing of the guard must have had some positive after effects here. By the way, heard from Anna at all?”
“Not since last November, when I left to support the Empire in LTT 1935. She is still trying to clear her name with Yuri Grom's forces, last I heard, as well as finding out what happened to her family.”
“Grom? Why she still holding out hope for any mercy from that fool? His cause is all but dead, the heavens know what became of those abandoned, and he is far too stubborn to forgive.”
“That's it, though. She is looking for answers, and the fact was she was framed, and people like her have a sense of honour so highly strung it would make your average Imperial aristocrat blush. Hers is a warrior code, and she will never take such a grave besmirchment like that lying down.”
“Either way, she will either return or we can assume she's either dead, a prisoner, or...” Morgan wavered.
“I doubt Anastasia will let herself be taken into slavery. She's the type that fights to the bitter end.”
“Well I hope she is okay... wherever she is. Anyway, what actually have you been doing since I left?”
“Looking on at events with a mix of horror, disdain, and resignation. The emergence of the NMLA finally stirred me up out of my slumber, angered at how they bastardised Marlin Duval's teachings.”
“Never would have thought of you as such an idealist, Seth.”
“I'm not – not anymore. But the NMLA will see the whole galaxy burn and obliterate anyone who gets in their way, with plenty of civilian collateral damage to spare. Meanwhile the Feds covered for them, and the whole galaxy believed them. Mine was not the only glum face among those fighting with the Empire at LTT 1935. Then of course it all blew up in the Federation's face not two weeks later, when they laid waste to an entire station just to silence a few prisoners – the 'Nine Martyrs', as they have the audacity to call them. Sacrificed like lambs to the slaughter. How can they claim to be any kind of follower of Marlin Duval yet have such disregard for human life? So anyway I helped with the evacuation effort, for what little thanks I got from the Fednecks whose skin I was saving. Then I did food runs to help with the colonies that the refugees were able to set up thanks to Sirius, and now I am here.”
“No offence, but you really are a glutton for punishment sometimes.”
“Says the fella that goes up against highly dangerous and aggressive aliens for a living.”
“The thing with Thargoids is, you typically know where you stand. You know how they will behave, what kind of weaponry they have, their strengths, their weaknesses, their tactics, all so you can keep taking calculated risks and have a good chance of surviving. What's more, Thargoids at least have the decency to only try and stab you in the front. Can't say that about most of our own species.”
“It's a bit of a step up from reformed pirate-cum-smuggler, though. Both Anna and I were taken aback when you just vanished. All we had to go on was how our old friend, Milah Love observed you buying a T10 and some AX weaponry in plain view of her security staff.”
“Nice to see someone twigged on my not so subtle hint there. Truth is, I have other, personal reasons for taking up the fight in the Witch Head Nebula.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“It's real personal, I'm afraid. I will just say that an acquaintance of an old friend got caught up in that, and it brought a load of bad memories to the fore.”
“I can sympathise. Been struggling a lot with my own demons of lately. If you could have seen the hellscape that Kepler Hub became after the NMLA attack –”
“I don't need to, Seth. You are now fully aware of the NMLA's MO – the caustic bombs? Well that's exactly how Thargoids lay waste to stations, and what's more, they will linger around, trying to pick off evacuation ships whilst continuing their onslaught on the station, it's only due to the mercy of the heavens that they haven't actually destroyed a station outright. You were part of the Gnosis defence after that ill fated jump to the Cone Sector, you know how tough they are.”
I shudder as I recall the part tragedy, part farce which was that expedition, a bunch of scientists with very limited combat experience, let alone combat against Thargoids, being ambushed and besieged for four days before their assault was finally repelled. I still feel that there was something there that various people in power wanted kept hidden, and the Gnosis nearly paid the ultimate price for daring to try and reveal it.
“You don't need to remind me. I realised that I was complete small fry against those things. Even the small scouts are real tough, and I would not have fancied my chances against them alone, not with the rudimentary AX weaponry I had.”
“That's why we at AXI tool ourselves up with Guardian tech before even going near a Thargoid ship. Aegis' equipment is not worth a barnacle out there against them lot. That and seeking safety in numbers. No matter how much of an iron-ass your ship is, no matter how reinforced your hull is, it might as well not be there should you be unfortunate to come up one on one with the likes of a Hydra. Believe me, I have seen them lay waste to an Anaconda within seconds, cutting through military grade hull as if it was paper.”
“Void help us if they decide to launch a full-blown invasion. Maybe we might be better off leaving them well alone – it seemed they only became aggressive when we started encroaching onto their space, their territory.”
“It's not that simple. Thargoids know neither mercy or pity, and believe me, I have seen them attack ships entirely unprovoked. All those intellectuals out in the supposed safety of the Bubble may call for peace and understanding, but from what I have observed, Thargoids may not be even capable of understanding us, just instinctively seeing us as another pest that needs to be squashed. Even if it was possible for humanity to retreat to just the Sol system, it may only stop the inevitable. So, like it or not, we need to be able to beat them back, lest they overrun humanity completely. People have forgotten that these creatures once posed an existential threat to humanity once before. The lessons of the 32nd century have been sadly forgotten, it seems, and it's only a case of when, rather than if they start a full scale assault on the core systems once more.”
“Well I will cross that bridge when it comes. However it seems that humanity is capable of destroying itself without any help from the Thargoids. The cold war between the Empire and the Feds nearly boiled over into full-blown conflict not three months ago, and I really don't see how this Summit is going to fix anything in the long term. Also what is Sirius playing at anyway? I seriously doubt they have decided to become champions of peace and altruism.”
“Sirius never does anything that isn't for the benefit of Sirius. Something's pretty fishy about the whole set up there. All the same, humanity needs to unite if the Thargoids really do go all out against us.”
“Assuming that isn't the excuse Sirius is using to just get everyone to play by their rules. Also it seems that the Empire is drawing the short straw every time with these negotiations.”
“No disrespect Seth mate, but the Empire is not the whole galaxy. You have admitted yourself many times in this very bar how their arrogant hubris has been their Achilles' heel since the time of Henson Duval. Maybe it's time to get with the times, ushering a new era of democracy and freedom, and, dare I say it, the end of slavery?”
“You would have gotten on so well with my old friends in the Marlin Duval Society. However what concerns me is not the Empire's enemies without, but her enemies within. Someone is trying to undermine the Emperor's authority, be it Patreus, be it Torval, be it any number of Senators and Patrons who want to see the return of “the old ways”, as they do not remember them. And someone is using the crisis stirred up by the NMLA's actions as a way to undermine the Empire, and it's not for the benefit of her citizens, believe me.”
“Well, there's nowt we can do at this stage but wait. Fancy another drink?”
The present day
“...so wait I did, whilst carrying out occasional combat and mining operations for the colony.” I said to the councillor.
“Well it was good you had some friends to talk with at the very least, although you seem to struggle when you cannot be involved in the action.”
“Anyway, the summit went on, with the usual boring diplomatic biowaste, when out of the blue someone came who threw an entire curveball. I think you can guess who.”
She shrugged. “I am guessing you weren't too thrilled about this, considering everything.”
I straightened my back. “Too right I wasn't...”