Terran Dawn: Woe to the Vanquished pt. 2
14 Aug 2018Damian "Devil" Blaide
“Welcome one and all to the Freeport Tonight Show, I’m your host Stephard Coulart. We have a great show for you people as my two guests today are Mr. Dayle Brynn and Ms. Lyndsy Carter – local press secretaries for the i Bootis Democrats and the Terran Colonial Forces respectively. As you all have guessed, we will be discussing the upcoming popular vote regarding the political control of our very own Freeport and LP 98-132, and some controversies surrounding it. Welcome both.”“Thank you Mr. Coulart, glad to be here.”
“Likewise.”
“Now, let’s get right down to the juicy bits. It has been merely a couple of days when both the iBD and the TCF announced they will put the question of the control of LP 98-132 to popular vote, but already controversies have surfaced. More specifically, yesterday we received a statement from the press department of iBD that iBD shipping lines and system security forces have come under a concerted attack and you pinned the blame on black operatives working for the Terran Colonial Forces. Would you care to elaborate on this, Mr. Brynn?”
“I’ll gladly do that Stephard, though I think our statement was as clear-cut as it can be. Over the last couple of days, we’ve seen attacks on our civilian shipping lines as well as our system security forces go up a whooping 200% from what can be considered normal. Lives have been lost not to mention the huge material damage iBD have incurred. No less than 20 cargo liners have been reported destroyed or missing over the last 24 hours alone. On top of that, our emergency response units dispatched to the attack sites have also come under attack, and several police officers have died in the line of duty. The sketchy reports we have, speak of high-end combat ships with Pilot’s Federation IDs as being behind the attacks. This is not a coincidence, and we are certain the Terran Colonial Forces have their hands in this.”
“You don’t seem to agree, Ms. Carter. What is TCF’s response to these allegations?”
“How do you begin responding to absurdities? This is fake news and the fact is, that Mr. Brynn has not – indeed cannot – produced a single piece of hard evidence that would in any way implicate the Terran Colonial Forces. I would like to remind everyone watching, that pirate attacks in LP 98-132 are nothing new. In fact, despite their promises of peace and stability, the iBD have bled the system dry to fund their endemic wars they have been engaged in for example in 72 Herculis, Aulin and several times in Dahan where the latest batch of bloodshed ended only recently. Could it be, that the iBD have simply poured all their resources in these useless military forays and their system security forces are woefully ill-equipped to deal with the criminal elements active in the system? TCF assets have also come under attack, but as we have learnt not to place our trust on the overworked system security forces of the iBD, we provide our liners with heavy escorts and so our losses have remained within tolerable limits. Instead of finding fault in others, the iBD should perhaps look into the mirror.”
"Mr. Brynn?"
“That’s a lie, and she knows it! Everyone knows the Terran Colonial Forces has whole squadrons of Pilot’s Federation operatives doing their bidding! You cannot claim that these attacks are a coincidence! Furthermore, in our recent conflict in Dahan, Pilot’s Federation commanders were spotted in several battles and some of those ship IDs match the ones that have been identified as being party to these attacks in LP!”
“Oh my dear goodness. Are you now blaming the Terran Colonial Forces for every misfortune you face? Pilot’s Federation commanders are notorious for their mercenary mindset – something the Federation learnt the hard way in Lugh – we have no control over what wars they choose to take part in and what not and we certainly do not have control over the thousand or so commanders who visit LP each day. Your claims are nothing but slander and speculation, you have no facts to prove any of them.”
“Now listen here…”
…
“Close the vidscreen.” John Kelbor ordered his office AI. “She’s good.” He said to the fair-haired man who was lounging on a chair in front of Kelbor’s desk.
“With the kind of money we’re paying her, she better be.” Chancellor Sammie Palmer said shrugging. Sitting up straighter he regarded the tattoo-faced commander-in-chief of the TCF military forces.
“That iBD rep was right, of course. You sure you know what you’re doing, Kelbor? If this gets out, it’ll be a nightmare.”
“Don’t you worry about that Palmer. The Ghostwalkers know what they’re doing, iBD won’t get a shred of hard evidence that we’re behind the attacks.”
“And what about afterwards when the attacks suddenly stop?”
Kelbor shrugged “We’ll nab some poor bastard of a pirate and pin it on them. No shortage of criminals calling themselves ‘pirate lords’ out there.”
Palmer sighed “Well, I guess you know best. Just tell your people to be careful. This kind of thing can easily come back and bite you in the ass someday.”
…
May 22nd 3304, deep space in the LP 98-132 system
Two hunters converged in the void. A Federal Assault ship brimming with weaponry floated nearby the sleek form of a red-and-black Fer-de-Lance. They were resting before they would resume their hunt.
“What’s the tally today, Koert?” Blaide asked the commander of the Assault Ship.
“Slim pickings. I nabbed a T7 and a couple of the response ships as they – eventually – came to investigate, but other than that, the iBD are getting careful. Or they’re running out of ships.”
“Same problem.” Blaide nodded “Very few of their liners are operating currently it seems. I actually had to attack a passenger liner when I got a tip off that the captain was hauling a load of uranium in his hold.” He shook his head “That’s one wedding party the guests – those that survived – are unlikely to forget.”
“Well. They say most marriages fall apart anyway.” Koert chuckled. “Anyways, think I’ll head out. Watch your six.”
“Likewise, commander. Make ‘em bleed.”
As Koert’s ship waked out, Blaide turned to his co-pilot. “Systems checks complete? We good to go?”
“In a minute.” Park answered curtly.
Blaide glanced at his young crew member. “Something on your mind, Park?”
The young woman pursed her lips into a line and shook her head. Blaide sighed.
“Out with it. That’s an order.”
Park turned on his seat to face him. She took a few deep breaths through her nose before speaking.
“I don’t like this.”
“Like what?”
“This! This…we’re attacking civilians for the void’s sake!”
“Yes, we are. That’s what the mission requires us to do. The iBD supply lines need to bleed and suffer. Their goods transports coming in and out of Freeport must be hit hard as must their system security forces. This will make the people of Freeport favour TCF – nobody wants to live under shortages after all. And when they pour that feeling into their votes, this will all end. And so will the bloodshed.”
Park turned back to her instruments “It’s not right.”
“No.” Blaide said nodding “It’s war.”
Park didn’t say anything. Blaide sighed again.
“You were in Lugh, weren’t you?” He suddenly asked. Park froze mid-movement and swallowed before nodding.
“First assignment?”
“First of any significance.” Park said quietly “Also the last. Got my walking papers afterwards. ‘Post-traumatic stress disorder’ they called it.” She said laughing bitterly “Having a conscience is what I call it.”
“I see.” Blaide regarded his co-pilot a moment before continuing “You were involved in what happened at Lugh 6?”
Park nodded.
“Halsey was right in giving that order.” Blaide said turning back to his own instruments. Park went tense and turned back to her boss, eyes flaring.
“What?!” She exclaimed, but Blaide merely nodded while continuing to run checks on his flight controls.
“The results were due to bad intel. The order – and the attack – were justified. Halsey tried to end the war quickly by taking out Laoghire. Had the gambit succeeded, countless of lives might have been saved. True, a civilian refugee convoy was hit, but that’s hardly the point.” Now he turned to face Park who was seething on her chair.
“You see, Park, we can’t second-guess our intel and orders all the time. We make our calls based on what we know and we have to have confidence in our leadership that they do the same. If we don’t, we risk indecision. And indecision during a war, leads only to more deaths.”
Blaide turned back to his controls and continued “Bad things happen in war. Innocent people die, that’s just how it is. But ultimately, it’s calculus – if you are given the choice between killing 100 innocents to save 200 innocents, you kill 100 innocents. As long as you still try to preserve innocent lives as best you can, you have not lost yourself to the shadows completely. And the best way to protect innocents is to end the conflict as fast as possible.” He looked at Park and added "Even if it means killing civilians."
Park didn’t say anything for a moment. “Were you there?” She finally asked quietly.
“Hmm? At Lugh?” Blaide asked and Park nodded “No. I was…otherwise engaged during that time.”
“We might’ve won.” Park said “If the Pilot’s Federation commanders hadn’t switched sides.” She turned to stare out of the window “It was weird. One day those who had been your allies for weeks just…turned on you.” Blaide nodded.
“That’s the mercenary spirit for you.” He said “I guess the Federation had to learn it the hard way.”
He regarded his co-pilot again shaking his head slightly “Get ready Park. We have a job to do.”
…
May 28th 3304, Freeport Today News bulletin
The i Bootis Democrats admit defeat as over 75% of the votes have been counted. The result shifts the political control of Freeport and the whole system over to the Terran Colonial Forces effective immediately. Despite a request, neither the office of the i Bootis Democrats, nor the central government of the Federation, have provided a comment. As of this day LP 98-132 officially joins the Alliance of Independent Systems under the control of the Terran Colonial Forces.