Unasked Questions
14 Mar 2021Elkyri
Parkinson Dock, Eotienses3307.03.14
With the experience of evacuating Hannah Enterprise to draw on this evacuation operation very quickly fell into a routine. I ended up running in and out of Parkinson Dock in Eotienses, an Imperial system. As before, the rescue ship is close at hand so there is little time for idle thoughts during the runs. It's quick turnarounds on both ends as we try to get as many people off as quickly as possible. The time for thinking is during the breaks, getting some rest while other ships take over the shift.
Checking the GalNet feed I was stunned to see the Federation's Vice President and many cabinet members were among the dead. I don't know what personalities were at play in the cabinet but the dynamics are certainly about to change as Hudson makes appointments to fill those seats. He called the attacks tantamount to a 'declaration of war.' I wonder with whom. Was that directed at the NMLA? He certainly won't be able to engage them in anything like a war in the traditional sense. That's the challenge when dealing with non-state actors -- they don't have fleets of ships you can destroy and call it done. They prefer an asymmetrical approach that renders Hudson's big navy almost pointless in the struggle. And where would he start? Not all Marlinists are crowded into The Colonies. Thanks to the Federation's open-arms approach a good many of them are dispersed and diffused throughout Federation space. He will have as much luck hunting them down as the Empire did.
If Hudson's saber rattling was directed at the Empire it's not only a hollow threat no one can take seriously but misguided. The Empire could just as easily claim the attack must have been planned and carried out from inside Federation space where the Marlinsts first found refuge. They also might ask just what the Federation has done to make sure The Colonies aren't able to export terrorism from behind the protective screen the Feds helped erect. All they need do is point to the efforts by Jenna Fairfax to establish diplomatic ties with the Feds and raise a questioning eyebrow to get the point across.
I recall what Carlos said -- "ask for reasons and get excuses." NMLA can't honestly expect to create revolutions this way so what are they really trying to accomplish? Derailing the Sirius Treaty? That certainly happened, but that was aimed at creating a bulwark against Thargoids. Why would NMLA want that to fail? Keeping the Marlinist Colonies from gaining a seat at the table with the superpowers? Why would they oppose that? Fear it might make them irrelevant, perhaps? Trying to provoke the Feds into war against the Empire? I suppose the hope there might be they would be able to waltz in and pick up the pieces but I don't see that happening.
The statement broadcast by the voice of the NMLA calling himself Theta Seven seems nonsensical. People aren't going to rise up against their governments after NMLA killed tens of thousands of their fellow citizens. History proves time-and-time again that kind of thing has exactly the opposite effect. If anything it's going to have the three superpowers united against NMLA, just as Carlos hinted when he mentioned the Cornelius-Lasky Convention. At the very least it's likely to trouble the relationship The Colonies have been developing with the Federation and completely ruin the attempts they made to engage with the Empire over the last few days.
Perhaps that's intended. Perhaps NMLA want to keep The Colonies politically isolated. That might make it easier for them to develop and maintain a support base among the population. But without the protection offered by ties to the Federation they could end up right where they were when inside the Empire -- vulnerable to being hunted down and destroyed. Would Sirius Corp prop them up if the Feds back away from supporting them? Could they?
I wonder if all this might have more to do with what is happening between factions within the Empire than it actually does with the NMLA. Does NMLA really think they can cause the Empire to collapse because of a few acts of terrorism? Or is this about trying to change the dynamics... the balances... between the centers of power within the Empire? Could they secretly or unknowingly be working in collaboration with someone within the Empire? Nay, that's out of the question. Or is it?
I wish I could have had more time with Carlos. He might have had some answers to unasked questions.