Pegasi Slave Rebellion [5] - Tying up a loose end
29 Sep 2017Daman
The first open shot in the pegasi slave rebellion was Wongo - a war that also served a purpose as a cover to try to close down a slave market elsewhere within Omega territory.My disappointment after engaging in the war for that station yet finding the new station owners still dealing slaves was deep. I left the system downhearted and despondent at the time.
The next time I returned to the system, just as the war for Kun was coming onto the horizon, I found our previous allies embroiled in another war - not with the pirates which we had helped them dispatch previously, but with a fed faction.
I was keen to avenge their betrayal, and so joined in on the side of my new allies (an enemies enemy and all that) as the conflict grew to a close, pushing them to victory. I hadn't informed anyone else of the mission, it was a personal commitment.
I returned to the station with tempered optimism, given what happened last time. Omega still held majority influence in the system, so I was unsure if my allies would simply accept the status quo and retain the slave market pragmatically as the previous faction had.
It was closed.
The slaves who had been promised freedom - had their promise belatedly fulfilled. We had closed down a slave market in Omega space.
With the weight of what was happening across the pegasi bearing on my shoulders, my joy was mixed with darkness, the type of darkness only known to those who have had to order the spilling or sacrifice of blood of others - whether ally or enemy - to achieve their goals.
The next day the station was filled with the humming whispers of intrigue.
The previous station manager representing the economic interests of the previous faction - the shrugging man - had been found dead in the holding cell they were being kept in with their throat slit, killed during the night.
The whispers conflicted between those that suggested it was the work of the Railroad, or that of a freed slave.
It is best to leave the rumours as they were, or even feed them - we gain nothing by exposing the truth - whatever that truth may be.
If the Railroad denies its involvement in the murder of this civilian - it may suggest a weakness to those who would undermine our work from within. If we admit it - many a good man would be turned away from our cause. Some of our own operatives would question it, maybe even leave.
The rumours will remain just that - unconfirmed. Let those who consider betraying our cause think twice, just in case.
In any insurgency - the worst crime is to act as a traitor within. The kind of crime which requires the most decisive of punishment. And scorn.
This is why out of all the Railroad's enemies - there is a certain one that I reserve the most contempt for. Despite their failure to cause any damage to the Railroad, and indeed they may have served as quite a useful tool, no one can harbour a grain of respect for someone who would try to betray a cause they ought to be most invested in.
It also turns out that the news about Marra no longer being part of Omega was inaccurate. The truth is not clear - whatever the case the group was ineffective in Kun and suffered there. That is sufficient.
Surveying our work - it appears the next war with Omega will take place in Parana. Again. They were engaged there when I first arrived in the pegasi. They gained nothing from that war, and will gain nothing from this war either.
Meanwhile our underground activity goes on. The tension elsewhere will soon arrive at uncontrollable levels.
There are a series of conflicts potentially lining up across the Pegasi. Death by a thousand cuts. To both sides.
I used to think that being an explorer was the most lonely thing - appropriate for a loner like myself. Out in SAG A with only a scientist in tow - hours to stare at space and nothing else.
Now I am among people.
But I also now know that this work is more lonely than the life I used to lead. The noise and people only serve to remind to me how alone I am to carry the burden of the decisions I make. I wonder how lonely my comrades are. How lonely Commander Brown is.
I haven't looked in the mirror for a couple of days. Too busy.
This time all I see looking back at me is my scar.
[OOC: anyone who wants to know the details of why the first non-slave trading faction continued to trade slaves, whereas the second did not, despite both having slaves as prohibited items: Corporations have less scruples in forgoing their principles than other factions
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