"It's Been A Long Road..."
19th Qutrok,10 (2189)
Leonardo Veres
This colony does have some right strange folk. After I land, I meet Rivkah Of Unity for the first time.
We sit in a sheltered outdoors area next to a cafe. We are waited on by bipedal avians. But it is Rivkah who leaves the biggest impression. Massive, bloodstained horns jut out the side of her head. Sabre teeth hang down from her upper jaw. More than two metres tall, the beast of a woman takes her drinks in bowls large enough the waiters carry them to the table with both hands; she laps like a cat.
Yet, she looks strangely youthful. "Rivkah, I hope you don't mind, but how old are you?"
She looks up. "Nine years old, Earth reckoning. Equivalent to fifteen, sixteen in Humans."
"Not yet an adult?"
She smiles. Her teeth... I feel my blood drain as I realise they've been sharpened. "Nope." She closes her mouth. "Sorry."
I try to cover my nerves. Gillian teases a little. "It's ok Leo, she's fed, she doesn't need another snack."
Rivkah bursts, howling with laughter. The table shakes. Eventually, she settles. "I do have some questions for you, Admiral."
"Sure."
"Gillian has talked to my Mum about you, about how you were separated going to your honeymoon. Now, you don't look a day over fourty to me, and I know becoming an Admiral is a whole lot harder in a professional formation than it is here on Unity. So, how did it happen?"
I lean back in my chair. After all, she is Arch-Imperatrix of Life2.0 - if there's anyone to give a CV to, she's probably the best. I take a deep breath. "After we were separated, I resolved that I wanted to stop MSI. I realised we needed warships, so I joined the Marina Militiare and attended L'Accademia Navale in Livorno, where I graduated with high honours and became an officer."
Her black eyes fix on me. "National navy or Amazon Security?"
"Italian national navy. I worked my way up the ranks, reaching
Capitano di vascello at the time of the revolution after counter-piracy operations in the Sol Asteroid Belt and in near-Earth object patrols."
"So how did you end up with the PRDTC?"
"This will take a bit longer to explain. When they began the People's Liberationary War, I was stationed in the mining docks of Demios. I immediately defected to join the PDRTC, bringing with me two other captains in my
Squadra. My first combat engagement for the revolution was a boarding action to capture the other ships in my
Squadra before they could leave spacedock, which was successful. The revolution successfully liberated the Demios mines, and I lead a fast action to secure the Phobos mines too, giving the revolution control of Mars orbit, from where we secured the revolution on Mars through tactical orbital strikes in support of liberationary forces on the ground. The revolution had succeeded in siezing Nüwa within days, but other colonies took longer to liberate. With Mars won, we launched every ship available manned with revolutionaries, and during a daring series of strikes on asteroid mines we liberated Ceres, Vesta and Pallas. After a debate with the other two Captains, resources were quickly re-directed into the establishment of defences, as Amazon Security dispatched the Earth Defence Fleet to Mars. I however, had my mathematicians calculate the right trajectories for an intercept with railgun rounds, and we successfully managed to disable several ships during transit from hyper-velocity impacts. By this time, four months had passed on Earth, and the People's Revolutionary Army had managed to secure dozens of countries. The Earth Defence Fleet was therefore split as the crews had split loyalties, and began infighting, with revolutionaries winning thanks to their support within the crewmen. They held the fleet together, and I took command as Admiral of the People's Revolutionary Navy, and burned for Earth. Making repairs in transit, we used local space superiority to support the revolution, liberating the Lunese colonies and supporting from orbit the ongoing ground warfare. After four years, the revolution was victorious."
She sits, smiling. "What kind of weapons and propulsion did you use? Any experience with thermonuclear pulse propulsion?"
"Standard weapons mostly, combustion reaction guns, lasers, railguns and missiles. Mostly methane nuclear thermal rockets, some methane-oxygen combustion rockets, and experience with octaazacubane combustion rockets. No thermonuclear pulse propulsion experience."
She reclines thoughtfully. "Slight downside, more than outweighed by the experience. What do you know of those Arishkan vessels? Ever used those in combat?"
"Some skirmishes with MSI, but I departed long before they persuaded our former allies to turn on us."
"Ok. Final question. My Mum has the conviction that our war with MSI must not be an existential threat type total war for the Olinbar. That they must know that they have a future in our civilisation. As a result, there are Life2.0 aligned Olinbar in command positions here." She looks straight into my eyes. "Can you and your people accept orders from an Olinbar?"
I take a while to think that over. "I would like to why the colony trusts them, but in principle it would be acceptable."
She relaxes. "Good."
I turn the questions on her. "What makes you fit for command?"
She smiles. "They come here, I eat them."
