"Qutrok, Part 3"
5th Shendredie, 5 (2182)
Tryykad
I look at the images on the display. Blueprints. Astronavigation data. Artist renders and plain text articles. Training procedures and combat protocols. To be fair to her, she has been busy.
"You wanted data. Here's data."
"What am I looking at?"
"The beginnings of a documentation of my art of war."
"Qutrok explained up to the taking the Flagship part. But that only provokes the beast that is MSI."
"Following the Flagship is a quadruple layer offensive strategy that relies on lighting rebellious sentiment across MSI territory, false flag attacks with liberated equipment, rapid assault of key MSI assets and diplomatic warfare."
Your thousand revolutionaries conducting the first two, leading the Flagship on the third, and presumably trying to find friendly to us aliens in the fourth."
"Precisely."
How do you propose to use one ship to attack MSI?"
"On my world, there was a conqueror named Ghengis Khan. He conquered incredibly vast regions by following a systematic approach of obliterating the first few cities he came too, and then using the fearsome reputation to convince others to surrender without a fight."
"You'd kill billions?"
"Yes."
"You are many things Naomi, but you are not a mass-murderer."
"What makes you so sure?"
"You're too merciful."
"You don't know what I'm capable of."
"You're a whore with delusions of adequacy."
Naomi folds her arms. "Ex-whore."
"Yes, yes, yes, you killed the last person to hire you, whatever."
"How many Minamar have you killed?"
"None."
"Tryykad, what would you accept? Or did you only come to attack me over what I had to do as a slave?"
That makes me stop, and think. "I want my father back."
"I can't return him to you. And insulting me won't help."
I hate her. And I hate that she's right. "You're right."
"What I can offer is a way to take down the people who made things the way they are."
"My father told me about the space plans. But they didn't mention us. What would you have us Kyaese do?"
"In my view? Anyone who wants to fight is welcome. Or if not, the logistics to carry out my schemes are immense. What do you want to do?"
"I want revenge."
"How do you want to take it?"
"The trouble is, us Kyaese aren't dangerous like you are, or the Xenaya. We're small. Weak. And honestly, scared."
"And extremely mobile." She puts the pistol in my claws. "On my world, there's a saying. God made man; Samuel Colt made man equal. That's a combustion reaction firearm; lightweight, cheap to produce, can be made to fire in single shot, semi-automatic or automatic modes. And that you guys can fly means that you might be small, but you can deliver a damn big punch."
"How big a punch?"
"I can put a rocket launcher into a harness that your people could wear; point yourselves at the enemy, dive bomb, and give them an express ticket to hell."
"Sounds dangerous."
"Perhaps. But devastatingly effective."
"Some of my people are going to want safer roles."
"These weapons can be made into long distance snipers; you could fight from so far away they can't even see who is shooting. And if you want armour, then we can put you in armoured fighting vehicles; being so small is a huge advantage for those."
"Are you sure you'd fight beside me?"
She points at the gun. "Who put that in your hand?"
"You did."
"If I was your enemy, would I give you a gun and sit at point blank range?"
"No."
"You've seen the data; if I thought you were an enemy, would I show it to you?"
"That would be ridiculously stupid."
"So, you in?"
I think about it. "I don't want to die."
She smiles. "Permission to monologue?"
I laugh. "Is it some speech about rage, breaking the shackles and spewing fire and death on the enemy?"
"Of course."
"Just this once."
"MSI made us give, made us bow. But not anymore. Now? Now, we take."
