Life2.0 - a Broken Shackles Narrative

[CBR JGWRR]

"Humanity First, Humanity Forever!"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Monica Aus Heinrichstadt​

I walk on stage to a theatre of only Humans. I breathe in. "Naomi has failed us all. She failed us by failing to support the PRDTC, even after MSI showed their true colours by destroying Nova Terra. I am Monica Aus Heinrichstadt, the third daughter of five children. And because of Naomi failing to act, I am now left with just my husband; all my family are dead."

I look at every individual in the crowd.

Just like she taught me to...

"I know I am not alone in that position. This leaves us one choice. All the others have options to go to. We do not. Unity is the only world we Humans have left. We should secure it; we need to take the fleet in orbit, and then we kick the others back to the homeworlds that they have. Naomi must be punished; she has constantly failed to put Humanity's needs as a priority, choosing to focus on wild beasts, glorified chickens and worst of all, allowing Olinbari to stand over us when they should be grovelling for their lives. Her duty should be to pursue every last one of the retreating Olinbari making their way to their wormhole home, but she does not. This dereliction of duty cannot be forgiven. It isn't enough to impeach her, or imprison her; her treason demands her life."

I show the footage we obtained from the security cameras. "This is her this morning, discussing making herself subhuman. She's imprisoned, and vulnerable. And I have a plan."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Redemption"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Ruqayya bint Rahil Amah al-Masih​

The Holy One did say to visit those in prison.

I think about that, as I see Naomi in her cell. I can almost hear Bernstein playing.

I enter the room; she still manages to catch the ball out the corner of her eye.

"Salam, Naomi."

She throws her ball again, her mind searching. "Ruqayya Amah al-Masih, right?"

"Yes, that is me." I adjust my shawl, then point next to her. "May I?"

She moves over. I sit. "I wanted to pray together, ahead of the no confidence vote."

She closes up. "I'm uncomfortable praying with a Muslim...."

I laugh. "You think because I am an Arab, that I must be a Muslim?"

She gulps. "I apologise for my prejudice. What religion are you?"

"Yasu al-Masih, is He not?"

She works it out. "Yes."

I put my arm around her. "We are going to spend eternity alongside people from every tribe and language, and we are both xenophiles enough to believe that others too will join in the chorus."

She nods. "Yes." Her eyes bore into mine. "Where do you stand on my relationship with Buri?"

I gaze at the render on the wall. "I don't necessarily share the extreme extent of your love for your husband. But, the Holy One only forbade outright relations with animals, and Buri is far more than just an animal."

"He definitely is..."

I take her hand. "Where exactly are you in your faith?"

It is a long wait. "Honestly, I'm in a weird place with God right now..."

"You believe in your head, but not your heart?"

"Kind of. I guess... I don't know." She sighs.

We sit in silence for a little while. Then weapons are at the door, as men in balaclavas stand at the entrance. "Naomi Of Unity, you are under arrest."

She deems it necessary to rise. "On what grounds?"

"Betraying Humanity in the war against the Olinbar."

She sighs. "It's treason then."

A man preloads a trigger. "Out of recognition of past-friendship, Lady-Protector Monica Aus Heinrichstadt is willing to allow you your last words."

She smiles. "I do have some words. Two actually. Phi Beta."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Great Escape"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

They die screaming as roughly a thousand amps use them as the shortest route from the roof to the ground.

Valerius contacts me immediately. "Your orders?"

"Complete system control."

I tap a few buttons on my tablet, and I am back. I then tap the wall in sequence. Sure enough, Buri and Daas put me in the correct cell; I start loading up like I'm Thando. Ruqayya watches. "Want one?"

"The Holy One is a man of peace."

"He also said everyone who didn't have a sword should get one."

She laughs. "Then He said one is enough."

I slot a sabre on my belt. "I only have room for one."

I hand her an oxygen mask. "You are going to want this."

"Why?"

I tap environmental controls. "Outside that door is vacuum."

She looks around. "Why?"

I laugh. "Daas and I came up with a plan in case we ever needed to plan B our prisons."

I tap the environmental controls again, then wait just a little longer to open the door; my sword ends the asphyxiating backup soldiers. Chest pain. Breathe. Go slow. "Naomi to loyalists; Monica Aus Heinrichstadt has just attempted to assassinate me. Civil war is upon us."

 

[Macavity116]

Well damn! It is pretty in-character for Naomi to have backup plans for the backup plans, but I think even she's going to be pushed to the limit this time. Also:

I hand her an oxygen mask. "You are going to want this."

"Why?"

I tap environmental controls. "Outside that door is vacuum."

I had a similar sequence set up for a future chapter in my own story. It's not a perfect match to what I've got written, but I am still laughing at the unplanned resemblance.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Phi Beta"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Buri Of Unity​

As two Greek letters appear on every screen, I am one of four people who know what it means; Plan B.

I turn to my people. "Our Queen is under attack."

Wami looks to me. "Then we shall rescue her."

I nod.

We start loading ourselves up. A Human soldier needs power armour to lift off the ground what we can carry; I never let Naomi see just strong we can be when we trained together, which was also because of the difficulties in manufacturing lifting weights big enough to actually trouble us. But as I put on armour four times as heavy as what the most heavily armoured Humans wore in the days before power armour - Osmium plates securing non-Newtonian gel - I smile.

And why not? In this, anything less than anti-armour rounds will only slow us down.

Even Thando looks less well armed. We've taken a few pages out the Kyaese book, and we are wearing enough guns to make him drool; our smallest ammunition is still .50 calibre.

Human bullets are too small.​

---

Humans have put Hortensus' Folly on lockdown.

But, I have fifty thousand Xenayan warriors armed and armoured like me.

My attack plan has three layers. My team are within the city; we will break out and cause the Humans to focus on us. That will buy time for reinforcements to drop a Rain on Hortensus' Folly, with a final wave of reinforcements of mixed quality to travel overland and answer the summons to defend their Queen.

I open the barracks door.

For a Human, it is pitch black - Naomi's Plan B takes out all lighting by remote detonation of explosives in power distribution nodes across the city. The Humans will take days to figure out how to repair what we can fix in a few minutes.

For us?

It's dim, but enough to fight in. Especially because they weren't expecting this; they are using torches to light the way. Our Humans will at least have night vision gear, and Valerius will have briefed loyalist Humans to get the hell out of the capital building.

We make our way to the command centre in the vaults beneath. By the time we get to the door, a few Humans have died from being eaten alive while their comms were running - we just shot the ones who weren't talking.

I bang on the door. I could open it, I have my wife's access code, but I want them to know we've come for them first. "Lay down your weapons, or we will eat you."

No reply. Oh well.

The door slides open; they've formed a firing line, but I only get hit by small arms fire by the time I have leapt from the door into them. One man screams where he got impaled on a horn. I gore another so that my head is balanced again. The shock of the assault breaks their formation, and soon the Humans are either cowering or dead.

Unfortunately, one of the latter is their commanding officer. No sign of the "Lady-Protector".

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Well damn! It is pretty in-character for Naomi to have backup plans for the backup plans, but I think even she's going to be pushed to the limit this time. Also:


I had a similar sequence set up for a future chapter in my own story. It's not a perfect match to what I've got written, but I am still laughing at the unplanned resemblance.

Fortunately, Naomi is not alone.

Presumably yours is because of a hull breach rather than a deliberate air extraction?

 

[Macavity116]

Presumably yours is because of a hull breach rather than a deliberate air extraction?

Yup. I wanted to write a space battle where weapon impacts are far more lethal and destructive than what was shown in my older Stellaris stories.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Yup. I wanted to write a space battle where weapon impacts are far more lethal and destructive than what was shown in my older Stellaris stories.

Understandable.

In other news, Life2.0 is officially one year old today.

 

[Macavity116]

Life2.0:is officially one year old today.

Congratulations! A long lived AAR is an incredible achivement.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Directions"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Valerius Albanius​

Naomi's husband is drenched in blood. "Command centre taken. Where is my wife? Where are my children?"

"Naomi is still in the prison. Your children are with Titus Marius."

"Good. I'll go to the prison."

"Unfortunately, the Lady-Protector has captured Daas and Vorosh."

He tilts his head back thoughtfully. "Daas I can sort of see, but capturing Vorosh?"

"Tranquiliser dart."

He scowls. "Very well. Who's on rescuing Naomi?"

"Alexandra and Thando. Titus has offered to drop off Rivkah to assist rescuing Daas and Vorosh."

"Can't me and Rivkah rescue Naomi and Alexandra and Thando rescue Daas and Vorosh?"

"Once Vorosh wakes, she'll be infuriated. We don't want allied Humans near her."

"Fair point. When can Rivkah be here?"

I send a message to Titus. "Ten minutes, I'll direct him to you. And Buri..."

"Yes?"

"You might want to remove the head decorations."

He doesn't reply. I hail Naomi. She responds, leaning on a wall. "How's things?"

"Buri has retaken the command centre, I've assigned him to rescuing Daas and Vorosh. Rivkah is meeting him en-route."

"Who's helping me?"

"Alexandra and Thando, plus the combat-capable Scarlets."

"Ok Valerius, see you soon."

She hangs up. I start hailing the next redirect when I feel a gun to my head. A cold voice comes from behind me. "Hello Valerius."

"Monica."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Congratulations! A long lived AAR is an incredible achivement.

I must confess, when I started, I figured I'd be finished a lot earlier. But we're still a long way to go, but we are getting there.

 

[HistoryDude]

Well, I didn't see the Fanatic Xenophobe Humans coming. I don't suppose these guys will be defeated and have to flee into exile?

Are the human spiritualists still loyal to Life 2.0's old government for the moment?

Why did Monica launch an attempted coup? Did she expect to lose an election?

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Well, I didn't see the Fanatic Xenophobe Humans coming. I don't suppose these guys will be defeated and have to flee into exile?

Are the human spiritualists still loyal to Life 2.0's old government for the moment?

Why did Monica launch an attempted coup? Did she expect to lose an election?

Well, there's a long history of xenophobia in Humanity, and with Earth effectively destroyed by aliens, there's going to be an upswing in xenophobic Humans. Some will surrender, some will get eaten, some will flee and some will stand trial.

Ruqayya is assessing Naomi to decide that.

As can be gathered from the "Lady-Protector" title, Monica has decided to go rather Cromwellian. It's not that she's a more extreme xenophobe after processing the loss of Earth, but she does believe in Unity for Humans thing.

As far as a legitimate election in the event of a successful no confidence vote goes, Human leadership has a choice of Monica, Heinrich, Leonardo or Alexandra out of the current named characters competent for the role, with Thando as a popular wildcard. (Although an additional person could be brought in) Monica doesn't like those odds as she's been afraid she's inferior to Alexandra since Alexandra arrived and basically took her place at Naomi's side. So, she's using the rise in xenophobic Humans as a launching point for power.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Overwatch Down"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Valerius Albanius​

I turn slowly.

Monica has bleached her hair to blonde like her husband's, and wears what I think is Gothic plate armour. I might be mistaken though. What I can't mistake is the pistol pointed at my forehead. I sigh. "You need me alive in order to get the negotiated settlement with MSI you want."

"We can handle that."

I snort. "Really? You start executing the colony's Olinbari and MSI is going to wonder where we went. We have beaten one fleet, and Naomi is letting Appia go because she's agreed to reform. You make them take the hard option and they'll lease a mercenary fleet, put Sharpbeak in charge and he won't be coming to accept a surrender."

She laughs. "You'll need to do better than this Valerius."

"I was also Appia's boyfriend once. We're still on good terms."

"Then why did you break up?"

I hesitate. "She leased Naomi, and dumped me afterwards."

She convulses with laughter. "Oh Valerius, I will miss the way you make me laugh." She rams the pistol against my head. "But your attempt to avoid your fate is not going to work."

I kick her in the crotch with my steel toe cap boots. I think I break a toe or two, the pain is severe, but she bends away; I grab her hand, try to grab the pistol, but she's in armour - a plated fist smashes my face.

Suddenly there's two Monicas.

My eyes are going red.

I can't see the pistol, barely see her. I try to flail, but she bends my arm backwards, it's agony. She pounds me, hits my stomach, punches my chest, I bite my tongue when she smashes my jaw as I bend.

I meet an armoured knee cap as I fall to the floor.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Valerius..."
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

I pause for a moment and answer the hail. "Valerius?"

It isn't Valerius. I'm looking at Monica, and blood is on her hands. Until she wipes it off on his robe. "I have broken your guide."

I stare blankly. His jaw is broken, massive gash. on his forehead. "Valerius?"

She stands, and walks away, stopping at the door. "Is it true, what he said about you and Appia?"

"Yes."

She doesn't reply. I stare at his body. I don't want him to be dead. I don't want his last moments to have been a fistfight... He would never have stood a chance with his motor neuron degeneration illness.

Ruqayya looks over my shoulder. "What's happening?"

"Monica just killed Valerius. Damn it!"

Ruqayya drops to face down on the floor. She prays several sentences in Arabic, her urgency increasing with each passing line.

I lie down beside her. I wish Mum had taught me more about what I'm supposed to do here... "God. Hi. Um, I... need Valerius back from the dead. Please? Thank You." Oh. "Amen."

Ruqayya is still praying.

I feel so awkward.

Eventually, she stops. We get up. She puts her arms around me. "Inshallah."

We keep moving.

 

[Macavity116]

Monica just killed Valerius.

Now there's really no going back. Civil wars are particularly brutal. I don't see a way for Monica to get out of this alive should she end up on the losing side.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Valerius' Farm"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Titus Marius steps out the shuttle first. We can't get a reply from Valerius. Titus has got a bad feeling about this, so we're checking on him. He's been visiting his smallholding while Naomi's in prison.

Things are definitely wrong - his door is open, and his chickens are squawking with what I think are alert squawks. Ruki imitates them in an effort to understand them.

Me and Titus head inside; weapons first, we follow the trail of open doors.

We find him.

Titus shouts first. "Ruki medi-pack, now!"

Ruki sprints to the shuttle, while Titus begins first aid.

Valerius...

He's been beaten, badly; whoever it was wore armour, their glove has left marks in several places. Not quite sure what made the gash on his head.

Ruki returns. Titus takes the pack, first running a scanner over Valerius. "He's not yet dead, but something like a coma. Children, you go call for help. Someone you trust. I'm going to work on Valerius."

We go outside. We hope Valerius recovers. Ruki calls the Holocron. I however...

"Hi Dad. We're with Valerius."

"Mum says Monica has killed him?"

I look back inside. "Titus is treating him, says he's in a coma."

"They wake up eventually. Monica is careless. It seems like the woman has never fought, she's been making many mistakes. Her forces are not well trained or coordinated."

"Could it be a trap?"

"If she's anything like Naomi, yes. Are you safe?"

"We're behind schedule. But yes."

"Good. See you soon, I am about to fight to rescue Daas and Vorosh. Mum is still breaking out of prison. I love you. Tell Ruki I love him."

We head back inside. Valerius has been given a blood transfusion and bandages, and Titus is running some medical tech over Valerius' head. I start to worry about my parents again, they're getting too old for this...

 

[HistoryDude]

Poor Valerius. Let's hope that he survived...

Is MSI tempted to intervene in this civil war?

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Destiny"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

I stop to rest again. "What do you mean when you say Inshallah anyway?"

"It means God willing."

"I know that. It's one of the few Arabic words I do know... But what do you mean by it?"

She sits beside me. "Naomi, have you ever wondered just how often you've scraped through things that you objectively shouldn't have? The Holy One is favouring you, providence itself guiding you to a destiny of victory. You don't need the Prikki, or the Arishkan. You just need faith."

I curl a little. "You don't really understand..."

"Try me."

"Where was God when... When Mum was killed? When I was sold into slavery? When I was being mercilessly raped? Did I not have enough faith?" I start to cry.

She puts her arm around me. "I don't know what these things were like for you, but the Holy One held you. Preserved you for such a time as this."

I sob as I think of when my husband said something similar. "Buri once said I was God's choice to lead this people."

"Yes. Which does contribute to why I'm gently prodding you here."

"You think I'm off course?"

"We both know these peoples need more than the Materialism of MSI."

"True. But I'm wary of trying to impose religion on them, it just leads to false converts and a dead belief system. We know that."

"You've followed a process of establishing centres of religious study and debate, and left people to decide for themselves. You should at least codify an orthodoxy."

I shudder. "That's really not my place... Maybe one day it will be Rivkah's, but it isn't mine. We Humans have disqualified ourselves through all the bloodshed down the centuries in the name of God."

"What would it take to convince you otherwise?"

I sigh. "I don't know. If the writer of this story wants me to do that, I need a lot more than plot armour and hints."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Now there's really no going back. Civil wars are particularly brutal. I don't see a way for Monica to get out of this alive should she end up on the losing side.

The edge of glory cuts both ways.

Poor Valerius. Let's hope that he survived...

Is MSI tempted to intervene in this civil war?

At the moment, they don't know about it.

But if Monica wins and the Olinbari get purged, then a diplomatic solution gets thrown out the window.