Life2.0 - a Broken Shackles Narrative

[CBR JGWRR]

"Understanding The Enemy"
6th Odoos, 10 (2189)
Ruki Of Unity​

I'm five months outside Mother's body now, and growing fast. Mother has set me the task of learning how to fight in a variety of combat styles, so my sparring partner for the day is Titus Marius. He's a decent opponent, and the gladius is a rather different weapon to the sabre and foil that Mother teaches me in, much shorter.

Mother's war doctrine of encouraging boarding actions and the resulting CQC action makes it necessary to learn melee combat forms; I've seen the recordings of how she fought to take the Flagship. He winces as one of my sets of four catches him out.

"Well done Ruki, that's... Impressive."

"Tell me more about the social context of fencing within Olinbar society."

He looks at me. He's probably thinking about the briefing the Holocron gave him. "A parazonium-" Mother wears two of those "-is an officer's weapon that serves as a token of office, with the gladius serving as a more commonly used weapon. The practice dates back into the mythic era of Olinbar history, although in modern martial practice it takes a largely ceremonial role outside of duels for fame and fortune."

"What purpose do those duels serve?"

"Olinbar high society is a harsh place. Shareholder status reverts on death, while the subsidiary companies needed to obtain the funds required to purchase that status typically are only inherited by one child, which is intended to ensure healthy competition among children to prove their worth to the parents and society; you could describe Olinbar society as a weirdly skewed form of meritocracy. In that context, we need a way to solve feuds in a way that settles a matter decisively. Additionally, have you heard of panem et circenses?"

The definitions and dozens of related concepts flash through my mind from the data uploads my Mentor gave me, with Mother's teaching forming the base of my assessment of the concept. "Bread and circuses is a pseudo-benevolent Authoritarian principle of using welfare and entertainment to keep the wider population within desired parameters of morale and compliance."

"The duels are one such measure, offering a means of advancement within Olinbar society that offers a non-commercial path to Shareholder status, as well as a safe venting area for releasing certain Indentured Asset tendencies."

I extrapolate. "Which leads to offering military roles to second and third children who won't inherit to the higher classes, encouraging retention within the social structure and the formation of an officer core."

He nods. "Precisely. The lure of Shareholder status as an ultimate prize attracts, with the natural outcome of duels weeding out the unfit to lead."

"What other prizes are there?"

"Fame. Fortune. Military careers. Medics. Companionship Assets are always popular."

The last sentence is quickly spoken. "What's a Companionship Asset?"

He opens his mouth, then looks behind me just before he speaks. His face goes a strange shade of blue. He opens his mouth, then closes it again. He gulps.

Mother taps my shoulder. "Ruki, sometimes there are things that if you knew the answer to, you wouldn't want to know the answer."

Sorrow fills her tone of voice. I have no definition for the term on file. Titus is looking at his feet. Facial expression consistent with shame. I extrapolate. "Were you one, Mother?"

Titus looks like he wants the ground to swallow him. I turn to Mother as she picks me up. "Ruki, there's a reason this isn't in your database."

The pain Mother hides is apparent. I opt for hugging her, not quite sure how to respond otherwise. I look at Titus. I look at the way he avoids Mother's eyes.

I think about Mother's statement.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Understanding Ourselves"
15th Odoos, 10 (2189)
Ruki Of Unity​

I decided to stay silent after that, and finished up the session doing training with Mother as she continues to rebuild her strength and fitness after pregnancy with me.

Now I'm with my sister, looking at our strategic and tactical displays. There's one particular ship everyone is talking about - L2NA Ukulinga. Or Endeavour, to use the original term that's translated from. Our first Hyperdrive equipped ship, slowly travelling towards the hyperlane to the Tarevus system, a white dwarf. The ship is a real mix and match; a 56m pusher-plate pushes a vessel able to carry a hundred Kyaese with two spun rings for artifical gravity, escorted by a resupply tug. Test hyperdrive, come back, reload then take it's crew for colonising the outer asteroids MSI didn't bother charting.

I pan the view back to Hephaistos, where the first truly interstellar ships are under construction, their half a kilometre wide pusher-plates able to withstand and direct the blast of nuclear weapons that could kill millions if used as weapons, and turn them into torchships.

If they were going to use nuclear weapons though.

I turn my attention to the disassembly project on Kidore I - my Mentor leads efforts to set up an antiproton producing particle accelerator system. Logistic information flashes through from my database about the use of antimatter warheads that are - by a quirk of the immense mass of Uranium and Plutonium needed for torchships - cheaper than the fourty megaton combined yield bombs.

I review Mother's notes; her plans had strip-mining planets for their Uranium and Thorium to get the hundreds of millions of tonnes her offensive plans needed. Antiproton-proton reactions offer the same energy for a few kilograms a pulse unit, which reduces the fuel bill to something much more manageable and replenishable.

The accelerators are nothing new to the galaxy of course, but the wider galaxy adopts positron-electron pairs as those suit electricity production better, the power being used for impulse drives.

Impulse drives however, can't easily be weaponised - the systems are mass intensive in both propulsion and radiator systems and also expensive, requiring highly advanced materials we can't manufacture yet. Mother also intends to load up her warships with enough bombs to wipe out planets in a much more terrifying way than relativistic velocity kinetics.

Mother has very complex feelings about Olinbar. Her notes are very conflicted. Rivkah told me what Mother told her when she asked. I reviewed the recording of her taking Gaius Licenius apart afterwards. It's no wonder Mother married a man who only has sexual requirements one month a year. But equally, she doesn't want genocide - she wants a few examples made and the rest of the Olinbar to surrender afterwards.

I'm not sure. Gaius resisted to the last, and Mother drenched her sword in his blood.

Mother enters the room. She joins us, and we hug her. Mother strains to keep her feelings in check, but when she sees that we are looking at the offensive plans she sits and weeps for what she has to do. I extrapolate our conversation out. Should I condemn Mother for considering the deaths of hundreds of billions? The overwhelming majority slaves?

She looks at me. "Do you think I am a monster?"

I look up at her. "A monster wouldn't love them the way you do."

Rivkah looks at me. Then Mother. She pulls us both close.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"The Next Generation"
20th Odoos, 10 (2189)
Mei Hua​

Osshi and I look at our Ruki.

The five months since Ruki's birth proved the concept have opened the floodgates as interspecies and same species couples start having genetically engineered children. Plus, it's become a top priority for Life2.0; just like Rivkah became a symbol of unity, Ruki has become a symbol of what Life2.0 should become.

Osshi has his claws between my fingers as we look at a visualisation of our child. The process begins with a conventional Human impregnation, and after that a modified Arishkan egg develops inside my womb; after a month I'll be induced to lay the egg, which then develops until hatching.

Barring immense amounts of surgery, it's still not really feasible to modify people already living - the complications surrounding altering trillions of cells simultaneously are staggering, which is why Tipheret HaMaadimi focused on germ-line modification.

The process is not without risks, but the colony is trying their best to manage them - the computational resources that go into the meticulous processing for each child dwarf all other uses, with the Neumanns having built cubic kilometres of quantum computers for running optimisation algorithms.

There are some restrictions imposed to avoid both designer babies and super-soldiers, but Naomi is more afraid of the formation of a genetically enhanced elite than she is of any other possible failure mode, to which she has a solution - make it available to everyone.

I let my hand move up my husband's arm flirtatiously as the egg in the visual hatches.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Parenthood"
23rd Odoos, 10 (2189)
Daas​

None of us want to send our children to war. We have all dedicated the last ten years to working as hard as we can to get the job done. But... Well, we've gotten settled. Established. Many of us have children. That is natural, and expected.

Naturally, as parents, we want the best for our children. And with the full scale roll-out of accessible germline genetic engineering, physical strength enhancements are very common.

Mine and Vorosh's young for example, their shells will not be purely calcium carbonate based like Vorosh's, but a backed by a slightly different one of Tipheret's changes, a derivative of the armour of the Earth snail Crysomalion squamiferum; attacks that would crush Vorosh, they will ignore.

Or take Ruki. Xenayan children are already among the fastest growing on the colony, but Ruki has an adult Human level brain in the body of exceptionally well toned toddler - the callouses on his hands and feet from the training with Titus Marius in swordsmanship as well as the general physical strength and fitness training with Naomi lends him a freakish performance for one so young. Once he's grown, he'll have a skeleton five times stronger and musculature to match.

As me and Vorosh sit in this Gene Clinic, there's dozens of couples attending waiting for checkups on their children or on the genetic research that will be their children.

And as wonderful as this is, it creates a problem.

Naomi has a very logical strategy - we don't have the industrial capability or the fleets needed to make fighting to destroy enemy warships our best option.

So, we aren't going to fight on that basis. Instead, we will change the paradigm; boarding actions and hacking systems.

Here's the trick - in space combat, advanced computers manage the overwhelming majority of ship functions. The project that Ykrett and I have been working on is a way of tapping in a Bevkiran into a ship remotely and seizing control of key systems. This is followed up by boarding craft breaching while we have interrupted the enemy.

Which is where it gets complicated.

Adult Ruki naked as the day he was born will be roughly as capable as Naomi in power armour. And if we put Ruki in power armour himself, then Naomi is obsolete. As is Ykrett, as the Holocron fully expects an adult Ruki to have the spare mental capacity to run a starship as the central computer like Ykrett's people were used for.

That is our problem; in a world where the children are so enhanced, how do we their parents remain current?

 

[CBR JGWRR]

”Neo-Sirzusians, Part 1"
29th Odoos, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

There's lots of races on Unity, of varying levels of involvement in Life2.0; but there's only one that have no say at all. Not because they aren't allowed to, but because they lack the ability.

Dexicus Hortensus' backers sent him out with several target races he was to return with members of, while others were opportunities that came up along the way. Humans for example, Kyaese too. Sirzusians are another race that was on the target list.

Humans are valuable to MSI because they can fill what are considered Specialist level roles quite effectively, almost but not quite as good as Olinbar as they give themselves more advanced equipment to work with.

Sirzusians are valuable because they are a perfect slave race for menial tasks. No ambition, no desires, pretty much only instinctual operating mentality, naturally nocturnal, can eat anything put in front of them, very loyal to caregivers and prone to distrusting each other. Olinbar have exploited them for centuries after "uplifting" them, and the Sirzusians speak MSI Basic as their own language, without a Synthesiser.

Ten years ago, I had the colony build up flat-pack like inflatable boxes to house everyone who wasn't staying in the environmentally controlled sections of the ship; with only emergency power I had to prioritise which sections of the ship were maintained, and I opted to keep only the arctic biome operational.

Today, there is only one place where those inflatable boxes are still used as housing - for the Sirzusians, as even ten years on they are yet to develop their own housing.

I always wanted better for them, but well, the war with MSI took priority.

But I can't help but wonder what they could become, what if they were truly uplifted.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Blinded"
12th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

"The Prikkiki-Ti Sentry Array Network has been crippled." Grepp licks an dark-ringed eyeball as he returns to his seat.

The implications are...

Our table is silent. Eventually, I reply. "How?"

Grepp puts up a display. "The Arishkan knew they would have to put our eyes out. So they did."

The display depicts footage of strangely familiar ships leaving a rift and attacking the installation. Valerius face has gone cold. Agrippina frowns. Oh.

"The MSI vessels attacked using unstable directed wormholes, a technology long believed lost to history. They have destroyed three Sentry Arrays that cover the Prikki-Arishkan border region, which includes us. As a result, we have no sensor data on MSI. While this is-"

He's interrupted by Mei Hua bursting through the door in tears. She looks at Mum. "The Arishkan withdrew their fleet. Nova Terra has fallen."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Fallen Earth"
12th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

I look at the First Minister of the PDRTC. Yong'xing Tian.

She's not slept recently, face stuffy from weeping. She looks at me. Gathering her thoughts. "The Arishkan betrayed us. MSI entered Nán Hé sān and burned straight for Nova Terra at 3g. We asked the Arishkan to intercept, and they left the system. MSI have left nothing but radioactive ash, two billion people are dead."

Nán Hé sān... Procyon. "How long until they attack Earth?"

"If they keep that acceleration, three weeks. It's only one hyperlane, but Earth is on the far side, so it's a longer transit. I've got fifteen billion refugees to evacuate." She gulps.

I shake my head. "My mind is coming up blank on how I can help..."

"Likewise Naomi, I know the transit times as well as you do... I need some solace with a friendly face. May I ask how Mei Hua is feeling?" She pauses. "Her family were on Nova Terra."

"Her and Ossuhphuhr were planning their first child together in our Gene Clinics before this. She had just enough composure to explain what happened before she collapsed in his arms."

She looks at me very coldly. "Do you trust him?"

I nod. "I've already made him choose between the Empire and his wife. He picked her."

She raises her eyebrows. "That direct?"

I laugh. "Absolutely, I explained my logic for asking it, which he understood. Which means he passed the same test as the 3% of the Olinbar prisoners who weren't executed on my orders."

She looks at me. "You executed Olinbar prisoners?"

I nod. I think of how I executed Gaius and Claudia. "Some personally. I couldn't let them live unless they convinced my people that they were safe."

There's a pause. "That's committed."

"Our enemy would do no different."

The woman who watched a planet burn sighs deeply as her tears renew. she collects herself. "Quite. Naomi, this might be the last time we speak, we are running 24/7 in defence preparations. If Earth falls..."

I set both my captured blades on the table. "Then we will avenge."

She nods. "But more than that, will your people return, and restore the planets they destroy?"

I think about Nova Terra. "Was Nova Terra a terraformed world?"

"Yes, we seeded life from Earth on a barren world."

"Could we have genetic data from the other worlds in the PDRTC? It would help with restoration."

She nods. "I will get our laboratories to send the data, as well as everything we can send. Good luck, Naomi."

She closes the channel. I wipe my tears in my husband's fur.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Night Watch"
13th Odoos, 10 (2189)
Ruki Of Unity​

When Mother started my mental training, she began with a memory testing game where a square on a board would light up and a letter would be sounded, then five seconds later it would repeat. My instructions were that I had to give the sequence from a previous point, steadily progressing further back as my consicously held memory progresses. Naturally, I'm not allowed to file the sequence to my compubones, it would defeat the point of the exercise. She trained Rivkah with it too, and Father dabbles with it with Mother. I've progressed to also answering maths questions and being asked historical trivia to give my biological mental components a stronger workout.

Normally, her alarm activates at a few microseconds past 5am when the control unit sends the signal to the alarm activator to emit the noise. Within two seconds she is saying good morning to Father, who mostly sleeps through the alarm. She gets out of bed within five seconds, a fairly quiet noise consistent with getting dressed takes the next few tens of seconds and usually within three sixties of seconds Mother is inquiring about how I slept.

Mother then begins this with me, three sessions a day.

This morning, she has not.

This means that whatever is distracting her takes a higher priority over me. Mother allows very few things to do that. That she has, and not informed me, implies that she's not involved me to avoid causing me distress.

Which gives me a dilemma. I could go and help and possibly face things Mother does not think I'm ready for, or stay here and avoid worrying about what it could be.

The most likely is enemy attack. I opt to go.

Naturally, the first place I go is the command bunker. There's a loose panel in the ventillation system that allows you to bypass three of five security checkpoints, and being in a hurry I opt to skip those three.

The formality of verifying that I am Mother's child is reassuring, given it means that the situation has not led to a breakdown in process that would mean an unescorted child could just wander into a top secret military bunker without approval. Plus, it means Mum will be notified. She had that procedure changed the last time I did this.

Now an escorted child, I arrive at the bunker. I go to Mother. She doesn't look surprised to see me. "Ruki, MSI have attacked our allies the Prikki and the PRDTC, reducing a well developed colony world to ash. Billions are dead."

I think through the news. I extrapolate. "The Arishkan have abandoned the PDRTC, and now an MSI fleet is enroute to Earth. And probably to here too." I look at the sensor data display being offline at such a critical time. "Why are sensors down?"

"That's what MSI attacked. They destroyed three Prikki Sentry Arrays."

Oh. That's... Not good. "In other words, we and our allies are blind."

"Worse still, MSI used a wormhole generating attack method. Even if we had sensors, our warning time has dropped down to the time taken to travel into the system from the edge of the heliosphere."

Best case of a month, unless they travel slow. At a reasonable acceleration, they could arrive in two weeks. "We have to take the offensive."

"Trouble is, we haven't solved the radiation problem from activating hyperlanes yet. That's what Shendredie is working on."

"Which means trusting the MSI originated designs."

"And you know why I haven't done that."

Doesn't want MSI to be able to exploit that opportunity obviously. "We have no choice but to accept the irradiation problem then. How bad is the dose?"

"Well, I could go. Your Father could. But your uncle and aunt aren't."

So that's not a safe dose. "How bad?"

Her face sours. "We've got it down to 2.3 Gy per hyperlane breach. Whole body."

The definition and documentation for absorbed doses flash through my mind. She can see it on my face. I cling to the hopeful bit. "Well, it's below the Human LD1 dose."

"There's eighteen hyperlanes between us and the MSI capital."

"Point taken."

Mother puts her head in her hands. "I'm sorry Ruki."

"Why?"

"Bringing you into a world at war."

I climb up her and hug her. "Then we'll end war."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Gnaea Titius"
13th Odoos, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

We're still in discussions when a hail comes through.

We're looking at CEO Gnaea Titius. I've never seen such an obviously fake smile, or odious a man. "My goodmen and goodladies, we must come to an understanding. Ah, Naomi, it warms my heart to see you are still alive."

I don't even need to look at Mum to know she's imagining this guy bleeding out on the floor.

He sighs. "Look. We have a mutual understanding of your situation. I know your unfaithful Olinbar companions would counsel you to try to continue your rebellion, to use you to put themselves on top. But face the facts - you are in no position to carry out such an attack. Whereas my strength reaches beyond you, and even to your backers in the Prikkiki-Ti. I could give the order to crush you at any time. I don't because I am a reasonable man."

Mum does her very best to stifle a snort. She fails. "Why should any of us trust you?"

He looks at Thando, with the briefest nod. "My predecessor was quite useless. The board has tasked me with correcting the death spiral my predecessor left behind. He was very lax, a hedonist. That your brother is still alive after everything he's done is exemplary of his flaws. However, I don't have infinite resources or time. I need to condense my fronts and tie up my loose ends. I trust you are familiar with the recent exercise on Nova Terra?"

Mei Hua's voice is... Spicy. "You vile murderer."

He ignores her outburst and focuses on Mum. "You know what I can do. Do you want me to make an example of your Unity?"

Mum stays silent.

"I acknowledge your hatred. Now acknowledge my logic. If I do not deal with you now, you will attempt to attack at some point - the entire planet wants revenge, understandably so. Now, perhaps I might say that's my successor's problem, but I don't want to do that. I want an agreement. I've already successfully negotiated away the Arishkan, and I have cut you off from the Prikki. You cannot defeat us on your own. Am I wrong here?"

Mum relents. "No."

"Which leads to my offer. The easiest way to solve my domestic problems is reform to the Indentured Asset system. Through reform, I can stabilise division within the upper echelons of Olinbar society, reduce dissent in the Worker and Specialist classes and ultimately reduce crime and increase living standards. What is much more up for question is the impact on international relations. You now have a choice - I can offer you vassalisation into a reformed regime where slavery has been abolished, or we can go to war, where you will face the might of an armada able to leave your world uninhabitable slag." He eyes the blades from Dexcius and Gaius on Mum's hips. Then looks at Valerius, at Agrippina. "Deep down Naomi, I know you are a reasonable woman. You and I both know the assets I can commit to external campaigns are on exercise to the People's Democratic Republic of Terra and Colonies. You know transit times, and therefore you know you have three weeks to give me your reply, before my navy comes to subjugate you by force. Or, you will all live, with no repercussions for armed rebellion as a concilliatory gesture. Bend, or break."

He cuts the channel.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Referendum, Part 1"
13th Odoos, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

I tell everyone to go home. We're not going to be attacked today. My children follow me. "So, when we get home... I'm going to be with your Father for quite a while."

Buri is waiting when we get back. "What happened?"

I fall into his embrace. "Just... Take me. I really need distracting."

---

I rest in his arms. He nuzzles me. "So, what happened?"

I frown. "MSI's CEO called, gave us three weeks to surrender."

"Oh."

I twist to face him. "I don't know what to do. I don't know whether to fight on, or to make peace. Whether I can trust him to keep whatever promises he makes."

He mulls it over for a while. "Did you know him from before?"

"Not him, but his daughter. He was practically an absent father."

"Not promising."

I nod. "It's hard... I keep thinking about something Odoos said once." I look in his eyes. "I have something to lose now, and I am afraid."

"What were the terms of surrender?"

"Words about how he wanted to abolish slavery and reform the Indentured Asset system and that we would be a vassal state. Or, he would send the fleet to destroy us."

Buri pulls me close. "Which do you think is best?"

"Honestly, both are bad. Choice of becoming their tamed pets, or ash. It's like..." I sigh. Then bury my head in his fur.

He holds me close. "Ask the people. It will take the weight off your shoulders."

Well, he's not wrong.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Referendum, Part 2"
14th Odoos, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

"You know transit times, and therefore you know you have three weeks to give me your reply, before my navy comes to subjugate you by force. Or, you will all live, with no repercussions for armed rebellion as a conciliatory gesture. Bend, or break."

Mum stands as the recording finishes. "Here's what I think. As a Companionship Asset, I endured all kinds of physical, emotional and sexual abuse while I waited for my opportunity to fight for freedom. And when I got it, I freed all of us. Back then, I had nothing to lose except being tied to a wall and raped every day. That informed my methodology of fighting our war with MSI, until one day my esteemed colleague Odoos pointed this out, that I had nothing to lose." She looks around, before settling on Dad, me, and Ruki. "Now I do. Now the enemy comes, and my rage is subsumed by the fear all mothers have when war comes. So what I think we should do is informed by that." She takes a deep breath. "We should accept being vassalised so that we survive to fight for freedom another day. It suffocates me to say it, but I don't see another way. MSI has deployed a new wormhole propulsion system that allows them to converge their entire fleet anywhere they choose. They have used it to strike our allies in the Prikki and PDRTC, killing more than two billion people in the latter. Their fleet is now on it's way to the homeworld of Humanity to repeat that attack and kill at least another fifteen billion people. They fully intend to do the same here. I am loathe to surrender, but right now I don't see an alternative that keeps us alive. That said, I recognise that for many of us we would pick fighting over slavery again, which is why I want to put it to a public vote on how to respond."

She sits. Chaos erupts.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Time is critical.

While Naomi has been an excellent leader so far, as she admits motherhood has affected her judgement.

But, she has given an opportunity. Her nature allows us to exploit the opportunity to lure and destroy the MSI fleet by offering to accept and awaiting them to come too close. We can do it, and we will do it. But we must mobilise now!

Vote Ykrett, your "Attack The Fleet" candidate.

---

We do not deny the compulsion to destroy our slaver enemy. But, pragmatics dictate a tactical retreat underground, where our enemy must come down to fight on our level where we have the advantage.

Vote Hoggagha, your "Underground Defence" candidate.

---

The presence of MSI threatening our world is too great a risk - we have already seen what happened when this fleet attacked Nova Terra.

Our best option is to retreat into the vastness of space. MSI cannot leave this fleet to try to hunt us all down, and will inevitably need to bring it back before the Prikki seek vengeance for the destruction of their Sentry Arrays. Time is therefore on our side. We fly out, then return home when it is safe, and carry on as before.

Vote Mei Hua, your "To The Stars" candidate.

---

When we evaluate the long term project, we need more than simply obliterating MSI - if the only option we allow them is retaliation, then the attack coming now is only going to be repeated in the future as MSI seeks to prevent their annihilation. The purpose of violence is to shock the enemy to the negotiation table, where we can obtain reform.

MSI have offered reforms - it makes sense to at least consider what options are available.

Vote Valerius as your "Reformer" candidate.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Referendum, Part 3"
15th Odoos, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

I look at her. "Mum, the votes are counted."

"And?"

Valerius got seven districts, Hoggagha five, Mei Hua four and Ykrett four."

She tries to hide a slight smile. "Well... It's democracy."

Hmm. "It is weird that we're going with the option that almost two-thirds of the shareholders didn't vote for."

"That too is democracy."

"And that we will be doing what you want anyway."

She smiles. "Rivkah, there are two key rules for running a democracy. One, never put something to a vote unless you know it will pass or fail as you require, and always remember if voting made a difference, they wouldn't let proles vote."

"Mum!"

She laughs. A sweeter laugh. Was she joking? At least partially. "Do you actually believe that?"

She calms. "Rivkah, as a monarch, it's easy. The state wants what the dictator wants. A democracy wants what the people want, and therefore the politician reshapes public opinion to suit their goals. That is how it has been since Athens, and why democracy collapses into tyranny or hedonism."

"And us?"

"We walk that razor thin line between tyranny and hedonism that ensures survival."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Referendum, Part 4"
16th Odoos, 10 (2189)
Valerius Albanus​

Naomi tells me the list. "Septima Severus is non-negotiable; the Kyaese want justice. An end to the use of Bevkirans as Computational Assets too. I want Companionship Asset reform and freedom for as many Indentured Assets as possible. No Integration of vassals." She frowns. "Figuring out if it is possible to trust him."

She slips out the room. I open the hail. "Gnaea Titius."

He leans back in his chair. "Valerius Albanus. I was expecting Naomi."

"Likewise, but she's been unavoidably detained."

He waves his hand. "Are you authorised to discuss terms?"

"There would be little point for either of us to speak if I wasn't."

He frowns. "Perhaps. What do the others desire?"

I recite. "The Kyaese among the colony of Life2.0 demand Septima Severus, and Naomi has agreed that no treaty can be signed until she faces justice and her exploitation on the Infinite Wheel is dismantled."

He smiles a cold smile. "One head on a plate to mollify an entire species, perfect. Next?"

"The colony wants an end to the exploitation of Bevkirans as Computational Assets."

His eyes narrow. "That will be... Difficult."

I nod. "The colony wants more details of the proposed reforms to Indentured Assets."

He stands. "There's been a great deal of thrashing out terms that our fellow Olinbar will accept. I will be frank: Companionship Assets will stay - decadence is a cancer that needs more time to cut loose in that regard. But freedom for Specialist Indentured Assets is workable. Freedom for Worker Indentured Assets is not." He looks at me. "That isn't enough, is it?"

"It'll be a hard sell, yes."

"Anything else?"

"No integration terms."

"Understandable."

"The most pressing question is can they trust you to keep whatever agreement we make?"

He sits. "Here's my logic: First, my entire position rests on rooting out and dealing with corruption and decadence inside MSI, and putting in place reforms that will enable MSI to last another thousand years. Going back on my word is hardly suitable. Besides, the Olinbar could easily turn the question back to yourselves; unless we start mutually trusting one another, nothing will move forward."

Naomi sounds her buzzer, then walks across. "Gnaea Titius."

He regards her. "Naomi Of Unity."

She looks at me. "What has been said?"

I look at Gnaea, then her. "I believe we have a framework we can put to the people."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"The Bright Side Of The Moon"
3rd Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

I return the incoming video call. The display of Tian Fa Wei looks at me. His right arm is synthetic, ill fitting clothes hang on bare metal, a shrapnel hole in his cheek. "Salibonani Naomi, I wish we talked under better circumstances."

I nod. "Our thoughts are with you all."

"We need all the help we can get."

"How goes the war?"

"We destroyed two MSI capital ships. But, we could not stop them, and they breached the Terran Beacons two days ago. We have retreated to fallback positions. Casualties are... Innumerable."

"And your sister?"

He is silent. It's only then I look behind him, through the moonglass window. A dull red glow in the night sky behind him tells me everything.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Firestorm, Part 1"
3rd Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Dad and I wrap our arms around her as she shudders horribly in her tears. "Mum?"

She turns. "MSI have bombarded Earth."

Oh. "How badly?"

Dad wipes her face. "I've just finished talking to Lunese survivors. Earth used to be a pale blue dot in the background."

Oh no. "Red?"

She nods. "Earth glows a menacing dull red. They didn't just destroy the cities, they bombarded it until the ground itself broke open. Until the heat from the friction of munitions made the skies unbreathable... The planet glows at hundreds of Celcius. My homeworld is gone."

The words of Gnaea Titius come to mind. "I guess Earth picked break."

Rage burns in Mum's eyes. Her hands grip her weapons trembling. "No. Gnaea Titius picked break, and I hate him so... But I can't break him, and must suffer him." She let's go despondently.

Our communicators beep. "Rivkah here."

It's Aunt Alex. "Wormhole opening at the edge of the system."

Dad looks up. "They are coming." Mum shudders horribly again. Dad looks at me. "I will attend my wife - you lead our people."

I run.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Firestorm, Part 2"
3rd Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity ​

I look at the enemy fleet. Then Valerius. "How many capital ships does it take to do a base delta zero?"

"One, if they have the time."

I count the sensor blips. I give up counting the sensor blips. "They've sent... Dozens."

"One hundred and sixty five ships, comprising..."

"Ruki?"

"Yes Sister?"

"We're disheartened already."

He looks around. He stays quiet.

I look around too. The news of Earth has spread. Protests are springing up. Monica resigned this morning. More than half my Human staff have called in unable to do their jobs through stress and grief. And I walk the path Mum chose because she doesn't want that to happen to Unity...

If I don't inspire these people, we lose.

I tap a claw on the communicator. "My friends..."

I stop.

How can I lead here? We do what we do because we've lost hope of victory.

Because we're looking at a fleet of... Well, Ruki knows, but that's not the point. MSI have come, Gnaea Titius commanding personally to accept our vandalisation.

I tap again. "My friends, we do what we must. We hold on for one more day. We hold on to hope for a better future, for reform."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Firestorm, Part 3"
17th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Two weeks transit time. The fleet is a monster - more than a hundred battleships. Nothing smaller than destroyers. The kind of fleet you bring to intimidate an enemy before you destroy them.

We brainstorm possible countermeasures, but...

We aren't dealing with MSI ships like we trained for, there's mercenaries. And not the ones they usually hire.

Now, they occupy low Unity orbit, within the ring and inside of L2NA Hephaistos. Aunt Alex and Uncle Thando are fortified within, they've been turning it into a bastion over the last year.

But...

I am afraid.

Mum sits in the command chair when Gnaea hails us from the bridge of his Titan - a gargantuan vessel with a spinal railgun kilometres long - the Rostrum.

That sinister mask fills the viewer again. "Ah Naomi, I trust you are ready? We have reserved hangar bay space for a shuttle bearing you for the signing ceremony."

She nods. She looks at me as she stands. "Rivkah, you have the conn."

We're interrupted by dots on our tracking systems launching from Unity. We try to get visuals, and we see flares blazing into the sky in the thousands.

No. Not flares, they are rockets.

Nope, they are Orions, we see them splinter and fracture into tens of thousands of pulses explosions blasting at the MSI fleet. Mum can't believe what she's looking at. Gnaea can.

He stands and verbally rips into Mum. "What trickery is this? We trusted you, and you attack us?" He doesn't let Mum reply; he turns to his bodyguards. "Bring her. She'll watch this planet burn."

He cuts the channel as these things start hitting MSI ships.

The flashes... I look at Ruki. "What are they?"

"Radiation pulses consistent with thirty megaton warheads boosted by roughly 60 km/s velocity projectiles." He brings up an impact; a battleship is smashed in the nose and spins violently, before vision is wiped by the flash of the nuke. "Estimated impact energy in the terajoules."

Mum looks at me. "The Holocron."

Tactics fly through my mind. We can win this. "Imperatrix-Actual to all; plan A is FUBAR. All combat assets engage the enemy for boarding and capturing enemy ships."

Mum looks at me. I look at her. "Did I stutter?"

"Even me?"

I smile. "Get in a boarding pod Scarlet One. That's an order."

She smiles. "When you're the hare, play the fox."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Firestorm, Part 4"
17th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Ruki hails the Holocron. "Your plan?"

The Holocron looks at us from the bridge of the Ukuvikela. He smiles. "A shield system is only as strong as the bulkhead it is attached to, a flaw I have exploited. Now we get a fleet."

A roar as the ship takes off and bombs detonate to launch his warship into the air has me realise something. "How badly are we going to get irradiated?"

"Less badly than they will."

I think about that. Eventually I nod.

Next he turns to Ruki. "Integrate into the coordination systems, get your people through. It's a mess up there."

Ruki springs into action, plugging himself in.

"Good luck, Holocron."

"Where's Naomi?"

"Getting to a boarding pod."

"Good, they won't find her then, they won't expect her to attack personally."

"What's your plan?"

He smiles. "Isn't it obvious? Their people cannot withstand the impact of the Ukuvikela hitting their Titan. Mine can." He looks around. "All aboard - prepare for ramming speed."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Firestorm, Part 5"
17th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Vorosh​

I call Ruki. "Hey little one, you and I should coordinate."

"Vorosh, please explain."

"You need safe paths through the radiation. I have a whole bunch of mages here who can manipulate radiation. We can work together."

He thinks it over. He taps into our holodisplay, and we see a view of Unity as our ships launch. "These are the planned trajectories. I will update course corrections."

I smile. "That's all we need to know."

As the most potent of my mages, I settle in to focus on the launch of the Holocron's capital ships, just as he requested when he found out what we've been researching.