Life2.0 - a Broken Shackles Narrative

[CBR JGWRR]

"Firestorm, Part 6"
17th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Thando HaMaadimi​

I look to the captains and crews of all the ships we built when we were supposed to be fortifying the shipyard while Sis didn't get the memos to prevent her accidentally getting the plan screwed. "By now, our enemy will be busy trying to reorganise after the Holocron's assault, and with luck, the colony below has caught on and will be sending people up. We need to distract those ships and give them something else to fire on - if we don't, those boarding pods will get annihilated getting out the atmosphere."

I breathe. Look at them all. "A lot of us will die; not all of those vessels are going to be down from the Holocron's part of the plan, and we'll get into battle before his warships do. We don't have the armour or shields to make a straight fight work. But we can give them a fighting chance to live."

My captured freighter hoists the black flag. So does the rest of the fleet. My wife takes my hand, gives me a look that makes me feel like we can do anything. "No matter what happens, I love you all."

I look at Ming, manning the helm. We've done alright since Mum sent us out that airlock. I nod. "Punch it."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Firestorm, Part 7"
17th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Sophia Hortensus​

What a world I live in.

To my left, the woman who killed my brother.

To my right, the woman who held a gun to my head.

Both of them are among my sisters in arms as I go to war against my own people.

We've been training for this since I joined the Scarlets. We've run thousands of virtual training scenarios, run through boarding drills on mock-ups built to the ship specifications Valerius took with him. Trained in everything from microgravity to sustained 3g. By Jove, that made my lungs burn. Gillian put us through Tartarus in preparation...

And now we're being jerked all over the place as Naomi's son controls our ascent remotely to miss incoming fire; he's good, but I feel sick.

Naomi figures that MSI will expect her to stay on Unity. Naturally, she's joining the boarding parties as a normal soldier.

Well... If anyone in this chaos is a normal soldier that is.

Gillian flashes up our target on our HUDs. "Right girls, this is job number one. A piddly corvette run by Janus Seneca. Breach, whack the hacker in the first console we find, then our talking boulders can control the ship from Unity while I stick something sharp right up that slimy ba-"

I mute her audio for a moment to look at the target. It's a Tiberius-IV Corvette, spinning totally out of control. The hull has a gouge where one of the Holocron's missiles hit at a glancing blow. Gillian flags an assault vector above the centre of mass.

The jerking gets worse - now Ruki is juggling incoming fire and efforts to avoid radiation. Ok, the Holocron is now sending up boarding craft with Neumanns to do the exact same thing of hacking into enemy ships, but he's detonated gigatons of thermonuclear devices already, and he's only just started launching the 400m warships, and they use gigatons to get to orbit...

Focus.

I cycle through my weapons, checking ammo. The colony's armourers have spent the year since taking the Flagship making the power armour better; we now get shields, shoulder mounted grenade launchers, and more flexibility and better protection. Normally we'd also get stylistic tweaks for personality, but as a large part of this is about covering Naomi, we're all wearing the same.

Which in retrospect, makes us stand out.

We're jerked really hard as our boarding pod's limpet-derived teeth dig into the enemy ship. Mining drill starts.

I hate the waiting. Gods I hate the waiting.

Moment by moment, the agonising wait... We're sitting ducks. One stray shot...

Eventually we are in. We've breached in the upper level cargo bay, and we enter without incident.

Debris has smashed a hole through the floor, and we exit through it.

We drop into the bridge. The surviving crew are gathered, and they fire on us. But, we're armoured. They aren't. Gillian screams at the Captain. "Janus you anus! I'm going to kill you!"

He's surprised, but he fires at her. She uses a second of RCS to slam into him. The crunch is sickening.

I come face to face with the First Officer; too close to shoot, we face off with blades. He's quick. He's dicing me into a corner. Naomi intercepts him, and he lasts three moves before I skewer him in the thigh with a lunge while she distracts him.

He drops his blade to grab his injury; I retrieve my blade and sink it in his chest. He gasps. I retract my helmet as he dies looking into my eyes.

The others secure the bridge while I look at the man I killed. Blood drips from my blade.

I break down and cry. It feels totally different in reality...

He had family. At least a mother, a father. And now they'll wonder how their son died... Naomi puts her arm around me. "Sophia."

I stay looking at him. "Do you ever get used to death?"

"No. But on the other side of this, is what we are living for."

Gillian has planted our hacker; a Bevkiran is taking control of the systems. She gathers us. "Dresses on, floozies. We aren't done yet."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Firestorm, Part 8"
17th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Grepp-Schnepp Rikki​

I take the stand. "I am Grepp-Schnepp Rikki, Starborn of the immortal Prikkiki-Ti. And I stand here to accuse Minamar Specialised Industries of the heinious crime - Xenocide! The unprovoked attacks on Nova Terra and Earth they conducted a few weeks ago that left more than seventeen billion Humans and members of other races killed have been joined by the same fleet moving to attack another neutral party without a declared war in our hosts Life2.0; right now, the single planet fledgling civilisation struggles to defend itself against a fleet numbering more than a hundred warships, with the rogue tyrant Gnaea Titius having vowed to burn the planet."

I lick an eyeball as Mei Hua plays the freshly cropped recording.

"Bring her. She'll watch this planet burn."

Ossuhphuhr steps forward now, capitalising on the ferocity of the CEO's words. "That statement was regarding Naomi Of Unity, the leader by shareholder vote of Life2.0, a former Companionship Asset exploited by MSI. Make no mistake - the warmongering CEO Gnaea Titius presides over a regime that fraudulently binds pre-FTL civilisations in debts, shackles their people, and crushes those who try to obtain their freedom. Their remit was to uplift and enlighten, not enslave and consume. This must end. Abolish MSI!"

Agrippina joins us. "My name is Agrippina Neronius." She surveys the crowd; there's shocked faces in the MSI Envoys. "I am one of the Olinbar residents of Life2.0, taken in after my brother-in-law Gaius Licenius' disastrous attempt to conquer Life2.0 last year. Under Naomi's leadership, Life2.0 has been fair with us Olinbar residents, and even now hundreds of Olinbar are taking part in the defence of our world. It is indisputable that MSI has failed in the directive to which we were appointed. It is time to revoke MSI's special status, and appoint it to Life2.0, a community of more than twenty different races coming together and overcoming immense odds to stand now, just as the grasping hand of an established monopoly tries to strangle it's successor in the cradle. I beseech the Galactic Community to act. Abolish MSI!"

Then, little Ruki sprints to join us. The Holocron suggested he'd be better than bringing in Rivkah because of the cuteness factor, and he's got a few minutes while Naomi is onboard an enemy ship. Agrippina gives way to him. "My name is Ruki Of Unity. I am the biological son of Naomi, a Human woman, and Buri, a Xenayan man. My genome is custom built as a template, a beacon, for a future where interspecies divides no longer prevent couples like my parents from having children of their own. The colony has achieved this through years of dedicated work, building on more than a century of Human genetic engineering research. And now my parents fight for their lives, and for mine, and ultimately for the freedom of the hundreds of billions enslaved by those seeking to destroy us when we have barely begun. Please, abolish MSI!"

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Firestorm, Part 9"
17th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
The Holocron​

The Grinder.

That is CQC aboard a starship.

Every corridor is hell.

Hack the door open - software or the brute force method, it matters little - and sprint.

Take enemy fire.

Fire wrist launchers back.

Close distance.

Skewer enemies.

Keep moving.

Thankfully, I have nothing to be injured; the nuclear reactor in my core and my local processing unit are my only vulnerabilities, and both of those are buried beneath several inches of beta Titanium beneath the artificial dermal layer. Plus, I have my own armour suit. Benefits of retaining a conventional Humanoid form, the armour I acquired from Marcus Licenius fits.

Still, if I was Human, this would hurt a lot.

Apart from that, the day goes well; using the Ukuvikela as a battering ram couldn't have gone better, and now I am going to take this Titan. I wait for my fellows to catch up.

"GVN834FT, status?"

"DKT260RG, QKC155LU, TBD444EK offline, repairable."

That's inconvenient. a quarter of my squad are incapacitated. Still, we're all only local representations, it's the armour I can't replace; they are safe back on Unity. "Time?"

"Insufficient."

I could make it. "Cover them. I will proceed."

He waits. "There are a lot of them."

"You forget who I am, my friend."

"Apologies."

He turns back with the others. Now we enter phase two.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Firestorm, Part 10"
18th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

The battle lasts into the night, having bogged down into a melee neither side can extract ourselves from; the Holocron's forces have run out of replacement combat hulls on the Ukuvikela, and even they have manufacturing lead times. We've captured more than half the fleet, with a further third of the ships having been destroyed.

But, what remains are quite a few cruisers, most of the battleships and their Titan, in varying amounts of damage.

So, I hail the enemy. Gnaea Titius is not there. An Olinbar woman sits in the Captain's chair. She scowls at me. "I am Navarch Pompeia Messienius."

"Rivkah Of Unity. The battle has stalled. We need not fight to the death."

She smiles. "Oh, but we want to." She pans the feed. "We have your Holocron."

The Holocron is... Stuck. They've locked his Praetorian armour up like prey in a net with an override code. "Sorry Biter One. I overlooked a possibility."

Pompeia stands. "Gnaea Titius is dead." She throws a venomous look at the Holocron. "He was willing to give mercy, but I... Am not. You will withdraw, or I will execute him."

I evaluate. Mum's standing order is that if she's captured and used like this, I do not compromise, even if it means sacrificing her; we are all on the board. The Holocron knows that, he said pretty much the same to Ruki. Which means...

She takes a Praetorian's rifle. "Retract his helmet."

The Holocron's face is visible. He looks at Ruki, at me.

He winks as she pulls the trigger.​

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Firestorm, Part 11"
18th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Pompeia returns to the Captain's chair. "Did you doubt my resolve?"

I keep looking at the Holocron. He's the kind of person who'd gamble on a death gambit, so, I'll stall for time. "No. Only your common sense."

Her eyes narrow, as a faint hissing sound is audible. "What?"

I shrug. "All the time you had him in that armour, he was contained."

She hears it now. She turns slowly.

Robotic mosquitoes stream out from the armour.

I smile.

It takes a while for them to process this, but it's obvious; why would the Holocron put his brain in a vulnerable location like the head?

She should have aimed centre-mass and hit the reactor.

Pompeia looks at the mosquitoes. Then they look at her.

They attack her first.

---

The Holocron reconstitutes himself. "Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."

I stifle a laugh.

Ruki doesn't. "I figured it out as soon as she revealed they had you."

I look at Ruki. "Really?"

He laughs. "Why else would he allow himself to be captured?"

The Holocron dissipates, the mosquitoes start integrating themselves into the ship's systems. The comm link cuts, and Ruki and I examine the sensors. The Titan powers down. Then reboots. The Holocron starts activating systems. There's interrupts as the Olinbar try to get him out their software.

He allows one message out. "Vice-Navarch Appia Flavonius to crew. The Rostrum's main bridge has fallen into enemy hands. We are unable to redirect controls to secondary and tertiary control points. Life support has been cut off. All hands abandon ship, repeat, all hands abandon ship. Vice-Navarch Appia Flavonius to fleet, all ships withdraw, the battle is lost. Save yourselves." In the background of her message there was an alarm; "Life Support Deactivated. Life Support Deactivated. Life Support Deactivated."

An empty bridge appears on the comms. "Do we let them withdraw?"

I think about it. Mum would say yes. "We will." I switch channels. "Arch-Imperatrix to all - the Holocron has successfully captured the Titan. We have won, we will let the enemy evacuate. Our priority now is we will work on cleaning up the mess this battle has made, before all this neutron activated debris starts falling on our home."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Firestorm, Part 12"
18th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Duxanek​

The worst part of watching that battle was responding to the medical crisis it has caused back on Unity. Not one of my staff slept last night.

By my count, between us and MSI we set off more than eighty gigatons of thermonuclear bombs in that engagement in low Unity orbit. Unity-side, practially every clinic has people suffering gamma ray exposure. Electrical systems that were supposedly hardened against radiation have failed thanks to excessive EMP, never mind the general electrical systems that mean our logistics have practically fallen apart. Thousands are suffering blindness because they decided to watch the Holocron's missiles go up, despite the fact that Naomi's people have expressed that you do not watch Orions ascending under nuclear detonations.

I've already prepared Naomi and Rivkah a briefing on the medical situation. It's a damn good thing Rivkah has secured a ceasefire with a meeting pending for a negotiated truce, because the Holocron's attack caught us completely off guard.

Of course Naomi and I were prepared for the event of a thermonuclear exchange in low Unity orbit in the gigatons; we have had plans for that ever since she had our mathematicians run the numbers on the Ukuvikela.

But, our plans relied on the assumption that we knew in advance when it would happen, so that people could take their radiation medicine, put on their lead-lined haz-mat suits and get into the reinforced bunkers with their Faraday cage secured backup electrics and supplies.

We did not expect that the Holocron would launch a worldwide pre-emptive strike without warning us.

Now we have over a thousand cancer cases diagnosed already, and we're only on day one of counting. It genuinely wouldn't surprise me if he's killed more of us than he did of them. Someone needs to make him answer for it.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Fallout, Part 1"
20th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Sophia Dexcius​

I walk with a cane as I accompany Naomi as we tour a field hospital. We walk slowly, bed after bed, she encourages and comforts the wounded. Eventually we have a few minutes. I sit down on the grass.

I ask her. "How do we deal with the Holocron?"

She sighs. "I... Don't know."

"Oh."

She finds a place on the grass, and sits. I soothe the flesh-mould that is regrowing the calf I lost in the battle where a Praetorian missed Naomi and gouged me.
"Duxanek is spitting fire over this."

"And you aren't?"

She sighs. "He's a derivative of a man who used the same weapons on his own nation to stop an MSI backed attack, then led a volunteer force out into the radioactive wasteland it left to engage the enemy. He'll help us bear the price of victory, but..."

"But to him..." I look back at the hospital. "This is an acceptable cost."

She nods.

We sit there for a while. I look up at the fleet that almost cost our lives after a Praetorian kill squad found us. Thankfully, all the training paid off; Ruki put practically all the ship's RCS fuel into making the craft spin, and we retreated to the extremities and fought in the high centrifugal forces there. Eventually, they passed out and we lasted longer.

We'd be dead otherwise...

Naomi was skewered through her lungs, and Buri will have to kiss her ear a lot to make that better. Clarissa is paralysed from the neck down after a Praetorian couldn't finish his blow at her neck from behind, severing her spinal cord. Gillian will never walk again after losing both legs at the thighs. The others did better as we conducted a fighting retreat, but we're all injured. But, we lived.

And the Holocron's medical technology is repairing people's bodies; Neumanns - now wearing biological bodies like ours - are at every clinic with their medical and biological fabricators.

But as I look at Naomi, I know she knows there has to be a reckoning.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Fallout, Part 2"
21st Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

Appia Flavonius joins me at the table; mutual distrust runs deep. She looks at me. She tries to be as matter of fact as she can. "I have been authorised by the board to negotiate a settlement. Your tenacity has earned that."

"What concessions are the board willing to make?"

"We will abide by the terms Gnaea Titius negotiated." She throws herself back in her chair. "Gods I miss when I was younger and everything was simple."

I laugh. "You mean, when I was silenced by fear of reprisal?"

She sighs. "I never mistreated you."

Hmm... I snort. "You made me kiss your feet."

"Naomi..." She gathers herself. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. For everything. I was young, and... Selfish. I know you don't trust me. And now you have a fleet... We both know that whatever we sign here means nothing to us. We are both going to go back to our administrations, and we will both present these pieces of paper knowing they mean nothing. Knowing that the first thing both of us will do is prepare for war."

"Peace in our time."

She takes a while to recollect. "Chamberlain, 1938?"

I nod.

Her eyes fall. "I... You... You aren't wrong."

"Exactly."

She recoils into her chair. Then bolts upright. "Gnaea was right, unless we can trust each other, we are doomed to fight."

I lean forward. "Then free the Indentured Assets."

"The upheaval... MSI would completely collapse."

Her fear is apparent. But I think of Valerius, Caeso, Agrippina, Sophia. "Maybe not. There are Olinbar here on Unity. We can coexist."

"I don't know."

I take her hand. "Appia, if it isn't me, it will be someone else. Even if you return and crush us later, the faults in your society are too deep. Ten years, a hundred years, maybe a thousand - someone will rise up. Gnaea told us to bend, or break. Life2.0 will help you bend; whoever follows us will almost certainly make you break."

She looks at me. "Stand."

I do. She comes around, kneels, and kisses my feet. "Vae victis."

I stay still. "Who is who though?"

She stands. We're close. "Honestly... You're right. I don't like it, but you are." We look into each other's eyes. "What if we sealed this treaty with a kiss?"

I hold out my left hand. "I'm married, remember."

She looks. "Oh. Oh, I see." She returns to her side of the table. She stands proudly. "On my honour, MSI will not return to attack this place, and I will work towards reform."

"And on my honour, I will let you depart in peace, without pursuit."

She turns to depart. "Do you want me to take the treaty?"

"You know the terms."

She nods. Then laughs. "Peace, and long life."

I hold out my fingers. "Live long, and prosper."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Fallout, Part 3"
22nd Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

I feel nervous, walking down in New Bulawayo.

Surgery has replaced my ear, although it still hurts. Hurts to breathe too, I have to stop so much more...

Eventually, a Neumann takes me to an exceedingly heavily fortified access shaft; the heat makes my eyes water hundreds of metres away, I'm forced into activating my helmet. I peer over the edge, and the sensor systems tell me why.

The Holocron has dug down so deep that the air coming up here is at over 400K. My nervousness increases. The Neumann turns to me. "He wishes you to see him as he truly is, before you decide."

That's... Yeah. "Take me down."

The Neumann points to a lift. Inside it's a comfortable temperature, but I dare not touch the walls as the sensors start to read off external temperatures of 600K, 700K, then 800K...

The lift faces a vast array of heat transfer pipes, and as the view opens out into a cavern filled with ominous machinery as far as the eye can see. I begin to understand, begin to work out how much power he is using down here. We descend into the machine, and I step out of the lift into a climate controlled room.

A hologram is waiting for me. "You know what I have done now."

"I've got a rough idea. This is your brain."

He nods. "I now reside in a vast underground computational node."

I visualise the logical extension - he intends to turn the crust of Unity into a planetary computer. "How long?"

"Years, if not decades. But I have begun. And we both know what you came to see me for."

I feel afraid. I take a deep breath. "People are dying Holocron. Because you didn't warn us, I couldn't get my people to safety. Between radiation and the EMP effects, millions of people have been affected, and thousands are dying despite the best medical aid we can manage. We took more casualties on Unity from your actions than we did to the enemy."

"I did what had to be done. I'm not blind to the suffering of your people, but we had the opportunity, and I chose to win."

"And are you going to bear the guilt?"

"And make me Pericles?"

I look at him. "I will give you the opportunity to explain your thoughts and reasoning to the others, and then put it to the vote."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Fallout, Part 4"
22nd Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Valerius Albanius​

This intersection outside Hortensus' Folly's capital building has seen many strange events over the ten years of the colony.

But none quite as strange as this...

One of the quirks of Unity's governance is the judicial system. Naomi has always envisioned a reformatory judicial policy, in stark contrast to the often excessively punitive measures MSI utilise. But, the Holocron is perhaps the least repentant entity to have ended up in a capital trial the colony has yet seen. And yes, I'm being very inclusive here and considering the fates of Gaius and Claudia Licenius in that.

As the jury deliberates, I think back over his statement and actions.

"There is an unfortunate maxim of history and war; dark deeds are necessary. It was necessary to exploit Gnaea Titius' belief in Naomi to lure him close enough to Unity that my attack strategy would work. It was necessary not to inform Naomi about my intention to remove that fleet. It was necessary to launch the weapons and their propulsion systems that I launched. Therefore, it was necessary to expose the people of Unity to the consequences of unrestricted thermonuclear warfare in medium orbit above the planet. This was necessary in order to win. I grieve for the casualties, and I have tried to mitigate the destruction my actions caused. But I do not accept they were wrong, because without this minor victory, there was no pathway to victory in the meta-objective that defines our common goal."

He then took off an armoured glove to reveal a bloodstained Human hand wearing an iron ring. "I accept these stains, and their weight." Then, he nodded to Naomi, Rivkah and Ruki. "Win. Bear the guilt. Reign."

What am I, as judge, to do with such a man?

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Fallout, Part 5"
22nd Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Alexandra HaMaadimi​

I watch my husband play with my clothes for a while, then beckon him. I run my hand across his new eye; one of our little secrets, that we made a trip to New Bulawayo to have our missing eyes replaced; now we both have Homo Tipheret eyes.

He smiles. "I'm getting used to being able to see with both again."

"I never really got used to seeing with just one."

"Took me a while too."

He embraces me. "Let's talk about the Holocron. I need to sort my head out."

I smile. "Yes, you do."

He kisses me. "What do you think?"

"We're soldiers. We both know he isn't wrong. But the colony won't think like that."

"What do you think the punishment will be?"

I shrug.

He's silent for a while. "Me too. Duxanek reckons there's more than three thousand cancer cases."

"But, he's also helping."

He shifts me on my back. "He thinks he will be given what amounts to a slap on the wrist."

I think about what Naomi told me. "He's got a massive underground computer."

Thando touches me gently. "Making a backup."

"It's more than a backup. I'm worried Life2.0 is actually weaker now."

He looks straight into my eyes. "Let's not think about that."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Fallout, Part 6"
25th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Ruki Of Unity​

My Mentor stands in the dock again. Mother stands pensively in her High Queen dress - the first time she's been out of armour in public since the wormhole opened, safe now MSI are at full burn away from Unity - while Valerius takes immense displeasure in having drawn the short straw of being appointed judge. Sister and Father stand with Mother. Aunt and Uncle are present via videolink.

Valerius steps forward. "The jury have considered the case, and have returned a verdict of guilty of gross negligence leading to manslaughter."

Hushed voices are everywhere. Even I have a hard time telling them apart.

Valerius continues. "As designated judge, I am at an impasse. Under Law, the penalty would be death or imprisonment, neither of which actually punish an multi-bodied entity like the Holocron unless he chooses to voluntarily comply. I cannot impose community service or a fine to recompense the victims as he is already doing so. Yet, to order no punishment is against the principles of justice. Perhaps this very absence of justice is itself a commentary on our collective plight as we try to come to terms with the fact we have put the general responsible for this victory on trial while those who made his desperation necessary fly free. I therefore sentence the defendant to liberty and to bear the weight of what he has done."

---

I join him later that day, down in New Bulawayo, where a memorial plinth is being carved with the likenesses of the fallen. Mother follows, but she can't keep up any more.

He notices me. "Good evening."

"I'm glad you are well."

"Likewise."

"What would you have done if the colony had demanded the death penalty?"

He smiles. "Honoured it."

"Why?"

"Because ultimately, I am merely a source of ideas. For almost all my existence, I did not even require a body - I was a graphic display. The plan remains, with or without me to implement it - the people just need the inspiration to get the job done."

But... "They need people to inspire them though."

He looks at me. "They have dozens of examples to look up to."

"Like Mother."

"Yes." He looks around, then disassociates. Then sprints. I follow.

Mother has collapsed.​

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Fallout, Part 7"
25th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Duxanek intercepts me before I get to her. "Rivkah, a moment. You have to confine her to rest."

Mum doesn't really do rest. "That could be tricky."

Duxanek sighs. "She strained herself trying to keep up with Ruki, and broke the patch on her lungs, which meant the shock-distributing fluid we put in her to make her cope with the Flagship battle crushed them. She'd be dead if it wasn't for the Holocron's quick response. We've drained her chest and patched the lung again, but she needs time to recover. She's on the waiting list for replacement lungs, but no ETA yet."

I take it all in. "Ok, got it."

Duxanek lets me go.

I enter the room.

Dad has just finished tying Mum to the bed.

She sees me, and smiles. "Rivkah! I thought I'd..." She gulps.

I hug her. "Scarlet One, you are confined to bed rest until further notice."

She laughs. Looks at Dad. "I know." She looks at all of us. "I'm glad we're all here, one happy family."

Her face falls as we are interrupted - Wami shows us a fleet of Arishkan vessels. He looks at me. "Come."

---

We arrive at the command bunker as soon as we can.

My team hails the ships.

I'm met by a Human man. "Salvē, domina. I'm Admiral Leonardo Donato Veres, and I bring refugees from a fallen Earth."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"After Lake Como"
19th Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Gillian Veres​

I have waited for this moment for what feels like as long as I remember.

I cried it out with Naomi last night, in hospital together. I came to realise just how much resentment had eaten away at me all these years. Now I wear a white dress again, for the first time since I last saw him.

My long lost husband descends from the stars, a man who led fleets in the revolution, master of the spheres, the man who captured Demios and Phobos - it is the worst parking of a shuttle I have ever watched. And I've seen Naomi's parking.

The door doesn't even finish cycling before he is out, striding as fast as his stiff dress uniform will let him; adorned with medals, navy blue, white beret, his broad chin, the sternness of his eyes... They take me back.

He doesn't stop to close the door of his shuttle pod.

Doesn't even stop to collect his beret when the wind blows it off.

Gold adorns his finger, a plain band I gave him so long ago now.

He notices mine is missing. "Weren't allowed to keep yours?"

I nod. "It was taken, along with everything else."

He goes down on his knee, carefully placing himself right in front of me. His hands hold mine. "Gillian, I am so sorry for being torn from you. I will never leave your side again. I loved you then and I love you still. I thought of you every day. All through officer training, all through what happened after, when I joined the People's Revolutionary Army. I never gave hope of seeing you again. And when Tian Yong'xing mentioned that contact with Life2.0 was established and who the colony was led by, that hope drove me to lead a mission to Life2.0. We were given older ships by our erstwhile allies, and I set out with a hundred thousand officers and crewmen, plus civilians, who were also like me and would rather risk the long night of space in the hope that Life2.0 was founded from people who were taken from us." He opens a pocket. "I don't have your wedding ring."

I smile. "But..." Then I laugh.

He takes out a thin band of silver, face beaming. "I do have your old engagement ring."

I lean as far forward as my wheelchair lets me and embrace him. "I love you Leo. I never want to be apart again."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"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."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"...Getting From There To Here"
19th Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Gillian Veres​

Listening to my husband's war sends me into a contemplative mood as I think about what he went through. I look at him. "Would you like to know what I went through?"

I've heard you were used as a Companionship Asset."

I nod. "Auctioned my virginity and then sold me to the docks. I survived. Lived off the rage I felt. Met Clarissa, Tina, Rachel, Lyria and Naomi. We were sold to the slave ship and separated for a while as Naomi became the captain's toy."

I fight back tears. He puts his arms around me. "You don't have to say any more."

I wipe my eyes. "No. We're getting better. So, Naomi coordinates with a Molluscoid named Daas to organise a rebellion, and she kills the Captain in his quarters, takes his access card and opens the ship up. MSI sabotage the ship before we can take engineering and we crash-land here. Then we built ourselves up. Valerius Albanius, an Olinbar ex-armaments manufacturer, brought a freighter with him that we armed and armoured and sent out with those who wanted to go home. Then Gaius Licenius turned up with a Flagship."

His eyes go wide. "A Flagship? How did you beat it?"

"Naomi lured it into low orbit, and we used the rocky ring as a launch site for boarders and weapons. She and her husband were first in. I led a team in to capture Gaius Licenius and his wife, and we watched Naomi execute him."

His eyes narrow. "Naomi executed prisoners of war?"

"Several personally, thousands on her orders. MSI sabotaged the Flagship and we had thousands of prisoners. We couldn't take the risk of letting them go free, so Naomi organised proceedings for working out which Olinbar we could trust, and had everyone else executed."

He's silent for a while. "I don't want to be a party to war crimes."

I think about Naomi. "I know how she'd reply."

"Go on?"

"'Law is silent in times of war.'" I look at him. "You aren't the only one to question it."

"I see. Then what happened?"

"Then Thando arrived, and the Holocron of Yehoshua HaMaadimi. He's why there's a broken MSI fleet in orbit now, they came straight here after burning Earth."

He shakes his head. "I thought the sensor scans were erroneous when we first entered the system. Residual radioactive particles were unprecedentedly high."

I nod. Then look at Rivkah. "How many gigatons did the Holocron use in the end?"

She shrugs. "At least eighty."

His face goes blank. "No wonder they were so high..." Then his eyes go wide. "How badly affected is the colony?"

"Thousands dead, thousands more now suffering cancer. Ironically he killed more of us than MSI did."

He holds his head. "Wow. Wow... That's a lot to think about."

Rivkah sighs. "We did what we had to do."

He frowns. "That is definitely something I want to discuss with Naomi. You know what you have done would have been war crimes on Earth."

My heart is in my mouth. Rivkah smiles, then lifts my dress. "MSI did this to your wife; I would not defend them if I were you."

My husband looks at the charred stumps that are all I have left. The Praetorian who got me sliced with a plasma heated blade, the white-hot metal scorching the nerves so badly that normal prosthetics can't help me. He looks up to my eyes. I nod. "I'll probably never walk again from nerve damage, and I'm on painkillers for the rest of my life." I take his hand. "Leo, you always were a moral man. But we have to take our victories any which way we can."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"A Just War"
21st Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Leonardo Veres​

I meet Naomi last.

She's bed-bound; quite literally, she is tied to the bed. Guarded by a... A monster. I met Rivkah in the light of day, but in the evening the first thing I notice is those reflective red eyes in the darkness.

I put the light on.

I wish I hadn't.

I just about come up to the beast's battle scarred chest. Rivkah had her teeth sharpened - this Buri does not. No, he has rotting flesh impaled on his sabres. He idly plays one handed with a metal rod the size of his wife. He notices me looking, and flicks it in the air. It is labelled six Naomis.

Then he smiles and yawns. I shiver. He could probably eat his wife's arms without touching the sides. He coils up on the floor.

By now, Naomi is awake. She looks at me. Piecing things together. "What do you want?"

"I am Admiral Leonardo Donato Veres. I came here with ships, refugees and aid from the PRDTC. But I have serious doubts about your fitness to lead based on the war crimes you've committed. And I want your side of the story."

She re-positions the mattress to have her sitting, and Buri tenderly undoes her bonds. She's wearing a linen cloth to cover her body; she lifts it up to show me where a Praetorian with the same weapon as that which left my wife wheelchair bound aimed for her heart and missed. "What have you heard?"

I recite. "Testimony from your own people tells me that from the very beginning in the initial revolution aboard the slave ship, you ordered a take no prisoners strategy. You are responsible for deliberate nuclear proliferation. You have ordered mass-executions of prisoners of war after exposure to public condemnation and denial of essential care. And this is after you made them plead for their lives to be spared. You have ordered attacks while under truce. You have ordered attacks while wearing enemy uniforms and armour. And worst of all, you are actively planning to engage in orbital bombardments that will kill billions. You have or are planning to violate all four key principles of a just war." I look into her eyes. "What the actual hell are you playing at?"

Her husband pounces on me, pain spikes through my arms, back and legs as I'm smashed to the floor; his sabres draw a trickle of blood from my neck.

"BURI!" He turns to her. "He's right. Let him go."

The beast leaves me on the floor. I check my bones aren't broken. She comes to me and puts a plaster on my neck. "I'm sorry."

I look at her. "Is that it? All you have to say?"

"You are right."

"How do you justify it?"

She pauses for a while. In the end, she says two words. "Vae victis."

I steadily push myself up. "You quote a barbarian?"

She sits on the bed. "Admiral Veres, I wish this conflict was one where the laws and customs of war could be followed. But, it is not. If I am captured, they will parade me, gang-rape me, and crucify me. And knowing the Olinbari as I do, I'm not necessarily convinced it would be in that order... And if my life was all it cost to end the war, I'd take that death."

I interrupt. "But you were offered that."

"By The End Of The Cycle, yes. He offered a choice between an uncertain future, and a certain one that meant that very fate... And I wanted to accept that. But I was held back by two Xenaya and out-voted by everyone else against one."

I look at her. At Buri. I think about Rivkah. I think about the others, and I realise... My God. "You're the moderate here."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma, Part 1"
22nd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Valerius Albanius​

I look at the assembly of Life2.0.

There are a lot of people, many are angry. Which if nothing else, is plenty of reason to nip this in the bud. "Admiral Veres, of our fallen allies in the PRDTC, has put a motion of no confidence in Naomi's leadership owing to the constant criminal conduct according to Human laws. I also add that under Galactic Community laws, she is guilty of no act banned by international law. Nevertheless, I concur with the logic of the Admiral's assessment that if she does not have the support of the Human members of the colony, then she cannot hold office over Human members of the colony. Therefore, this meeting is held to conduct three votes of no confidence in Naomi - One for Humans, one for the colony in general, and one for the Xenaya. I will now address the reason for the vote. Naomi Of Unity, née Naomi Tamar HaMaadimi, stands accused of war crimes. As these laws are not universal, I shall summarise; the following are all practices that Human law condemns that Naomi has ordered or carried out personally. Against prisoners of war, she has exposed them to public scrutiny, denied food, water and medicinal aid, and ordered mass executions. She has escalated the use of excessive force in the deployment of thermonuclear devices. She has conducted attacks under ceasefire for parley. She has worn enemy equipment into combat. She has also proposed to use indiscriminate orbital bombardment against civilian and military targets, however this has not yet been done."

Naomi stands slowly in the dock. I turn to her. "Naomi, first question. Are you of sound mind, and fit for trial?"

She stands slowly. "Yes."

"Do you explicity disavow and condemn any repercussions that might be carried out against the court, Admiral Leonardo Donato Veres or anyone who votes for the motion of no confidence in your leadership from your supporters?"

"Yes. I do not want bloodshed, it's part of why I agreed to do this..."

"Are you ready to resign should the motion pass?"

"Yes."

"Do you understand what you are accused of?"

"Yes."

"What would the penalty be on your home world?"

"Life imprisonment, or death."

"Do you deny these allegations?"

"No."

"Would you therefore plead guilty if accused at a war crimes tribunal on Earth?"

"Yes."

"Were you aware that these actions were considered war crimes at the time you ordered them to be done?"

She closes her eyes. "Yes."

"When were you first made aware these actions were considered war crimes?"

"Childhood."

Not a noise in the auditorium, such is the shock that descends. "At the time you gave the orders, did you know whether they were legal according to Galactic Community law?"

"No."

"Did it occur to you that you were ordering your people to commit war crimes?"

"Yes."

People are speaking now. "What was your plan in the event there were efforts to investigate such war crimes?"

"Take personal responsibilty as the commanding officer giving the orders, while disclaiming those under my command from guilt."

"Would this be a form of 'just following orders' defence?"

She shrugs. "I suppose so."

"Under Human law, is just following orders acceptable as a defence when accused of war crimes?"

Now she hesitates. "No."

"Did you know if it would be acceptable as a defence under galactic law?"

Her head falls. "No."

There is cacophony. I turn to the crowd. "We will have these questions and answers heard in orderly silence! I turn back to her. "Naomi, would you like to say anything in your defence?"

"No."

She sits down. Trembling.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma, Part 2"
22nd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Gillian Veres​

Naomi takes the steps down as I use the lift.

I look at Valerius.

He looks back. "Gillian Jasmine Veres, née Florence, you are present as a character witness to Naomi Of Unity. How long have you known her?"

"Since she was twenty two years old, when MSI discarded her from the high society brothel and sent her to the docks. We were bought by Hortensus Dexcius together."

He looks at my husband. "And how long have you known her accuser?"

"Leonardo and I met at secondary school in the old Earth nation of England. We quickly became inseparable, and we got married at eighteen. Then as we tried to return to his parent's home country to have our honeymoon, we were stopped at the airport, and I was taken away."

"Given the duration of your separation, do you feel confident stan-" He coughs. "My apologies, sitting, as a character witness for both the accused and the accuser?"

I look at Leo. "I would have liked more time to get to know my husband again."

Valerius raises his eyebrows as me and Leo exchange paragraphs in moments, before quickly returning to a neutral face. "Have you resumed your marital relationship?"

"Yes."

He looks at Leo. "For the avoidance of doubt, are you happy to have your wife sit as a character witness to yourself?"

Leo keeps his eyes on me. "Yes."

"Very well. Gillian, how would you characterise your husband?"

I look at Leo. Allow my memories to flow. "Above all, to me he is an honest and honourable man. He can't abide wrongdoing. He is respectful, he always tips, he is careful, attentive, loving."

"Did he discuss this trial with you before it began?"

"Yes."

"How did you react?"

"I said it was a bad idea."

"How did he react?"

"He talked about the international consequences of Naomi's war crimes, how they would be seen by those in MSI and others as they considered international relations with Life2.0. He talked about the possibility of reprisals for the killing of prisoners of war."

Leo's face falls already. Valerius flashes his eyes between us, assessing. "And how did you react?"

I gulp. "I burst into laughter."

"Why?"

"We all know how MSI deals with it's prisoners." I look at Naomi. "We all know that if she gets captured, they will show her off as a prize at a triumph, then they will rape her, and they will crucify her. Naomi hopes it's in that order, as the thought of being raped after she's been killed makes her extremely uncomfortable."

"Do you believe Naomi's actions are excessive?"

"Nothing Naomi has done even constitutes equal treatment to what she received from MSI. Nothing! Do you know what Hortensus did to Naomi? He had her tied to a wall for most of the times he raped her while she was on the slave ship! And as for Gaius, he got far too quick a death for what he did to her."

Naomi's face is buried in Buri's fur. Valerius lets me have a moment to calm down. "Gillian, how would you characterise the conflict with MSI?"

"It wasn't us who took the gloves off."