"Redneck" (FGC based AU)

[Cannonshop]

"Brae fowk? they hae a funay accent. yoo pure cannae teel whit it is they're tryin' tae teel ye, Th' warst ones come frae arluna itself. it's loch they're talkin' wi' marbles in their mooths...But whit can ye expect, they're practically oan th' periphery, nae properly civilized, ye kin?
Still, they're guid fighters, guid soldiers, e'en if ye dae hae tae make them say everythin' ower th' radio twice."

-Col. Dwayne Corelli, 4th Skye Rangers (3067 interview)

MacAulliffe Farm, 20 January, 3068...

The dooryard had been turned into a parking lot, and it was filling up.  The back acreage nearest the house, which would be fallow this year after plowing, had been turned into a sort of Helicopter park.  Parties from similar areas had, at least, pooled some of their transport-making a hodgepodge of vehicles, everything from a fusion-driven Maxim infantry fighting vehicle purchased for the House DeSoto militia two years ago, to a school-bus that was pushing forty years old from Diamondhead in the upper hills.

The people here were also a fairly broad mix-everything from Bolivarian Gauchos to Los Dominguez hipsters, to the seemingly everywhere "Hill People".

The Hill-folk, Arluna's own "least among equals" had, apparently, weathered the Flu better than their urbanite counterparts.   

Al Monroe, along with Commander Cu'ong, stood with most of the other Relief teams, apart and watching, present, but (he hoped_) irrelevant.

On a spit over the firepit, a steer, skinned, gutted, and cleaned, had been cooking since the 18th.  Debbie's 'kitchen crew' included several of her local friends, and Elizabeth Ngo-whom was doing 'her' part by staying OUT of the business in the horse-barn.

Al, feeling kind of useless where he was, walked up, "I don't get it, Your Grace-she's in the horse arena, you're out here."

"It's got to be her show." Liz said, "They're either going to come up with a feeling of unity in there, or not-but they definitely will not if they see me or anyone else as holding her hand.  I go in there, I do more damage to Deb's cause than if I tossed a molotov cocktail in there and started screaming threats."

Elizabeth turned to the NIOPS officer, "Here, make yourself useful-turn the meat over, I'm not quite up to working that crank."

"Do you think they'll...as you put it, 'come together'?" Al asked, working the crank that turned the spit.

"People like order, they like to feel like they've got a say...I think they will." Liz told him, "Debbie's bet is a good one-but I think she missed something that I didn't."

"What's that?" Al asked.

"People tend to fall in behind the first guy to step up and lead." Liz told him, "Not the best guy-not until the situation's stable, and not even the best-guy then, most of the time...Debbie took the initiative and started getting these people talking to each other, and more importantly, to, and through her.  Whether she likes the idea or not, my nomination of her to the Ducal seat is merely acknowledging the reality of what I see-I didn't pick her, the job did, I'm just hanging out to make sure she can handle the job...because if she can get this many people showing up to agree on a government, from four continents, and two island chains, all for the price of a shortwave transmitter and some commo wire, I think I may have found a regional leader who can make things better on a bigger scale.  Major Monroe, my greatest talent has always been finding the right people and getting them into the right jobs-it's why I don't have to micromanage either Ngo Industries, or Kowloon.  Deb's the right person for this job, and she's got potential for bigger jobs, and it's in my best interests to help her get there."

"YOUR interests?" Al asked.

"well, not mine precisely...but in the abstract, it is.  The Plague knocked over a lot of the social structure throughout this region of the Lyran Alliance.  WE need to get organized, or we're going to end up losing worlds-as in worlds falling off the map.   Deb's already got chops as a diplomat, she's got history doing it too-she can talk Clanners down, she can talk others around-which on balance means she's my best bet to stabilize the region the Plague hit the worst, stabilize it, and make it prosperous and strong.  Endgame is a region too strong for the Pirates to hit,  strong enough that it's not worth it to the Clans to roll through, and prosperous enough that it's actually valued by the perfumed princes on Tharkad.  It'll take longer than I probably have-the...passengers are developing normally, and that means in six months or so, barring a miracle, I'm a corpse.  I don't have eighteen years to groom an heir, I don't have two or three years to take over the area myself and get it ready, I've got six months to get my plan 'A' on-track and hope that inertia keeps it from derailing once I'm dead."

[Ajax_Wolf]

"Brae fowk? they hae a funay accent. yoo pure cannae teel whit it is they're tryin' tae teel ye, Th' warst ones come frae arluna itself. it's loch they're talkin' wi' marbles in their mooths...But whit can ye expect, they're practically oan th' periphery, nae properly civilized, ye kin?
Still, they're guid fighters, guid soldiers, e'en if ye dae hae tae make them say everythin' ower th' radio twice."

-Col. Dwayne Corelli, 4th Skye Rangers (3067 interview)

It'll take longer than I probably have-the...passengers are developing normally, and that means in six months or so, barring a miracle, I'm a corpse.

Like Dwayne has room to talk. Maybe it's because I've lived so long in NC, but I can read Deb's speech easier than his.

And "passangers"?  More than one Ngo to threaten the IS?

[Grognard]

Us Tarheels have at least three seperate accents...
You've got the Elizabeathean English types on the coast.
(Yep, there's some that give accent coaching to actors playing at Shakespeare)

Then in the mountains there's some that is just plain near pure Appalaichin.
(I'm a Tarheel born & bred, and I've met kin I cain't hardly understand)

Finally there's us in the middle, from the sandhills to the Piedmont ... with the universities and the Scotch-Irish and the Interstate and the Yankee retirees... the general Southern accent is there, but the near speech impediment is not.
(less'n we're really pissed.  then it's damnyankee this and damnyankee that and Honey get my gun. )

[DoctorMonkey]

Like Dwayne has room to talk. Maybe it's because I've lived so long in NC, but I can read Deb's speech easier than his.

And "passangers"?  More than one Ngo to threaten the IS?

I think the mistake is in thinking Scots speak with different spelling wheras it is more about a few "extra" words and dropping bits out - I would do it more with apostrophised gaps in the words than the other way. All of the phonetic spelling is why I gave up on trying to read Ian M Banks' stuff.

DOI various Scottish friends and an uncle from West Virginia while my Dad is an actor who can pull off most accents pretty well

[Cannonshop]

Horse Arena, MacAulliffe Farm...

Those who love Sausage, and respect Government, should never see either one being made.  Debbie mused on this old saying, while the delegates commenced to arguing and shouting matches. 

"...chaos without a proper feudal hierarchy!"  Don Jose Del-Vega was snarling-Deb silently observed that the baronet-one of the very few who neither tried to run, nor turned bandit in the post-plague chaos, nor had the decency to die of the Flu, had good reason to defend perogatives he'd enjoyed his entire life.  On the other side of the arena, Glenn Phillips, a former Machinist in Beidlerberg, was just as adamant that the die-off represented a new chance at true land reforms, while the six reps from the region that the Star Adders controlled, insisted that adopting the Clans' caste system was the only way to rebuild efficiently.

The only people in the arena, besides Debbie herself who weren't shouting to hear themselves talk, were the Hillfolk.

She did a silent count, stood up, drew her pistol, and let fly into the dirt at her feet.

"Lissen UP y'all."  she kept her voice low-but the way that the arena had been set up, she was standing in the one spot everyone could hear-without amplifiers.  "We IS a-gonna have us some order in thesear room, or Ah'm a-gonna shoot some folk, an' ary damfool Ah have t'shoot is gonna be clean dead, an' that's a promise."

"We is heah, t'make a Guv'mint fo' ouah own selfs, an' fo' oah futures an' kids, Savvy?" she walked as she spoke, looking harshly right, center, and left.  "OUAH world, OUAH laws, OUAH just'ce...now, Ah see heah, thet we have gots ourselfs about one hunnert Fine, upstandin' 'xamples of Her'dtarah Nobility oah theah suppo'tahs, Two hunnert'n fitty mo-oh-less new settlers wi' less'n two generations apaht f'm som'er else in th' Lyran Commonwealth, some o' yalls ain't even learnt English yet, still gots th' German accens..."  She stopped pacing.  "Th' REST, ifn' yall take a look, is Hillfolk an' smallholders-people lahk me.  Story Ah heard over'n over 'gain an' 'gain, was you citiy an' Estate folks, comin to MAH folks, fo' Pr'tection, fo' help...so mebbe, 'stead of worryin' bout how it's lookin' at Thahkad, mos' of three hunnert Laht Yeahs away,  Y'all maht cogitate on thet a piece."

She held the glare- and swept the room with it.  "We is a-gonna-do th' thing we came heah t'do.  First princ'ples applah-th'old colony contract was fo' a republic," she said, "Have a copy raht heah-raht out'the old Ducal Palace Archives-mind it's been moah honored in th' Breach than a whore's vuhginity, it is the oldest law we have...we jus' have t'decide if it IS a law, an' not jes some thing put in a presersleeve fo' trottin' out on special occasions."

That seemed to settle the hash for Glenn Phillips and his group, and some of the old Nobility's retainers looked a touch sheepish, or even embarassed, by having the original colonial charter-written and approved when it was the Protectorate of Donegal, rather than the Lyran Commonwealth.

"Naow, per this-ere document, y'all are constitutin' a Planetary Constitutional Convention."  Deb stated, "To form a provisional guv'nment until a new permanent guv'mint can be elected...by the People...of Arluna.  What we d'cide heah, is what will BE the law on this heah world-that is, th' LAW aftah we is all dead-dead...Naow, Ah would say thet, all told, th' Don theah, has a raht t' insist on his prop'ty rahts-accoahdin' the surveys an' legal documents, modified bah whut he can, in fact, protect with his fambly an' any retainahs he's able t' pay...and no moah then Thet.  WE do not HAVE th' Luxury of Serfdom, Don.  Ain't got 'nough people t'run sharecroppin, neither.  ary man in this heah room-an' woman too, kin go or stay as he or she pleases, an' ary man tries t' hold som'ne 'gainst their will ain't done somethin' to deserve it, needs t'be shot...an' thet should satisfah both sahds-Nobles what left, abandoned th' folks what leaned on 'em, an' th' land they laid claim ter.  Them's what stayed, Ah say, have earned what they can hold.  Gets th' land reforms th' liberals want, AND pr'tects the claims of them who did not turn co'ard run."

"Second, is ARY man or woman here, is equals in th' eyes o' th' law. PERIOD."  she barked, "It sits in th' Chahtah, I think, you look 'roun, you will see it sets well wi' 'bout seven hunnert fifty out of a thousand, an' we've got all the guns."

Luther Dixon raised his hand.  "Chaih rec'nizes Luthah Dixon, y'all got five minutes."  Debbie said.

Dixon stood up, "Move t' ratifah th' Chartah, AS writ, Ma'am...with modifyin' language t'fit yoah proposal fo' Land Claims."  he said in a mellow, deep voice, then sat down.

"Moved, Is theah a SECOND?"  Debbie asked.

some of the Gauchos were muttering to one another, they stopped, and one stood up,  "Senora MacAullife, Julio Ornelaz, Buenos Aires...um I second the representative from Rock Creek's motion..."

and suddenly, the mob got REAL serious...

[qc mech3]

Love This story. O0

But for someone like me for whom English is only a second language, it's pretty hard to read.  #P

[Redshirt]

Love This story. O0

But for someone like me for whom English is only a second language, it's pretty hard to read.  #P

Dude, as someone who speaks English as his first language, I find it pretty hard to read... 

(And Cannonshop, good story!)

[Cannonshop]

Outside...

The gunshot from the Arena got everyone's attention.  Commander Cu'ong's people were already in motion when the word to stand back down was given.  "It's just Debbie." the Coastie commander said, "She used that hip-cannon of hers to get their attention, no gunshot vics."

There was a long pause, and the sound of debates from the building resumed...at a much lower level.

"You have a mole inside?" The Adders had been on-site with the rest of the relief teams for about half an hour now-an Elemental was now turning the beef, while beer circulated.

"OF COURSE I do." Elizabeth answered, "YOU have one in there too...I just haven't decided if it's Geoffords, or McKinnon.  I suspect the only offworld interests that do not have an agent inside, are uninterested in the region, or just could not make it to the show."

"NIOPS doesn't."  Al commented, "We don't-seriously, why would we need agents when I can get acoustic bounce off the structure, none of it's insulated against Thermals, and clear sight-lines?  I have a couple people monitoring the whole thing remotely."

Liz looked at Truscott, who looked at her, "Same?" she asked.

"Aff." he said with a nod, "Ridge to the east of here, WATCH team.  You?"

"We bugged the building while we were building it, it's wired for sound and video." Liz admitted, "which will look splendid in the Arlunan planetary archives, plus I have an OCB team in a white-elephant down the road."

"White Elephant? OCB?  Clarify?" Truscott prodded the meat.

"OCB...'Organized Crime Bureau', part of the Coast Guard, plainclothes most of the time-means no uniform, their job's to bust organized criminals, you know, gangs, mobs...lots of surveillance work in that."  Liz told him, "A White Elephant is a truck loaded with electronics gear, recievers, scanners, probes..usually military grade or better, you put it into a civilian van so it doesn't disturb the area-most common van colour is white, especially when it's windowless, so it blends in...the term 'Elephant' is because it is a maintenance whore and costs a lot...on the other hand, it saves the taxpayers money when you get the bad-guys on the first pass, instead of having to come back to re-catch them because you busted the wrong people."

[Ajax_Wolf]

NIOPS Al seemed a bit offended about using human agents when he could get the same data from electronics. 

[croaker]

I think I remember this particular conference....

[Cannonshop]

Dinner Time...

"Supper's On, We'll recess 'till after Aryone's gone and got fed!" Debbie didn't have to draw the pistol this time, and the delegates filed out into the yard, now lit with torches and the firelight from the cook-pit.

'dinner' was a sort of serve-yourself buffet, the line beginning at a table piled with paper plates and disposeable utensils, and ending at the firepit, where Debbie Mac, and a few of the kids were carving off meat for the guests, with the 'Bar' set up across from it.

"Miss MacAulliffe..." Don Federico Guillermo of Los Montana Vista addressed her while she cut a serving of smoked beef and laid it on his plate.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Do you have any wine?" he asked.

She paused, "Ah knew ah f'got som'thin.  Got beer, Whiskey, an' Tea." she said, "F'got wahn."

"Serving strong spirits at a meeting?" the old not-quite-a-baron asked.

"Sure." Debbie said, "mellows folk out, loosens inhibitions, gets it all raht out i'th' Open..." she observed, "Prolly would'a made th' last fo' hours go bah a tetch quicker.  Th' Persians Ne'r did anythin' they discussed Sober, 'till they got good an likkered up t' discuss it."

"I...see.." he said disapprovingly.

"Mahnd, Ah'll be drinkin' th' Tea." Debbie added, "Ah git fussy when Ah'm drunk...y'all should git some cat-heads with that meat, an' maybe some sallit, balance out your 'mino acids an' ah think Maryanne'd be insulted you didn't try some, an' they go right fine with th' Beer Comstock brought down."

"Comstock?" the Don asked, And deb pointed him out.

"Comstock, he's in yo' Feudalis' party-used t'work f'r Don Paloma, he's try'n keep the lands fo' the old Don's heir, assumin' th' boy comes back fr'm his tahm in th' LCAF."  Debbie said, pointing to a powerfully built, balding man in his late thirties.

"And...Maryanne?" he asked.

"Maryanne's ouah token Soci'list." Deb's nose crinkcled, "She's prolly gon' try an' make a c'nection wi' som'a th' Reformationists, Or maybe Kendrik's people outa th' ol' capitol."

"You do not like that?" he asked.

"Ah prefer she keeps her gaum'ed up, ball-hoot, idjit ahdieas t' words an' Rhet'ric, noisay's fahn, it's if she gits it in her head t' trah violent 'Revolution' we're gon' a have a problem...but she makes pretty good cat-heads an' she knows how to boil poke."

"you're a reformist yourself, like your Father?" he asked.

"Some." Debbie said, "Ah'm a little more open t'the idear thet mebbe we need t' work things a little mo' carefully."  she said, "We have a lot of room now, room to try a lot of differ'nt idears an' methods, fahnd a way t'make ever'thin' work th' best f'r ev'rone, wouldn't yall agree?"

"I am going to have a beer, enjoy some of this delicious food, and think about my answer to that."  the Don said cautiously.

"you do thet, cogitate on what kind of world you want your young'uns to live in." Debbie said brightly, then turned to serve someone else.

[Cannonshop]

White Elephant...

Elizabeth Ngo, Absalom Truscott, Al Monroe, and Kapitain Michael Collins of the LAS Kowloon crowded into the electronics van, which gave the OCB specialists running the equipment a silent case of the fits.

"She is...as you call it, 'pressing the flesh' rather effectively." Truscott observed, adding, "Whiskey?"

Liz shrugged, "Not on the list of things I would have advised, but these ARE her people, and their ways." she said, "It seems to be working."

"I like the line about the Persian Empire." Al commented, "I don't know if it's true, but it IS funny."

"I took courses  in ancient history-to the best of scholars' knowledge, it is true." Collins interjected, "Funny that a hillbilly would know about that.  The Persian Empire stopped being an empire about three thousand years before the first rocket to the Moon."

"Girl's educated." Liz said, "I have seen her library-and seen her IN a library. Funny accent and dialect does NOT equal mental or educational ******-her admittance papers to CMA looked like Doctoral work, if DeSoto'd had half a brain he'd have shipped her there himself-on his dime-instead of using his political leverage to block her admission to every decent school in the Lyran Alliance...and If I had known about her before this Flu..." she sighed, "That gal would be in the damn Nagelring, or maybe Sanglamore, and DeSoto Be Damned."

"Instead?" Al asked.

"Instead, she's going to be doing more correspondence courses from UW Donegal and Pandora." Liz said with a sigh, "I wish they'd hurry this up, time's wasting away."

[Cannonshop]

Day Two...

There was considerably less acrimony in the morning.  With most of the Delegates too drunk to leave the night before, it was also somewhat easier for Debbie and the few who managed to remain sober to find them, round them up, and get them into the meeting.

Hangovers-nature's own means of shortening debate.

[Paladin1]

...but she makes pretty good cat-heads an' she knows how to boil poke."

Poke?  Did you just reference poke salad?  That's awesome, great detail CS!

[Cannonshop]

Tharkad, 25 January, 3068...

"Well, good news from ONE front." Peter Steiner-Davion commented, which drew looks from the rest of the Advisory Council.

"Oh?" Arthur Luvon, Chief Justice of the Alliance Supreme Court cocked an eyebrow, "What news?"

"The Star Adders are pulling out of the plague region." Peter said, "It's confirmed, they're off Inarcs, and pulling out of Arluna...oh, and look at that.  Elizabeth found me someone to replace DeSoto."

There were a few chuckles around the room, and Brewer cracked, "Hope this one isn't going to walk in with their hand out for special treatment."

"We could only be so lucky." Luvon agreed, "Still, I thought we had a replacement with Howe."

"Tom Howe is unacceptable.  He's got landholds-right here on Tharkad, and I am not inclined to hand out worlds in my realm to people who'll scrap them to finance parties on that scale."  Peter said.

"LeSalle, then? I heard Inarcs has a couple of extra sons..."  Gordon Dietz asked.

"No...this one's a local..." Peter read down the missive further.  "Damn."

"What? Did she finally cave and start putting HER people-" Luvon began.

"Nope.  I've seen this name..."  He picked up one of the LIC files that was delivered earlier.  "Knew it... MacAulliffe."

"That tax-protester DeSoto had locked up? That should be funny."  Cecil Marsden cracked, "Tough to get through the Estates..."

"No, no, he died in captivity.  The daughter...Debra..." Peter passed the file-holo around.

"a looker-kind of young for that." Brewer said, "but yummy."

"Sixteen, Tom." Peter said, "Jailbait mean anything to you?"

Luvon looked at the picture, and harrumphed.  "She's trying to push a child?" he sighed, "at best, we'll need to appoint a Regent, even IF the girl makes it through the committee..."

Peter took the image back, "Probably-could be tough though-check these out."

He activated a file-share and the displays lit for every member of the Advisory Council.

"You had this prepped ahead of time...and why is Maggie Doons smiling?"  Luvon asked crossly.

"I"m smiling, because I do believe I may have a favour to collect-and it's not even for doing something I wouldn't do myself."  Doons said, looked at the Chief Justice, "I'm co-sponsoring her, and Liz didn't even have to pay me."

"You'll get yours on the back-end, you always do."  Duke Umayr of Bolan laughed as he said it, "Still, impressive.  Kid organized a constitutional convention and kept over a thousand delegates on-the-site until they had a Provisional government.  I like the trick she used with the booze, smart.  Not sure how the Estates would react to some of her other methods, I'm pretty sure they don't let you carry a sidearm in to the chamber, much less use it like a really loud gavel."

Nondi Steiner reviewed the footage, and spoke up.  "I like her." she said, "not much, I'd prefer her if she had some salt, but she's got sand, just...could someone get a translator in here? I always had problem with Hillbilly accents, and that girl's going to need a more appropriate look-nobody's going to take her seriously walking around in work-boots, jeans and Chamois shirts...also, there's the matter of the five year committment.  Her dad was a 'mechwarrior, it's a good bet she's got the talent, and we need 'mechwarriors."

"We need a ducal seat on Arluna that's organized and loyal more-and more than that, we need the region stabilized."  Umayr countered, "With literally trillions of people to choose from, we can fill cockpits, what we don't have, are enough people who can take shell-shocked mobs and turn them into productive citizens again...besides, it isn't like we lack precedent for putting Civilians into Government service instead of Military service for the mandatory five."

the former CG glared at him.  "Katherine was infantry." she said with a growl.

"Katherine never fought a battle as infantry-this girl's done that."  Maggie Doons glared from her chair, "Read page 34, and consider that the initial BDA and AAR were written by Clanners, whom do not exaggerate other people's accomplishments."

"She still goes through LAAF basic." Nondi insisted, "It's a requirement."

Duke Bradford cleared his throat, "Would someone get a pool of jello in here?" he asked, "Seeing as we're being catty today, a catfight in jello seems more appropriate."

Thus earning the dirtiest, foulest glare from both women.  "What? I Like it when Cougars fight."  He added impishly.

"She'll get training...if she hasn't already gotten it by the time she arrives at Tharkad." Peter said, "and Tom, I need some bleach to clean that image out of my brain, thank you for ruining my breakfast with that."

[idea weenie]

Well, at least he got the two women to behave better.  Good story so far, please keep it up.

[Cannonshop]

Coast Guard Base Arluna, Grantsville, 30 January, 3068...

"...see you in a couple of months." Liz said, and gave Debbie a hug.  "If you need anything, you know how to call."

"Ah'm...I'm still wrapping my head around this." Debbie said carefully.

"You did a good job, You got them organized enough to BE a provisional government, re-established a framework of laws, why shouldn't you be at the top?" Liz asked rhetorically, "You earned it, every step, besides, you've got people to help you out-remember that the biggest part of the job, is picking the right people to run things day-to-day.  If you try to micro-manage, or you try to make EVERYONE happy all the time, all that you'll ever have, are a bunch of unhappy people who don't get things done...which reminds me, that last meeting, you tabled the foreign policy issues..."

"We'ah working those out." Debbie said, "For th' most part, most would rather stay Lyran...but with more autonomy."

"What do YOU want?" Liz asked.

"Ah think more autonomy is a good idear, but ah also cogitate thet nobody'll let us be if we don' have a big frien' backin' us up."  Debbie said, "Ah reckon we'ah gon' have t' go Lyran, nobody'd let us be othahwahs."

"Right choice...for now." Liz told her, "Things may change, but at least you're not angling toward joining the Clanners."

Debbie sighed and shook her head, "Truscott's a decent fella, an' all, but Ah did pay 'tention to how they wuhk,  MAH folk ain't gon' be no Serfs."

Liz smiled.  "That's what I like hearing." she told the young woman, "Let me know when you want me to pull the rest of the Coasties out-and we're going to need to talk over mining rights in the outer systems-I have a half-dozen or so Rockjack Collectives, partnerships, and firms nagging me about that."

"Tell 'em we'll talk licenses one-at-a-time." Debbie said, "an' can ah borrow one'a your Corporate Lawyahs fo' thet? Nobody heah has th' raht backgroun."

"Sure, I'll have someone from the Credit Union down here to help you set up revenue streams based on Spacer activity." Liz told her, "You might want to hit up that nice Major from NIOPS too-they've got a long history of working out those licenses..."

"Ah did." Debbie said, "but it's bettah t' have moar sources...also, Ah'm prob'ly gon' send you a basing-rights document, so y'all may end up havin' t' post Coasties heah summat more permanent-at least, in th' system."

"well, I'll be fascinated to see what you're proposing, and what you're offering." Liz said, "But if the deal's good, as in solid, well...I don't think it'll be too hard to convince Li, especially if we can swing it so that the LAAF pays for the base."

They talked a little more, and then, Liz boarded the shuttle, and left.

[Cannonshop]

For two weeks in February of 3068, there wasn't a lot of activity on Arluna-the Adders had withdrawn by then, and the NIOPS group's garrison was reduced to a single Marine Company.  The Coast Guard presence from Kowloon remained strong, but their role had shifted to training the core of Arluna's rebuilding militia, a role that the Coast Guard would shoulder again and again on worlds hard-hit by the Plague.  Those two weeks had little impact in the wider universe, but locally what became known as "The Feral War" would cement Debra MacAulliffe's role as THE leader of Arluna, and the Charismatic Populist of the Quarantine Zone...

-Bronwyn Garrity, "Pestilence and War, the origin of the Union of Independent Worlds"-Paradiso Publications LLC, Inarcs, (c) 3085

[Zureal]

"starts to eat fingernails" ....... need to know.... need to know.... oh how i hate it when you do that! "continues eating fingernails only to find that I have started to eat fingers... oh well"...

[Cannonshop]

Coast Guard Base Arluna, 3 February, 3068...

"...don't have jurisdiction there, Miss MacAulliffe, not without your permission."  Commander Cu'ong said quietly, "Not now that you have a government, anyway."

Debbie looked over the reports, "We k'n tek care of et, but Ah'm a-gonna need summa yo' people..."

The map showed a region around a small town named "Anderston" in the Chocawalla gap area to the Northeast.

"It's a civil war, ma'am...or close enough that it hardly matters." the Kowloonese officer stated, "we're reluctant to interfere-"

"Not a civil wah." Debbie said, "Anderston an' the Gap sent folk t'the meetin',  Now theah's been an emergency call.  Means som'un from outside.  Prob'ly afta th' dahmond mahn."  she looked up from the map, "Ah won' tol'rate Bandits, Commandah.  I c'n git a couple hunnert volunteers from Brieterberg t' Chocahassee Ridge, but we need heavy weapons suppoaht, an' mebbe Tactical Air, th' imagery shows 'mechs..."

[Cannonshop]

Chocwalla Gap, 0230 Hours, 3 February, 3068, Alpha Co. 11th Coast Guard Relief Sqdn...

Lt. Sr. Grade  Laurie Chuan motioned for 'rally' as soon as the Marines were off their rides, and signalled for platoon leaders.
<The following conversation is in Vietnamese, translated here for readers' convenience.>
"Looks like Debbie was good for Indigenous troops."  Laurie commented, "Nguyen, take First Platoon, I want a scout report on those bandits' perimeter, their likely escape and evasion routes, and coordinates for potential tac-air,  Dung and Huan, second platoon and weapons platoon are to coordinate with First and the Indigenous troops, scatter some interpreters in with 'em for RTO and Liason duty.  For the moment, have the Mortar teams rig for shoot-and-scoot."

"they've got 'mechs, we got anything heavy on the way?"  Lt. JG Dung asked.

"You mean you don't think that column of armor our esteemed ally's managed to get organized and rolling is going to cut it?" she asked with a wry twist.

"Yes ma'am." he said.

"No.  Not really. We've got on-call Tac-Air from the Fighter wing, and one of the Dons down south promised to send a lance of 'mechs, but I'm betting that Don Felix is holding back and hoping our girl goes all Joan-of-arc and gets killed...which is why I'm holding Headquarters element to Liason and bodyguard duty.  We've got six hours until sunrise.  Let's get to work."
<End Conversation>

Debbie Mac

The late Arluna Militia had quite the assortment of armored vehicles, and  there were enough people who could run them-barely.  A boatload of LAAF returnees brought "Home" a week ago-survivors of the ground-attack on Somerset, barely filled the critical empty seats.

Debbie herself sat uneasily in the number two seat aboard a tracked, amphib vehicle found in the Com-Guards' old cantonment on Arluna.  The Prowler wasn't the fastest vehicle, nor the most powerful, nor most heavily armoured...but it could carry troops, and it carried weapons that were, at least somewhat, serious.

More importantly, it had a lot of communications and mapping gear, and did not require a neurohelmet to operate (unlike the Cyclops command-post variant they'd found on the DeSoto estate.)

"You don't have to do this."  Major Ezekiel Morris had been a Leutnant in the LAAF a week ago.  he was "major" Morris only because he was the senior officer who'd chosen to come home over returning to an active duty slot on some other world in the Lyran Alliance.

"Yeh, Ah do." Debbie said, "Ah got thutty o' you vets, an' that'd be 'nough if y'alls was Mechwarriahs, but LAAF Kept th' Mechwarriahs.  Leaves not enough asses t' fill seats, much less execute a campaign 'gainst what we're estimatin' is a reinforce battalion of Combined Ahms...Ah want Mah People t'faght, so Ah GOTS t'be heah."

"so...Thirty vets, probably three hundered troops...jesus. We're screwed." Morris said.

"Theah not Clannahs, Majuh."  Deb reminded him, "Theah geah's not like t'be much bettah then what we's runnin."

The column rolled up to the rally point, and Coastie 'advisors' spread out among the vehicles, checking both vees and infantry, weapons and kit.

"What'd yo' scouts tell ya?" Debbie asked, "on 'count of MAH scouts tell me somfin' interestin..."

"Let's compare maps." Lt. Chuan suggested. 

The girl listened while the Marine and the Major went over the discoveries of each team of scouts, the meaning of terrain features, and the best routes to attack the enemy.

"Keep th' gunship choppahs in reserve." Debbie interjected, "on 'count of ah think we'ah gon' need us a plan-b."

[Cannonshop]

For those playing at home...

On MM server, you'll see that we have a large map here-roughly 32x64 size, and two forces.  I had some trouble setting up the Coastie/Arlunan force, so feel free to add to it, also, I didn't include the possible assist from Don Felix's lance of 'mechs, as that would not appear on the map until at least turn five.

Scenario conditions for "Megamek" play:

You'll note that the BAndit force has a considerable advantage over "our Heroes", at least on the ground.

Please also note the presence of six aerospace fighters. 

Defender (the Feral force) defends from the north end of the map, the attacking forces are coming in from the south/southwestern edges. 

Go to "Options" and toggle "on" the option "Return Flyover".  Fighters should be coming onto the map at speed, for an SB-27, that means you're flathatting at airspeed 10 with a full five tonnes of bombs.

Bomb delivery is crucial to winning this.  Fighters should be joining the fray in turn 2, or 3 at the earliest, and turn 5 at the latest.

Environment is winter, set temperature at or just above zero Celsius, with still air and mild overcast, with snow if your version of MM allows it. 

Forced withdrawal is in effect for both sides.  This is the first engagement by Provisional Government troops, and a lot of mistakes were made that would be corrected later on.

[Cannonshop]

FOB Chocowalla Gate, SW side, Chocowalla Gap, Arluna, 7 February, 3068...


"Ever get the feeling you've underestimated someone?" Lt. Pol Nguyen asked Gunny Chie, as he peered over the edge of the improvised defensive works.

Below them, the Gap was a mix of dirt brown, dirty white, and burned black patches.

"Um...when we were extracting miss Debbie and her pet Major out after everything turned into a rat ******, maybe?" Chie asked, "I kept wondering where these dickheads were two months ago when we had a full battalion of NIOPS suities, with two wings of Aero, and some semifriendly Clanners available to call in."

"My thinking exactly."  Pol said grimly.  Thunder announced the passage of another Coast-Guard fighter slamming through the gap at low altitude, looking for something big and metallic to visit bombs and rockets upon.  Pol dropped down into the trench, "I guess it's time to look at our distinguished allies again." he said with a wry twist of the lip.

"They're kind of demoralized, sir...I think she's having trouble keeping them together." Chie observd.

"I know she is." Pol told his acting-first-sargeant.  "There's only one cure for demoralized troops-that's a win in the field...which we're not going to get, unless we get some ****** artillery up here."

"Battlemechs would be nice..." Chie said.

"THAT, they would.  ARty or 'mechs, hell, the 'mechs don't even have to run-or fight, just Be here." Pol commented, "Unless Felix or someone can show up with 'mechs, our best option is for Langermeyer to work out a way to get those Marksman tracks we found at the old WoB compound up here, into firing range, and find some gunners to run 'em."

"He who thinks first, laughs last..."  A voice came from behind them, and Pol turned around.

Debbie Mac was standing there, bandages on her arm, in sub-zero weather.

"We needs t'change th'game on 'em." she said carefully, and sat on the berm's lee side, "How we gon' do thet, Ell-Tee?"

"You've got an idea?" he asked her.

Debbie sighed, "Mebbe. I cogitate thet we still gots near a comp'ny of choppahs, bunch o' laht infantry what's been tarred a bit, an we gots some slow tanks lef' ain't wuth much fo' movement, but def'nitely temptin' to 'em...an' we gots air support- what kin we make outa thet?"

"Can you get Don Felix off his ass?" Pol demanded, "Without 'mechs, we can't handle a stand-up fight, can't get local superiority, and your ground troops are too green to play blood-tag in the dark with 'em..."

"Git me a ride t' Don Felix's place, bring a...a few fre'ns, Ah'll have a little set-down with 'm." Debbie said quietly, "Might could be he needs face-talkin."

[Cannonshop]

Don Felix Deguarra De Castro's establishment, 1000 hours local time, 7 February, 3068...

"...the Don is not feeling well, Lady MacAulliffe, he is not up to seeing-"  Debbie pushed past Rosaria brusquely, showing her pistol but not drawing it.

"He Gawdammet will see ME." She said, and strode into the Hacienda.

She found the master of the Estate in his drawing room, drunk as a lord...drunk, in fact, as a baron can be, what with the liquor stores unoccupied and open all hours, weeping.  An open casket containing his daughter's body in the room.

Debbie's fury vanished in an instant.

"when'd it happ'n?" she asked.

"She fell." He blubbered, "she was climbing onto Sancho and she slipped on the ice...and broke her neck..."

"People need you." Debbie said simply, "would Eleanor want her poppa t'be cryin at her casket, when people need him?"

He looked up in brief anger, and then, the waterworks turned back on. 

"Git him some DETox." she ordered Rosaria, quietly, "Ell Tee, look t' de-icin' the Don's mechs, an' git his men outa bed.  Funeral firs', then we march...an' git me a Catholic Preacher-man up heah fo' th' service...ticktock, Ell-Tee Nguyen, folk is dyin."

[Cannonshop]

Highway 3, 1600 Hours, 7 February, 3068...

"Langermeyer, you better have good news."  Lt. Nguyen's voice on the radio was tired, and carried a hint of anger.

"We're moving again." Langermeyer, a man who'd only run bulldozers six months ago, answered from the driver's position of Gun Bunny.  "Had to detour around a bridge that got knocked out, we're coming up three to Penny Junction, from there it's the 415 to Provincial route 9b, if we don't have to spend another five hours clearing dead cars, we should make it to the firing point at 2200, give or take an hour depending on the snow."

"Figure out a way to go faster, or Her Nibs is going to pay you a visit, I swear the girl's got Helium Three for blood, she jumped Don Felix's ass and dressed him down right in front of his last kid's casket, Over."

"What, Ellie's dead now?" Langermeyer asked.

"Affirmative-slipped trying to get up into that old Shadowhawk her Uncle used to drive, the Don's been drinking and grieving for the last week. Over." Nguyen said.

"What's his status?" Langermeyer asked.

"He's sobering up, she's got the Housekeeper setting up the funeral, I'm on my way to town to pick up a Catholic Chaplain for the service, which is going off at seventeen hundered, with everyone doing the forced-march boogie to the jump off point, we're set to go at Twenty-three thirty, Over."

"Damn, she's going to make him sit through a funeral, then force-march...Yeah, I'll be at the firing point on time...jesus..."

[qc mech3]

And we have the first results of the Ngo leadership 101.  O0

At least, the Don had a reason to not be shot for cowardice... 

[Cannonshop]

Chocowalla Gap, North side...

"The Revolution, Will NOT be Televised!"  Hektor Vargas chanted.  "We are gonna Break those Kapitalist Pigs and their Lapdogs!!"  the gathered men cheered him, "the Time is NOW for Revolution,  We are the WAVE of the FUTURE!!"

Behind him, the prisoners were chained inside shipping containers.  "We have the power, and here is the Proof!! Tomorrow, we will ride forth from this valley, and crush the Pigs, Crush them and the sound of that crushing will be heard from here, all the way to the pig-nest on Tharkad itself!!  Our Revolution will break down the old order, and we will usher in the age of the Community of Liberated Planets, and it will all be known to begin HERE!!"

They cheered again, "We will destroy the Profiteers, We will Destroy the system of Classes, WE will usher in a NEW FUTURE!!"

They cheered louder, and he held out his hand, for quiet.

"First, though, we have to do something about little Debbie Mac... she's an unwitting victim-she doesn't even know how they're using her-but, since they ARE using her, we've gotta do something about that.   Without her, they can't keep the Lower Classes from hearing our good news, they lose the ability to decieve our ignorant brothers and sisters, out there, for we are ALL brothers and sisters, all exploited by the Profiteers and their Kapitalist Pig leash-lords."

he squatted down on the stage, "Means we have to kill her, guys, kill her, or turn her...and we've gotta do it soon...now, the Major here..." He gestured to a bruised and beaten, nearly naked man in a chair, "Says she's leading the forces trying to push into the Southern end of the gap.  That means we can get at her...if we're lucky, but he's also been a font of info telling us what we already know-the Demon Bitch-Queen of Kowloon's holding her leash and has lent her troopers and equipment...what he doesn't know, is that we've got backers too...A movement the size of the Commonwealth!!"

"We're gonna BREAK THEM!!!"

A thousand hands raised, each wearing a red arm-band, repeating "We're gonna BREAK THEM!!!"  He rode the wave of thunder.

"The Dialectic SAYS we have the POWER if we have the WILL!!"  He pumped his fist, and his followers followed suit,

"We have the WILL, Death to the Profiteers!!"

[Cannonshop]

Ridge 19, Chocowalla Gap, 2200 Hours...

Sgt. Sarah Chung and Corporal David Vanh watched.  "we should take him now." Vanh said, "Noise'd cover the shot..."

she shot him a look and mumbled, "Not yet.  Nice of 'em to be holding a meeting, but I count thirty POW's in those containers, they're not executing 'em, so those're hostages, we're not weapons-free on this."

"Kill the leader, the mob massacres the hostages?" David asked.

"seems likely.  I'm forwarding telemetry now anyway-just in case the arty teams get too frisky."  she told him, "How's your little brother doing?"

"well, his team just made the finals in UrbCom, they're getting ready to run the Mountain next week, and he aced the Trig final."  David mumbled back, "I hear Sophie's promised him an eyes-open kiss if he aces the Language exam next week, so he's studying his ass off."

"Sophie...that's the deaf one right?" Sarah asked.

"yeah.  I have NO idea why he's so into her, I mean, anyone can tell her sister's totally into HIM..." David muttered, "And the sister's at least healthy."

"Go figure, maybe he's got the white-knight disease..." Sarah mumbled, "I mean, wouldn't be the FIRST Vanh man to want his very own damsel to rescue..."

"Don't bring my ex-wife into this, please?" David said, "ah, look, the mob's taking a break...wonder what those arm-bands are about?"

"Not sure, but the thermals show those barracks weren't empty-I count a lot of heat-sigs, not adult size either."

"Families maybe?" he asked.

"Maybe, maybe hostages from the town." Sarah said, "Some means of making the civvies comply, and it seems logical.  Nobody's going to firebomb a building with their own kids inside."

"I ****** hate terrorists, I really, really, really do." Dave muttered, "Keep forwarding data unless it looks like we've been made...gets harder when you see that kind of shit going on.  We know jump-off yet?"

"We'll see the signal-at least, that's what Lt. Nguyen said when he sent out scout-snipers this morning..."

[Cannonshop]

FOB, Chocowalla Gap, SW entrance...

"...civilians, at least, we think they're civilians.  Flyover with recon ships confirms there's more than that 'mech company up there at the mine, and it looks like there's a couple staging areas just north of the gap."  Commander Anh Cu'ong was up from Grantsville, "Thermals are great in cold like this, we've got some good imagery."

Debbie frowned deeply, and Don Felix, (now sober and alert) cleared his throat.  "Can we sequester the hostages?" he asked quietly.

"Human shields generally stop working the second one side or the other determines that the deaths are necessary, or when they're actually used-because they immediately get expended." Anh stated, "but they're Arlunan, not Kowloonese, I know what Liz's answer would be, but that's not, I think, appropriate here."

The old Hidalgo nodded, "We are agreed-declaring them heroes posthumously is not acceptable." he said, "I will turn my own men around and head home if I am given that order."

"Ah'll be b'hind y'alls an' only 'cause Ah'm not so fast." Debbie interjected, "Commandah, Kin yo' teams git in theah an' git th' civvies out-or at least int' hahd covah?"

"We'll need a distraction, and I'll need to get more boots on the ground up there." Anh said, "Assuming we tie up their heavy assets in the gap, we might be able to...wiht an airborne insertion."

"Pa'achute?" Debbie asked, "oah whirlybird?"

"Parachute-choppers would be heard too far away, especially with the cloud cover." Anh said, "I can get a company of airborne-qualified in, the question is, can this mess force the gap and rally, or is it going to be Market-Garden in the Cold?"

Deb looked at Don Felix.  "Y'all fought th' 39 war, y'all been an officah, y'all done this b'fore, Ken it be done, Bah wha' we gots heah?"

"I think so..." the old man said, "It will be difficult, but I think this can motivate men better than anything-A hero's ride to rescue innocents...yes.  Duquesa MacAulliffe, I believe I would do this thing...IF the foreign woman will commit her men to this enterprise."

Anh smiled a bitter, cold smile, "Senor De Castro, My people hate Terrorists, you would have a hard time Stopping us."

"We are agreed then..." He said, "I have a few markers to call in-Pauley and Lorenzo, I will make the calls, Jump-off is at Zero Hundered hours, Que?"

"Agreed." Anh said, "I'll have the NCOs and the Jumpmasters start in rigging."

"um...you called me 'Duquesa'?" Debbie said hesitantly.

"You're the best chance." He said simply, "Besides, I disagreed with DeSoto's handling of your Father, and I know that Duchess Ngo has already forwarded your name for consideration to replace him.  After seeing you in action, So far, I am not so hesitant to back that concept."

"Ah will endeavour not t' make y'all regret thet." Debbie said.

"I have work to do, as does the Commander." He announced, "We will meet back here in half an hour-with your permission, Senora?"

"Granted." Debbie said.

[Cannonshop]

Government House, Nha Tranh, Kowloon, 7 February, 3067 2200 Hours local time...

"You're telling me someone has been snuffing my agents?"  Elizabeth Ngo was Furious, funnily enough, that simply made her tone a silky, almost-whisper, "Networks we set up to watch the Clan border near Arc Royal?"

"Yes Ma'am." 'Kelly White' told her, "small stuff, mostly NOC's, officially it's being kept on the down-low, Peter knows some of it, but we like to keep this in-house if we can."

Liz glared at a mirror in her office, "Style's not Clanner, either-too smooth, too local."  She looked at her contact, "Not Rowe either, or it would've been in your cover letters.  Kelly, I don't like it when things like this happen and I'm not informed...now, you're sure they're leaving Lohengrin alone?"

"Quite sure." Kelly said, "Lohengrin's left alone, the 'legal' agents are being left alone, just the off-books operations, mostly targeting the logistics end." Kelly told her, "but we HAVE lost Operations personnel as well."

"Someone's leaking at LIC." Liz said with a grim expression, "I set those networks up to be deniable dammit-now that they're deniable, they're being rolled up and my bloody hands are tied.  do we know ANYTHING about who's behind this?"

"We know it's not in-house-the kills were timed and arranged to be easily written off- hoodlums who get caught, auto accidents, that sort of thing." Kelly told her, "Whoever they are, they know exactly what they're doing.  Sky-net  and Stark spotted the trend just by cross-referencing the Obituaries."

"Lovely...just lovely." Liz scowled deeper, "I assume Peter wants a status report, and progress, correct?"

"Seems likely-he's sent nothing official yet." Kelly told her, "What's the plan at this point?"

"Salvage." Liz told her, "get the control officers out of there, we can...we'll HAVE TO start over, after we work out WHO the leaker is-those nets were cellular, someone had to crack all of them at once, or had to have a list to work off of.  I guess this means we're not going to be watching the Terrans out there, OR the Clans...at least, not from the position we'd planned on...five years building that ****** network down the drain..."