here's more...
On with the update! (would have been up sooner, but the forum downtime and other RL stuff kept me from getting it up sooner)
The Silver Eagles waited as the 2 fighters swept in at hypersonic velocity. Suddenly, they both dropped to NOE altitude, 60 meters off the deck.
Lt. Thorpe keyed his comm. system. "Sir, looks like a recon pass. I doubt they're carrying high-drag bombs with their speed, and they're too low for a good strafing run. Orders?"
Major Silver opened his comm. line. "We've been fired on. Weapons free."
Just then, Captain McKenna keyed her mic. "Sir, we don't know what's going on and they aren't making an aggressive pass. We should hold fire."
Before he could consider his options, the two fighters shot overhead and past the Eagle's line unmolested. The sonic boom shook the 'Mechs heavily, and were it not for their sophisticated gyro systems, would have easily fallen. Considering what to do quickly, Major Silver opened up his comm. frequency to a clear channel and broadcast in the clear. "This is Lord Kevin Charles Silver to ASF assets that just passed our position. You are in violation of Negushivo Royal airspace and are ordered to disengage immediately!" Closing the channel, he called the formation to a halt.
"Recon Leader." the Major keyed up Randall's Phoenix Hawk LAM. "Did you get your recon pass?"
Randall answered as he watched the fighters turn sharply into the sky. "Yes sir. Data has been transmitted to your computer."
Major Silver keyed up the data burst and reviewed the list of enemy 'Mechs and vehicles. Two Magis, a pair of Demons, two Zephyrs, a pair of Alacorn MK IVs, SRM Carriers, twin Chaparrals, two Mongooses, a Lanclot, two Crabs, a Flashman, a pair of Bombardiers, and about 6 platoons of infantry... I think we're outmatched. And they ID as the same units we fought on Clipperton. Keying up McKenna, he queried, "Captain. In your opinion, could we rely on the armor and infantry outside of their defensive positions?"
Captain McKenna paused a moment to consider. She replied after a moment, "I don't think they'd make a good accounting of themselves sir. They're mostly green volunteers that have spent all their time training for defense against outside aggressors."
Major Silver found the Eagles in a Catch 22. If he pulled the armor and infantry forward, they might be the equals of the enemy forces, but they would take a severe beating in the process. If he kept them in their defensive positions, they could fight as their training had taught them, but they wouldn't be in a position to do anything unless the enemy attacked in full force. Considering his options quickly, he opened up comms to Captain McKenna. "Pull the company back in good order outside of enemy jamming. Hold position there."
"Yes sir." Captain McKenna replied. "All units! This is Fire Leader. Fall back by Lances to grid coordinates 28753994. Maintain aspect to enemy position. Weapons safe until fired on. Move out!"
The company slowly pulled back to a position just outside enemy jamming. As they approached the designated coordinates, Lt. Thorpe keyed in to the Major's comms. Switching over he ordered "Recon Leader, report."
"Sir, two fighters moving in on our position 12 o'clock high."
Glancing down at his radar screen, he switched over to long range Air Detection Radar. Two contacts showed up at 15,000 meters altitude and 30 kilometers out. IFF quickly tagged them broadcasting friendly. At the same time, his comms system picked up active broadcast on the Ace of Spades' frequency. He keyed over quickly and punched in the de-scramble code.
Captain Darious was practically screaming over the channel. "Lt. Hernandez! Get yourself and that worthless pilot on the ground this instant or you'll both be grounded permanently! Do I make myself clear?"
Static clouded the response, but it was clear enough to make out the voice of his fiancé, Lt. Hernandez. She sounded frustrated and not at all herself. "Understood Ace of Spades. ETA to ground, 3 minutes. Air Leader out."
Major Silver keyed his channel open. "Ace of Spades, this is Silver Actual. Report."
Captain Darious answered in a much calmer voice. "Silver Actual, this is Ace of Spades. It is my duty to inform you that Lt. Tucker violated the Rules of Engagement." His voice wavered as he continued. "She fired without being fired on. Silver Actual, do you copy?"
Major Silver took a moment to consider this new turn of events. Finally, he keyed in response. "Roger that. Have Lieutenants Hernandez and Tucker report to the HQ tent immediately for debriefing. Silver Actual out."
Major Silver opened up comms to their HQ tent. "Silver Defensive, this is Silver Actual. Report."
Static filled his neurohelmet as the comms system tried to discern the intelligent signal from the noise of the enemy jamming. "Silver Actual, this is Armor Leader. Holding position and re-broadcasting Negushivo Militia distress on all frequencies. No response."
Major Silver keyed his mic in response. "Roger that Armor Leader. Be advised, hostile fire indicated. Have you taken fire?"
Static again filled his ears as Lt. Chekov replied. "Negative sir, negative."
Suddenly, the line cleared of static. The enemy had stopped jamming. Keying in reply, he finished, "Copy that. Hold your position and stand by. Silver Actual out." He quickly keyed over to an open channel and broadcast in the clear. "To units in position at grid coordinates 29003996, this is Lord Kevin Charles Silver, protector of this land-hold. You are in violation of my duly appointed land-hold and taking in an aggressive posture. If you do not reply, I will be forced to take action to remove you from my lands. Do you copy?"
A few seconds passed with no answer. Major Silver was about to order the company forward again when a reply came. "Lord Silver, this is Demi-Precentor Marlin. We are not here in an aggressive position, we were conducting duly authorized training drills when your fighters attacked ours without provocation. Do you intend to force hostilities between our forces?"
He knows he's got us outmatched. Major Silver considered his reply. "I do not intend to force anything, however I am the Lord of these lands and you have not obtained permission to conduct field exercises here. By who's authority are you here?"
The Demi-Precentor's voice practically dripped with glee as he replied. "We are here on the authority of her Highness, the Countess Alessandra Marie Silver."
Major Silver gritted his teeth. She did this on purpose! I know it! Keying his mic open again, he replied, “Roger that, Precentor Marlin. I have not, repeat not received an official request for this maneuver on my lands. I still have yet to ascertain exactly what happened between our fighters. I give you permission to remain here until local sunset, 1800 TST. I will contact you again when I have further information. Lord Silver out.”
Keying over to Captain McKenna, he ordered, "Fire Leader, this is Silver Actual. Pull the company back to Defensive Position Alpha and await instructions. Do you copy?"
Captain McKenna keyed in reply. "Roger that. Pull back to Defensive Position Alpha and await orders. Fire Leader out." Switching over to the company command frequency, she barked, "All units! Change heading to 184 and realign for scattered line formation Delta. Speed 54. Move out!"
10 minutes later, they were back behind their defensive positions. As the company came to a halt, Major Silver keyed up the HQ tent. “Silver Defensive, this is Silver Actual. I need a landline connection. Patch it through.”
After a moment, Major Silver got a connection to the planetary communications net. He punched in the contact number for his sister’s estate and waited.
A voice came over the line that ate at Major Silver’s nerves. “Countess Silver’s Estate, Blessed be the Word of Blake, how may I help you?”
“This is Lord Kevin Charles Silver. I wish to speak with my sister, the Countess. Connect me.”
The anonymous voice oily replied, “Oh, I’m sorry my Lord, but the Countess Silver is indisposed at the moment. Is there a message I can convey to her for you?”
Major Silver fought the urge to tell him exactly what he thought of his Blessed Blake and his damnable sister. Instead he answered, “Yes. You may tell the Countess, that I demand an explanation for Word of Blake forces being on my lands under her orders, and I demand to know immediately.”
The oily voice didn’t miss a beat. “Yes sire. Is there anything else?”
“No, that is all.” And he closed the connection as the line terminated. Switching over to Captain McKenna’s frequency, he issued, “Captain. Stand down from ready status. Disembark the Mechwarriors. Leave the Infantry and Armor at ready for the moment. Silver Actual out.” At that, he shut Hermes down to standby, dismounted his command couch, and opened the hatch to descend to the ground. He was met there by one of the support personnel who helped him out of his coolant vest and into his fatigues.
As he changed, Captain McKenna approached. “Sir, what happened out there?”
Major Silver held up a finger. “Wait. Just wait. You’ll see soon enough. Come with me.” He turned to the aide. “Where are Lieutenants Hernandez and Tucker?”
The aide pointed at the HQ tent. “There sir.”
Suddenly the Major heard his personal comms chirp. He held the radio to his ear. “Report.”
“Sir this is Armor Leader. We have a vehicle approaching from the east. It’s the same vehicle that left for the Ace of Spades 10 minutes ago.”
That’ll be Captain Darious. “Roger that, Armor Leader. Stay alert and inform me if the enemy position to the north moves. Silver Actual out.” He waited for the vehicle to pull up. As the two watched, Captain Darious climbed out and joined the two officers. Turning to Captain McKenna, the Major said, “Come with me.”
The trio entered the tent that served as their field headquarters. There they saw the Mechwarriors assembled and the two Fighter Pilots standing at attention. As the Major entered the tent, Lt. Faller called out, “Attention!” The assembled warriors snapped to attention.
“At ease.” Major Silver called out. “Lt. Faller, take the unit in to my office and wait for me there for a debriefing. The Captain and Lieutenants Randall, Hernandez, and Tucker will remain here. Dismissed.”
As the assembled warriors fell out of the tent, the tent was cleared of everyone except the infantrymen monitoring the radio gear. Major Silver turned to Lt. Tucker. “Explain yourself, Lieutenant.”
Lt. Tucker took a deep breath. She had always hated the strictness of the Silver Eagles Code of Conduct. But it paid the bills… “Sir, we approached the enemy fighters that were closing on us. Climbing to high altitude, we began a series of position exchanges. First one of the enemy Tomahawks would sight in on myself and attempt to get a weapons lock, then Lt. Hernandez would come in behind and get a lock of her own on the enemy. This went on for about a minute without anyone firing. I had been locked up by one of the ‘Hawks for the last 20 seconds when my sensors indicated a massive heat surge from his weapon pods. I interpreted this as a weapons discharge and opened fire with my aft lasers, striking the enemy fighter in the nose. A moment later, I was struck by laser fire in the aft near the engine nozzles. After that it got pretty messy, sir.”
Major Silver looked the fighter pilot up and down. Holding out his hand, he ordered, “Your BattleROM, Lieutenant.”
Taking the data storage device over to the Advanced Field Comm. Set, he plugged the ROM in and punched in the time hack for the beginning of the combat. As he watched the cockpit camera, the instrument readouts were displayed beneath, showing exactly what Lt. Tucker had seen. As she said, a thermal bloom originating in the wings of the Blake Tomahawk showed on the thermal scan behind her Clan Visigoth Omnifighter. A moment later, she thumbed her rear weapons triggers that were already locked onto the tailing fighter.
Just then, one of the Privates monitoring the radio spoke up. “Sir, I have an incoming radio contact with a Lt. Donaldson of the Negushivo Militia in reply to our distress call.”
Major Silver paused the playback and picked up a handset, “This is Lord Silver, Lt. Donaldson.”
“Lord, I just received word of your distress signal.” The voice replied. “Do you require assistance?”
“Thank you for your reply, but the emergency has passed.” The Major replied. “The ‘aggressors’ were Word of Blake Militia operating on my lands without my knowledge.”
“I see sir. We’ll stand down then. Lt. Donaldson out.”
Returning the handset, Major Silver turned to Lt. Hernandez. “Report.”
“As Lt. Tucker reported, we engaged in a series of no-fire engagements, each of us gaining the upper hand for a moment only to lose it to the enemy. As I came around in behind the Tomahawk tailing Lt. Tucker, I began to lock weapons to make him break off. Suddenly, Lt. Tucker shouted that she was taking fire and fired herself. After that, we exchanged fire several times with one enemy Tomahawk taking serious damage and Lt. Tucker’s Visigoth taking moderate armor damage. Eventually I was able to get control of the situation and pull us out of the dogfight. After that, we were ordered to ground by Captain Darious.”
Again Major Silver extended his hand. “Your BattleROM, Lieutenant.”
Inserting the ROM and punching in the same time stamp as before, he watched this time from Jan’s perspective. As Jan’s Corsair swung in behind the Blake fighter and lined up to lock on weapons, he saw the same thermal plume, but the cockpit camera caught something else. What was that? Major Silver stopped the playback and ran it back slowly. As he and the others watched, a puff of smoke could be seen coming from the underside of the Blake Tomahawk’s right wing. Major Silver turned to Lt. Hernandez. “Did you see this during the fight?”
Lt. Hernandez looked at the faint puff on the screen. “No sir. It must have happened too quickly. I didn’t notice it at the time.”
Major Silver turned to Randall. “Lt. Thorpe, would you say this is a weapons malfunction or some other system problem?”
The former ComGuard shrugged. “It doesn’t look like a weapon malfunction. Maybe a coolant failure, I’m not sure.”
Major Silver turned to Lt. Thorpe. “In your expert opinion Lieutenant, did Lt. Tucker act appropriately?”
Randall thought for a moment. “Well, taking the facts as presented now, probably not, but at the moment, I can honestly say I may have done the same thing myself. It did look like a weapon surge from her perspective, sir.”
Captain Darious spoke up. “With all due respect to the Lieutenant Major, I disagree. If I may Major?” as he gestured to Lt. Tucker’s BattleROM. Allowing Captain Darious to punch in a time stamp Captain Darious pointed to the cockpit camera. “Observe.”
As they watched the scene again, after the thermal bloom, Lt. Tucker declared she was under fire and thumbed her rear trigger. Captain Darious paused the playback and turned to Lt. Hernandez. “Lieutenant, were you operating Weapons Free at this moment?”
Lt. Hernandez answered, “Negative, Captain. We were operating Weapons Safe until fired on. I so ordered as we closed with the enemy fighters.”
Captain Darious punched in a time index on Lt. Tucker’s ROM. They all listened as the recorded voice of Lt. Hernandez was heard over the cockpit recorder.
“Enemy now at 003 Angles 15… heading 182 at Mach 1.3… contact in 30 seconds… Weapons Safe until fired on.”
The recording then played back Lt. Tucker’s voice saying, “Roger, 003, Angles 15, heading 182, contact in 30, Weapons Safe.”
Captain Darious stopped the playback and looked at Major Silver who just nodded. Turning to Lt. Tucker, Captain Darious asked, “Lieutenant, when did you unsafe your weapons?”
Lt. Tucker just looked straight forward. “Sometime after we engaged the enemy… sir.”
Captain Darious switched over to telemetry data readout and resumed the playback. Thirty seconds after they had engaged the enemy, a full minute before being ‘fired on’, the data showed the weapons going online. Rolling back and switching to the cockpit camera, it clearly showed Lt. Tucker reaching over and unsafing her weapons.
Captain Darious looked at Major Silver. “Need I say more Major?”
Major Silver stepped in front of Lt. Tucker. “Explain yourself. Why did you unsafe your weapons while you were supposed to be Weapons Safe?”
Lt. Tucker looked straight ahead as she answered. “I unsafed my weapons when I felt I would have been unable to do so in time to retaliate to a preemptive strike sir. They were outmaneuvering us and our position was compromised. If I had stayed weapons safe, I couldn’t have responded immediately to hostile action that was imminent.”
Major Silver turned to Jan. “Lt. Hernandez, what would you have done in Lt. Tucker’s place?”
Lt. Hernandez answered quickly, “I would not have violated the Rules of Engagement, sir.”
Major Silver turned back to Lt. Tucker. “Lieutenant, you are relieved of duty and confined to quarters until further notice. Dismissed.” As the fighter pilot left the tent, Major Silver turned to the assembled officers. “Comments?”
Captain Darious spoke first. “You know my opinion. She should be dismissed. It was just a matter of time until something like this happened. It’s what comes of her having grown up in the Blake-forsaken wilderness of the Greater Valkyrate.”
Major Silver turned to Lt. Thorpe. “What say you?”
Randall crossed his arms and leaned against the Advanced Field Comm Kit. “Like I said, I’d have probably done the same thing she did. Things get dicey up there fast and hesitaters end up dead. I chalk it up to a simple mistake. Slap on the wrist and a ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ should be fine.”
Captain Darious looked at the Lieutenant. “Aren’t you forgetting the matter of her weapons being unsafed in direct violation of both her orders and the standing ROEs?”
Major Silver turned to Lt. Hernandez. “She’s your wingman and under your command. You’re both ultimately responsible for her conduct and ultimately going to pay the price if she messes up in combat, if not here on the ground afterwards, up there in battle. What say you?”
Jan thought for a moment before deciding on what to do. “Based on her violation of direct orders and the ROE, ground her except in cases of extreme emergency for the next month and dock her this month’s pay, list an official reprimand on her service record with us, and give her 6 months probation. Any violation of the SECC during that time and she’s discharged without pay.”
Major Silver looked at Captain McKenna who just nodded in approval while Lt. Thorpe also nodded in grudging approval. Captain Darious was the only one to comment. “I still say it’s only a matter of time before this happens again, but I’ll go with the Lieutenant’s recommendation.”
Major Silver nodded. ‘It’s agreed then. Captain McKenna, she is to be confined to quarters aboard the Ace of Spades unless needed in the air for emergencies.”
Suddenly one of the Privates monitoring the radio interrupted again. “Sir, I have Countess Silver on the line.”
Major Silver sighed and picked up the handset. “This is Kevin Silver.”
His sister’s voice rang over the line in a tone of annoyance. “What is it Kevin? I’m really rather busy.”
Major Silver agitated but kept his cool. “Did you give permission for the Word of Blake to conduct military exercises on my land without informing me?”
His sister answered in a mockingly distracted tone. “Oh, I told them to go where they needed to go to practice planetary defense drills. If they chose your lands, I didn’t know about it, but they have my permission to be there. You should have a message or something letting you know… I’m sure someone would have seen to it.”
Major Silver bit his tongue. Planetary defense drills? And they just happened to pick my land to do it on? And them being confirmed as the same WOBs we fought on Clipperton? A likely coincidence I’m sure… “Please inform the Blake Militia that they need to depart my lands immediately, countess. They are disrupting the peace of my lands.”
Once again his sister mocked his station against hers. “Whatever, Kevin. It that all?”
Major Silver bit back his initial desire to tell her just what he thought of her managerial abilities. “No, that was all.” The line went dead without another word.
Major Silver leaned against the Comm gear. Pulling his nerves together, he stood up after a minute and said, “Private, contact Demi-Precentor Marlin on this frequency.” After a moment, the Private nodded to the Major.
“This is Demi-Precentor Marlin of the Blake Militia.”
“Precentor, this is Major Silver. Have you ascertained the extent of the damages to your equipment?”
The Blake militia leader responded coldly. “We are still examining the damages, Major. What are you planning to do about this travesty?”
Major Silver collected his thoughts. “We have determined that a mechanical malfunction on the damaged fighter led one of our pilots to believe she was under fire. She will be disciplined for breaking proper Rules of Engagement and we will compensate you for the damages. When can you give us an accounting of the damage done?”
The Blake Precentor replied again in a cold tone. “We’ll contact you when we have a complete accounting. Demi-Precentor Marlin out.”
Major Silver turned to the assembled officers. “Let’s get to that debriefing.”
When Major Silver reached his office, he checked his electronic messages. One was dated 5 minutes before he’d landed at the helepad and was informed of the Blake incursion on his land. It was the official notification of intent to perform military exercises on his land-hold.
In the middle of the meeting, Mr. Sutton, Major Silver’s Estate Manager interrupted the proceedings with a knock at the door. “Sire, I think you should turn on the holovid… Planetary News Net.”
As the warriors turned to the screen, a newscaster could be seen next to a graphic of Aerospace Fighters engaged in combat.
“As the report states, Lord Kevin Silver’s Personal Guard attacked the Blake Militia, inflicting severe damage and there are several reports of multiple casualties. While the Militia states they have no need of assistance and can handle any and all Medical needs, they do ask that any donations be forwarded to the Blake HPG for the furthering of Blake’s Divine Wisdom. Lord Silver made no comment about the engagement. We will bring further details as the story develops.”
As Major Silver muted the holovid, Lt. Scott said, “What a bunch of crap!”
Lt. Faller replied, “At ease Lieutenant… we know what it was.”
Major Silver turned to Captain McKenna. “You’re the PAO. What’s our response?”
Captain McKenna turned to Mr. Sutton. “Please call for a press conference immediately.” As the Manager left to call the press, Captain McKenna turned back to the Major. “You need to make the speech. It’ll sound better coming directly from you.”
The assembled officers spent the next several hours working out what should be said.
“My fellow Negushivans, thank you for taking the time to listen. The events surrounding our accidental engagement against Blake Militia have been thoroughly investigated. While we regret the property damage that was done and take responsibility for the damage, I would like to point out that the Blake Militia should not have been there in the first place. I was only notified by electronic message five minutes before I was told they were on my land and had not yet had a chance to review my messages. Had I known they had an official request to be on my land, I would have simply responded by denying their maneuvers, not with military force. In either event, they were not welcome on my lands.
As to the secondary issue of my trial, I have high hopes that my conduct in this situation and the conduct of the men and women under my command properly reflect the level of restraint we show in the face of the enemy. I’m sure all will see that this proves we are not given to wanton destruction.”
The Major was suddenly flooded by questions about reports of the injured. Quieting the reporters, he replied, “I have heard the same reports. As of this time, I have received no confirmed reports of injuries. If there were any, I’m sure appropriate action can be taken.”
The next hail of questions was about his upcoming marriage. Major Silver just smiled and said, “While I’d love to discuss the pleasantries of my upcoming wedding, that is not the purpose of this press conference.”
“Are there any further questions concerning the events of late or of the Clipperton incident?” a generally disgruntled negative response moved throughout the assembled crowd. “Then I’ll conclude this press conference and await the findings of the judges. Thank you.” As Major Silver turned and ascended the stairs back up to the second floor of his Estate.
At 2000 that evening, the Silver Eagles got their next piece of bad news on the holovid. A Capellan Jumpship had entered the system and was en route to the planet with a ‘special envoy of the Capellan Government’ to discuss the Clipperton incident and the legal status of the Silver Eagles. Of course, the Jumpship and Dropship matched the signatures of the Capellans they had fought on Clipperton…
Shortly thereafter, Major Silver was contacted by the Negushivo Royal Court and told that he and the other owners and principle leaders of the Silver Eagles were to report to the Royal Courthouse at 1000 the following morning. The judges had reached a verdict.
“Hear ye! Hear ye! All rise! The Royal Court of Negushivo is now in session, this the 7th day of February in the year three thousand and fifty-four! The Honorable Judges of the Court present, His Honor Judge Gregory Rubicund presiding.
The Chief Justice banged his gavel down on the old Oak bench. “Be seated.” As the crowd settled into their seats, the Judge picked up a pile of papers and prepared to read the first line. “Will the defendants please rise?”
As they stood, the Judge began. “On the charge of Violations of the Aries Conventions and general disregard for non-military assets, this court finds insufficient evidence to implicate His Lord Kevin Charles Silver or any of his Personal Guard, the Silver Eagles.
However, as is the want and privilege of this Court, we have reduced the charge to Culpable Negligence. For lack of reasonable explanation for the attack of the Clipperton HPG in the first place, even though it is not provable that it was their intent to destroy the facility, the original premise of the attack was insufficient grounds for such destruction.”
“This court therefor finds the defendants guilty of Culpable Negligence and orders them to pay the Word of Blake a sum equal to one hundred million Eagles in compensation for the damages. If the defendants cannot or will not abide by this ruling, all Silver Eagle assets will be seized and sold at auction to pay their debt. It is so ordered and this case is concluded.” The Chief Justice banged the gavel and ended the session.
Major Silver and the others were led to the General Accounting Office of Negushivo to arrange a transfer of their funds from the ComStar account that was holding their c-bills in trust. After leaving the GAO, reporters were swarmed all around the entrance. Many question about the case and it’s finding were shouted out, but Major Silver refused to answer any… until he heard the question he’d been waiting for.
“Major! Major Silver! Is it true you claim to have evidence that your sister is responsible for the economic downturn and the resulting executive orders permitting the mining in the Southern Wildlife and Habitation Preserves?”
Major Silver stopped on the steps and asked the reporter to repeat his question. He needn’t have as Major Silver had helped write it the night before when Lt. Faller presented copies of the executive orders his sister has signed. The repeating of the question was for the benefit of the other reporters.
As they stood and waited for his reply, Major Silver took a deep breath. No turning back from this one Kevin. Better do this right the first time. “Yes, it is true I have evidence that my sister conspired with enemies of the State of Negushivo to rape our world. I even have reports of a munitions plant being set up for the profit of the Word of Blake. No Negushivan will see a hundredth-eagle of this money because it all goes to the Word of Blake and by extension, Captain-General Thomas Marik.”
“Worse, while we sweat and toil and burn our life’s blood, the Mariks will profit from our slow death. The raping of Negushivo must be stopped and I will gladly be the instrument of it’s execution.” Major Silver paused to let the comment sink in. He was openly declaring against his sister’s rule. “I will not sit idly by and watch as the necessary ecology of Negushivo is destroyed for shortsighted gain. Many of the plants and animals in the Southern Wildlife and Habitation Preserves were genetically engineered by Star League scientists to keep Negushivo from returning to the frozen wasteland it was before we came here. Many of those species are irreplaceable as they live nowhere but here. This cannot be allowed.”
“Negushivo profited without mining in those necessary Habitat zones. Yes, it’s harder and less profitable, but there has to be a limit on the value of profit at the expense of our eventual killing of the non-natural ecosystem we have created here. We can turn the economy around as we always have, through trade and tourism. We have many natural resources to exploit beyond our limited but valuable mineral wealth. Our educated workforce is one.” Major Silver let his tone become harsh and sinister. “But instead, my sister brings in outside contracted workers to make the profits, so she can exacerbate the economic woes we’ve been facing and push for even more extreme measures.”
“I have the evidence. I will present it to anyone that wishes to see it for him or herself, noble and common-born alike. See it with your own eyes and learn the truth that has been hidden from you the past few years. My sister has sold this nation to the Mariks for her own power and greed. I intend to stop her. I will not abandon Negushivo again. No more questions.” And Major Silver pushed his way past the reporters and their shouts of questions.
Once safely inside the Ferret, Major Silver could relax. As they took to the air, Major Silver tried to relax for the flight back to his estate… he only had a half-hour to relax.
Sergeant Chi Lin’s voice came over the intercom. “Major Silver, radio report coming in. On VOX.”
A broadcast radio message boomed through the back of the transport helicopter. “Once again, following an announcement of open rebellion against his sister, the Countess Alessandra Marie Silver, Lord Kevin Charles Silver has been charged with treason against the State and ordered arrested. Word of Blake Militia has mobilized its forces to secure the Royal Palace against any retaliatory strikes the rebel Kevin Silver may make. Keep tuned to this station for further updates on this shocking story.”
Major Silver clicked the intercom off. “It’s begun.”