Beyond Hope: a featurette brought to you by Cannonshop and Monbvol.

[Cannonshop]

Prelude: in the darkest hours…

Every movement in the universe can be modeled in mathematical form.  This is proof not of some divine hand, such a proof would inevitably be inaccurate, as divinity is by definition outside the context of creation.

Kowloon has been occupied by the Rim Worlds Republic since the Age of War, the conquerors of this world getting their victory through the material and technical support of Mankind's oldest nation-the ****** Terrans.

From here, she could imagine she could see the scar of her homeworld's first city, blown to hell by yet more Terrans working on behalf of House Amaris almost forty years ago.

Tonight, today, it is the day.  Decades of planning, generations of rage kept quiet and silent, the Rimjobs have moved the divisions stationed here to conquer their benefactors, and left a mere single division and a couple of their less-effective Naval vessels on overwatch.

Anh finished the math, the release, the vector, the curve of gravitation were timed to the meter, ten decimals of complex three-body problem worked out to time with a rising.

A rising for freedom, for vengeance.

For the home of a destiny not enslaved.

She released the cargo, as Deb Sithers and Tonya Jenkins made their own approaches, coasting on gravity at near-releative speeds from the outer system.

The pull-away was only a few tons of thrust, and if the Rimjobs saw it?

Well, they'd be too late anyway.

The Date, is January 1, 2767.

Kowloon, is rising.

By tomorrow, the Garrsion fortress that keeps the slave-market in Nha Tranh open for business, will be a pattern of craters lined in meteoric iron.

A dark cell somewhere in Unity City
Terra
1 January 2767

The cold floor of the lab on her feet and legs was causing her muscles cramp.

Amaris had given the orders.

Do nothing to damage their minds.  No concussions, knocking unconscious, or choking.
Feed them normally.
Allow them to bathe and otherwise be sanitary.

The guards were free to do whatever else they wished to them.

Today they found out why they had been spared certain tortures.

“You see ladies, I found this thanks to Richard.  It is the machine that digitized the mind and experiences of the original donor to the M5 program.  I had hopes for immortality at first but it is quite lethal as it turns out.  I am many things, one of them is attached to my current state of being.  But rather than declare this a waste…”

Amaris eyed them with a sinister smile.

“I had the best minds in the Republic and my new Empire make these.”

A pair of nude female figures that looked very much like them before Amaris and his goons had started taking turns with them were wheeled in.

“They’re fully anatomically correct and equipped with the best synthetic nerves possible.  I even have these handy remotes so that I can inject other certain sensations.”

Elizabeth was dragged over to the chair, too weak to move.

Another guard forced her to watch as the procedure started.

After several hours the ‘doll’ that looked like Elizabeth began to move and all Helena could do was watch and cry as Amaris moved to take his new toy away with him.

Elizabeth's battered body in the couch lunged, then lunged again, and again…and the padded restraints tore loose, as the 'doll' also stepped, negligently, tearing free from its mounting.

What followed,  was not what he expected, as her soon-to-be-dead sister rasped something, and moved, catching one guard by surprise, she stripped his weapon from his hands, and the doll attacked the other.

Amaris, quite reasonably, fled the room, screaming for guards.

"Come on, Helena, we've gotta get out of here!!"  Her sister…and the doll, spoke as one.

Helena trembled as she extended her arm, weekly grasping her sister’s, or was it the dolls?

She didn’t know for sure.  She was too weak to do much more than barely stand and stay standing while she was practically dragged along by whichever one of them it was.

"Pick her up and GO!!"

"But-"

"I've got this. Get Helena to safety, she's the only one that matters now!!"

That was when Helena could tell.  She was in the hands of the doll.  It carried her gently.  The very advanced robot covered in synthetic flesh, that had been made to look very lifelike, and very much like her sister, had one difference.  It didn’t have her sister’s smell.

The three ran-well, the robot carrying Helena ran, and Elizabeth was pushing herself to keep up. 

"Lizzie!!"

"I'll be with you always."  Elizabeth stopped, dropped to one knee, and began firing as the guards, finally organized tried to pursue.  "GO!!! DAMN YOUR EYES GO!!!"

Helena’s voice was too weak to allow her anything more than unintelligible sounds as she tried to call out for her sister.

The doll picked up its pace.  All the secret ways opened to them and closed on the guards.  It was the only thing that allowed them to get to the shuttlepad.

"Shhh…I know."  the robot said, "I know…you're the one who matters to her, matters to me."

Elizabeth…two? Other?  Manipulated the locks and carried Helena into the shuttle, sealed it up, strapped her in, and took the controls.

"Where can we go?" Helena managed to murmur.

"Away from here.  I know exactly where…"

Helena just nodded as she tried to adjust the simple gown she had been forced to wear since being captured by Amaris’ goons.  It did not give her proper modesty.  But there wasn’t time to get her anything else to wear before they launched.

Elizabeth didn't bother to wait for the clearance, or for the silo doors to fully open before lifting out-a move she'd done at the Academy not three months and a lifetime ago. "Broadcast signal sigma alpha two six one, Elizabeth Cameron override Delta, seven nine seven one five, defense system deactivate.  'On my word as witch of the skies' end."  the robot sighed, "they'll take at least an hour getting the air defenses operating again, Helena.  The computer core he used is on a ship, we're taking that ship away from him…and away from here."

Helena just let the tears flow as she felt the press of the thrust.  Despite not seeing it for herself she knew her sister was now dead, having sacrificed herself for them.

***

Hue, Kowloon, morning of the 2nd of July, mid-summer…0344 AM

The strike had flattened the Garrison outside of Kowloon's oldest remaining city, and the Grange riders from outside town and up the Little Mekong all the way down to Golden Lake converged, by water and land, taking Militia Police stations and Security checkpoints all the way to the ornate palace that housed Governor Suleiman 'Slaver' Bin Hawli and his wives.

Tran Truk Ngo paced into the courtyard, ranchers and outriders saluting with captured weapons and weapons brought by smugglers and from other sources.

"What do we do with his family, sir?"

"Let them go to the Civil Service dependents quarter, make it clear they're not safe if they come out."

"You're not going to break the defenses there?"

Tran shook his head, "Why? Best cell in the world, they're holding it locked for us.."

He paused, as men from the Luus Nghien family up Ia Drang came out, dragging Kowloon's Rim Worlds Governor in rope bindings, naked.

"Mister Governor." Tran tipped his hat, "We have business, you…and all of us."

"I'm valuable! I have…I know Access codes, and accounts!! I can make you Wealthy!!"

"No.  You're going to join your staff…" he pointed at the bridge extending from the lowlands up to Highway One coming down the Plateau, "You're going to hang, mister Governor, for all you've done for us."  he glanced, "Hang him mid-span, he can join his senior staff."

"Yass sah!"

The fat man screamed and pled as he was dragged up the main street of oldtown, to the highway bridge, a crowd of angry residents, and angrier rurals, jeering and shouting invective.

Tran followed up the bridge, half a kilometer he walked while the Rim Worlder governor tried to beg for mercy, for his life…

"I'm letting your kids live, Mister Governor, I'm letting your wives live.  That there, is mercy enough and more than you've shown us."  he picked up the rope, as his men held the condemned, "There's always gotta be a cost, Mister Governor, I would that I could hang you a hundred more times, but it ain't the world." he cinched the noose, and (wth help) tossed the obese overlord over the side, to snap the rope taut.

Screwed up the knot, the man was still struggling down there.

"Sir?"

"Leave him, make sure he doesn't somehow come back up the rope, but let the son of a bitch hang."  Tran said,  "we've got to get ready for their counter strike, no Dinh Dieps this time, we don't stay concentrated where they can decap the leaders of The Movement in a single orbital strike."

As he walked back down the bridge, watching as other Rimjob officials-and a few of their officers, joined the Governor's dance over the kilometer-wide river, he looked to Town, and the flag of the Rim Worlds Republic had been taken down.

The Red-blue-and-gold banner of the Kowloon Republic was being hoisted as the second sun started to crest the eastern horizon of a mild winter day.

Tran stopped, and saluted the banner that had been outlawed since the Rim Worlds Conquest.

"We're going to need the government in exile to stop being in exile." Tran resolved.  “I also want it clear that families are not to be harmed.  That’s a Rim Worlder tactic, not ours.”

No, we haven't had a president since we were conquered…

Cal Sithers, dressed out in his pressure suit and helmet off, met him at the base of the bridge.

"Mercy sir?"
"We're not animals." Tran said, "we're going to need a provisional government to get the lights back on and keep order.  You know that, right?"

"Ayeh Sirrah."

"I want the Belts in it this time, helping lead…and we have to move fast."

"What do we do when Amaris cries to the Camerons and they send a Royal Division this way again?"

"We fight.  There can be no peace with slavers, or slavery, and we've lived the price of surrender." Tran said, "So…never again.  Pass the word, make it ring, never again.  To the last of us?"

"To the last of us."

“Then let’s burn together.”

By noon, his wife Marjery, with her degree in political science from UW Donegal, had been elected [Provisional] President of a Provisional government, and by E: 30 (25:30 on a 30 hour clock) the provisional assembly had re-ratified the Colonial Charter Constitution that had been suspended and outlawed after the Conquest.

It was weak, it was ad-hoc, but Kowloon had a government of its own by the 3rd of July 2767…

***

CiC SLS elizabeth Cameron
Lutyens 64-28
3 July 2767

Elizabeth had managed to at least find an emergency ‘one size fits most’ jumpsuit in the shuttle for Helena to change into to allow her some minor modesty.

Still Helena did not let anyone other than her ‘sister’ get close to her.

“Why is she acting that way?”  A nurse from the station asked.

“One of Amaris’ particularly cruel tortures.  He’d have his guards dress up as members of the ‘SLDF’ to ‘rescue’ us and then demand a ‘reward’.  He was particularly delighted in having them dress up as members of the Royal Black Watch.”  Elizabeth answered.

“But you don’t seem to have that problem.”  The nurse said.

“I’m not human anymore.  I have all of Elizabeth’s experiences, all her pain and anguish.  Everything she too suffered at the hands of Amaris and his highest supporters and the guards that he had watch us.  I’m no longer that weak thing that could not stop it until it was almost too late.  My perspective has changed a lot.”  Elizabeth answered.  "...I'm not her anymore.  I saw her die, to save Helena, she chose to hold them off long enough for us to escape."

“I’m not even sure where to begin.  But we do need to tend to your sister.  Has she at least been eating like we instructed?”

“I’ll make sure she’s relaxed enough to let you give her the routine exam you wish and yes, she is eating.  Amaris did not want us to starve.  I think he also delighted in trying to keep us ‘pretty’.  So he fed us reasonably well.”

Elizabeth stepped over to her sister.  “It’s okay.  They just want to make sure you’re healing like you should be.  We’re safe here.  I promise.  I’ll stay with you the whole time.”

The exam was nerve wracking for Helena as she had to disrobe and be touched in places she did not like being touched right now but Elizabeth was with her.

The laundry list of physical and sexual abuse that was now documented would gave any sane person pause, and most nightmares.

A shower after the exam helped calm Helena.

“What are we going to do now?”  Helena asked as she sat down to eat.

“Take it one day at a time.”  Elizabeth answered.

***

[Cannonshop]

"How is she…WHERE is she?" General Aleksandr Kerensky demanded. 

"This way sir."  colonel Doctor Vickers said, leading the Commanding General to a secured area of the Station.

"Uncle Aleks? Is that you??"

"Helena!! Thank god you're alive!!"

She flinched instead of accepting his hug.  "I'm so sorry…"

"It will be alright, you're safe now!"

After a moment she let him hug her after all as she buried her face in his chest and sobbed.

“They never could get a quite right body double for you Uncle Alyks.”  Elizabeth explained.

"Don't leave!!" Helena said it into his shoulder, "Don't leave us!!"

"I won't leave you…" he said it without realizing…and then, "I won't leave you unprotected again."

“Teach me Uncle Alyks.  Teach me how to fight.  So I never have to be a victim again.”  Helena looked him in the eyes.

He had to.

“I will.  I’ll find you the best of the best.  Specialists who know more about particular forms of combat than I do.  I may be a General and a Gunslinger but that doesn’t mean I’m the best at everything.  So I’ll find those people for you.  They will be hand picked so you never have to be unprotected again either.”

"Sir?" Aaron DeChevalier said from the doorway, "ah, General, sir, the divisions are ready, are you going to dismantle the plan to put an adequate garrison here in case the Rim Worlds uncovers this base's location?  Amaris is going to want her back and we're still not to full strength."

“We will indeed leave a strong fleet here just to be safe.  But we should have more than enough to spare to take on the Rim Worlds.  He has left terribly little behind in defense.”

"I hate to be the accountant here, Sir, but…we can't afford it.  We need every ship if we're going to cut him off at the knees by taking the Republic."

"I won't leave her unprotected, Aaron!!"

"I know sir, but we can't have a strong enough garrison HERE and still carry out the war plan THERE.  We're a hell of a lot closer to where Steve-oh has his main body, It may be a good idea to keep Her Majesty on the move until we've cut down on the opposition, sir."

“That’s just it Aaron, LIC has confirmed for us his main fleet is here at Terra, we can afford to leave a strong garrison fleet and have plenty left over for the operation and keep up the raids.”  Kerensky countered.

'Raiding is different from defending a fixed point, in a base system whose main security is obscurity, sir.  Ground warfare a defender is worth three attackers, but in space..it's the opposite-one defender is worth a third of an attacker who has the initiative.  Talk to Admiral [name] if you don't believe me. Until we've got firm control of the area, this base is a giant target we can't adequately defend until we've finished off the Republic and brought in our Ralliers, Sir."  Aaron was firm on this, digging his heels in, even.

“We must split our forces.  We have to keep the pressure up here while we attack or he’ll see us coming.”

Elizabeth spoke, "You need every ship you can get." she said, "I have a ship…I am the ship."

“And where she goes, I go.  I won’t ever let anyone separate us ever again.”  Helena clutched onto her sister.

General Kerensky winced, as if he'd been struck, and pure misery filled his features, "you don't know what you're asking…I've tried so hard to protect you from it…and I failed."

“Look sir, the best I can offer is we pull the self-destruct and maybe up armor the ship in the process.  We can spare enough to do that.”

"Do it." Kerensky seemed to make up his mind, "after we take down Apollo and have secured our rear, we'll revisit this topic, but Aaron?  Tell the admirals I want at least a four ship escort on the…SLS Elizabeth Cameron and she's not to be put forward ahead of the line."

"Yes sir.  We’ll also see about re-shaping the hull.  So it looks more like a III.  Might not hold up much with the time we have but anything to adjust the sensor cross section and visual features."

***

February 2nd, 2769…

"....it's diplomacy, Helena.  It might even be valuable diplomacy."

They were on the way back from Apollo, Uncle Alyks had succeeded in most of his objectives, and ralliers had stiffened the region where she was to stay….but there was this stop, here.

"Kowloon…why do I remember that name?" Helena mused aloud.

Elizabeth snorted, "Early in Dad's reign, an SLDF operation went bad here." she said, "City of fifteen million people in revolt were blown to hell by SLS Belleau Wood under Vice Admiral Chivington."

"The guy Uncle Alyks as much as accused of being a war-criminal who got away with it at the Christmas party in 2750?"
"Same guy, there's records in the hard storage, the planet's been a pain in the ass of House Amaris for centuries…and now, they've apparently thrown the Rim Worlds out, and kept the Lyrans from exploiting the change of government."

"Well…good for them! Why are we stopping here?"  Helena asked again.

"Because General McEvedy is willing to evacuate the surviving Rim Worlds government people and their dependents, seems the locals hate House Amaris so much they hanged every Amaris official who set toe outside of a fortified set of apartments in one of their cities…"

"Good."

"You, are the First Lord in Waiting, Helena.  You need to be in charge here, or people will think you're weak." Elizabeth persisted, "This is in your job description, negotiating the release of hostages in the name of the Star League, proving we're not…animals to people who have no love for either House Amaris, OR House Cameron.  Uncle Alyks and General D think they might be useful-these are, after all, people who waged an insurgency for the last two and a half centuries without giving up."

Helena weighed it in her mind, "If I meet with them, it will be here, Elizabeth. On your decks, where I have control and safety."

Below, the blue, white, and reddish brown marble dangled, four hours transit from their current position.

Five hours later…

"Madame Cameron." The man was whipcords thin with asiatic eyes and black hair cut very short.  He wasn't much older than she was, but there was a strain in his eyes…

"You are?" Helena asked.

"Colonel Trung, Kowloon Defense Establishment, also this is Commander Anh Cu'ong of our Coast Guard.  We're here to hear your terms for the removal of the Rimjob parasites from Hue."

"I thought I would be dealing with the Provisional government directly, Colonel." Helena managed to say coolly.

"The civilian government is currently widely distributed in case your task force decides to replicate the lesson of Dinh Diep, Ma'am." he said, "I'm the highest ranking disposable person we've got, and I'm not much for a hostage."

"You're not going to bend the knee."

"No ma'am, two surrenders in the past, nothing good came of either one.  We're not inclined to do that again, ma'am.  If the Star League decides to make us go back to the Rim Worlds Republic, we'll fight to the last breath to keep those slavers off our world, and i can confirm, we're not all that particular about how to do that-we dropped kinetic kill weapons on their bases to break their garrisons during the rising."

Elizabeth, at least, looked shocked.  "On your own world?"

"We really wanted them gone, Ma'am." he said it without blinking.  "When you don't have 'mechs you use what do have.  We've got rocks, rifles, and bombs."

"What if I offered you the Star League's guarantee you will never be forced to submit to an occupying power again?" Helena asked.

"I'll take it." he said, "In writing, if you please."

“Then you shall have it.”

“Helena.”  Elizabeth cautioned.

“They hate Amaris as much as I do.  Maybe more.  And that’s saying something.  I don’t need them to love me.  I need them to face a common enemy.”  Helena said with vitriol.

"So, when do you need us, madame first lord?" Tran Truk Ngo asked, "Because we're going to have to organize a supply line, and mobilize soldiers.  My people won't serve under a foreign flag, but we'll serve beside one…and there are a lot of my people who would walk light years in the naked to kill a rimjob."

“Fair.  I’ve been getting a crash course on war fighting.  So get your logistics in order.  That’s what really wins wars, not soldiers.  Though having both helps.”  Helena nodded.

"Yes ma'am."

End Prologue

[monbvol]

Hehe.

And to be clear, yes this is a new setting.  Helena's not the Eternal Princess this time.  So get the popcorn ready.

[Lazarus Sinn]

tag

[Orangeduke38]

I'm looking forward to seeing what direction you take this.

[wolfgar]

Talk to Admiral [name] if you don't believe me

small typo/ missed edit here otherwise, i'm prepping the popcorn and the drinks
dis gonna be good

[Smegish]

small typo/ missed edit here otherwise, i'm prepping the popcorn and the drinks
dis gonna be good

You had to say it... I was looking forward to the exploits of Admiral [name] in this version of the story. 

[monbvol]

D'oh!

Yeah that's usually Cannonshop letting me know he's not got a name and I should either look up or make up one for the situation as appropriate so my bad.

But when I get home from work and grocery shopping I think you'll all like my act of contrition.

[Daryk]

Very happy to see this one underway! :)

I'll help where I can, which seems to be mostly down to Google these days... :/

[monbvol]

Here.

[Daryk]

Awesome pics! :)

[Dave Talley]

Tav

[Cannonshop]

Chapter 1: The War of Rage

"Watching the 171st Division attack a fortification, is like watching men leap onto an inferno strike to put it out.  These Kowloonese are nuts.  They're loyal to Lady Helena, and a problem for every other Flag officer in the SLDF…"
-Colonel Bertrand Myers,
7th Andurien Heavy Cavalry,
SLDF Rallier, 2777.

“Castle Brian?”  Helena asked Brigadier Tran Truk Ngo, a man whose position was not the same scale as the Colonel's pay he actually drew.

"Running Deer Mountain.  On the list of objectives, General Hockstedder wants us to put it under observation until they can detail a Siege Engineers unit…you know how that's going to go.  The 'mechboys will be late, and we'll have to try and take it like that mess on Eagle's nest."

“****** that.  We’ll take care of the problem ourselves.  I’ll wrangle us some extra artillery and air cover.”

"Cu'ong's brought more strike fighters, 1st Squadron's got replacements, along with the replacements for the losses last week."

“Good, but there’s no such thing as too much air cover for something like this.  So I’ll go beg, borrow, and steal from where I can anyway.”

"Order of battle has the nine-zero on our left, maybe Kerensky's Sledgehammers can spare some of those neat Powersuits?" he suggested, "You know, for the snoop-and-poop phase?"

“Heh.  I think I know how to get their CO to part with a few of those too.”  Helena chuckled.

“You aren’t going to try and drink him under the table again are you?  Last time you tried that you nearly got alcohol poisoning.”

“It’s either that or I unzip my top to a suggestive level, bat my eyes at him, and you know how I feel about doing that sort of thing.”

“Just ask.  He’s not going to say no to his First Lord.”

“It’s a shame we’re both basket cases in our own way.  Otherwise we’d make an incredibly awesome power couple.”  Helena teased.

Tran held up his left hand, and pointed, "Married?  I've actually got kids, though I doubt either of them would know me on sight, and my wife's endured eight years with me away, I have no idea how Marjie tolerates it."

“See?  All the good ones are taken and have these ideas about ‘sanctity of vows’.  But seriously I’m still a long way from actually being okay enough in the head to really think about that.  Only thing keeping me sane and focused is this war.”

"Just means to me, that god hasn't brought you to the right person yet." Tran noted, "did you know god has three answers to prayers?  'Yes’…'no'. And 'wait for it’, I'm thinking yours is 'wait for it'."

“Yeah.  When I can sleep at night again.  That’s when I’ll think about it.”

'When we can all sleep at night.  This might be my last campaign." he told her, "Dinh's twelve now, and Bao's going to be nine in October."

“You should at least take some leave and go see them.”

"Ah, with our casual pace of operations?" he mocked teasingly, "anyway, the dirt from the General Staff says Elbar's going to mark the last hard concentration Amaris has outside of the Hegemony itself, we're closing the loop on the Anaconda.  Four divisions, a Brian fort, and intel says there's a couple of their warships plus a squadron of assault droppers…of course, you've seen all that, we're going in with the first wave."

“All the more reason for me to get to begging, borrowing, and stealing.”

"If you can find an unattached Assault Regiment we can borrow, it would be a kindness." he agreed, "barring that, our supply column's brought all our usual goodies, plus some lend-lease refurb stuff, Thumpers and Snipers-towed, but that just means we can use the shuttles instead of trying to find space in the dropships."

“Well I’ll see if I can scare up some Long Toms anyway while I’m at it.  Something tells me we’ll need the extra range and extra firepower.”

"Bright side?" he prodded, "We've got qualified combat engineers again!  Fresh from Ia Drang, full battalion of bunker openers.  Nguyen's in charge of 'em."

“Heh.  Well then I’ll be sure we have a sudden shortage on section 8 forms.”

"No more than half my personnel would be medically disqualified due to being crazy…but if you could scare up some 'terps for us, I have like five percent of my personnel speak English with any proficiency.  Either Viet Hmong, or Hebrew speakers would be excellent."

“Okay now I know what kind of havoc that can create.  Adding that to my todo list too.”  Ngo tossed a bottle of ijero to Helena.  “For when you ‘ask’.”

Helena knew, the language barrier was the real problem most Ralliers and Regulars had with serving along side the 171.  Vietnamese, H'mong-Khmer, or Hebrew were the dominant spoken languages among the enlisted, with only a tiny fraction speaking more common tongues like English or French. This caused a great many problems for Flag officers who didn't minor in almost-dead languages.

Helena herself as a royal scion had been forced to learn German, French, Greek, Latin, Mandarin, and Japanese.  All terribly little help.

She'd learned Kowloon's mutated pidgin through exposure in the last eight years, but Ngo's English was better than her ability to speak HIS language.

"What did you say you did before becoming a rebel?" she asked.

"Engineering student, studied civil engineering at U of Coventry…until my passport was revoked in '65." he said, "I was going to build irrigation canals, levees and dams, but then House Amaris decided we needed to be 'contained' after a couple of minor car-bombings, they shipped me to the Dinh Diep recovery, to shovel sand on top of radioactive waste without protective gear-along with a few thousand others.  The Stebbins people got us out in a jailbreak.  Rads did wonders for my tan lines though." he smirked.

"...they're fine combat engineers, their aviators are…well, they do things we try to teach nuggets NOT to do, like breaking mach at less than 100 meters AGL, but they're good at it, so it's not that bad.  I sometimes worry that Her Ladyship's got too much affection for the Kowloonese levies, but that usually vanishes, when you see the kind of casualties those guys swallow whole and just…replace.  About the only Regulars who don't seem to have a problem with them, are the 90th Heavy Assault, those New York bastards seem to really 'get' the Loonies, and Her Majesty's intentions, without having much if any hassle about it.  Thus, we tend to group them together…"

-Aaron Dechevalier,
"Memoirs on the Amaris War"
Unpublished, est. circa 2777

To Be Continued

"In 2766, in the 'election' held to confirm Stephan Amaris as the leader of the Terran Hegemony, the government of Elbar cooperated with the coup forces, sparing leadership and their families quite a lot of danger by actively cooperating with the new Amaris Empire.  Each measure taken by the Amaris Regime, was enthusiastically supported by Elbar's seated government classes.  This attitude of cooperation saved, for a time, the ruling class of Elbar from dangers, while steadily subjecting that world's population to ever increasing burdens and infringements.  In 2771, this triggered a series of protests.  The protesters were rounded up, and enhanced security measures were implemented to 're-educate' the 'criminals'.

Shortly thereafter, Elbar gained a new export product-medical supplies.  These were not merely sent to Amaris aligned military units, but also to civilian hospitals throughout the Terran Hegemony, and included nearly every organ and organic material you can catalogue.

The demand was enormous, yet Elbar provided…"

-"Atrocities of the Star League Civil War"


Day 15, Elbar Liberation…

“It’s true isn’t it General?”  Helena barked.  “Take me to where I can see it for myself.”

“It’s not a green zone.  There could still be snipers.”

“So put me in Private’s togs and point me at the site.”

“No.  I know why you want this, why you demand this but it is still far too much of a trouble zone for you.”

“Then bring it here.”  Helena relented.  “If Mohamed cannot go to the mountain, bring the mountain to Mohamed.”

“That we can do.”

They took a liaison VTOL to a secured area that used to be a High school, and from the air, Helena could see prime movers unloading…

Civilians.  The pilot banked and brought them down in a cleared area that once was a tennis court, now a helicopter pad.

These were ordinary people, frightened, confused, but ordinary, a little trace of privation on their faces and the troops pushing them off the trucks were ordinary SLDF light infantrymen from the 2344th Military Police company attached to the 7th Andurien, a Rallier formation.

The Trucks had the markings and bumper numbers of the 171st's transport and logistics company, and barely had more than a driver, and a spotter, the rest of the vehicle crammed with civilians of all ages, most looked frightened or stunned, a few were weeping.

<”Sergeant, what is going on?”>  Helena asked in Kowloon Pidgin.

<"Ma'am, these are off the rail-cars, we're managing to get them clear of the machineguns guarding the entry, and the Rimjobs stopped taking the bait after the first ambush, General Ngo is planning a door-opening, so we're getting as many of the Civs out as we can before we crack the doors.”>  the young NCO couldn't be more than nineteen, a recent arrival from Kowloon.

On the surface these civilians didn’t seem too abused.  It was only when she saw how many were going into medical tents that she started to understand.

She went to a medical tent.

<”There's got to be a reason they've got thousands of civilians arriving in cattle cars.  The Old man thinks they're doing something to them inside the mountain.">

“Doctor report.”

There are only three reasons you gather up civilians and keep them healthy.

"Most of them are in relatively good health, but… Lady Cameron, these people have been subjected to psychological torture, most are on some form of 'dammit begoods'...uh, how can I put it, 'pacification agents'.  When it starts wearing off they start panicking."

She scowled, "What do you THINK is going on?" she asked.

"The 'Loonies didn't dose them, I've confirmed that." He evaded…"the drugs they're using are commonly used as surgical precursors, pre-doses to make Anaesthesia work more quickly, side effects include reduced volition and…suggestibility."

"Tell her." an NCO with the shoulder patch of the 90th's support group said, "tell her or I will, sir."

"We think they're either going in to be subjected to behavioral conditioning-that's the optimistic estimation, but it doesn't fit, no crowds coming out the other end…and Elbar's shown up repeatedly in signals intercepts as a source for critical medical resupply."

“Then things are about to get a whole lot worse around here.  We’re going to start getting people missing organs soon, that is if they can even be brought back here alive.”  Helena concluded.

"What kind of resupply?"

"Blood, organ tissue, organs…" the man flinched as he said it. "Not just military either, sigint popped orders from hospitals on Terra, Luna, Venus, and Mars…civilian hospitals."

“Bastard.  Amaris is going old school.  Means either he’s taking more losses than the tech of the Hegemony can handle or he’s being cheap.”  Helena cursed.

***

[wolfgar]

“Bastard.  Amaris is going old school.  Means either he’s taking more losses than the tech of the Hegemony can handle or he’s being cheap.”  Helena cursed.

Why Not Both.GIF

seriously, with as hard as the SLDF was hurting the Rimjobs, it wouldn't surprise me that Amaris just didn't have the tech or the general organs either one to keep his people up and running

[Brother Jim]

This is different.

But I like it !!!

[Daryk]

It's totally both... Amaris was CHEAP in every respect...

[Euphonium]

Oh my...

[Cannonshop]

The garrison sallied at dusk, which opened the door just like he'd expected.

They sent out a company of 'mechs to try and secure the sally port.  This opened the door for the Infantry, and gave their 'mechwarrior comrades from the 90th something to fight.

And a reason to hold the door.

Around midnight local time, they had the first levels of the former Brian Fortress under control, and were starting on the internal locking-breaching armored doors or bypassing them with demolitions and mining charges.

By Dawn, they knew.

Tran Truk Ngo looked at rank after rank of cold-stored human organs, vats of blood separated by blood type, rolls of human skin, millions of eyes in climate-controlled cold storage.

"How many?" he asked.

Sgt. Nghien shrugged from the console, "based on the stock numbers?? I'd say upward of fifteen million people were parted out like a used rover.  There's maybe three hundred thousand worth here."

"This…is a crime." Ngo said quietly, "assemble the senior officers we captured on the upper levels, doctors too.  Captain Chao, I want a company detail to find some two meter fence-posts, about…fifty milimeters to seventy, and start digging post-holes."

"Yes sir."

He was cold inside.  they sorted the eyes by color.

"There will be no court martial, intelligence can sift their records.  This demands an answer."

At noon of the eighteenth day of the Elbar Liberation mission, fifty one post holes were dug, roughly one hundred meters apart, and fifty one senior officers and staff of Running Deer Mountain were brought to sharpened stakes, and put up, one after the other.

"What do we do with the other prisoners, sir?"

"Bayonet practice for any local who wants to join up." Ngo said, "find me volunteers.  Their own goddam government cooperated with this.  Find me every lost soul who's lost family in this place, give them a gun, and teach them to kill."

"Her Ladyship won't like this…"

"Son, once she's seen what they did here? She'll be on board with anything we do to the sons of bitches."  He felt the spike in his head, and hurried to his command track, outside.

He made it inside before the seizure hit.

Pure agony, to match the emptiness in his soul, his body wracked with spasms to make up for pressing his own horror, his own horrified desire to weep for the victims of this place…penance for what he had ordered, and what he would carry out.

It lasted for five minutes.

oh shit, I shat myself this time…  he was getting further in the syndrome, he would need to step down before they found out how sick he really was.

***

“You know what they did Helena?  They set those people up as bayonet practice!”  Kerensky was fuming.

"Seventeen Million Civilians, parted out like used cars, the parts that weren't useful for transplants were disposed of by burning, like trash, no graves, no closure, nothing but heaps of greasy ash." she recited, "No…uncle Alyks, no…besides, one of the most difficult things a military trainer has to do, is teach someone to overcome the urge NOT to kill.  The 171 has recovered more than a battalion of recruits, but the volunteers keep showing up at their cantonment, looking to join the war against Amaris.  And I’m not going to stop it."

"If you don't, Helena, who will? What happens when they run out? Who's next on the stake, Helena?" Kerensky implored, "The ends don't justify the means, the means will decide what ends you have to live with later."

“Fine, you want to go through the motions of trials, waiting for jurors to hand out the execution orders we all know are coming anyway.”

"No, god…just make him stop it, get them focused on fighting instead of seeking revenge! Amaris is doing it here, he may be doing it elsewhere!"

“I’ll remind them of that.  It might be enough.  For now.  But there has to be justice.”

***

When Helena reached the cantonment of the 171st, she could see the bodies on the stakes outside the perimeter.

As she walked through the camp, she witnessed groups of men and boys, drilling with rifles they'd gotten from the Kowloonese, in SLDF pattern uniforms, locals.

An old woman came out of Ngo's modified personnel carrier.

"Tran?" she asked.

"In here." he said, he was smiling.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Because the locals have had enough of this." he said, "They asked me to stop!" he said it like it was good news.  "I don't have to do it anymore, we can go back to fighting this war!"

Helena understood.  As much as she hated Amaris and what he was bringing about she understood in that moment.

“Irony is Kerensky sent me here to get you to stop it.”

"He's not a bad man, Helena." Tran Truk Ngo said, "he's likely right…" he fumbled his coffee cup, sending brown liquid splashing on the deck, and she could see streaks of white in his hair.

“I know.  I just hate Amaris.  And everything he stands for.”  The fumble caught Helena’s attention.  “You’re getting worse aren’t you.  I know you’ll never tell me what it is but I know something is wrong with you.”

"Yeah.  I've been forced to consider that I might not make it to the end of this war upright."

"How bad?" she asked.

"Panhaxyl Neuroin-55, two microgram dose, twice a day." he told her, "soon I won't be able to hide it anymore, maybe…six, seven years if I'm lucky?  Big problem's going to come if the General Staff find out. It's one thing to be here on a waiver, it's another to be a junkie on a waiver."

“Shit.  Not many conditions that warrant that kind of medication.  You should go home.  Be with your family.”

"We'll finish Elbar first, then I'll hand off to Colonel Vanh from the Second Regiment, with Cu'ong being senior, she's better at keeping them disciplined than I am anyway."

“Okay Tranh.  I’ll do what I can to smooth over the paperwork.”  Helena nodded.

"Thanks." he managed a wan smile, before adding, "Close the door on your way out…and leave soon? I don't want you to see it."

“Sure Tranh.”  Helena stood and closed the door as she exited.

She heard the grinding scream dimly, and the thumping.

***

Anh Cu'ong was waiting for her when she got back to the Division headquarters.

"I'm sending him home." the Coast Guard officer stated, "tonight.  As of nineteen hundred hours, Brigadier General Tranh Truk Ngo is officially relieved due to medical causes…seems someone caught his drug shipment and he already owned up to the Big Man.  They're going to expedite some medals and we're taking him home…which means, I now report to you directly, Your Highness."

“I’m sorry it had to happen this way.  I hoped he could have the dignity of going home on his terms.”

"I'm sorry too, I should've stepped up earlier and sent him home after Eagle's nest. He's in stage two.  Constant pain, narcotics and with the narcotics, narcotic haze impinging on his judgment, the SLDF JAG has agreed that those constitute 'mitigating factors' and have consented to drop the war crimes charges for what he and the lads did to those rimjob ****** at Running Deer."

“We’re going to have a lot more payback coming.”

"Aye Mum, we will." Cu'ong hobbled on a cast, "unfortunately, I'm stuck here, in staff-land with you, at least until my lower leg-bones heal, so you'll have to just tolerate me, Mum."

“Good news is they make sure the chow I get is good.  So you’ll probably put on some weight this tour.”

"So long as I can still fit my flight suits." Anh noted.  "The big push is to the Casares River, I've got three Regimental Combat teams who want air support, in addition to the 171.  Here's today's loss reports." she handed over a file folder.

“No promises.  But I’ll do what I can to get you some help, even including a good PT sergeant to help you burn off any weight you gain.”

"I also now am required to inform you we've got Infil teams moving up the river on skiffs." Cu'ong told her, "snoop and sabotage.  Just like we used to do on the river systems back home…in about nine hours thirty minutes, should be a hell of a boom from west of here, might even be audible."

“Hand me the stack of forms.  I’ve got paperwork for all the property damage you’re about to do.”

Commander Cu'ong did so, "We brought Marines with the last resupply run, our marines are going to make a minefield complex past-tense as the kick off for the offensive. They're working with Blackhearts from the nine-zero."

“Oh boy.  Okay adding more stuff to the requisition forms and property damage reports.”

“No jokes?”

“Too tired…” Helena admitted.

"Get some rest, the fun begins in nine hours and believe it or not, mum, I know how to fill out the paperwork the Colonel didn't…" Anh reached into her pocket and pulled out a worn I.D.-one that expired in 2760, identifying her as an aviation officer off the SLS Blackburne.  "I even have academy time."

“Well as long as it isn’t too obvious when you forge my signature.”

"I make it a point of pride to have all forgeries done by an expert, mum." Cu'ong said impishly.  "Part of being organized, don't you know."

“Good.  Then I’m getting a shower then collapsing into bed.”

***

In the space of the next seventeen days, SLDF forces from one royal Regiment, one Volunteer Brigade, a Rallier Regiment and the combined air assets of all three, corralled, then destroyed, two divisions of Amaris forces and the collaborator planetary militia.

The offensive was brutal, and kept a brutal pace.  Out of 15,000 Kowloonese, 8,000 were wounded or dead by the last day of the offensive….but the Amaris Empire didn't have more than a corporal's guard left on the planet, and while a few collaborator officials managed to escape, General Huxley of the 119th Amaris Dragoons, and his staff, were captured by the 90th Heavy assault's support company, after fleeing from the 171st in any vehicle they could find, in order to find someone 'safe' to surrender to.

**********************ATTENTION TO ORDERS*********************

From: the desk of SLDF chief of staff

To: all Star League Defense force Personnel, volunteer personnel, and affiliated units

The Following orders are to be considered pre-eminent to any previous standing order.

The events and atrocities discovered at Running Deer Mountain constitute an act of attempted Genocide.

Genocide is a crime. The deliberate, calculated targeting of civilians by military forces for the purposes of harming those civilians, is a crime.

Such Conduct will not be tolerated in the Star League Defense Force, nor will enacting reprisals against civilian populations for the purposes of Terror, intimidation, or other reasons.

The punishment for acts of atrocity against civil populations is to be thus:

Step 1: investigation to verify the crime happened.
Step 2. Trial and prosecution for the crime.
Step 3: Execution by Lawful means where possible or feasible (Firing squad, hanging, or lethal injection).

The Accused will be given all appropriate means to demonstrate their innocence as per SLDF Judge Advocate Regulation 8879-21 part 35.

As such it is considered imperative to remind all units that the Articles of War are still in effect regarding the treatment of surrendering enemy forces and prisoners of war.

We are not Beasts, we are Soldiers of the Star League.

Signed:

Aleksandr Kerensky

Damien Truscott

Aaron Dechevalier


Helena Cameron(the live signature is highly eccentric and erratic, historians will long debate if it is really hers or not)

Unit Commanders O-8  and above, are directed to sign below and retain a copy with their headquarters, the original is to be delivered to Higher Command via standard communications channels.
******************************************************************************************************


Commander Anh Cu'ong signed her copy in Helena's office, handing one copy to Lady Cameron herself, and folding her personal/unit copy into a compact form to fit in her uniform blouse.

"You did that without blinking." Helena noted.

"Yeah, well, see, Running Deer was an ARMY operation, the Coast Guard wasn't involved in the reprisals." Anh said casually, "So no sore points on my conscience for putting those bastards at permanent attention."

“Well, still it is only ink on a piece of paper so far.  We’ll see how well it actually holds up.”  Helena nodded.

"Gotta start somewhere, right?" Anh asked.

“True.  It is at least a start.  Maybe that’s all we need to make a change.”

"Your words to the ears of god, mum." Anh said, "I'm going to need you to intercede with Transport command-they're trying to take my Jumpships from the long highway mission to be troop transports, and that's going to cause delays.  We're already cycling survivors back to help train replacements, and we took on a few thousand refugees who don't want to live here anymore after what happened."

“We can’t have that.  Sounds like I need to yank on a yard master’s ear to find out what’s wrong with their regular transports.”

"Please do, I think the biggest one we've got right now, is an old Tramp class three-collar bird…and even chaining the ships like we're doing, it's slow moving droppers along the routes, and it's going to get slower if we have to divert a significant percentage of ships to support units outside our own area of operations."

"Where are you taking the refugees?" Elizabeth's remote asked curiously.

"The Plateau back home, most of them are Yisroel or Amerind descent, and the Elldees are willing to help stake them in the croplands. Up there, where the climate's not too terribly different from the better settled parts here."

"Um, 'Yisroel'?" Elizabeth inquired.

"Hebrew speakers, you know, Abrahamites, israelites?"

"Jewish."

"Yeah.  should be kinda funny seeing them move in with followers of Joe Smith out by Brigham…but probably safer than leaving them next door to the people who sold them out to the government that was carving them up for spares. I expect some of the Rokkajakkah community will be taking in foster apprentices too, so it's going to be a boost to our population and they want to live with us, not dominate us."

"By 'funny' you mean…?"

"I'm just imagining there's going to be some minor frictions from cultures, mum, nothing big and nothing worth a riot over, but I kinda speculate there's going to be some big demographic shifts in a couple generations."

“Typical growing pains then when taking in a large population with their own culture and traditions.”  Helena nodded.

“Likely.  Well I’ll hope that is all it will turn out to be personally.”  Elizabeth’s remote said happily.

“You two really sisters?”

“Yes and no.”  Helena admitted.

"AH, yeah, I have a few of those back home.  Half-sisters, 'sisters' by adoption.  Cousins at the bottom of the well… got a whole branch of the family in New Saigon, they're all delinquents, do stuff so stupid you wonder if they're even sapient."

“Well our relationship is a bit more complicated.  But something we don’t like to discuss too openly.”  Elizabeth said.

“Well she’s eventually going to find out you need a charger.”

Anh visibly paused…then, "so you've got cyber parts? That's kinda cool." she said.

“Whew.  I was half afraid you’d make a joke about a certain other electrically driven device commonly used by women who need a specific kind of ‘attention’.”  Elizabeth visibly relaxed.

"I consider THAT sort of thing something one hires a Port-Boy for." Anh said, "If one isn't contracted for breeding."

Elizabeth’s remote’s face took on a pained expression.

“I stepped on a landmine.”

"The engineers did good work then." Anh commented, "You can't hardly see where they had to use plastic.  I've got a cousin-uncle who's got a titanium-aluminide left hand after he reached into a processor-that is, a fertilizer processor, on Boojum Four."

“Well I can’t have children anymore.  Ever.”  Elizabeth’s remote said.

"How sad…" she glanced at Helena, "So you've got her quota too? That's going to be rough, you're tiny."

Helena also visibly winced.

“Let’s just say I have a lot of issues to work through before I can even think about that.”

"Dude, artificial insemination, 'kay? You don't HAVE to give up girls, My second mom can't get it from a guy at all, she still turned out a half-sis from the race-bank."

“My plumbing is too wrecked for that.”  Elizabeth said sadly.

"Surrogate, or adopt." Anh suggested, "I mean, I might have to do that if I get too old. You find some nice place with lots of orphans, and pick one to raise…wait, I forget, you're dettifeet.  It's not like the old days though, there's lots of legal ways to get a kid to carry on your traditions, if not your genes.  You don't HAVE to go looking for homeless orphans to spirit out to the stars."

It dawned on Helena then, just how prominent the whole concept of starting a family was for Anh's home culture-and how different from planetborns her mind really was.

That’s when something else caught Anh’s attention.  For how important Helena was, her staff area was tiny, almost no one around.

"You need a bigger staff, you're doing too much of your own scutt-work, I'll get you set up right."

“I know.  It’s just that I have…trust issues.  Ones that make it hard for me to be around a lot of people.”  Helena answered.

"Then we'll find you people you can rely on, even if you don't start off trusting them.  You're a FLAG OFFICER, you don't have the staff of an O-3, and you really need the extra bodies to prevent unwanted interruptions and meetings.  A good staff means you don't have to speak to anyone you don't actually NEED to."

Helena just meekly nodded.

Elizabeth made a face, "Like a privacy wall?" she asked

"Exactly like a privacy wall. Put it this way, I don't have to actually talk to that jackass Howe from 7th Andurien unless it's directly related to operations, which also means he doesn't sit there making insensitive jokes about the storied sex-habits of Spacers in front of me, which saves me SO much aggravation.  Instead, I make him talk to Sammy Long, who gets me the info I actually NEED from the man, without either of us being insulted by the other."

“There are other certain constraints we would need to insist upon.  If they are going to be part of Helena’s staff there is something they will need to be read in on and we need to be sure they can act appropriately in light of that information.”  Elizabeth said.

Anh nodded. "Everyone has secrets.  Ngo was on Neuroin, I have panic attacks if I'm outdoors on a planet without a suit.  Colonel Vanh's got his secrets, you have yours."

Helena nodded at her sister.

“Very well then as our first staff candidate we wish to read you in.  Are you interested?”

"I'm running most of a service branch already, I'd love to take a cush staffer, but I have my own job. BUT… I can find some discrete people for you to fill the necessary G-slots, if I know what you need kept quiet."

Helena just nodded again.

“Helena was sexually and physically abused by Stephan Amaris himself.  One of his games was to also pass her off to his guards or supporters dressed up as SLDF personnel, especially the Royal Black Watch.  It makes it tough for Helena to be around so many people wearing the uniform.”

Anh nodded, "We guessed that, now I owe my Intel chief a round of quiet drinks."

"WHAT??"

"It's an open secret you were a Prisoner of the Fat Man, we know what they do." Anh confirmed, "you weren't his first victim."

“See Helena, you can trust her.  She knew already and didn’t make it weird.”  Elizabeth said.

"I didn't 'know-know', I extrapolated on the son of a bitch's history." Anh said, "So you need people who can work with their uniform 'inside' instead of 'outside'-that is, disciplined people who don't lose discipline while in civilian attire."

“And I still have problems with groups.”  Helena finally spoke weakly.

"Tiered organization helps there, we can limit WHO you have to directly interact with." Anh said efficiently, "probably a more prussian example rather than the French model."

“Doctor Hutchinson would be proud of the progress you made today Helena.”  Elizabeth smiled.

Helena simply nodded.

"Let's outline what you need…"

By the end of the day, they'd outlined a set of basic functions, and an organizational charting showing what tasks to delegate, which to retain, and how many the minimum would have to be to fit into Helena's needs.

“Thanks Anh.  Now you know why me and Tranh got along so well.  A couple of ****** up misfits that had plenty of reason to hate Amaris.”

"Ugh, you're not ****** up, Helena, you're reacting like a human being reacts…so stop torturing yourself, finagle knows the universe will do enough of that for you.  I'll have people on the way over by lunch tomorrow, they'll be briefed on the bare bones minimum necessary so you can decide how much YOU want them to know."

“I know this much I don’t want people that feel like they have to walk around avoiding stepping on eggshells.  I want them to be able to speak their minds, even if it brings up a bad memory for me.”

"Fair." Anh nodded.


"...the Elbar Declaration's signature requirement was an added layer of personal accountability.  Despite this, it was a failure, and the foremost violator was Aleksandr Kerensky himself.  By ordering the 'root and branch' annihilation of anyone with a scrap of Amaris in their DNA, he ordered a genocide…precisely in violation of his own standing order.  That his followers carried it out, is recorded history.  Notably, by then, the 171st Volunteers had already shipped for Kowloon and their homes, content in the death of Stephan Amaris himself…"

-Vu Dao, Bianh Jane.
Grade 7 paper, Public School 129
Spider Moon Burrow 4, 3037, Kowloon system.

To Be Continued

[wolfgar]

"We have no problem killing the ******** who butchered our people or other people, but we draw the line at killing their families unless they themselves took a hand in the butchery."

i can understand that

[Daryk]

That's the essence right there... corruption of blood HAS to be abolished.

[Cannonshop]

Chapter 2: Shockwaves

Helena thought it would be easier now.  Amaris was dead.  But nothing had really changed for her.  She couldn’t be around Terra.  Not now.

“Jump us.”  Helena commanded.

“Really?  Where to?”  Elizabeth said.

“Away.  Away from Terra.  I can’t be here right now.”

Elizabeth’s remote simply nodded.  She knew her sister was right.  She could not be First Lord in her current state.

discontinuity


Kowloon system, November 11, 3053…

The emergence wave was preceded by enough EM, Thermal, and Neutrino that it actually tripped 300 year old detectors that stopped working sometime in the 28th century.

Alica Li was awakened by alarms from a rather pleasant dreaming sleep, to what sounded like a mass-jump of military grade warships into Kowloon's outer orbital system.

"Get telescopes on it!!"

One ship, a Lola III, was hanging near the Nadir.

"******. They're here."  she turned to the RTO, "Fast courier a message to the Planet, Her Grace needs to know-there's a Lola Three out there and it's probably the Clans come to call! Then scramble the alert squadrons at our outrider stations and get the one ship we've got ready for action!!"

"Aye mum!!"

******, we're not ready for this!! a lola class would EAT a Mako, even when both were NEW.

God doesn't give us more challenge than we can truly handle, if we keep our trust in him, but dammit, god, we're not ready for this!

***

Helena’s head pounded as she felt like for a brief moment she was part of the deck.

That was when she realized she was on the deck, not in her command couch.

She gingerly got up.  It wasn’t long until her comm panel buzzed.

“You okay Lady Cameron?  Are you hurt?”  Majery’s voice came over the comms.

“I’m fine.  Check on the others.”  Helena keyed the panel to respond.

She tapped commands into her station.

“Offline but core shows intact.  Good.  There’s that small miracle.”  Helena stated.

"Hey…ah…Lady Cameron?" Samantha spoke up from the Comm station, "I'm…getting some damn weird signals here, ma'am."

“Anything that makes sense?”  Helena asked.

"I hear four…five languages, there's a video broadcast…"

“Punch it through.”

On the screen, a small, asian girl stood in front of a wooden desk, leaning on a blueish wooden cane, holding a handgun too big for her hand.

The sprawled body of a man in uniform lay on clear visqueen at her feet,  she's taking off safety glasses and wiping her face.

"...this concludes this necessary action, Treason against the Commonwealth is punishable by death, abuse of office is Treason, I now so order that the following members of the planetary Assembly be released from captivity, and request that any members of the Assembly not captured by the late Regency, please report to the Capital so we can get on with the necessary business of restoring stable, clean, responsive government…" the girl's face swelled in the image as the camera zoomed in, "I am Duchess Elizabeth Anne Ngo, and I have claimed my duties from a foreign-born, foreign bred, corrupt regency. We need to get things working again. Thank you for your time ladies and gentlemen and may god bless you all."

“I recognize that crest.”  Helena said.

"It repeats, Highness…in each language. Date stamp says it happened sometime yesterday evening."

“I want a nav fix.  Where the hell are we?”  Helena asked.

"This is a presentation of the Kowloon Public Alert System, please do not adjust your sets, normal programming will resume in 11:31:42"

"I think that's a suggestion?"

“Okay that isn’t so bad.  If we’re getting a Kowloon broadcast, odds are we’re in Kowloon.”  Helena said.

At the nav-com panel, Bertha spoke up, "Binary star system, two rocky planets, two Gas giants with Moon systems…it's the right spectral class for Kowloon, and we're about four weeks from the main habitable world…"

"Four weeks?"  Samantha exclaimed.

"Jump points are further out in this place, not that unusual for a Binary like this one.  The place we're going to want to be orbits on a 730 day cycle, and telescope confirms a 30 hour rotation."  Helena recalled.

Rachel got up from engineering and drifted over to the Nav display.  "Ayeh, 'tis Kowloon." she said, "Home I am, see-dat's Hattah."

“Comms.  Raise them. “  Helena said as she rubbed her head.

"Jump point emergence, five hundred kilometers off, Ma'am…"

"Visual?"

It was a Mako class, with a single roundel on the nose, not a Lyran fist, but a Killer Whale.

"Incoming transmission from the bogey…"

"This is Lieutenant Commander Bianh Vu Dao, to unidentified Lola Three, stand to, you clanner bastards, we have you bracketed with capital missiles from three sides, and they're tipped with rockbreakers.  You done ****** up if you think you're invading us!!"

“This is the SLS Elizabeth Cameron, we have misjumped.”

There was a silence on the other end.  "Stand by for boarders, resistance will be met with force. Do you copy, over?"

“I’m sorry?  I am confused.  We’re allies.”  Helena responded.

"That depends on proof you are who you claim, we know the Clans have the capacity to run false-flag operations, so stand by for a health and welfare inspection, if that goes well, I get to disarm the nukes and have their owners truck them back to storage. Acknowledge please."

“Acknowledged…”  Helena looked around at her command crew.

On the telescope, Helena could see a battered looking Mark VII, same Whale roundel, approaching.

"They had newer gear than that…we gave them better gear than that."

Whoever the pilot was, he was good, the soft-dock was soft.

"Let's go meet our guests…"

At the Airlock to the docking bay, a party of seven in skinsuits with laser rifles-not Mausers, these were…less advanced.  Their suits weren't-they resembled a design she'd discussed with Anh Cu'ong not two months ago.

The lock cycled green, and the Marines stepped in on magnetized boots.

<”Holy crap, this stuff, this ship looks new..".>

<”Stow it, Sithers, the Clanners gear looked new too, ask around with the vets and survivors.">

The leader, wearing the chevrons of either a Master Chief, or more likely Gunnery Sgt, lifted their visor.
"They don't LOOK like Clanners to me." she said clearly, "Normal people-sized."

Jakob Irons Fletcher had insisted that Helena stay up on CiC.  So it was up to him to meet their guests.

“Welcome aboard SLS Elizabeth Cameron.”  Jakob said flatly.

"RTO, contact the ship, they're not Clan, and they ain't Lyran." the NCO said.  "Okay, anyone got communicable diseases, warrants, ahm…****** I don't know how to proceed with this, you're not the threat we were expecting."

"How about you start with a name?" Jakob asked.

"Chief Petty Officer Linda Marie Sithers 201, Kowloon Coast Guard emergency response, only maybe we're not set up for the right emergency this time…is this really the Elizabeth or are you guys cosplaying some spectacularly bad taste?"

“Last I checked this is Elizabeth Cameron.”

"Where did you salvage her? Did you find the bodies?" she asked.  "Did you give them proper funerals?"

“Salvage? We’re the crew…”  Jakob was now confused.

"That's not possible, the Elizabeth's been MIA since 2781, when she misjumped on the second run at Old Sol. you'd have to be a couple centuries old, and I don't see no grey hairs."

“******.”  Jakob cursed.  “This is way above my paygrade.”

"Join the club wellwallah." Sithers said, "I gots to call my cappi now, an' git orders." her accent thickened.

“Yeah.  This tracks.  She had to go on an impromptu vacation and now everything is ****** up.”

"I need to see your logs, find out where you've been since the Amaris war ended." Sithers said, "And I guess my Corpsman's gotta give you all a system entry physical and basic bug-search, in case you're carrying anything you picked up when you picked up the ship."

”Send them up.  They’re real Kowloonese.”  A voice came from Jakob’s communicator.

“Seems you get to meet the person I answer to.”  Jakob said.

"Sehr Gut." Sithers nodded,  "We'll find out where she was stashed and maybe end a major mystery in the process…"

"You don't believe we are who we say we are?"

"I believe you might believe it, but I don't believe in magic, so…" Sithers said, "Hopefully whatever mojo's hit you isn't contagious. There are some nasty level zero bugs on some former worlds and sometimes salvagers come back with more than the Lostech."

“Don’t blame you.  This is some weird ass shit going on.”

They reached CIC deck after a short time.

Elizabeth’s remote was up and moving finally.

"Huh, dustball special? Your captain's got some weird tastes, but not the weirdest we've run into, at least this one looks like a grown-up.  Almost looks familiar."

“Excuse me?”  Elizabeth said.  “What’s a ‘Dustball Special’?”

"Nice interaction software, must be a custom job…Nghien, Deen, check the Gynoid for explosives or containment devices, please."

“Technically I am a custom job… but I’m still curious what you mean?”

"Ah…you might not want to doo…that?" Rachel warned uneasily.

The two marines held out older-than-hell scanning wands, connected to the displays with cords.  "No explosives, no compartments…hell, I'm not seeing-"

"Fine, look, this is all very confusing and weird, but I need Corpsman Chao to give your crew physicals while my RTO finds out what to do-"

Helena stepped into the room, and Sithers mouth just stopped.

Her Eyes went wide and then… "holy shit, you know you look just like Helena Cameron does in the Holos from the Amaris war?"

“I am Helena Cameron?”  Helena said confused.

"I did a check after I powered up, Helena, stellar drift and our position? We're about Two hundred and seventy two years in the future, they think you're dead."  Elizabeth stated, "AND they think I'm a…'dustball special', whatever that is."

“Shit.”  Helena said.

Majery looked around the gathered group.  “Somebody please tell me this is an elaborate prank.  I mean it isn’t funny.”

"Nope, not funny." Sithers said grimly, then, she started to crack up in giggles, "Not funny in the slightest…hooo…" she was back to business.  "This is going to take some investigating and I don't have my tools for that.  Your core got a charge, or did they leave out the LF batteries?"

“Considering we just misjumped…”  Helena said.

'SO…no, not without a survey." Sithers stated, "which is fine, because it means I can check your navcom and do your updates."

"Excuse me?"  Elizabeth ruffled.

"COAST GUARD, you suffered a misjump, most misjumps come from old data that hasn't' been patched, I' have patches, I'm a guild certified Navigator-see? she lifted a flap to display a patch, "Pathfinder certed and all, so let me take a look at your charting software and update it, so that when you've got a charge, we can have you park this somewhere that isn't going to make a Merchant shit his pants in fear, okay?"

“Let her do it Elizabeth.” Helena said.

Sithers walked over to the Nav board.  "Huh, it all works…nice."

“I’m watching you.”  Elizabeth said.

"Ooh, very nice, you're running a Nirasaki Four fifty? How do keep it going…? Huh, clock hours are off."

“Off?  Nobody's made parts for one of those since the 28th century, wherever you're getting your spares must be Top-Shelf…and…oh..oh nice…mmm…"

Elizabeth said, "What's this program, 'tide tables'?"

"For the System, so you don't end up sprayed all over hyperspace because you didn't know where the minor wells were." Sithers said,  "you know, Gravitational tides.  Makes doing the calcs for local transit so much easier, there's also the ferry schedule so you don't cross up with the Ferry Service."

“Are you single?  Please tell me you’re single.”  Elizabeth said.

“Sis!”  Helena scolded.

"Uncontracted." Sithers said,  "I'm not due-date for baby making for another five years, ten at the outside, gotta do my damn surface tour next month."

“What?  She’s turning me on.”  Elizabeth said with a wry smile.

The nav data confirmed Elizabeth's observations about the system, and the date stamps on transmissions.

“Okay now I might not be joking about wanting a good time with our guest…”  Elizabeth smiled.

“We are so totally overhauling your core next chance we get.”  Helena chided.

The man Sithers kept calling "RTO" spoke up, "Four-fifty, Gunny?"

"That's what I said. Why?"

"That's…that's Caspar gear, gunny." he said, "You're not just talking to a fancy sex-doll there, there's a MIND tied to it, maybe wanna show some decorum before the Bosslady comes over?"

“Now they get it.”  Elizabeth rolled her remote’s eyes.

"Oh, shit. God, I'm sorry ma'am, I thought you were just an Eliza matrix on a Dustball mannequin!" Sithers said, "listen, if you're being used against your will, I can help you-"

“No, no.  I’m with my sister.”  Elizabeth shook her head.

“No one is ever separating us again.”  Helena warned.

Gunny Sithers presented a different badge, "Look, I have to ask.  I'm a bonded officer of the law, and…she's not a slave is she?"

“Are you a slave to the person you care most about?”  Elizabeth asked.

"Gunny, calm down." the RTO spoke up, "ahm..ma'am,...Elizabeth, the Gunny here, she's off a surface tour two years ago-she worked special crimes, you know, human trafficking, sex slavery, serial killers.  She's worried you may be a victim of it who fits the 'special vulnerability' area, someone who can have, through implants or conditioning, their volition impeded on an extended basis."

“Ah.  Yes, well that was done to me before I became this.  But the person who did that is long dead.  And yes he had those designs on me after my transition to my current state.  But again he is dead.”


"After we're done updating your nav software, I'm going to have to take statements." Sithers said, "even a cold case, is still a case, and victims don't stop hurting even after the perp's dancing in the vac."

“I know…”  Helena admitted as she clung to Elizabeth’s remote.

Sithers' eyes locked on Helena.  "Yeah…we're going to need more counselors."

“It’s okay Helena.  They’re Kowloonese.  You said so yourself.  You know you’re safe with them.”  Elizabeth stroked Helena’s hair.

Forty minutes later, Helena finally met Bianh Vu Dao.

***

Bianh Vu Dao was the spitting image of Anh Cu'ong, right down to the shape of her chin, but taller, thinner, and somehow blonde.

“Anh, no, you’re not Anh if the year is really what everyone says.”  Helena started.

"I'm from the Cu'ong-Chambla family, Vu Dao branch." Bianh said, "if you're NOT Helena, you sure as hell sound and look like her-at least, from the holos in the Archive."

“So how does this work?”  Helena asked.

"Well, first we're going to shroud your hull with sail material until your drive's charged." Bianh explained, "because this is the front door for Merchies, and the Clanners are the only people with Lola Threes…and a nasty habit of blowing up merchant shipping when they show up to conquer, so you can imagine it freaking people out if they see you."

“Clanners, not familiar…”  Helena stated.

Vu Dao looked at Sithers.

"Their data packs suggest by date-stamp and operating hours they haven't been sitting mothball for two hundred seventy years, all the records on board line up, minus a genetic test we can't do here, I'm going to have to suggest Helena Cameron is, in fact, Helena Cameron.  When you eliminate the impossible, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truth."

"Lady Cameron, after your core's inspection is finished and your drive is charged, we'll have you hop to Boojum orbit, in the L1 shadow of Boojum moon number three, after which, I can kick this safely up the chain of command to the Commandant of the Coast Guard, who will take it to Duchess Ngo, who will then have to figure out what to do next, in the meantime, your crew and personnel will be handled in accordance with Guestrite."

“At least the Ngos are still in charge.  Small comforts.”  Helena nodded.

"BIG comforts." Bianh corrected her, "Elizabeth's the last of the line, after Duke Dinh had his heart attack, his no-good-son let the Fedcom put a corrupt regent in charge, Her Grace returned three days ago and put an end to that son of a bitch…but there's been a lot of damage in the intervening years."

“I’m sorry, I know I made a promise about that and I broke it.  I promised you’d be recognized, independent, and protected.  It seems you were none of those things.”

"Nope, based on Nav Data, you didn't break it, because breaking a promise requires volition." Sithers drawled, "Now, Kerensky? that traitorous ****** ran off with three fourths of the Star League's army, abandoned his oaths, honor, integrity and nation to a five sided civil war that's lasted for centuries.  Trillions dead, because that old ****** didn't want to do his ****** duty." she spat symbolically into a container.

Helena began to cry.

“I’m sorry, when he was alive he was a kind and honorable man.”

"He was alive when he ran off with the ancestors of the Clans." sithers griped, "First he stopped looking for you, then he abandoned all of us."

“Then to me he died when he broke his promises.”

"Wait…what?" Jakob was confused, "What was that again, you guys keep mentioning these 'clans' and now you say they're..what, the SLDF?"

"Deserters." Sithers said ferociously, "Well, the descendants of deserters, the biggest ****** Pirate Kingdom in history, with all the looted knowledge of the Old Star League, come back as invaders."

“****** me.”  Jacob cursed.

"They killed Duke David's heir, and his other son." RTO added, "maybe Duke David himself.  Lizzie's the last one…and she's still a teenager."

“Then I have to help her.  It’s only right.”  Helena proclaimed.  “Your people helped me in my hour of need.  Now I need to help you.”

"Then we definitely need to get you to Spider Moon first, so you know what happened while you were gone." Bianh commented, "you can't help her if you don't know."

"She's got to do the swearing in next year…Tharkad. That's going to be a fun trip, what with her TDS."

“Oh god, not her too…”  Helena immediately panicked.

"It's just TDS, she gets cranky and throws up a lot, 'pack extra flightsickness bags' and hope the navigator knows their business…and hey, at least that rehab place they sent her as a kid cleaned her up."

“I hope you’re right.”  Helena nodded.  "Wait… rehab?"

"At eleven." RTO gossiped, "Narcotics, I'd blame the parents, they dragged her across half the Commonwealth while neglecting her! It's a shame, if the Old Duke, Duke Dinh hadn't died, he'd have had her in hand and sorted out a long time ago."

“This is starting to sound too familiar.  Tranh.  He also had TDS, a drug problem, and something worse.”  Helena said.

The coasties went silent… "It does run in the family…" the corpsman whispered.

"We keep it quiet." Sithers asserted, "If she wanted the population to know, she'd have released it her self.  It could JUST BE TDS!!"

"Mums the word mum." RTO said, motioning a zipping across his face.

“Yes, pray I’m over-reacting and jumping to conclusions, again.”  Helena nodded.

“We have gotten a bit side tracked.  I know your ship is a CASPAR and thus doesn’t really need a crew but if you are who you really say you are, why not a larger protection detail?”

“I…I’m just uncomfortable with large groups of people.  So I prefer to travel with only a hand picked few.  You know how it is as someone important.  Someone always wants a moment of my time.  So I keep it low key to avoid the hassle.”  Helena lied.

"Well, when we get to Spider Moon, you're going to be spending a lot of time in classrooms.  A hell of a lot's changed since 2780."  Sithers said, "and some of those changes are lethal."

“Was it really trillions?”

"Yes."

Helena felt the need to cry but this time, she fought it.

***

[DOC_Agren]

tagging in... I'm late to the party

[ThePW]

Helm, Station Keeping...

[Liam's Ghost]

Helena felt the need to cry but this time, she fought it.

She gonna need those tears for when she hears the details.

[Daryk]

Talk about trauma... yeesh!

[Cannonshop]

"Colonel Green..."

"... I'd like to offer you an extension on your contract."  Her Grace, the Duchess of Kowloon, sat across from Max Green.

"We…lost." the Mercenary said.  "You hired better mercs and we lost.  Why are you offering a contract extension?"

"Two reasons come to mind immediately." Elizabeth said, raising a finger, "one, because you need it.  Two, because if you had decent gear, the mish-mash of mercenaries who helped me put the Regency down wouldn't have won."  she leaned forward on her elbows, "You're better at it than I am.  With adequate support you would have mopped the valley with us…and reason zero-you knew that the Regent was dirty, and you bunked the ball in Hue."

"I don't understand-"

"Ms Whyte, bring in the messages your friend at Department of Liaison provided please?"  Elizabeth released the key on her desk, and her Majordomo "Ms Whyte" came in with a stack of offprints.

"Those are-"

"Classified, yes.  'Eyes Only' even." Elizabeth observed drily.  Then jammed her thumb into her chest, "Me, Duke.  I actually, legally Do have 'Need To Know' regarding communications between a Mercenary sent to stiffen my garrison, and the Lyran Commonwealth's Department of Liaison.  Your complaints were categorized, sorted, collated and filed, and nobody bothered to read them above the level of the Officers who did the filing in Mount Asgard…and I think you knew that when you sent them, but the important part, is You sent them."

"And you're going to offer me a contract extension?"

"Sure.  With Colonel Regent Stonecipher dead, along with two of his company commanders and several other higher ranking officers, we have a powerful lack of leadership in terms of military expertise-the Contractors I brought in are day players, they're outside my preferred range for funding and have bad reps.  YOU have a good rep, even if it is old, and per your current contract, I can afford you…and you have a conscience, which is rare enough to be worth my money, or so I'm told by people who should know."

"What would we be…doing?"

"Cadre and Product testing." Elizabeth said, "Coincidentally that lines up nicely with 'you need lots of repairs and spare parts', and I'm willing to amortize part of your unit's pay in spares and replacement components…and possibly upgrades from our customers, whom are trying to get out of their loans by co-sponsoring this offer."

"You're going to let them do that?" he was a little shocked.

"I'm okay with letting Coventry Metal Works try to screw me on the 3045 factory update by paying me in goods instead of cash this time." she nodded, "but my Corporate representative has made it clear this time only.  But to know what goods I need someone who knows 'mechs and what 'mechwarriors need, which means I need to hire an expert who knows what it is to fail and recover from it, and that's you."

"Why me? The AFFC-"

"Is being run by foreigners." she said snippily, "Corporate researched you, Max, you're a Sanglamore Graduate, class of 3020, you've been in this business since you mustered out in 3031, You hire good people but can't keep them.  Everyone you haven't kept shows up somewhere else as a badass boss, that means you're an outstanding trainer and teacher...and I want that working for me.  No more chicken rousting in the back-country or playing 'heavy' for a tax collection…" she laid each of his complaints down as she addressed them, "...unsupported bandit chasing…" she looked up, "Savvy?  I'm hiring your expertise in recognizing, locating, teaching, and training 'mechwarriors and 'mechwarrior officers.  There are only a couple conditions;  First being, military chain of command.  Your unit will be reporting to Evelynn Mosovich, Baroness Golden Lake and my replacement for the Militia chief of staff whose neck I had to stretch this week for dealing goods to bandits as part of Stoney's little criminal conspiracy."

"The Second?" he asked.

"I want you to make a list of everything you would need for a battlemech regiment to defend Kowloon from the Clans, and I want it updated weekly, which means we're going to be funneling everything, every rumour, holocap, motion cap, gun camera record, report, and everything else I can get through my board's contacts at Mount Asgard, for you to analyze, pick apart, examine and dig through.  The Clans are coming, by the time they come here I want my star system to be a goddam porcupine that sends them whimpering back to their hole with quills in their mouths…so I also want you coordinating with Evvy, and with Alicia Li to come up with a combined air/space/ground doctrine we can actually execute. no half-ways, My brother died on Tamar because his unit didn't have that, which put me here at far-too-young for the role.  Until the Archon sees fit to assign me a Guardian-ad-lidem for the duration of my minority, I have to assume my actions are loosely permitted..so I'm acting.  I want to keep you and your unit, are you okay with a contract extension or not?"

***

Papers signed, one copy to the Comstar compound for delivery to Outreach and the MRBC, this one accompanied by a letter of recommendation and glowing performance report for The Green Machine, to offset their loss of reputation in the aftermath of being defeated.  One to Tharkad and the Dept. of Liaison detailing her decision to extend the contract on the mercenaries after buying it out, and one to her personal files.

"What's next?" she muttered, and opened a file on her office terminal, "Oh, right, taxes…"

She has accountants.  As owner and chairwoman for Ngo Industries she has accountants just to watch her accountants.  This is what happens when you're the top Tooling supplier for the Lyran Commonwealth, and the Duke (Duchess) of Kowloon.  You get to do everyone's taxes every three months to the Realm.

Well, the civil servants do it, "I just have to check their work before sending it forward…"

"Milady?"  four hours into digging through the claimed deferrals and exemptions, Elizabeth looked up.  "News from out-system….it's urgent."

Liz sighed and considered, before speaking, "is it 'duke' business, 'business' business, or 'military' business?" she asked.

"Duke business, maybe military."  Lt. Hoang Li Phan, who was like the second-shift for Ms. Whyte when Liz was pulling a long day, said formally.

"Give it over then…"

Elizabeth read the cover letter first, then…"a Warship shows up and nobody tells me??  How am I supposed to do my job if nobody tells me things??"

***

“I think Sithers knows.”  Elizabeth said in a scant moment of privacy now that they had guests aboard.

“What?”

“You know what.  You don’t have to hide it from her.  She’s almost certainly figured it out.”

“Still doesn;t mean I’m ready to talk about it with another stranger.”

“You actually liked Doctor Hutchinson.”  Elizabeth realized.


“Yeah.  He actually understood without judgment.  ****** I’m going to need a new shrink for my happy pills.”

“Considering how few true friends we had, how small the family was, this is not as easy as I thought it would be.  Being displaced in time.”

“Still, if what they say about Uncle Alyks is true…”

“We don’t want to admit it but we both recognize the truth when someone says it.”  Elizabeth nodded.

“Spider Moon…”

“You don’t need me to hold your hand like a little girl there.  Just like during the war.  We can be apart without being separated.  Besides you know what I will do for you if they get some idea about whisking you away to be married off to one of the Archon’s sons.”

Helena curled up and put her face in her knees and just started crying.

Elizabeth understood.  She no longer had the War to hide behind, to focus on, so now all her trauma was coming back like a massive tidal wave.

Elizabeth’s remote sat beside Helena and just held her.

***

Somehow, in spite of more than half a decade of gross malfeasance, extortion, neglect and theft of funds, the Ferry system was still working enough that Her Grace, the duchess, could find a scheduled run out to Boojum 3 on the F:45 (26:45 local time) return leg.

"Hey! Duchess!" Flash!!

She wasn't two steps out of the car when she was flashed in the face by a Paperazzi with too much light amplification for a mild winter day.

Elizabeth lashed out.  She had been shorting her sleep, and working too hard perhaps.  Maybe the trauma of carrying out over a dozen executions in the last week had finally dug claws into her psyche, or maybe she just tripped.

Her cane went up…and came down, and the Photographer's equipment bonked off the concrete of the sidewalk.

Her Grace the Duchess, on a dozen or so tri-dees that weren't over the 'secure line' formed by her bodyguard detail, caught Her Grace, sprawled on the concrete, saying some decidedly impolite words, all dignity stripped temporarily.

The hands of staff, helped her to her feet, and found the 'daily use' cane nearby. 

"I'm sorry, I should be more careful!" she said to the rather shocked looking journo, before she hobbled-hurried to the spaceport's secure gate.

Unlike the Regent, or even her Grandfather, the Duchess of Kowloon was riding commercial, and following the posted timetable.

Her intent was to show people that things were 'returning to a better normal'-by foregoing the use of Ducal assets for her trip to Spider Moon.

This, is not the impression.  Not with the stumble in public and her history of drug abuse.

It didn't take five minutes for the press to begin speculating that Elizabeth Ngo had fallen off the wagon again.

Duchess destroys photographers livelyhood and falls down in public! The drunken scandal inside!

Is it the drugs again?  Under Age Drinking?  All the details in our comprehensive segment!

Elizabeth fumed but found herself too curious and looked deeper.

It was all speculation and blowing out of proportion her very public record of having been in rehab, the official reports of the incident that led to it, and borderline defamation about a possible drinking habit.

Part of her was actually kind of impressed they managed to gather and publish that coherent of a segment in such a short period of time.  She figured they must have a readymade template with whatever they could gather from her public records.

Of course there were certain details not available in public records.  Those she was glad had not come to light yet.

She turned to the sports and comics pages to continue her distraction for this leg of the journey.

“When will Hans learn that Lucinda will always yank the ball away at the last second?”  She chuckled.

The liftoff from the surface caused her leg and chest to hurt from the magnified gravity.

As soon as it got into orbit and could throttle back to something resembling normal gravity she reached for her cigarette case.  Since there is no smoking on the shuttle she pulled out a piece of gum laced with a pain killer.  It wasn’t as good as the smokes she had but they would have to do for the remainder of the journey.

Spacers got grumpy about all the chemicals of a good cigarette fouling up their air filters and the threat of fire in contained spaces.

[Daryk]

Green definitely sounds like a keeper! :)

[monbvol]

Good thing we have some slack because my isp has been down a few hours as of this post.  Fortunately phone internet still works.

[Daryk]

Third party comms issues have been our bane for the last month or more at this point... :/

[drakensis]

Third party comms issues have been our bane for the last month or more at this point... :/

Well what do you expect from ComStar?