Teaser for a proposed...thing.

[JA Baker]

"Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself."

In Liz, they're one and the same.

[Nikas_Zekeval]

"Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself."

In Liz, they're one and the same.

And Victor is ruthlessly exploiting both to get the Lyran side, of the Commonwealth, particularly the side above the Clan Truce Line, up to snuff for the local militia.

Hmm, what would Liz's feelings be about Omnimechs or Omnitanks?  If for the former you had say one or two main chassis?  Given her heavy tanks, perhaps someone offers a Centurion Omnimech early?

[qc mech3]

"I know how much it costs to build and maintain a reasonable force, Duke Orsini." she hissed, ...

I presume it's Duke Vincenne or someone got a BIG field promotion. :P

[croaker]

"Ah, what are you looking for?" she asked.

"Sheet plastic." he said nervously.

Finally, he grabs a clue. ;)

As for Omnis... there are pros and cons there.

Pro: So long as you have the right modules, it makes a lot of things easy.

Con: If you don't have the right modules...

I recall seeing explicit mention at one point that captured hardware had issues because they couldn't fit things to the omni connectors because the other end wasn't set up for them. (I just forget which end it was....)

[Cannonshop]

Coast Guard National Laboratories, Spider Moon.

Her lab name had been a joke-a microbiologist who specializes in weaponized viruses isn't going to be popular anywhere but among The Society.  Technically Ellen was a microbiologist in the medical field, and her official duties had been focused on medical applications and antiviral medicines.  Her greatest 'triumph' had come with a cure for an Inner Sphere remnant plague encountered during the first wave of Revival.

but her specialty meant the kind of scrutiny that put her on the Interclan Watch's red-list, and it made her exceedingly unpopular with her fellow Scientist caste.  When Clan Police raided her lab, and arrested her, she had expected death, and wondered who betrayed her, while realizing it was fear of her specialty that motivated the brutality.

That was six months ago, when she had been saddled with the Labname 'Mengele'.

At the moment that the 'trial' was over on Kowloon, she found she had options she never dreamed of, including being free of her Society ties.  That option came from a Silverman Co-op representative accompanied by a woman of such astounding physical perfection that she had to be artificial.  The Gina, a Cylon and one of millions, (or so she claimed), offered Ellen a new life, and a puzzle of astounding complexity, with an audience and society that would reward her for her merit and her work, and respect, rather than suspect, her for her devotion.

on her lab's equipment, she studied a sample brought by courier from the Wolverines.

It was amazingly simple, incredibly complex, and absolutely beautiful in a way that she had never seen, or even seen theorized.

The perfect puzzle, a synthesis of life and machine on a nanoscopic level.  The data they provided, showed that the sample was lethal to the original patient, but there was no reason for it to be.  she passed inquiries.  got the rest of the information.

the patient it was drawn from, had been exposed to the original 21b virus, and somehow, this interacted with that, to kill the survivor.

Ellen had dabbled with the concepts of the 21b virus.  she knew what it had once been concocted to do, and had a fair idea of how it was supposed to do it, what Etienne and the rest did NOT know, was that she had abandoned that angle on her own, because the requirement was simply impossible, first and second, creating such a monster, even if it worked, she could envision the Society using it first on the creators, out of a fairly reasonable fear.

Not like this.  This was...like a synthetic T-cell that can be taught to create mechanical, as well as biological, organs.

"I dub thee..." she prodded it with a nano-laser, and waited.  the coding was imperfect as yet, but the sample began forming neural tissue that was almost, but not quite, identical to mammalian nerve tissues.

she cross-referenced the growing culture with a culture contributed by the Gina.

they were a match.

"Can it be made cross-compatible with human tissue without killing or harming the recipient?"  Gina Spidermoon-110 asked.

"With time and work, I don't see why not-your blood is compatible with human blood." Ellen answered idly, still watching her samples replicate in the clean, vac-isolated incubator.  "your organs are identical copies, only they seem to bypass human rejection spectra. I could probably grow a face for that General Mosovich, eyes...with time.  we have only just found a crude method of utilizing and culturing Liberator."  she turned, "Why did you give me a sample of nerve tissues? was it to see how far my knowledge goes?"

"Something like that."  Gina answered.

"Would it have to do with the dying duchess, then?" Ellen hazarded, "if we can't stop the disease, we can replace the parts, right?"

"You sound doubtful."

"People are more than impulses-even you are." Ellen said, "we can stave off death for a time, but nobody has found a reliable cure for madness or weariness with life."

"how would you know that?"

"The man who taught me my craft, had his testicles removed by order of the Ilkhan." she said, "he was one of the civilians they caught. he was two hundred and six years old when he died...and looked seventy.  I took over his department, one of the lowest priority departments with military application."

"how long ago?"

"It's been sixty years." Ellen told her, "Since I took over.  I'm fortunate, Clan record-keeping is atrocious, managed by half-educated thugs who barely passed their warrior qualifications, Merchants looking for easy cuts to budgets to get out of that office,  or Scientists too focused on inter-caste and inter-Clan politics to bother with a microbiologist who simply keeps her head down and hasn't made a significant discovery in their lifetime. My field and my work terrify them, but me?" she shrugged, "no-one of consequence, or so I thought right before the Clan Police broke my lab door down and arrested me for conspiracy and sedition."

"can you make this work for the Duchess?"

"I told you, it will take time.  do this wrong and you've got a possible super-plague, a theoretical level zero.  I am not those hacks at Tamaron."

[glitterboy2098]

I recall seeing explicit mention at one point that captured hardware had issues because they couldn't fit things to the omni connectors because the other end wasn't set up for them. (I just forget which end it was....)

the first gen omni's exported from the Combine didn't have the connector ports to work with Clan weapons pods. First gen omnimechs shipped to the DCMS however did, despite walking off the exact same lines. it understandably was a sore point for the other nations fighting the clans who were buying those first gen omni's.

[croaker]

the first gen omni's exported from the Combine didn't have the connector ports to work with Clan weapons pods. First gen omnimechs shipped to the DCMS however did, despite walking off the exact same lines. it understandably was a sore point for the other nations fighting the clans who were buying those first gen omni's.

Actually I think it was the other way round -- there was a mention in-story that they wanted clan Second-Line weapons because they had standard connectors instead of omni-links, and they could work with those to install them on standard 'mechs.

[Nikas_Zekeval]

Finally, he grabs a clue. ;)

As for Omnis... there are pros and cons there.

Pro: So long as you have the right modules, it makes a lot of things easy.

Con: If you don't have the right modules...

I recall seeing explicit mention at one point that captured hardware had issues because they couldn't fit things to the omni connectors because the other end wasn't set up for them. (I just forget which end it was....)

The connectors was the first export run of the Blackjack Omnimech.  LAW sent out ones that weren't compatible with Clan pod, due to 'shortages'. ::)  Ones sent for DCMS service didn't suffer this shortage, and, eventually, a refit kit was available to correct the issue.

In terms of pods?  Well it requires an overhaul and paradigm shift from your supply and repair side.  See, all those 'extra' pods people cry about having to bring with them?  Those aren't extra gear, those are part of your spare/replacement parts.  See if say a LB-10X cannon suffers a fault you are looking at a mech deadlined for hours while techs try to fix or replace it.  With an omni?  Anything that takes more than an hour to fix, yank the whole pod, put a replacement unit in its place, and have the techs work on the cannon while the mech is back in the field.  Then store the repaired cannon in your spare parts storage till it is needed for the next mech.

[Hotpoint]

Svelvik - Free Rasalhague Republic (Clan Wolf Occupation Zone)

Settled by colonists from Terra's Scandinavian region, and a member world of the old Principality of Rasalhague, Svelvik had never exactly appreciated what they saw their centuries-long occupation by the Draconis Combine. As such they had celebrated when the Free Rasalhague Republic declared independence from the Dracs in 3034 and they were still in the process of getting used to their freedom when Clan Wolf arrived in 3050 and they once again found themselves under foreign rule barely a decade-and-a-half after the last time.

They had resisted of course. The militia making a final stand against units of the 11th Wolf Guards at Dawson Bluffs, hoping the terrain would work in their favour, but all too quickly Clan Omnimechs and Elementals had crushed the defenders of Svelvik.

And so the population once again belatedly got used to outsiders telling them what to do in a foreign accent as somebody else's flag flew overhead.

It could have been worse they supposed. Apparently rule by Clan Wolf was less unpleasant than living under some of the other clans would have been. The stories that came out of the worlds in the hands of Clan Smoke Jaguar, for example, were horrifying. You wouldn't get a rifle-butt in the face just for giving a Wolf a dirty look in the street, and their methods of dealing with popular resistance leaned more towards tear-gas rather than orbital bombardment.

Despite their unhappy history there were a few things that the people of Svelvik liked to commemorate. Each year they celebrated the founding of the Principality of Rasalhague, on another date they exalted it's rebirth as the Free Rasalhague Republic and to a lesser extent they also remembered the year, which came decades after the fall of the Star League, when a bunch of dropships, battlemechs and aerospace fighters painted up in SLDF livery had visited. They hadn't stayed long, or even talked to anyone beyond a rumoured multiple-frequency-transmission of 'This one is for Kentares', but the native population had considerably enjoyed their visit nonetheless as during their brief sojourn to Svelvik the strangers had quite thoroughly hammered the Draconis Combine garrison into the ground.

The people that actually did the hammering back in 2825 hadn't forgotten their visit either.

Fifty kilometers above the capital city two bright flashes in the planet's mesophere heralded the arrival of a pair of Kirghiz omnifighters which had been located several AU away only moments before. The craft outwardly resembled those in use by Clan Wolf itself, although the Wolves of course lacked the ability to install a jump-drive in anything remotely that small and the ability to jump into a gravity well had been regarded as nothing but science-fiction less than a year before.

There was only one clan that could do something like that, and the others wouldn't even speak their name aloud.

They didn't use that name on Svelvik either as it happens, although that was because in these parts they were called the 'Minnesota Tribe'.

While the pair of Kirghiz omnifighters gunned their engines and dove towards the ground a single brighter flash above them meant that their carrier had arrived too. A Leopard CV dropship retrofitted with a larger version of the FTL drive the fighters carried, as well as a far less advanced, almost a downright kludge of a modification to one of its fighter launch bays.

While the dropship's own thrusters burned hard to fight the force of gravity and keep it aloft, the modified launch bay opened and something the same mass as a Kirghiz, but shaped rather differently and lacking a pilot, was pushed out of the dropship by a hydraulic piston whereupon it itself fell like a rock.

Large fins at the back of the plummeting object caught the thin air and orientated it nose-first towards the ground. At the front a seeker nose started looking for the laser that one of the Kirghiz should start projecting at its intended destination any time now.

After a forty kilometre fall it caught a glimpse of the laser dot now designating its target the fins steered it onto a direct collision course and then the rocket motor at the back lit up and despite the ever thickening air as it descended through the atmosphere the hundred ton projectile accelerated, hard.

Clad in nearly forty-five tons of well-shaped good-quality steel, the same as had been produced by the orbital foundries of New Circe in large quantities to replace the missing sections of armoured plate from Galactica , this was the first Gungnir bunker-buster to be deployed by Clan Wolverine, it was not going to be the last by any means.

Looking like a streak of fire from the heavens the civilian population of Svelvik's capital saw the now supersonic Gungnir coming long before they heard the sonic boom it left in its wake.

They also saw the flash when it hit the Clan Wolf base on the outskirts of the city before they heard the resulting explosion.

It was one hell of a bang when it reached them though.

Constructed by the former Draconis Combine garrison, the 'bomb proof' bunker that the second-line troops who now occupied Svelvik had made their home was protected by several metres of steel-reinforced concrete. To give the bunker roof its due it made a valiant, if futile, attempt to prevent the Gungnir's uninvited entry and the bomb casing was visibly deformed during the split second between when it impacted the extremely thick roof and when it punched through to the other side. The bomb subsequently ploughed through the next several floors of the building as well before finally the contents of the bomb detonated.

Needless to say fifty tons of high-explosive going off in a confined space is a spectacular event, but one best observed from a distance. According to the people of Svelvik the shockwave shattered half the windows in town, it rained debris for kilometres in all directions and they were still picking up pieces of clanner months later.

Local rumour states that the only thing the Minnesota Tribe said during their second visit to the planet was a transmission saying "The McEvedy's send their regards" this being substantiated by the same story being told regarding the bombing of the Ghost Bears on Trondheim and Jarett the same day. The Smoke Jaguars on Richmond however received a different message, albeit one that also arrived shortly after a very large bomb dropped from the edge of space. "Let us know when you're ready to talk."

Aboard the Leopard CV that had bombed Svelvik the ship's captain ordered the battle anthem to be played on loudspeaker to the crew as they prepared to jump back out.

"We come from the land of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun, where the hot springs flow
The hammer of the gods"

Clan Wolverine carried Rasalhague blood too.

[Cannonshop]

Comstar HPG service center, Comstar HPG compound, Kowloon...

"...reports of your friends dropping bunker-busters on two of the more moderate Clan invaders, Liz.  They even got messages. and announced who they were."  The Archon-Prince's face was grave on the other end.

"Look, we didn't supply them with ships, Highness.  They have the tech already.  I can guess why they're hitting two clans if you tell me which ones." Liz answered.  The meds were flushing her face out, and colors were just a little too sharp, lights a little too bright on a Neuroin high, "If it's the Wolves or the Falcons, good on 'em, hope they killed a lot of the fascist bastards."

"Falcons no-that might change.  They hit the Smoke Jaguars-" 

"Good riddance to bad rubbish"

"-Ghost Bears, and Clan Wolf."

"Lotta casualties?" She asked, perking up.

"You could say that. The reports are fuzzy, but Phelan thinks they might have killed over two hundred Wolf secondline personnel on the attack on Svelvik in the Rassalhague Republic, with a single bomb strike."

Liz just grinned "Nice work. I'll have to send their ambassador a fruit basket."

"Gawd, Liz! hate much??"

"you will notice you're talking to me, and not my father, nor my oldest brother Brother, Patrick." Elizabeth said, "Pat was a kind, forgiving soul, he was also the designated heir, and if it weren't for Clan Wolf, you'd be talking to him.  yes, I hate a lot. it kind of interacts with the antiseizure meds and the pain killers and oh, yeah, the stuff they would be giving me anyway thanks to my mom shooting me with her service pistol and damaging my nervous system.  The only bright spot in the last seven years, was getting Henry back from that Kerensky-Kult the Jade Falcons, only I have to pay for psychiatrists now, because we still can't be sure he's fully deprogrammed!  Dead clanners? show me the bodies, Highness, I will dance on the graves." she paused, "Right before I pitch a fit and scream my throat out while slowly dying.  I can afford to hate, Highness, because I can't afford to let my feelings or sympathies get in the way of doing my job, I'm on a countdown.  what job do you need done, and what will you offer to make it a higher priority than sorting out this mess of a theater?"

"Talk to the Falcons, talk to the Wolverines. find out what's really going on.  I'm working on an angle to get the Clans to the table."

"You won't do that without a show of force in their homeworlds." Liz theorized.  "The SLDF needs to kick in their front door and make them talk.  Until you can do that, they're not going to take any of us seriously."

"Focht says the same thing...and I believe him.  We just don't have the fleet or the forces yet."

"I am doing everything I can do to help fix that, Highness-and yes, I know it isn't enough." Liz said sincerely.   "I will...talk to them, and send you the report.  Maybe there's an angle we can use to speed this counterattack up so I'm not in phase three before it launches."

[Cannonshop]

Jesenice, Federated Commonwealth...

Jesenice Militia Fortress had been built by the Rim Worlds Republic sometime around 2750.  It briefly resisted LCAF capture in 2775-very briefly. The battalion of the First Amaris Regulars had melted something like gasoline soaked linen in a plasma-fire.

Since then, various governors of the Lindenholler family have ruled this world with varying levels of success.  This morning, the Auditors had to issue their reports.

A population of slightly over 500 million people, on a class "M" world orbiting a G2 Variable star, with tax reciepts to the Realm of 3.2 trillion Kroner per annum and a rebate back of nearly half that in emergency social service funding, should still be able to afford more than a ragged battalion of outdated 'mechs, even if those 'mechs were essentially owned by the families that run the planet.

A police force should not be a tool of terror.  The bulk of the Jesenice Militia were doing double-duty, and the result is a wealth divide that would make a Broken Wheel Baron proud.

The Duke of Jesenice had been too proud to go to the upstart on Kowloon, instead registering repeated complaints about his rights as a lord being violated by the new administration.

This morning, an auditor from the Kowloon Theater Command had gotten dead in an alley, after being repeatedly raped.

This afternoon, in clear air, four dropships appeared in the upper atmosphere over the Militia's headquarters.

The local Air Defense director wasn't even on duty.

the Dropships did not hover, they did not delay.  they landed around the building, and tanks-much better than the half-decrepit battlemechs of the Militia Families, rolled out of two, while 55 ton Enfield battlemechs strode from the 'mech bays of a Union.

at the feet of the 'mechs, a small swarm of dull, tan, armored forms also swarmed.

an alert observer might have noted the insignia of the 171st Kowloon Brigade on the tanks and 'mechs.

At the Duke's residence, however, there were no dropships.  Instead, four Heavy Raiders painted white, with red stripes and an Orca Rampant on the roundel, landed in the yard.

The Centurions from those were the up-armored model, and they were supporting Coast Guard commando personnel in light powered armor.

"Raymond Linderholler, Stand down, you are bound by law!"  Master Chief Petty Officer Linda Sithers carried out the arrest.

"what is the meaning of this?"

"Is this one of them, Ma'am?"  Sithers asked, and he saw the unarmored woman following Sithers.

his jaw dropped as his eyes went wide, "that...that's impossible!!"

"He is."

"Raymond Linderholler, you are charged with assault, sexual assault, conspiracy to commit sexual assault, attempted murder, aggravated assault, attacking a duly appointed agent of your Liege Lord, conspiracy to defraud the Lyran State, embezzlement, corruption, fraud, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Dirtbag, Do you have a Lawyer?"

"I am the law here!"

"I will take that as 'no'. you should try not to represent yourself." another human officer clapped irons on his wrists, "You are advised by me, that you can talk, or you can keep silent, anything you say can, and will be evidence at your trial. if you are convicted of the charges against you, under Estates General finding 2325 of the revised Federated Commonwealth Code, you will be executed, as will your compatriots in the conspiracy charges.  Testimony and mitigating circumstances WILL be taken into account upon your sentencing. do you understand the words I am saying??"

but he just kept staring at her. the witness that confirmed his identity.  the impossible witness, whose body, he had been assured, had been put through a gravel-chipper by his friends after they had their fun.

unknown to him, Diana Warren, was a Three.  a Humaniform Cylon employed by the newly established office of Service Audit for the Kowloon Theater March Militia.  and she remembered very well what they did to her, and it counted for a lot that she was willing to let the human justice system deal with these men.

being crushed and 'chipped' to death hurt, being raped by twelve men in her quarters? that was much worse.  It made airlocking seem somewhat less awful.

[Paladin1]

Air locking?  No, I think someone’s about to earn a toothpick.

[Hotpoint]

Waldorff II - Federated Commonwealth (Jade Falcon/Steel Viper Occupation Zone)

Technically under the control of Clan Steel Viper after the world was transferred to them from the Jade Falcons in late 3051 it had been a peaceful transfer and for now the two rival clans tolerated each other enough at least for the Falcons to still utilise the system as a staging area.

Now well behind the front lines the most conflict the planet had seen since the Jade Falcons took it from the Federated Commonwealth was the inevitable fight which occurred when one of the Vipers mocked any visiting Falcons for being evicted from their former conquest Twycross whereas the Steel Vipers had retaken it for the clans 'easily' themselves.

Arguments made that it would not have been remotely easy for the Vipers if they had faced Kai Allard-Liao like the Falcons did were not given the necessary weight they deserved in the latter's opinion and would the Vipers like to settle this in a Circle of Equals?

From the perspective of another group that still settled arguments the same way on occasion, although most preferred to use a lawyer, the presence of both Green Turkey's and Rust Worms in one place was too good an opportunity to miss. This was why the latest fist-fight taking place on Waldorff between a defensive Falcon and a loud-mouthed Viper was rudely interrupted by a several very bright flashes a long way overhead.

Both stripped to the waist for the fight the Jade Falcon and the Steel Viper both looked up, as did the other members of both clans who had gathered to watch.

"Oh shit" both combatants swore simultaneously as air-raid warning sirens started up. That wasn't nukes going off in orbit. They weren't that lucky.

Given that there were two clans to bomb on Waldorff the Not-Named has decided it was only right to send a pair of their modified Leopards and thus there were presently two bright streaks of fire plummeting towards the ground as air-defence batteries started to open up in response and the ready-response omnifighter star scrambled from the spaceport.

As to whether the fighters had lifted off because their pilots really thought they could catch up to the enemy before they jumped out again, or they just wanted to be nowhere near the most important target on the planet when the bombs arrived, nobody could say for sure but the pilots insisted afterwards that they managed to nearly catch one of the Leopards before it flashed out.

The two Gungnir bombs landed on either side of the spaceport. One targeted at the huge hydrogen re-fueling tanks and the other landing right next to a small spheroid dropship belonging to the Jade Falcons, sending it flying in a manner it really wasn't supposed to and leaving a crater you could have rolled it back into if it had still be round.

For a brief moment when the hydrogen tanks exploded the clan members a few kilometers away thought the old foe had nuked them but in the aftermath it became obvious that it was 'merely' a conventional strike.

When the Falcon and the Viper who had been planning to fight realised that they were lucky enough to still be alive they decided to call it a draw and both expressed a desire to be fighting the Kerensky-damned Not-Named instead.

They were even angrier with the Wolverines when another flash appeared in the sky an hour later but after bracing themselves for another bombardment instead the ship jumped out after loudly broadcasting "Psyke!" accompanied by much laughter.

[Sir Chaos]

unknown to him, Diana Warren, was a Three.  a Humaniform Cylon employed by the newly established office of Service Audit for the Kowloon Theater March Militia.  and she remembered very well what they did to her, and it counted for a lot that she was willing to let the human justice system deal with these men.

being crushed and 'chipped' to death hurt, being raped by twelve men in her quarters? that was much worse.  It made airlocking seem somewhat less awful.

So much for "dead men tell no tales", huh?

[Cannonshop]

Border Post South, Highway 1, 'contact building' (Southern perimeter of the Falcon Enclave and Camp John), Kowloon..

Elizabeth reclined in a leather chair, with her feet on the desk, as Star Colonel Nathan Roshak came in.

"It's not us." she said without lowering the Ia Drang Independent News.

"We know.  but you have some contact with them.  Tell me where they are."

"You've been past their Embassy a half dozen times in Nha Tranh.  Maybe you should consider knocking on the door sometime." she lowered the paper, "I'm sure they'd be thrilled."

"Liz, you know I can not do that, especially with them terror-bombing us."  He said, taking a seat more formally on the Clan side, "Can you at least suggest to me what they are trying to accomplish with this?"

"Kissinger." Liz said.

"Kissinger? I do not understand."

"Henry Kissinger, Nineteen Seventies.  I think it's pretty obvious."  she turned a page, and added, "They're trying to bomb you back to the negotiation table."

"It is difficult for us to even consider facing the Not-Named across anything except a battlefield."  He scowled.

"Well they've probably been stockpiling high-explosives to drop on you for over two centuries so don't expect them to run out any time soon, but hey, they might get bored and start using nukes, so who knows?"  she flipped the paper sideways, and muttered "i don't see the sailboat."

"Their way of war lacks honour."

Elizabeth laughed out loud, and said, "Tukayyid. They're fighting the way I would..." she lowered the newspaper "If you want them to act like a Clan instead,   You know all you have to do to get a fair fight is accept their request for a Trial of Refusal, then they'll have to follow your rules or it wouldn't be binding."

Nathan processed this, then snorted.  "... I suspect the Ghost Bears at least will require more bombing first."

"That's them, isn't it?" she asked, "Now, put yourself in your shoes.  What do you stand to lose by getting them to play by the rules?  That copy of Nick Kerensky's book gives a lot of directives but he doesn't put a time limit on how long before you can introduce a new trial, and the system itself is built to make reversing an outcome possible-which kinda lines up with why he wanted them genocided."

"Annihilated."

"genocided." she said firmly, "So nobody could contest the charges or the judgement on the basis of standing.  Now if I read your history right, the Jade Falcons had to be talked into voting guilty, and voting for Annihilation, but he gave the job to Wolf and Widowmaker, and Wolf declared victory after failing. The trial was declared complete, Clan Wolf lied, your ancestors accepted it because they bunked the evidence, I would suggest that's worth a trial of grievance, for being defrauded into committing a war crime.  so let's talk about Honor-there's a stain on your Clan's honor because they were coerced and deceived into standing by while a war crime was committed, and then defrauded again by the claim that the trial they were coerced and deceived into approving, was blundered.  I would say only the Ghost Bears have more standing, if the copies of the Remembrance we got from your folks in Hue aren't edited all to hell where they match up with the one we ripped from the Belleau Wood."

"So...multiple grievances." he said, "Is what you see?"

"Yep. Grievance one, is the uncertain status of the trial itself, and the effort to bury evidence by the prosecuting authority-to wit, Clan Wolverine is merrily dropping bunker-busters on you two hundred and fifty something years after being supposedly extinct.  This is highly suggestive of two potential probabilities: One, the Glorious Nicholas Kerensky lied to his followers, or two, that he was incompetent...mind that I think he was incompetent just based on how your society is designed, so let's not use my interpretation and just follow your own people's logic.  He Lied to You."

"I do not follow...he could have been in error."

"Which would make him incompetent, SLS Zughoffer Weir also didn't change their transponder signals-they didn't even bother to rename it."  she rocked her seat back and forth, "Which suggests some really crappy accounting on your warships-in-storage fleet, or your kill counts. That ship is active.  so some, maybe most, of his battle records from the annihilation would need also be in error..or, and bear with me, falsified."

"I accept that is a possible explanation." he said, clearly not accepting it.

"where in Clan Honor, is it honorable to lie about your accomplishments?" she inclined her head. "Hmm? and how does your honor system, as you know it, deal with someone caught lying about their accomplishments?  Those bombs are proof the Wolves lied. That's not some edge-of-survival starter colony doing that.  You're dealing with an industrialized nation.  to my damned, dirty, diseased little mind, it also suggests there are questionable elements to the whole sequence of events leading up to that Grand Council judgement on the topic of Dehra Dun.  This is the same group of Clans that had zero issues with butchering the population of a planet over food riots because they couldn't handle basic agricultural production and distribution efficiently or effectively within their centrally planned system."

"Oh, now wait one damned minute, there.  There WERE protests."

"That went exactly nowhere." she pointed out. "Which way did Clan Jade Falcon vote on the Londerholm thing again?"

She folded the paper.  "Tell your leaders to talk to the ****** Wolverines. If nothing else, you can bait them out of hiding."

"but you will not assist."

"I made my position perfectly clear." Elizabeth said, "Two and a half centuries, and your friends are hunting down people who might have been cousins of the men who left with Aleksandr Kerensky.  Doing basic math, that's whole planets' worth of people, and your collective standard is low enough that it actually makes the Third Reich or Stalin look positively humane and reasonable, makes Pol Pot look restrained, makes Amaris look restrained."

"You would compare the Clans to the Usurper?"

"Keep in mind, my people fought his a lot longer than your ancestors did, we've got a long institutional memory of his and his ancestors' methods." Liz stated coldly, "The Rimjobs would stop after the third generation, we're talking Thirty generations...and my ancestor crucified the Amaris officers at Running Deer Mountain, it's where the term 'Elbar Toothpick' comes from."

she tossed the newsprint across the meeting table, and stood up.  "Read the top page."

Remembering Elbar: an anniversary retrospective of the Liberation of Running Deer Mountain and the Crimes of the Rim Worlds Republic

[Daryk]

+1 for the Ia Drang Independent!  :thumbsup:

[Cannonshop]

Vin Drin Lap Coast Guard Station, Golden Lake district...

"Is this him?" Liz asked, nodding at the interrogation room.

"Yes, Your Grace.  This is him."

"and the evidence?"

"It's not had a material change, except that last night he and twelve of his closest friends raped and attempted to murder one of your auditors, mum."

"Is she alive, or are we adding capital murder to the treason charge?" Liz asked.

"A version of her-"

"So we're adding capital murder.  Has it been through the Court?"

"District level, but Lohengrin did supply the evidence to the Archon's office."

"Excellent." she walked in and sat down.

"HI Ray, can I call you Ray? of course I can." Liz said,  "You know who I am, right?"

He paled, "y-yes your grace."

"very good, very proper, you were raised right, right ray?"  she lunged across the table, and grasped his collar, "What the ******, Ray? huh? I get killing the witnesses, I get killing the investigator, trying to make it look like an industrial accident, but...ray? you left your spoor all over the remains."

she reached up, and rubbed his gray hair, "what was going through your head, dude? seriously.  did you have to stick it inside her while you were strangling her? You haven't left me a lot of choices here ray...there's no amnesty for that."

she brought the hand down and patted his cheek, "you had to know I'd find out, Ray. I'm very disappointed in you. a man your age,with a wife..."

she let go, "oh, right, she died last year.  do you see what this is?"

Elizabeth held up a flimsy.

"It..it's a warrant."

"yes, it is, a special warrant. I have to sign this now.  You ****** yourself, Ray. If you'd been cooperative, maybe a little bit contrite, made an honest effort to make it good? or promised to make it good? I wouldn't be signing it.  This is your death warrant, Ray.  for Treason..and I can still carry it out, make it clean, nice, dignified, I was ready to suspend this if you were cooperative with my auditor.  You ****** and killed an auditor, Ray, one of mine...and it was a group effort too. so you can't even claim insanity.  HOwever, you're in my jurisdiction, and you're already facing conviction for high treason, so do you know what that means?"

"N-no..."

she reached into her pocket.  "It means, I give you a little keepsake. Something to meditate on, while I have to go outside, with a post-hole digger, because I won't tell someone else to do something if I'm not willing to get my hands dirty doing it myself."

she laid the toothpick on the table in front of him.

"Unless..." she said, "Unless you have something to tell me, that might make up for...well...that.  for your family's sake, Ray, tell me a story I can check, one I can believe in...and you get a rope, instead of the stake...and if enough checks out, maybe, just maybe, you might win a pardon, maybe I'll forgive you, and you can rebuild your life."

"Wh-what do  you want to know?"

"Where did you send the money, Ray? who has it?"

[Daryk]

He's not sweating enough to really understand what an Elbar toothpick is...

[JA Baker]

Quite literally playing devil's advocate here, but you could build a defence case that "killing" a Cylon shouldn't count as murder, as they resurrect. Assault, sure: probably even assault with a deadly weapon, GBH and a whole host of other crimes, but murder? Hard to calk it that when the victim is in court, giving evidence, alive and well.

Prosecution would probably have to prove that the accused had no idea that the victim wouldn't stay dead, and that comes down to how open they've been on the tech.

Not saying it would be something I'd personally support, but it's something a good layer might try and spin to keep a high paying client from dancing the Tyburn Jig.

As a side-bar, Liz needs to talk to Ray about angels, and how you only get one...

[EAGLE 7]

Attempted murder, just because they refuse to stay dead did not mean it was not attempted.

[Paladin1]

Quite literally playing devil's advocate here, but you could build a defence case that "killing" a Cylon shouldn't count as murder, as they resurrect. Assault, sure: probably even assault with a deadly weapon, GBH and a whole host of other crimes, but murder? Hard to calk it that when the victim is in court, giving evidence, alive and well.

Prosecution would probably have to prove that the accused had no idea that the victim wouldn't stay dead, and that comes down to how open they've been on the tech.

Not saying it would be something I'd personally support, but it's something a good layer might try and spin to keep a high paying client from dancing the Tyburn Jig.

As a side-bar, Liz needs to talk to Ray about angels, and how you only get one...

I’m seeing a cultural side to this that you may not be considering.  While the devil’s advocate approach might work in other areas, you have to consider that Kowloon was settled by people who literally believe that even though a body may die, the soul remains, therefore the fact that a Cylon can “resurrect” is irrelevant, since they would view the murder of even a normal human as consisting of the destruction of the body, not their soul.

In short, this guy is boned no matter who takes his case.

[croaker]

In short, this guy is boned no matter who takes his case.

Well, he might get off if he were tried in a Colonial court, but they don't have jurisdiction, so.

[gladius]

Quite literally playing devil's advocate here, but you could build a defence case that "killing" a Cylon shouldn't count as murder, as they resurrect. Assault, sure: probably even assault with a deadly weapon, GBH and a whole host of other crimes, but murder? Hard to calk it that when the victim is in court, giving evidence, alive and well.

Prosecution would probably have to prove that the accused had no idea that the victim wouldn't stay dead, and that comes down to how open they've been on the tech.

Not saying it would be something I'd personally support, but it's something a good layer might try and spin to keep a high paying client from dancing the Tyburn Jig.

As a side-bar, Liz needs to talk to Ray about angels, and how you only get one...

You could probably argue ‘attempted murder’, if the accused didn’t know he was ‘killing’ a Cylon. “I have no intention of letting the accused go free, simply because they failed in their attempt to kill this citizen.

[Cannonshop]

The Triad, Tharkad...

Victor's demands as Archon-Prince were keeping him off the front lines, trapped in an unending nightmare of demands, crises, emergencies, and state duties.

Governing is a full time job.  Sometimes the compromises burn the core of a man's stomach.

One of those was worse than most: Elizabeth Ngo was kicking in doors in her theater.  Half a dozen Ducal Peers were in custody for corruption, and the reports to LIC that he got showed the Coast Guards were doing a superb impression of an efficient Lohengrin.

Liz was a headache and a nightmare, and a compromise he had to make.  In his heart, he knew NAIS could find a treatment for her illness, given the chance, but the Duchess of Kowloon had become a powerful asset.

She'd proven someone could get the damn Clanners to talk, if only briefly, and she'd managed to get them to even speak the word 'Embassy'.

but it wasn't going to last.  Liz wasn't going to last.

"The Draconis Combine's legation is here to see you, Highness."

"send them in." Victor said.  really could use you here, Dad..

his misgivings about the meeting vanished as he saw who Theodore sent.

"Omi."  the weight of the title bore down on him full force now, as someone he could never have to himself came through the doors. 

"Prince Victor, My father wishes to know if you have considered his request?"

"yes.  The Federated Commonwealth honors its obligations, and stands ready to assist the Draconis Combine in reclaiming your worlds, we will begin this by placing export exemptions on the technologies he has requested."

Omi joined him at the window.  "Will she consent?" the daughter of Theodore asked.

"Elizabeth will do it." he said with more confidence than he really felt, "if I have to..." he sighed, "If I have to make it an Archon's order, Ngo Industries will assist the Dragon in building the weapons to drive out the Smoke Jaguars."

"Will that be necessary? she is your vassal."

he thought back to last night's brief.  "She is from kowloon, Omi.   practically the platonic archetype of her homeworld in character.  I do not know what she'll want to support the aid package, but she will get something for it for her people, and it will likely benefit the Commonwealth in the longer term...but she's a headache."

"What will she ask?" Omi inquired.

"That? I don't know." Victor admitted.

"Then we must find out."

Victor had prepared for this, and the two of them went to the Palace Comm Center.  "Briggs, what time is it on Kowloon?"

"22:00, Highness."

"Have Comstar link the call to Duchess Ngo's private residence. Video and Audio.  She's awake."  Victor said confidently.


Elizabeth House, Marjorie Hills neighbourhood, Kowloon...

Liz was, indeed, awake.  a pile of reports on eight different screens in her dining room, a holo-projection map on the kitchen table showing worlds the Audit found corruption on, good-will messages from Gina-Republic, aka 'Natalie', and a stack of death warrants waiting for authorization from the Archon.

the big-screen in the living room flicked from the Lyran Interstellar Futbol League's regional highlights, (left on as white noise while she worked) to silence penetrating enough to make her stop reviewing the quarterly Theater readiness report, get up from the table, coffee in hand, and wander into the living room.

"Prince Victor, Highness, I know I'm late with the quarterly-there are so many discrepancies it-" she stopped reciting her excuses and stared.

"Hi Liz. This is Omi Kurita, the ambassador from the Draconis Combine. I want to broker a deal." Victor got right down to business, Liz liked that, it was one of the few things about the runt she did like.

"Theodore's oldest daughter...wow." is this karma? how badly did I screw up? 

"I need to be speaking with the head of Ngo Industries, not just the Margrave of the Kowloon Theater, Liz." Victor said.

"OH, so me, and me. this is business-business.  what are you letting me sell?" Elizabeth asked, "Just give me the stock numbers from the catalog if you've got it...and let me take some notes, then we can get down to what the Combine actually needs."

the stock numbers from the Ngo Industries catalog appeared on a dropdown.

Liz studied them.  "So...that's naval yard grade." Liz said, "I see you're also interested in process forges and...Victor, you classified that equipment!"

"I know, liz, they're prepping for a major push against the Smoke Jaguars sometime in the next two years..."

"So you're going to lower the trade in technology barriers. okay." Elizabeth picked up a keyboard.  "This is what you need to make that stuff work, we can supply both, but I'm not giving discounts without a damn good reason.  Where does the Dragon want their new shipyard and industrial complex?"

"can you refit existing facilities?" Omi finally spoke up, having the 'rhythm' of how to speak with Elizabeth after watching Victor for only a few moments.

"Possible, if the facilities aren't too badly damaged or too badly out of date-a bad facility will result in poor quality output, or poor quantity output.  That damages my firm's reputation and I would avoid it if possible in case those terran pricks at Krupp try to rook me."

"You're still sore about the DefHes deal?" Victor chided.

"In a word, yes.  I am still very bitter at losing the Defiance Hesperus upgrade to a Terran contractor with the blessing of the Estates General." Liz stated firmly, "Here's my bid for the job.  I can have the tooling loaded and en-route by next thursday."

"That fast?" Victor asked.

"some of that stuff has been in inventory for the last half century, some of it is equipment that has another customer and we made production pattern duplicates anticipating expansions that didn't happen, and some of it was fabricated for the Defiance contract that didn't materialize and i need to dispose of the inventory...which is why this price is so very reasonable.  Will you want the standard warranty contract, or is your ISF already shitting their pants at the idea of importing that much gear?"

"this is...too much. the cash portion is too high." Omi said.

"Well, I am open to a counter-offer." Liz said, "tight on the delivery date though, I don't have bottomless transport capacity and if you want that gear this year, I need to get it scheduled and shipped, and there's the installation time. One of the yards at Galax tried to do it themselves and i had to spend ungodly amounts to get it straightened out."

a window opened on the screen. "The Combine is willing to let the rights to these designs, and offer a secondary production contract, in exchange for a reduction?"  Omi offered.

"Tempting...hmmm..." elizabeth chewed her lower lip.  "Deal.  I can come down this much in exchange for a guaranteed contracts through the SLDF and rights on those designs.  Number down below."

Omi read the number, re-read it, then nodded, "This is acceptable."

Liz typed out the order on her laptop terminal, and sent the delivery order to corporate.  "Payments should be on a monthy basis, with lump sums at half completion and completion.  I want diplomatic protection for my workers, Victor...and since you're already calling me..."

"here it comes..." Victor said.

"I have eleven writs of execution that need your signature." Liz said, "They're Nobles, that requires the Archon to authorize."

"ELEVEN??"

"Lots of dirty dealing.  Lohengrin can fill you in on details, but eleven peers of the realm on five worlds need to be stripped of their titles and put to death. I'm still following the money, but it looks like a list of some very bad organizations have been using this end of the Commonwealth as their piggy-bank. we're talking domestic terrorism, embezzlement, misappropriation of Government funds, fraud, human trafficking and possible sabotage during wartime."

she paused, "Along with rapes and murders." she added.  "with death warrants, I can leverage them for their conspirators, with writs stripping titles, I can leverage their families and maybe recover some of the assets they've stolen."  she paused, "it's only eleven because five guys on Jesenice decided to resist arrest."

"Will YOU be carrying them out?" he asked.

"I'm not going to answer that directly.  can I have it, or not?"

Victor looked unhappy, as he said, "You're authorized."

"thank you for your confidence in me, your Highness."

[ckosacranoid]

Ok is reaction to this....What the hell just happened and that was too easy.

[RobTClift]

Found this story as a result of Copelands Supply run from the Fan Fiction Site.  It’s awesome you are continuing the Hunted Tribes story (I've read it so many times and the follow up), even better that Hot Point is now getting involved as well.

Have they told Liz about Mai Phem (Cu'ong???) and Daughter Giao from "But somehow a most melancholy", she might be happy to know her relatives are still alive.  I believe Mai wanted to come home and retrieve Tooling to help build up the Colonial City State, as they are a “gold mine”.

I'm hoping to see Nike and everyone's reaction to her at some point.  But I assume she and the Pegasus are at the Cylon Imperium war front.

[JA Baker]

I’m seeing a cultural side to this that you may not be considering.  While the devil’s advocate approach might work in other areas, you have to consider that Kowloon was settled by people who literally believe that even though a body may die, the soul remains, therefore the fact that a Cylon can “resurrect” is irrelevant, since they would view the murder of even a normal human as consisting of the destruction of the body, not their soul.

In short, this guy is boned no matter who takes his case.

If you're high enough up the food chain, it would be kicked upstairs to Victor, and he's more of a pragmatist. That and there is the question of jurisdiction: is it under Kowloon law or not?

Have they told the wider FedCom/beyond about Resurrection? Have appropriate laws been enacted?

Think how often something is "legal" simply because technology has advanced quicker than the law can keep up.

Attempted murder, just because they refuse to stay dead did not mean it was not attempted.

You could probably argue ‘attempted murder’, if the accused didn’t know he was ‘killing’ a Cylon. “I have no intention of letting the accused go free, simply because they failed in their attempt to kill this citizen.

Agreed, but again, I'm talking legal technicalities here

[Cannonshop]

Late August, 3056...

Elizabeth studied the scene recorded by the Coast Guard battalion on Jessenice.  "They're holding elections?"  Daphne asked.

"Yes. Elections." Liz said, "Victor gave me disposition on the landhold, probably assumed I would give it to a supporter."  she folded her hands, "I gave it to a constitution instead.  It's not unprecedented, just damned rare. The planet will still retain their rights under the Federated Commonwealth, but it won't be the easy solution of having a follower in charge.  I don't even know who they're going to elect, except whoever it is, will bear witness to what happens to leaders who betray their people."

Daphne Rowe gave Liz a narrow-eyed look, "What did you do?"

"well...I handed him to the angry mob." Liz said, "See there?  next to the courthouse?  that blur dangling off of one of the monitors?  That's the old duke, hanging and slowly dying at the hands of people he's harmed.  The trial was pretty straight and if the Jury had found him not-guilty, I'd have been obligated to keep the sonofabitch alive but it wsn't even a split vote-twelve random citizens of Jessenice, when presented with evidence and arguments, found their former Duke guilty of crimes that crossed from 'normal noble behavior' right over into 'lynch the monster'.  I'll expect Major Nghien to have the body taken down by nightfall, and then he can start again on explaining rule of law to the locals.  I expect the rebuilt militia will be a significant part of that."

"As enforcement? Isn't that as bad as what your people found there?"

"no...not so much as enforcement, but as example." Liz explained.  "Evelynn's found some ex LCAF academy drills...somewhere in that social network of hers.  the reduced supply complexity and enhanced training should work, along with a temporary Draft and an on-site Militia Officer's training course run by the Coast Guard."

"What's your next targeted problem?"

"Arluna." Liz sighed.  "Twelve families, and they're strongly pro-Fedcom...also seriously corrupt.  a complex situation, I can't use a sledgehammer to fix the situation because the DeGarde's are actually halfway decent accountants-they've got the graft and backhanders going, but it's not like Jessenice or Hood IV, you see, they actually put some of that graft into the local infrastructure."

"So...'almost decent?"

"almost.  If they didn't have men in prison for speaking out against abuses, I would be comfortable leaving them alone.  If you must silence someone with prison or power, then you have something to hide and fear what they have to say."

"Lizzie, maybe I can help you handle it...less violently?" Daphne asked, "My family does a lot of business on Arluna..."

Elizabeth's face might have cracked, the way she grinned, "YES! please, Daffy.  get it across to them, get them to cooperate and to stop jailing useful citizens or killing them!  I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it up, without killing someone to make another example."

[Cannonshop]

Winter...

The factories were new, less than four years old, and owned by firms like Langanecker, Nashan, Norse-Storm and Blackstone.  those are the names on the signs, those are the names on the letterhead, and their home offices certainly got their percentage.

But these weren't wholly owned by those companies, nor Defiance weapons, nor...and so on.

Elizabeth Ngo had spent a lot of effort and time, building up Kowloon, but she also spent quite a bit of that time on the world of Winter and House Von Schrakenberg.

To understand the relationship between the Ngos and the Von Schrakenbergs, you have to go back to the age of war, and arms smugglers that kept the Kowloon Republic afloat.  One of those arms smugglers was a member of the "Free Stars" cult based within the Rim Worlds Republic itself, Major Pol Von Schrakenberg.   For the centuries between Kowloon's fall to the Rim Worlds, and the end of the Star League, the Von Schrakenberg family smuggled supplies to Kowloon's resistance cells, smuggled people off-world, and provided a variety of semi-to-outright illegal support actions.  When the Star League came to Winter again, in 2769, the Von Schrakenbergs and their mining and processing partners, led the Tower Revolt at the same time Kowloon's Great Uprising, forcing the Rim Worlds Republic's forces to choose between a wealthy industrial world in revolt, or the perennial problem child.  The SLDF made that choice moot, and for nearly five years, Winter was a free state for the first time in its history.

That was essentially how long it took the Von Schrakenbergs to negotiate a peaceful entry into the Lyran Commonwealth.

for the remaining years of kowloonese independence, Winter was the conduit of trade that kept Marjorie Ngo's administration solvent, and it was a Von Schrakenberg (Phillip) who handled the legal representation for Kowloonese interests, saving them from being trapped in oppressive clauses and exploitive omissions, preserving Kowloon's autonomy for...a time.

The extremely valuable Germanium strike that founded Winter, was played out by the middle of the 29th century, and the Arcologies of Winter were soon running short of everything.  In that sustained hour of need, with defenses often merely a poor suggestion, kowloon continued to trade with Winter as a preferred partner to other worlds, even closer ones.

the industries brought by Elizabeth, revitalized Winter's economy, and made it worth it to the Federated Commonwealth to station the 7th Crucis Lancers there, instead of the usual understrength mercenary battalion.

The two worlds, Kowloon and Winter, are closer than kin, in some respects.  perhaps in more than 'some' respects.  Winter has become home to a growing Cylon minority in their outer belts, here, where the exotic mineral Tyllium was found in 3051 in large quantities (Larger still in the tailings of the old germanium mining processing sites.)

Battlemechs have started to come off the lines on Winter.  These are 'mechs derived from designs created by a Clan.  Clan Steel Viper.  a slightly larger version of the Battle Cobra, at 55 tons, the connectors and physical interfaces partially copied from Clan technology, and partially influenced by Cylon engineering and tech.   Not really the first Inner Sphere omnimech, not by a long shot.  These are being manufactured specifically for export, along side a now-licensed copy of the BHK-O ( Blackhawk-KU,)a sixty ton virtual copy of a 50 ton Clan machine. 

These machines are being built for direct military contracts.  the "Bigger Kobra" is being tested by AFFC, St Ives Militia, and the Star League.  The Blackhawk-KU is being subcontract produced as part of a Coventry Metal Works contract, since the Winter facility was ready before the new lines at Defiance were even operational, and zoning issues on Coventry have slowed down the construction of the actual LINE at Coventry Metal Works to a snail's pace.

The world of Winter, with  merely five hundred millon residents mostly crammed into massive arcologies separated by glaciers and tundra from nearly the planetary equator, to the poles, being in the middle of an estimated fifteen thousand year ice-age...has already adopted most of the reforms Elizabeth brought to Kowloon.  Their Militia is well trained, and thanks to the presence of two full battlemech manufacturing lines, an aerospace production firm, and a commercial shipyard that builds both Merchant vessels, and jump-capable Sampan II gunboats, they are well equipped.  The extensive use of workmechs both on Winter's surface, and among the uninhabitable rocks and belts fo the system, means an almost-inverse proportion.  With the need to learn ONLY three 'mechs, (the 'Bigger Kobra', Blackhawk-KU, and the Enfield) they have been able to train and equip a relatively large proportion of 'mechwarriors for their planetary militia, a Militia supported by a mix of armored and jump infantry trained to operate in the city-sized structures of the Arcologies of Winter.

Hector stood outside of Arc-14, or 'Prensall city' arcology, and waited. 

"are we ready?" Duke Von Schrakenberg asked.

the feeds looked good on the boards.  Hector nodded.  "We're ready if Francher's ready."

"let's see if it works then..."

a blue haze rose up the sides of the high-rise surface portion, rippling as it bent the energies through gravitic lensing.

"power levels look good...arch is established."  the field reached an apex, of sorts, capping over the massive structure.

Prensallville was an empty husk, the mine that fed it played out before the fall of House Amaris.

It was perfect for these tests.

"fire."

in orbit, a Naval PPC installation lit, and then lanced down.

the shields...held, as 2 kilotons a second streamed down onto the force field.

"strain gauge is good."

"Initiate test phase two."

The bombardment platform next released fire from Naval-autocannons.

the gravity-generator plates shimmered as the plunging fire from the FedCom warship, FCS Warspite, struck true, and vented their energies upward and outward-away from the shielded urban site.

"Power's fluctuating...adjusting harmonic."

the next wave of shells shattered and fell to earth, flashing the field in bright red with each impact.

AFFC observers watched this, as did FWLM and DCMS.

"bring it down, we need to check the interior, this will do no good, if radiation or other effects cause injuries inside."

once the field was down, teams went inside.

The live animals placed inside the buildings, were all dead. Not from cold, or heat, but from shockwaves and radiation.

"I think we'll wait on procuring this." 

Hector nodded, "I think we've got more work to do." Francher was downcast, and he clapped a hand on the Kowloonese man's shoulder, "In science, sometimes the answer really is why not."

[Cannonshop]

Nha Tranh University...

Etienne Balzac really was starting to understand he'd been sentenced to hell.  In this case the hell of having to do both administration, and science, in a completely and totally, mandatorially open environment.  One of the Duchess' requirements, was output.  pay and bonuses, and consideration for grants, hinged on productive output to the public journals and papers peer-reviewed. 

"Duchess, this is intolerable, how can I get anything done in a fishbowl?"

"Doctor Balzac, you chose to contract with the University, that means you're getting to tap funds unavailable to private sector researchers, but it also means you're here to advance understanding.  you can make discovery to do that, you can broadcast information to others, you can publish.  Most of what is gone, is gone because someone thought so much about their work that it was never shared or broadcast.  The periods of mankind's fastest advancement, from using mules to starships, happened only because knowledge flourished and spread."

"What if that knowledge is destructive?" he asked, as he began to realize she was a whole other sort of insane from the secrecy-obsessed merchant caste and warriors he'd had to work around as a Clan scientist.

"Then it's destructive." she said, "spread it.  The first use of atomic science was war.  from the foundations of the nuclear age, we got nuclear medicine, nuclear power, nuclear fabrication, and yes, we got nuclear bombs, but they're not the important part of the equation.  anything can be used as a weapon.  see this?" She flicked the knife open.  He saw the cursive script Forgiveness.  "This is a climber's knife, it is meant to be opened one-handed, for use in mountaineering and parachutes.  It is also a weapon, depending only on what you cut with it."  the knife vanished with a flick of her wrist.  "Publish your work, including the failures-especially, the failures.  This serves to guide others on what has failed and what not to do.  Review others, their experiments may have failed for externalities, their hypotheses may have failed due to poor experimental design.  THAT is how mankind advances. It advances slowly, or not at all in a 'protected' environment. only through competition can the best ideas flourish."

Hers was, in his estimation, a special sort of madness.  Her darwinian view, however, that ideas must be forced to compete and survive attacks, and that ideas that cannot survive this, are of value only in showing what not to do, appealed to his own central conceit.

"You will increase my funding if I publish frequently?" he asked.

"Yeah.  it doesn't matter if you're publishing failures, because those teach as well as success.  I also want you to critique other's works, show where they're flawed or outright wrong in their conclusions.  this isn't the Clans, Master Etienne.  we're not here to service a hot-house garden, isolated from the real world by a hyperinsular, inbred culture.  I'm paying your bills to advance human understanding. and to help drag mankind out of a dark age."

She reached up, using the end of her cane, and tapped the plaque on the Science Administration Building.

it was a quote from Kearney.

The first, most important statement in all of scientific development, is "I do not know".  The follow on to this, is the second most important directive in science: "Let's find out".  Without those two, all of your work as a scientist is essentially the work of a technician, a cook, following a recipe blazed by someone else who does say "I don't Know, Let's Find Out".

-Thomas Kearney, addressing the International Physical sciences and Mathematics symposium at Helsinki, 2028

and then, she walked away.