Date: February 14, 3017
Location: Clinton
Title: Permanent Losses
Author: Aaron Cahall
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Thelos Auburn studies a folio of the works of Silvio Guttoso in the Museum of the Irregulars, but is interrupted by the sudden intrusion of a Marik
Orion coming through the wall. Auburn barely manages to find shelter under the table before the roof collapses.
He regains consciousness as an Irregular infantry squad pulls him out of the rubble. Sergeant Owen Hyland tells Auburn to accompany them to the armory. Auburn is shocked at the destruction wrought on the priceless items in the museum, and races to take a 30 kg case containing a first edition of Copernicus'
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres from its display stand, telling the aghast soldiers that the priceless artifact wouldn't survive the snow falling through the collapsed roof.
The squad moves out and tries to get past a League gun nest on the street outside. Private Rishard commends Auburn for saving the book - one of Cranston's favorites. Racing across the street, the case's bulk causes Auburn to fall, and Rishard is gut shot pushing him out of the line of fire. As Rishard dies, Thelos' first thought is to worry about the case having been breached by a bullet.
Sergeant Hyland chews the historian out for his callousness and misplaced priorities, but Auburn stands up for himself, noting that the treasures of the museum are worth protecting, with lives if necessary, and that if the focus is only on skirmishing, the result will be spreading barbarism.
Sergeant Hyland announces his plan to reach the base's ComStar substation and use its communications equipment to call in a DropShip from the spaceport to eradicate the Marik raiding party. The squad moves out, but they are still in the blast radius when an airstrike hits, tossing Auburn through a cafe window.
When he awakens, he sees Marik soldiers loading looted artifacts onto a truck. For fun, the troopers take a Faberge egg out of a case and smash it with a piece of debris, playing baseball. One suggests burning Snord's treasures, but the other says Snord will be angrier if his collection is dispersed - sold to other collectors, with the proceeds used to hire mercenaries to fight the Irregulars.
Horrified by the barbarity of the Marik plan, Auburn waits for the soldiers to move off, then makes his way towards the ComStar substation, hoping to link up with Sergeant Hyland. Luck is with him, and he finds them in a park near the ComStar facility. Auburn suggests using the HPG to call Cranston on Loric, so he can return, drive the Mariks off, and launch an effort to recover his stolen treasures. Hyland prefers his plan, to destroy the Mariks before they leave (though any treasures they have will be destroyed as well).
The soldiers scamper across the open parkland near the substation, firing SRMs at a Marik
Firestarter. Return flamer fire incinerates two of the squad members, and pins down the rest of the squad. Auburn, separated, is the only one in position to advance, and is able to reach the substation, where he is greeted by a pair of ComStar acolytes.
Notes: According to Wikipedia (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_revolutionibus_orbium_coelestium) there were 228 surviving copies of the first printing of Copernicus' work (out of a print run of 400) as of 2004. Initially printed in 1543, Snord's copy would have been 1,474 years old.
The Diamond Trellis Faberge Egg (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Trellis_(Faberg%C3%A9_egg) ) is currently in the collection of the British Royal Family. One wonders to what extent the treasures of Terra were scattered by the looting that accompanied the Amaris Civil War, when RWR forces took what they wanted across Terra. We know that key relics and treasures from the Vatican vaults were sent offworld for safety, and that a load of musical instruments were given the same treatment, but crashed on a Marik world.
The attitudes of both Sergeant Hyland and of the Marik troopers go a long way towards explaining how so much knowledge became LosTech. The immediate focus on tactical victories in skirmishes over territory, and the desire to destroy looted items to cause further harm to enemies, has cost humanity a significant percentage of its cultural and historical artifacts.
The Liberation of Terra books suggest that the RWR forces occupying Terra took the opportunity to loot the planet. They built large vaults on Terra where they stashed much of it (along with, allegedly, political prisoners who were left to cannibalize each other in the dark tunnels), but many of Terra's treasures may have been sent offworld for safekeeping (like the Vatican collection) or relocated to a family stronghold by RWR commanders. Oh, what a "National Treasure" scavenger hunt that would make for an enterprising Goliath Scorpion Seeker.
I was surprised to see Thelos Auburn stand up for himself - making it a defining moment for the character. He's usually been portrayed as a meek and bookish individual, and the setup seemed to be aiming towards showcasing his prioritization of relics over human lives, and having him realize that his focus has been misplaced. Having him forcefully stand up and argue that the relics are important and worth dying for shows strength of conviction, a rare "big picture" view, and the presence of a backbone.