Teaser for a proposed...thing.

[Sharpnel]

How I have missed the young Miss Ngo

[Daryk]

And now for Condit...

[al103]

vanishingly unlikely.  it would be like naming your kid 'Vendetta', or 'Atrocity', or 'Misfortune'.

I'm not sure about other two, but it's pretty Hanse to name his child Vendetta.

[Cannonshop]

"Next Case"

"George Robert Gordon Condit, you have been given a fair trial and found guilty on the following counts..." Elizabeth wore the same smock and shower cap. this time, she added safety glasses.
"Count one, Conspiracy to defraud the Lyran Commonwealth, Count two, Conspiracy to undermine the lawful authority of the Lyran Commonwealth, count three, Conspiracy to commit Tax Fraud, count four, Embezzlement of funds, count five, conspiracy to commit murder, count six, conspiracy to conceal a murder, count seven, Grand Theft of Capital, count Eight, conspiring to violate Commonwealth Export regulation 244b, count nine, conspiracy and collaboration with Bandits, count ten, Bribery. Count eleven, Bribery, count twelve, Solicitation with the intent to corrupt public officials. Count thirteen, conspiring to conceal official corruption, count fourteen, encompassing the prior items, Treason against the people and government of the Lyran Commonwealth. Count fifteen, treason against your Liege Lord.  You're fired, by the way."

she stood up, "Do you want a blindfold?"

he shook as he knelt on the plastic, and nodded his head.

a woman in uniform tied a blindfold over his eyes.

"Would you like a Cigarette, intoxicant, glass of scotch..?"

"Cannabis, please?" he asked.

she rolled a joint, and the uniformed woman held it to his lips, lighting it.  He drew in a long drag.

"Would you like a moment to confer with a spiritual advisor of your faith, sir?" Elizabeth asked.

"No..." he mumbled around the marijuana cigarette.

she waited for him to finish the joint, then, she stepped up, at one meter's distance, and fired a single shot.

his body flopped to the floor, lifeless.

she took off the safety glasses and accepted a clean handkerchief to wipe the blood spatter from her face before removing the smock, and then the shower-cap. 

"Okay...that was horrible." she said.  "THis concludes the public executions of traitors portion.  HI, I'm Elizabeth Anne Ngo, Duchess of Kowloon, and there are going to be a few changes in how things are run here.  as you should be able to see on your screens at home, I have no place for abuse of power or corrupt officials.  For the last ten years, our world has been under a very incompetent, corrupt and erosive administration.  This morning a number of persons imprisoned under the Regency have been released from unlawful imprisonment.  we still don't know where everyone is, however, but we do have enough for a Quorum of the Assembly.  for those of you with Assembly seats whom have been in hiding, please, come out of hiding, the suspension of the elected assembly is hereby nullified and I need your help-running a world is a complex job that requires that the voice of the people be heard.  to that end, I hereby request that the people's assembly meet as soon as possible, and that special elections be arranged for those who..." she glanced at the corpse, "were unable to escape or survive the prior administration."

She walked over to the desk, and the camera followed her.  "I hereby decree, as Duchess, that the so-called 'emergency measures' in force under the Regent, including the suspension of civil liberties carried out under his administration are null and void.  I have a list of officers under the Stonecipher administration that are wanted for crimes committed under his administration, they will be found and brought to trial.  Turn yourselves in, you can not run far enough before we catch you.  the following statements are inadmissible in a court; 'I was only following orders', 'orders are orders', 'you can't do this to me I'm an officer/noble/too important', and 'insert-a-name will hear of this and punish you'.  I am Elizabeth Ngo, I am the Duchess, I am the one who punishes people."

she clasped her hands for the camera, "there will be no excuses in my administration. There might be forgiveness, I will accept repentance if it's sincere, I may even pardon those whom are deemed worthy...but no more excuses, no more rationalizations, no more pretenses.  There is to be The Law, there is Right, there is Wrong, and there will be justice...oh, and there will be jobs, I've lined up contracts that will deal with this...imposed economic malaise, there will be schools, the schools will be worth it, there will be Jobs, Justice, Education, and Prosperity.  what will not be tolerated, are skimming, embezzlement, fraud, extortion, state-sponsored kidnappings, suppression of free speech or other civil rights, political violence, or violence directed at the civilian population.  To that end, all arms-control laws and decrees levied in the last twenty years are null and void, citizens may arm themselves and walk freely in the streets, no public building shall bar any citizen of Kowloon for bearing a weapon.  Misusing it is a death sentence, but carrying in public is lawful, and in my view, necessary to maintain a free state, as the founders of our world decreed when they adopted the Constitutional Charter.  Private ownership of arms is lawful, legal, and encouraged."

"As I said, there will be changes.  the 'offensive speech' laws used to imprison several elected representatives are null and void.  I don't care if some foreign court thinks it's inflammatory, the fact is when a fool speaks, he reveals himself a fool.  it is only in secret, under suppression, that true sedition can grow.  Your right to speak as you think or feel shall no longer be infringed by the sensibilities of others, though I'd be careful, because there is no longer any legal reason for someone to be forced to do business with a person whose views or personal conduct is offensive to them.  Good manners will still be more profitable than being a prick."

"Finally, I have repealed in my role as Duchess, several unlawful taxes that were levied under the Regency.  your returns are on file, and you will be reimbursed as it becomes possible. If you feel you have a claim, please submit your claim to your local Coast Guard office, or City Hall no later than next thursday.  Claims will be  processed in the order they are received, payments to legitimate claims will be made, fraudulent claims will be denied,  Property tax rates planet-wide are in the process of being adjusted for the correct values. some land-owners will find a cheque is coming to them, as well."

She puts a paper down on the desk.  "That's all I've got tonight.  to the People of Kowloon, I wish you a good night, a good rest, and a good morning."


she waited for the light on the camera to flash indicating the broadcast recording was finished, before she relaxed.

Then, Elizabeth held her hair back, leaned over the trash can next to her desk, and vomited.

after vomiting, she sat up, wiping her lips as staff removed the bodies.  "How did It look?" she asked, "Will they buy it? will they believe?"

"We'll have to see, Ma'am." Kristiana said uncomfortably.  "I think your fireside chat tone at the end might come off as a bit unbalanced."

Elizabeth regarded the pistol on the desk.  "That was harder than I thought it would be, he was right, I almost couldn't make myself do it...don't tell anyone?"

"Of course not." Kristiana answered.

"I wonder how Evelynn's doing with her dad." Liz added, "According to the papers in Stoney's desk, the man's mind is almost completely gone. at least I'll die before I get Alzheimers, eh?" she tried to grin, and failed.

[Daryk]

Well, concludes the public execution of traitors by the Duchess portion.  I'm sure there will be some score settling elsewhere on planet for a couple of months at least.

[qc mech3]

The horrible part is not so much the execution, they were traitors in wartime after all, but the fact that a teenager had to do it and publicly to boot.

[Ajax_Wolf]

A couple of points:

1. Make up sex is just 🔥, married or not.

2. I'm glad to see the furries have survived the Succession Wars.

3. Bruises do not come from arguments, they come from fights. Which leads to great make up sex.

[Nikas_Zekeval]

The horrible part is not so much the execution, they were traitors in wartime after all, but the fact that a teenager had to do it and publicly to boot.

I think Liz considers this more, honest.  They are as dead by her hand if she pulls the trigger directly, or uses a pen and subcontracts the actual killing.

Plus she's got a world on the edge of open revolt based on the conspiracy these two led.  This is a very emphatic, and Kowloonese, statement that this was not going to be excused with the new administration.  Realpolitik might have required throwing her people this pound of flesh.

Another part of the political theater in these two executions is how she is playing it for both the Estates General and the FedCom as a whole.  Gauche for doing the deed herself, but otherwise doing this under the full color of law in time of invasion of the realm.  A trail and sentencing of a very long list of capital crimes first.  Then offering the traditional comforts to the condemned before carrying out the execution.

Ironically her pistol executions could also be considered a mercy, quick and relatively painless given some of the more, traditional, Kowloonese forms of capital punishment.  Hanse might even tell Melissa this wasn't as bad as he was expecting.

[Sir Chaos]

The horrible part is not so much the execution, they were traitors in wartime after all, but the fact that a teenager had to do it and publicly to boot.

Well, if the grown-ups had done their jobs...

[Daryk]

I'm positive Hanse will tell Melissa it wasn't as bad as he was expecting...

[Cannonshop]

Triad, Tharkad, Archon's quarters...

"and this is why I said she rooked you." Hanse stated, adding, "it's not as bad as I'd feared it would be."

Melissa looked ill.  "That child...that can't be healthy."

"Oh, it's not." Hanse asserted, "I had nightmares after the first man I killed in combat.  I still do, about that man.  Your little friend there, she doesn't have the excuse of combat, the adrenaline, the fog of battle most soldiers rely on to stay sane and hold it together when they know they've killed...she has to live with doing this herself, intentionally and with fore-thought."

he swirled his scotch, "she was shaking so badly in that clip that she could've missed.  Both times.  she's a killer, but she's not a psychopath.  It's a shame she's going to die young, and like she is, if she was going to survive..." he looked over at his wife, "If she wasn't dying of what's going to kill her, that defect, I'd be trying to match her up with one of our boys."

"you're joking."

"We worked out." Hanse said, "Didn't we? but the girl is dying. will be dead, if she doesn't get killed she'll die in unspeakable agony, and young.  I wouldn't do that to our sons."

his distraction from the distasteful act on the screen worked, Melissa's mind was engaged in something other than his poorly considered comment.

"You know, dear, I think that's why she did it that way." oops, maybe not.  Melissa was back to thinking about the political ramifications?  "She carried it out for the same reason that Maggie Doons makes sure the tabloids are talking about her current boy-toy."

Hanse nodded.  "Image." he said, "She's establishing a brand of 'don't screw with me'."

"Yes. she's a teenaged girl in a job most people don't have to deal with until their thirties at the earliest, she's barred from military service, and to do that job requires some form of 'respect', most often gained by a uniform she can't wear, and never will.  She's using the Machiavellian combination-making possible rivals fear her, while buying the love of her people."

Hanse glanced away from his wife at the screen, as the Duchess of Kowloon outlined her intent for the public like an elected politician might.  "crude methods, but probably effective." he conceded, "She did it herself, proving she's personally dangerous, where a noble in a less...pressured position would have delegated, showing she's 'hands on' and not afraid to get the proverbial blood on her hands, then being conciliatory to the population to lull them into feeling she is not a tyrant..."

"well, truth is, she's just removed something like ninety percent of the ways most planetary lords maintain their grip." Melissa said, "It's going to be hell for Lohengrin if they ever have to move on Kowloon-all those guns, and no restriction on size or type.  no legal speech codes or even reasonable restrictions on the press?"

"She's young, she'll grow out of it." Hans noted.  "Or maybe she won't...that's a pretty uncompromising position she's put herself into, and if I have guessed right, she knows she's going to die young no matter what, so she has no reason to compromise beyond the plans she's putting in place for after her death."

"Grim...Let's take a walk."

[Daryk]

I can just see Hanse reaching for his sunglasses and...  8)

[Cannonshop]

Vin Drin Lap...

Pride.  Kristiana walked along the beach of Golden Lake, inside the perimeter fencing of the Coast  Guard's 'home' base, and she could see the difference from the frantic tone and pace of the firefighting teams she'd seen previously.  There was pride on display here.

Small ships, 'cutters' with fresh paintwork floated on the quay, there were blue-and khaki clad enlisted freshening the paint, the litter was gone, the yellow-brown-black grass was trimmed.  Pride in evidence in the town above the base, and on the base proper.

The Coast Guard was back in business on Kowloon.

around the corner of the buildings, she could see the line still forming of former members re-enlisting, or new enlistees submitting applications.

"It's been a bleeding week." she muttered.

"it was very sensitive of her." Centurion 00100100010, aka 'Nick' said as he strode beside her, speaking on channels the humans lacked the ability to percieve without equipment.

"What was?" she asked.

"her policies, her insistence on freedoms.  Very sensitive." he said, "I can, if I become a citizen, enter any public building I wish, without surgery."

He flexed his forearm, retracting hand and displaying gun, before reversing the transformation.  "I think that was very nice." he added, "Sensitive, even."

"You're going to take her offer?" Kristiana asked.

"Jack did. I will." he said, "I like this place, the people are...not like the Colonies of Kobol. they have some preconcieved notions, but they're not instantly hostile with guns.  I got tired of dying on Sagitairon.  not to mention the mess on Caprica with the Thirteenth.  SHE would never send her soldiers to die in waves against superior weapons with no more thought than to try to overcome them with numbers."

"she meaning who?"

"The beautiful Evelynn with the Cylon eyes." he said.  "The Duchess is...interesting, but Evelynn is fascinating. I almost could wish I was a bio-cylon."

she stopped and looked at the liberated Centurion, "You have a crush on a Human?"

"I like her for her mind." he said, "We weren't built with those reproductive drives. I want to protect her, I suppose that might be something akin to love."

"i would say it's pretty close." Kristiana admitted.  "You know she won't love you back."

He shrugged.  "It doesn't matter."

"Romantic!"

his vox rumbled with something akin to laughter out loud, "Cynic!" he sniped back.

Sixty kilometers north, was the Camp john site, an industrial park, and it was getting a makeover courtesy of "Cy-Lon Enterprises, a subsidiary of Ngo Industries". 

"She's really allowing us to do this." Kristiana shook her head, "That would be seen as utter madness by the Hu-I mean, by the Colonials."

"We agreed on the offer before she agreed on the price." he said, "I've seen the Girl-Duchess in action several times now, and I am wondering what her agenda is."

"What do you mean?" Kristiana asked, suspiciously.

"Why would a human invest in something so risky?  she has no proof we won't turn on her." He explained.  "She is not by nature generous.  she wants something and sees us as a means to obtain it."

"That part is obvious." Kristiana-now thinking as a Three, observed.  "It bears watching."

"And thus, why Jack and I will be accepting her offer of employment...we will remain close to her and discover her true agenda." Nick said, "And I will have the chance to watch over and protect the beautiful Evelynn."

[Daryk]

11 bits in a Centurion's name?  ???

Nick is in for a surprise when he figures it out, and I don't think the cylons as a collective are going to like it...

[gladius]

Hmm, can non human form Cylons be downloaded into bio bodies?

[Daryk]

I'll put $5 on "yes"...  :D

[Ajax_Wolf]

11 bits in a Centurion's name?  ???

Nick is in for a surprise when he figures it out, and I don't think the cylons as a collective are going to like it...

For the computer illiterate amoung the group, this means. .........?

[Daryk]

11 bits is an odd (prime, even!) number, which means they either use 11-bit bytes (weird) or variable length bytes (REALLY weird!).

[worktroll]

11 bits means a macimum of 2048 Centurions - highly unlikely.

It's probably a nick name .... pune intended.

[Daryk]

I think it might have been a typo, hence my question...

[croaker]

11 bits means a macimum of 2048 Centurions - highly unlikely.

It's probably a nick name .... pune intended.

Or Cannonshop omitted the prefacing zeroes.

[Cannonshop]

Alien Station...

The corridors were too tall, too narrow.  so were the doorways, which hinged the wrong way.  The sterile, dry air and at some point, strong irradiation had preserved the bodies, for how long it was difficult to really tell.

"They almost look like us, don't they?"  Nicole commented, "Just slight differences, really."

The mummified remains lay in strapped couches, furnishings arranged for a being with more vertebrae in thieir spines, slightly longer arms terminating in hands with three fingers and one thumb.

The toll of time left the faces stretched tight over bones, teeth bared.

Not quite human.

"Do some DNA sampling and send what we find back in a message?" 

"Yeah."  she walked the floor of what almost had to be a command deck.

The station's life support rattled, it was old, and it had been idle for a long time.

"Let's do some searching, see what we can find out."  Nicole instructed, "RTO, set up continuous feed on our helmet cams and instruments back to base, they'll probably get this stuff after we're gone, but we're standing on proof of a non-human extraterrestrial civilization."

"Aye mum."

"Hey doc? mind doing some autopsies?" Nicole added.

"Jesus, Captain..."

"Look, we're here, this is a discovery, let's do some science alright?  Dead bodies means there are living relatives out here somewhere."

"Not near, or they wouldn't be here."

"Keep your suit sealed and just examine a couple corpses. something killed these people, I kinda want to make sure I know what it is in case we see it."

[Cannonshop]

Former Ducal seat, Nha Tranh...

"Um, ma'am?"  Elizabeth looked up from the architectural map she was studying. 

"Yes?" she asked.

"Someone here to see you, mum."

strawberry blonde hair, traditional LCAF uniform, 'mechwarrior braid...  "Daphne." Liz's voice gained an icy edge.  "You graduated.  Been to see Penny yet?"

the older girl looked momentarily confused.  "Lizzie-"

"Save it."  Elizabeth's tone dripped venom, "why are you here?"

"I'm h-here bbecause...because my commanding officer is having a problem." Daphne managed to get out.  "Central supply claims our ammunition consignment, one of the Groves contracts, was delivered, only it wasn't."

"Which unit? and which depot?"  Elizabeth asked.  she felt so much anger she could hardly look at her former friend, because every glance reminded her of Penny, which brought up memories of three months spent watching Penny die in the hospital.  but this was business, and Elizabeth had learned to power through the headaches, and the sleeplessness, and the anxieties, even the guilt over killing two men with her own hand.

well, maybe not entirely the last one.  She still saw Stonecipher's eyes at night, still woke up feeling the blood on her face, smelling the gunpowder.  but she dealt with it. none of those were as hard to fight as the urge scream, and lash out like a feral animal at Daphne Rowe.  "And why did they send you?"

"It's unofficial." Daphne confessed, "I told the CO that I know someone who could maybe clear this up... I was on a shuttle to the next jumpship out for kowloon."

"where's your station?" Liz asked.

"We're on the front, it's classified." Daphne told her, "The Falcons haven't hit us yet, but we're in their projected path-"

"Tell me your unit, commander, and the depot nearest." Elizabeth instructed in a shaky voice, "Jack, please record this."

The comm on her lapel said, "Recording Ma'am."

"How much ammunition are we talking about? it's alright if  you don't know, I can ask your C.O." Liz ordered in the same tone of command she had learned to use from Maggie Doons.

"Twenty Third Arcturan Guards...and we're stationed on A Place, the General who sent me was General-"

"General Nadine Killson." Elizabeth said offhandedly.  "That means you're drawing from the Arc Royal command..."  Elizabeth pulled out a portable, and began typing instructions.  "How many tons are we talking about?"

"Two hundred for the RCT, class ten LBX cannister and solid shot."

"Anything else not showing up?" Liz asked.

"We've been running low on LRM ammunition, the short range stuff we've got plenty of-"

"right...okay.  Thats the one-twenty-five milimeter cannister shot?"

"Yes."  Liz found it convenient to not look at her while placing the shipping order.  "Spare datachit on you, Leutnant?" she held out her hand.

she felt the slick plastic on her palm and closed ehr fingers on it, stuck it neatly into the machine's write-port, formatted it, and then loaded the authorization for the order.  "go to Groves Industries on 24th and Cham drive, it's a big set of warehouses, there's an office entrance, go in uniform, use this chit, tell them exactly what you need. I assume you're needed on the front, so your passage on the shipment is pre-paid and you can ride along and make certain it gets there."

"Liz, about Penny-"

'You weren't there." Elizabeth finally looked up, her mascara running, "for three months, I watched her dying and you weren't there.  She was awake at first, sometimes, for a few minutes..and I thought she asked for you, did you know that? but you weren't there...and when she fell all the way down the well, when she was hollow, when the poisons finished eating her mind? you weren't there. Now go, collect your supplies, get them to your unit while you still have one, but get out of my sight before I do something we will both regret!!"

Daphne backed away three steps, turned, and fled.

after she was gone, elizabeth let loose, shaking in rage and grief, bawling like an angry toddler.

eventually, it slowed down.  "Jack?"

"Yes mum?"

"Get nicky, um, you guys are coming with me.  We're going to straighten out a supply chain issue.  Someone has been stealing from my customers."

"Yes mum."

She wiped the mascara clean from her face.  "god, i look a mess."

she teased at her bangs, and gave up.

Nick and Jack met her outside the doors of what she'd decided was no longer a ducal residence, but instead, would be refitted into a university, she nodded to workers as she met the two Centurions.

"Jack, Nick...we'll need to take one of the Cylon transport shuttles, we're going to Spider Moon, and from there, to Arc Royal by the fastest route Li can arrange or plot."

The Cylons had a few captured Raptors from their old home, and this is what Liz and 'her boys' took to Spider Moon.

Spider Moon CNAS, Third moon, Boojum orbit, 20 minutes later...

"...we'll have to arrange intermediate legs, the Cylon drive charges fast, but that's a LOT of Tyllium to make that many jumps." Gina said, "Our supplies-"

"I know." Elizabeth stated, "Li? some input from my Coast Guard?"

"I have shipping routes, we can arrange partial relays on corporate ships, get you within distance easily enough given the recharging routes..."

"That's good, arrange it."  Liz popped 500 miligrams of Pseuodine in her mouth, and swallowed it dry, the thumping in her head was painful and distracting.

"Passage for?"

"Myself, My staffers Nicholas Chopper and Jack Slaesh, plus two others...I don't know, pick reliable people who won't make a mess of things from the staff."

"centurions? to Arc Royal?" Li scoffed, "Are you seriously changing the plan?"

"yes.  call it an experimental field test, or call it intimidation and extortion, someone's skimming our shipments to the military, it's somewhere between Arc Royal and the end users. I'm going to put a damn stop to it...also, in the future, if Daphne Rowe comes calling, let me know so I can be away when she shows up."

"Yes...ma'am..."

"Did you get the rush authorization on that munitions shipment to the 23rd Arcturans?" Elizabeth asked.

"We're expediting traffic now."

"Excellent. can I borrow your long-coat?"

"um...sure." Li said, "it's kind of big on you..."

"yeah, but I like it and I think I'll need it, and I didn't bother to pack.  I want to leave as immediately as possible.  There is a Colonel or General in the Logistics chain I need to jump down the throat of, and I'm feeling spectacularly vindictive right now. I want that buzz to keep going."

"Madame Duchess, there's a Six and an Eight stationed on Arc Royal in the Distribution department." Gina said.

"Cool, so another Gina and a Sharon, sweet, that saves space for more fuel." Elizabeth noted, "Tell Evelynn she's in charge here while I'm gone please, and ask Leo if he wants any goodies from there."

It took long enough Elizabeth got to tell Leoben and Evelynn herself.  during that time, Nick and Jack apparently visited a bodywork painter over in the service hangars.  The came back sporting Coast Guard and Ngo Industries markings and nameplates, along with a fresh polish job to look extra impressive.

The trip out to the Nadir point was done using the Tyllium driven Raptor, which had gotten a Coast Guard paintjob with the number "1" stenciled on the side.

There, they docked to the MS Linda Blaire, a Merchant class vessel owned by one of the Belt families, under contract to deliver tooling to Arc Royal itself, a trip that would take several weeks.

Discontinuity

Penny was laying there, empty eyes staring at nothing, her EEG was at that 'not quite gone' level of low.

"Liz." Penny was also standing next to her.  "Lizzie, it's not her fault."

"She wasn't here. she left me to carry this by myself."

"It's not just yours-"

they were back in normal space.  the hurt and the loss and the anger were sharpened again.

"Alright... undock in three, two...one..."  Nick recited for the ship's bay officer.  the outer doors opened, and the Raptor-shuttle slipped out gracefully.  "Spinning up the experimental drive unit in five, four, three, two..."

in a flash, they were on the 'outspace' side of the MS Ophelia, owned by the Sithers coop, hauling finished armor plate from the Longanecker facility at Arluna, to Arc Royal.

"Coast Guard One, this is MS Ophelia actual, starboard shuttle dock is open, we'll be ready to jump the next leg when you're secured, over."

"Roger that, MS Ophelia, I am entering the docking pattern, Over."  Nick's voice sounded not only human, but he'd picked up a Golden Lake accent to both his English, and Vietnamese speech.

Suited figures ran the rigging lines as soon as the Raptor's skids touched the deck.

she watched the hangar door close as the jump-navigator's voice carried on a countdown.

Discontinuity

"keep up! we're going to miss it!!"  Penny urged. 

"I can't see anything!" elizabeth argued-her eleven year old self, at least, argued. Daphne's hands came up under her arms, and she was lifted up and saddled on the older girl's shoulders.

On the park stage, Bhenj Daughmiter was just walking up to the microphone.

Penny looked up at her, "How could you forget this, Liz?"

it burned and it hurt.

Reality reasserted itself, and Elizabeth leaned forward.  Jack's armored, razor-tipped fingers gently held the airsickness bag as she puked, while his other hand held her hair back and out of the way.

doing the same drill as before, the shuttle was unsecured, and flew out into open space before initiating the 'flight test only' tyllium drive.

Flash!

They arrived next to the MS Arachne, a ship owned directly by Ngo Industries, a hauler with a load of munitions bound for Arc Royal and only one thirty light year jump from Arc Royal.

"Initiating docking manuever..."

same as before.  Liz calculated it-they'd crossed four weeks of space in less than an hour using relays Li had to have had pre-planned months ago.

Discontinuity

he pushed her to the ground, "eat dirt you zipperhead whore."  His name had been George something-or-other, a son of some Davion officer who'd been transferred to the Lyran Commonwealth side as an advisor, and his french-tinged accent just underscored his origins somewhere near New Syrtis.

Elizabeth snarled, and leapt, clawing her way up his back, kicking and biting while his arms flailed uselessly, she rode him down, legs locked around his fat midsection, her fists pummeling and pounding when her fingers weren't pulling his hair and she bit, and bit, not quite drawing blood.  In instinct, he tried to run right as her fingers found his eyes from behind and she whacked the back of his head smartly with her own forehead.  he went down.

"EAT IT, EAT IT, EAT THE DAMN DIRT YOU FILTHYPIG!!ROOT THE DIRT! ROOT YOUR STUPID PIG NOSE IN IT!!!" she screamed at him over and over again, beating on him.

under her, the bigger boy began to cry fat, satisfying tears. "eat the dirt yourself!!" she scooped some and shoved it in his mouth, then slammed his forehead into the playground filth.  he was crying, there was blood under his face, blood from his mouth, from broken teeth.

she felt a stab of shame as she rolled off of him, watching the big, older boy crying and hurt.

"Lizzie this isn't who you are!!" she looked up, and Penny was there, taller than the other kids because she was older.  "You're not cruel."

she looked up at her friend from the future and past, "Sometimes I'm worse." she confessed. the shame burned bright...

Reality again.  they were in Arc Royal's traffic control zone.  Whatever was left, plus the water she'd drunk after the last one, came back up, and again, one of her Cylons held her hair back, and supported the airsickness bag as she heaved until dry, and then heaved some more.

"Is that every time you fly?" Jack asked.

"ever since I could remember. It's why I hate to travel." Elizabeth answered when she finally could. "A tiny bit more severe today."

the machine man nodded understanding, or sympathy.

"Don't pity me. I can't stand pity." she instructed, "Please."

instead, he offered her a cleaning rag to wipe her mouth, and a flask of Ijero wine to kill the awfulness of the taste in her mouth.

They flew sublight into the approach pattern, then onto a pre-filed flight plan to the Ngo Industries distribution and service complex outside old Connaught.

Elizabeth made a point of carrying her own airsickness bags off the bird after landing, and disposing of them in the provided trash can.

the Gina, and the Sharon were waiting for her.  "Which one of you two drives?" Liz asked.

"I do." the Sharon answered.

"good, you've got the half-ton like I asked?"

"Yes...are you sure you want to do this?"

"it has to happen sooner or later. sooner is probably better." Liz stated, "If they find out on their own without being told, there's going to be hell to pay. This way, we can set the terms of engagement."

[Cannonshop]

LCAF Forward Logistics Point Arc Royal, outside Old Connaught, Arc Royal, 1500 hours local time.

"They're with me." Elizabeth said at the Contractor's entry, "Field testing new armor."

"Oh...okay...it's not on the schedule."

"Oh for ******'s sake!" Elizabeth snarled, "we're early." she said, "Must have gotten here ahead of the transmission...um, Sergeant, we've got the service gear inside our annex in the Contractor's area, can my guys at least go inside and un-suit?"

"Um...yeah, okay. Straight to the Groves annex?"

"Indeed." Liz gave him a smile, hoping the emergency toothbrushing had done its job.

"alright, your driver knows the way..."

Sharon drove them through the gate.

"Battle armor? that's your cover story?"

"Bear with me, I'm improvising." Liz said, "My plan is to scare the dogsnot out of some people, it doesn't do any good to have word get ahead of us.  Nick's going to hold me off the guy, and Jack's going to use his acting skills to sound like my personal voice of reason keeping me from doing something that will get me arrested."

"And our roles?"

"Look shocked and alarmed at my conduct." Liz instructed, "You'll all know when. The last time 'Elizabeth Ngo' was on Arc Royal, my mother put a bullet in me and then blew her own brains out, remember? That sticks with people, kind of thing that turns into base-side legends.  By now, the vid of my double-execution's probably gone viral out here, so there's that part of the 'scary'.  The boys are here to look impressive, and you two are here to look like corporate flunkies because that's what people expect."

"and our real job?" Gina asked.

"Eye candy while Nick hacks their system and finds out where my product's been diverted to." Elizabeth said.

"OHH..."

"yeah. somebody is either sabotaging the war effort or trying to make one of my subsidiaries look like dogmeat.  I'm not sure which, but I find either possibility to be deeply offensive, worth bringing the brute squad with."

Sharon looked at Jack, "The 'brute squad'?"

"I'm with the Brute Squad, yes." Nick said.

"I AM the Brute Squad." Jack rejoined.

it got a small smile from Elizabeth.

The five of them dismounted the truck in the Groves area, Elizabeth led them into the offices.  "Everybody OUT!!" she barked.

this got the 'gopher' reaction from the staff here, and looks of recognition, followed by staffers abandoning desks in a rush.

"Pick a terminal, Nick...Sharon, you mind staying with Nick while he breaks about fifty national laws please?"

"um, sure."

"Come on, Jack, Gina...let's go ****** up someone's day with some rubber hose crypto."

"Rubber hose?"

"it's a metaphor." Liz growled testily.  she shifted her walk to 'project importance' mode, striding as if she owned the base, headed for the area which had once been under her mother's supervision.

"one way or another, we're going to get answers."


The guard post was manned by two corporals and a bored looking staff Sergeant.

"Ma'am, you'll have to leave that equipment behind or send it back to the Armor testing ground." the bored looking NCO drawled.

Elizabeth put on her very best 'do you know who I am' face.

"THAT is not possible, Sergeant...Wilhover.  Mister Slaesh is a critical member of my staff, and he is NOT 'equipment'!!"

"Ma'am, he's wearing a suit of prototype armor...hell, how does he fit in that?"

"It is a medical support system, Mister Slaesh suffers from a medical condition, and he is a Kowloonese Citizen, not a toy for you to simply restrict or confiscate.  taking that armor off could kill him."  It wasn't entirely a lie, and she put force behind her words.  "Are you going to seriously refuse a disabled citizen.."

The Centurion standing at the Duchess's back studied the AFFC Quartermaster officer impassively.

"what kind of medical condition!?"

"severe allergies." she said, "Now, if you please, my employee and I have business with Generalleutnant Kristobel, regarding a diverted shipment of actual military supplies that was supposed to arrive on A Place nine days ago."

"And what do you need him for?"

"He is my personal carer, and assistant.  He carries my briefcase and reminds me of my appointments." she said with a bland expression, "After all, I'm only a young girl...he also keeps the creeps at bay."

The Leutnant that walked up while she was berating the unfortunate Sgt. Wilkshover, asked, "is that true?"

"I do her caring, so she doesn't have to, yes." Jack said it so flatly, so sincerely, so offhandedly, that Liz had to fight the frantic giggle fit she felt rising.

"Oh my god..." the Leutnant said.  "You're her, the gunshot girl..."

"Then you know I wouldn't be here, if the matter were not serious. either fetch the C.O., or let me in to see him.  I would prefer not to be forced to bring this matter to Duke Kell's attention.  He has a war to win."

That threat did it.

[JA Baker]

You'll get further with a kind word and a reputation for being batshit crazy than you will with just a kind word.

[Daryk]

I love the Brute Squad reference!  ;D

[croaker]

"I do her caring, so she doesn't have to, yes." Jack said it so flatly, so sincerely, so offhandedly, that Liz had to fight the frantic giggle fit she felt rising.

Nick Chopper and Jack Slash.

And yeah, Jack's line sent me into a giggle fit too, just as I picked up the phone at work....

[Daryk]

What I'd like to know is who's going to notice the effective command circuit a minor noble from the Lyran periphery just used... It might not rise to Hanse and Melissa (thought it might), but SOMEBODY is going to care.

[Nikas_Zekeval]

What I'd like to know is who's going to notice the effective command circuit a minor noble from the Lyran periphery just used... It might not rise to Hanse and Melissa (thought it might), but SOMEBODY is going to care.

It sounds like after her initial hop Liz's "shuttle" rode commercial jumpships the rest of the way.  At most paying for messages and the jumpships to wait a few hours each to let her ride them.

[Daryk]

Even if it all looks legit like that, it's still somewhat beyond the "normal" reach of a minor noble...