Chapter 016: Relief

Subsectors are a relatively recent addition to the Human Space. Their history began in 2570 when Mankind successfully traveled through the Hyperspace Conduit. It was aware of the existence of these naturally formed Hyperspace passages for centuries. However, unlike perfectly safe and stable hyperlanes, conduits are extremely dangerous and require numerous (if minor) course alterations done within milliseconds to avoid being torn apart.

This requires automation of the process, which in turns requires AIs capable of making correct decisions almost instantly. This meant that conduits were essentially untraversable until the creation of the first Class-Three AI led to a breakthrough in the fields of computer technology. With conduits traversable at last, the subsectors were born.

By the decision of the Confederation of Mankind, no sectoral power is allowed to colonize them directly. Instead, hundreds of new micronations were born, often from groups defeated and exiled from the sectors. While subsectors rarely have more than three to four Terran Worlds (when compared to more than a hundred of a sector), a faction that secures one of them through their local proxies can one day - if or when the terraforming capabilities of the Solar Commonwealth-era will be achieved once again - see its prize bloom.

Encyclopedia Galactica

Book 2, page 765

***

Texia-IV, City of Landing

14:01 21.06.2610 STT

Cadet Christopher Hall

Officially, the Subsector B-72 was split between four competing powers. The Divine Directorate of Plesja, the Republic of Triana, the Techtrian Hierocracy, and the Numenian Council. However, the true situation in the sector was more convoluted.

These countries, when compared to the sectorial powers, were weak. The most populous of them, the Republic of Triana had a population of about fifty-seven million. There were sectorial powers whose armies were more numerous than the Republic’s entire population. The Solar Republic had a few hundred times more soldiers in active service than the subsector’s population.

The powers in the subsector might be pygmies, but these pygmies were extremely ambitious, and currently locked in a mexican stand-off. None of the four parties dared to make the first move, in fear of exposing themselves to their other rivals.

The Texian Protectorate was one of the five lesser powers of the subsector which had developed by taking advantage of this stalemate. It was officially a part of the Republic of Triana. However, its population - merely 2,5 million according to the last census - was militarized and organized well enough that Triana preferred to keep itself away from Texia’s interior affairs. Planetary invasions even of this scale were troublesome and costly.

Texia received military aid from its supposed overlord. Triana received modest taxes and had a place where it could expel its political troublemakers who weren't irritating enough to have them murdered. Texia got wealthy by exporting many minerals from its mines (both in the asteroids littering the system and on Texia-IV). Triana had pre-emption rights for Texian minerals useful in warship construction and repairs. In short, not a poor arrangement.

It also made the Texia system a suitable place for a two months long vacation that Captain Keller unexpectedly ordered after the incident with the Pristine Jewel. It was a stable non-tyranny, with its population open to outsiders and having enough interstellar traffic for its government to invest in some places where the crews could relax during their stops in Texia, such as parks.

Which is quite the achievement when your world lacks an atmosphere. It even looked believable, as the dome’s ceiling was covered in displays showing a fake sky.

Christopher took advantage of a momentary stop in the walk to sit down on a bench overseeing a small river. It was a fake river, only a few hundred meters long. But from his current position, he saw neither end of it, which made it look genuine.

A refreshing change after being sealed in the Echo for a while.

“Tiriel, I realize you like nature, I like it too. But how many times are we going to walk around this park before you’re satisfied?” It was finally the time to ask the question.

She spun towards him with that playful smile of hers. She looked as impeccable as ever. Though for once she had replaced her humble light green dress with a pale blue one and had left her gloves and the circlet on Echo. She also displayed a rather austere white handbag, with no ornaments or writings.

“You realize that each time you suggest going back, I add two more laps around the park to the plan?” This sounded like something Tiriel would do. The more time he spent with her, the more it perplexed him how such an upright and prudent girl could be this mischievous. “How can you call yourself a man if you cannot even keep pace with such a feeble girl as I?”

“Oh, no no no. That won't work on me. I read about your Variant, I know you have increased endurance. And I know how much you love lengthy walks. You are a seasoned hiker.” Christopher refused to be baited.

Normally, he should have been delighted to spend his time with a girl, especially one this charming. However, he was ordered to accompany her, which ruined the impression. The Captain forbade crew members on shore leave from going anywhere alone - and unarmed - and there was constantly an officer or a group of marines strolling somewhere nearby.

He felt like a dead weight. Especially as the locals kept a considerable distance and didn’t cause any trouble. Even the local law-enforcement looked more like a futuristic police than futuristic death squads. Their attitude towards outsiders was considerably better than their colleagues from Triana proper.

“Let it be your way. We will come back soon. Let’s rest here for ten minutes before that, though.” She was either mindful of his tiredness… or she was using it as a pretense to remain here for a moment longer.

She perched on the bench next to him and took out a lunchbox from her handbag. Then she glanced at him, and smiled wryly.

“You can stop drooling, I made some surplus sandwiches. Help yourself.” His relief was total. There were times when Tiriel was irritating… but also times when she was comparable to a saint.

“Excuse me and my desire to stay here as long as viable.” Tiriel continued. “I am afraid the homesickness is catching up with me. I miss the open spaces.”

“Oh, right.” Christopher stopped stuffing himself with the sandwiches. For a moment. A small victory of his willpower against the inevitable. “Why did you decide to become part of the Guild? Weren’t there other ways of seeing the world?”

“My father served in the military.” The elf replied. “When he was younger, he met Keller. If I remember his story correctly, the Captain was a naval liaison attached to my father’s unit. They got acquainted. When I said that I wanted to sightsee the world a bit, he decided that the safest way of letting me do that was to have me join Keller’s crew. “ She ate her sandwiches gracefully. Small bits. Long chewing. Not answering until she had finished processing the last morsel of food.

“Any particular reason why you wanted to see the world away from Beleriand?” Christopher asked. “Other than curiosity, that is.” This sounded like a decision he wouldn’t make. Going so far away from home, choosing a hazardous job.

“The list of career options for a noble with no chances of inheriting a title are restricted.” She replied with a smile on her face. “I could as well pick one away from home.”

“Wait, you’re a noble?” She was about to take another bite of her sandwich when she heard his question. She froze and shifted her head toward him.

“You did not read my personal file? I’m most certain that I spoke of it during the interview.”

“Well, I haven’t read any personal files, save for Rukh’s. And I only checked his to know how he looks. I didn’t know that he is so distinct.” The only representative of a rather obvious to spot Variant aboard Echo. Then again, if they told him to search for a man looking like a wolf, he would have grossly misinterpreted that instruction. “It didn’t feel ok to violate people’s privacy, even when it was legal to do so. I mean, if it’s important, you will end up mentioning it when we are working or wasting time together.”

The look he received from her was… complicated. Thoughtful, certainly. But she gave him no hint of whether she approved or disapproved of what he just said.

“That still feels saddening. Could you not tell I’m of noble birth with how dignified my behavior is?” She eventually broke the silence. Her smile left no doubts whether she meant that for real.

“Oh, yes! Your behavior is most dignified, my lady. Especially that one time when after learning that Tendrik is afraid of spiders you put a fake, plush spider in his lunchbox.” Tendrik freaked out in the midst of the bridge, during his shift as an assistant to the tactical officer. Who, thankfully, approached the situation with understanding.

“A just retribution for infecting my comm-implant with a malware that changed my overlay.” She replied. “I woke up one day only to notice that my reflection in the mirror had extensive cyberware mods.”

Ok, that DOES count as something that needs disciplining. Prank, sure, but hacking implants violates the law. Not like a lot of people here remember it, for as long as the intention wasn’t malicious.

“So, uhm, what does it mean to be a noble? I’m not up to date with social changes.” Both curiosity and the desire to break the somewhat awkward silence caused this question.

“That depends on which faction and country we are talking about.” She said, reminding Christopher that the future was anything but simple. “In mine, the nobility serves as the country’s elites. We dominate politics, academies, administration and military. And instead of some antique estates you are treated as hereditary mayors of various settlements. And it is considered normal to spend part of the taxes on your life.” To Christopher it sounded a bit like the British royal family, just greater in numbers and getting financed by local taxes rather than the national budget.

She took another bite of her sandwich. Christopher, who had finished eating his part of the food, took advantage of that to speak.

“That sounds nice. For the nobles.“ She nodded, but the answer had to wait until she finished chewing.

“You also get duties.” She added finally. “Nobles are expected to serve as an example for the masses, a symbol of what they can become if they struggle hard enough. After all, their achievements are often rewarded with nobility. But since more is expected from you, any crime you commit is punished much more strictly. And a lot of your belongings is tied to the tile, so if you lose nobility, you lose a lot more as well. You are also expected to serve the society.”

“Serve the society?” He wasn’t sure what she meant by that.

“For example my mother works as a family doctor in the fief.” Tiriel replied. “My father is a soldier, though he is retired now. My two older brothers serve in law enforcement. One in normal police, while the other was training to join a counter terrorist squad when I left. All of them, of course, work free of charge.”

“Indeed.” While the first half made it sound like stereotypical ‘corrupt nobles ruling everything with an iron fist’ scenario, the other half made the issue more sophisticated. “Not what I expected.”

“If you expected deadly decadent courts overflowed with black-hearted nobles busy backstabbing each other and doing perverted things in their dungeons, then I can give you directions to some.” Her ironic smile left no doubts. She was probably used to such an image of nobility.

“Then again, my image might be warped, as my father was born a commoner.” She continued. “And we all know that neophytes are always the most zealous. He became a noble around the time he met Captain Keller. Unfortunately, the only answer I always got when I asked him how this happened was ‘Oh, that is a terribly boring story full of sudden plot-twists, explosions, and battles, nothing interesting.’.”

“That sounds like Captain Keller.” Not like Christopher had many occasions to hear the man speaking. “Are you sure that whatever is making everyone aboard the Echo weird isn’t a transmittable disease, with the captain being Patient Zero?”

Tiriel giggled, in a very non-noble manner.

That’s when the priority message arrived.

***

EGS Echo, Command Deck

14:04 21.06.2610 STT

Commander Lena Drathari

It was during her shift on the bridge when things started happening. She informed the Captain and sent the message to the crewmembers on Texia to return to ship immediately, as per earlier instructions. Then she waited for his arrival, which took merely a few minutes.

“So, it looks like they are here.” The captain spoke to Commander Drathari once he familiarized himself with the contents of the main screen. “Sooner than I expected. We did stir an anthill, didn’t we?”

“Two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, four destroyers and something with the size of a battlecruiser but the acceleration of a capital ship. An armed supply vessel, I presume.” Lena answered formally. She was already preparing for the serious talk that was going to happen. “They engaged their particle shields right after exiting Hyperspace, so besides their size, we know nothing more. However, this is close to the register of ships that the Guild assigned to the subsector.”

The Captain was about to answer when Lieutenant Commander Innocent entered the bridge. The recent arrival nodded towards the two officers and moved towards the tactical officer’s seat. Lena could only hope that he wasn’t going to try his programming magic on the new arrivals.

“I see, I see. The timetable seems to fit.” The Captain replied. The plan was moving as planned. “We sent the emergency call right after the hyperstorm passed. Two months is enough for the call to reach every part of the subsector with the civilian traffic, and for the Guild to gather its forces.”

“I nevertheless consider the plan suicidal, captain.” Lena replied, keeping her tone down. Too many non-enlightened crew members nearby. “Especially as you shared only the rough gist of it with me.”

“Trust me here, Lena. It’ll be ok.” The details of the image on the monitor changed. “They took their shields down, huh. They’ll probably send us a message soon. Some deceitful ‘we’ve responded to your call’. And look! Look who they sent!” Captain laughed. “That’s absolutely hill…” He was cut short when the contents of the monitor changed.

A large inscription showed up above the Guild’s relief force, saying ‘When my alien friends ask me what’s wrong with Mankind.’. The heavy cruisers were labeled ‘communists’ and ‘slavers’. The light cruisers were dubbed ‘nazis’ and ‘anarchocapitalists’. Destroyers were ‘perverts’, ‘religious murder loonies’, ‘oligarchies’ and ‘dictatorships’. The cherry on the top was ‘secretive and omnipotent NGOs’ plastered above the supply ship.

The Captain started laughing like a maniac. Lena felt inclined to join him once she quickly checked the incoming ship’s allegiances. She didn’t only due to the fact that she was at work, and should act like it.

“Innocent, what did I tell you about using the ship’s sensor feed to make memes?” The Captain finally recovered enough to speak. The tactical officer turned his face towards him.

“Only when they are really funny, Innocent.” The answer was a recording of the Captain’s voice. Lena remembered it, she was there when Keller said those words.

“I told you to stop adding that to your every order.” Lena said to the Captain, who was temporarily left speechless. “He will take that literally, and you know that.”

Like in most typical Guild’s deployments, the incoming fleet was varied. It was a conscious policy to make captains of various allegiances to keep an eye on each other. Unfortunately, very few decent people were ready to put up with the type of bastards that seemed to dominate the subsector’s policies.

The heavy cruiser EGS Hastati’s captain and crew were mostly from the Imperium Romanum, a country that took a bit too many steps towards reenacting the 1st Century’s Rome. Including the existence of large scale slavery. Hence the ‘slavers’.

The heavy cruiser EGS Progress was from the USSR. Lena had no idea what sort of interest the communists had in the subsector, but apparently enough for one of their Guild’s captains to operate in the area. Hence, ‘communists’.

The light cruiser EGS Nietzsche was part of the Pact of Steel, the ship itself from the Fourth German Reich. The Reich’s interest in the subsector at least made sense, as the military power of the Republic of Triana made their conquest of the subsector possible. Hence, ‘nazis’.

The light cruiser EGS Agreement was another enigma. What was the anarchocapitalists’ agenda in the region? Then again, the Agreement was from the Free State, the very same anarchy that spawned the Truthseekers Corporation. Hence, ‘anarchocapitalists’.

The four destroyers were borrowed from the powers of the subsector. The Liberation from Plesja, the MD4 from Techtria, the Talon from Triana and the Strength from Numena. If there was anyone free from the Truthseekers direct control in the incoming fleet, it was these four ships. Due to the obvious faults of the homelands, they were titled ‘perverts’, ‘oligarchies’, ‘dictatorships’ and ‘religious murder loonies’.

The final ship was the EGS Hercules, an armed supply ship. And coincidentally, the flagship of the Rear Admiral Hao Yunqi, the head of the Explorers’ Guild in the sector. So, ‘secretive and omnipotent NGOs’. Although NGO was a bit of a stretch in case of the Guild.

She quickly checked the details on the ship’s weaponry and equipment in the Echo’s network. Then she leaned over to the Captain and quietly asked him to have a talk with her in private. A while later they were in the briefing room, alone. Which meant that she could finally have the big talk.

“Ok, so… permissions to speak freely?” Lena said, prompting the captain to roll his eyes.

“Lena, we’ve been through that. You have it from now until the heat death of the universe. C’mon, what’s going on?” He obviously expected that talk.

“The Echo is one heavy cruiser. Powerful, yes. I’ve seen enough to learn that it has a reasonable chance against an average battlecruiser. However, the plan you presented starts from ‘defeat the relief force’. With all due respect, this is absurd.” She tried to be the only sane person among the officers. It was her job to point out that something was impossible. And this certainly was.

“Lena, I’m more than conscious that your background as an officer of a navy is screaming that we’re all going to die. I understand that. And I consider this as one of the benefits of having you around.” Captain replied with a wide smile. “But it’s all within my predictions. I’m not saying that this will not be an awfully hard battle. In fact, if we let it change into a battle, it’ll mean our defeat. The whole point is to win without starting the battle. You might have not noticed it, but that’s our specialty.”

“Thus far I only saw it being a specialty of Lieutenant Commander Innocent.” She replied with a tint of viciousness in her tone. The Captain suddenly grabbed his chest, simulating a heart attack. And making Lena wonder why he sometimes resembled Lith Athalia so much.

She suddenly imagined Captain Keller being two Lith Athalias on top of one another, wearing a bodysuit and a facemask. She managed to keep the burst of laughter inside, but it was a hard battle.

“And who do you think taught him that, huh?” Captain finally got back into his serious mode and answered. “I’m about to reveal to you just how powerful the Echo and its crew are. As thus far you are only aware of some of its tricks. Which will be helpful once we start clearing this sector of the true threat.”

“All right. I can’t believe what I’m saying, but… let it be your way, captain.” This called for a lot of concession on her part. Or perhaps her sanity began to break, just as everyone else’s already had? If her superior officers in the Ardent Navy saw her now… they would probably brand her insane. Not like it was anything more but a brief phase among her kind. “There is one further issue. It’s about recruitment.”

The Captain looked so thoroughly surprised by it that it was obvious that he wasn’t surprised at all.

“I question the sense of launching such a massive recruitment drive.” Commander Drathari continued. “After the incident with the Pristine Jewel, we still had 345 crewmembers left. This is an exceedingly low figure for a heavy cruiser. However, the Echo was extensively modified for a maximum level of automatization. This meant that we were understaffed, though not so much that it began undermining the Echo’s capabilities.” It was enough to have the Chief Petty Officer be constantly on edge. ““Why are we now stuffing ourselves to the brim with recruits from Texia?!”

“Normally, heavy cruisers have a crew going past one thousand members, including a battalion of marines.” Captain replied. “With only 345 crew members, including a platoon of marines, we were seriously understaffed. We need to muscle up.” This was, technically, true. But she was sure that it wasn’t the true reason.

“Captain, we got one thousand two hundred and seventy-six new crew members.” With heavy cruisers typically having up to one thousand crew members, the Echo was now far above the requirements. “I understand that Texia turned out to be a fertile ground for recruitment. But this is getting out of hand. The Echo was modified for a lower number of crew members. At this point we are buying sleeping bags from Texia and putting them in the corridors to let them have a place to sleep. This is, with all due respect, irresponsible.” She was also thoroughly scared of what was going to happen on the ship during their first acceleration.

It also made the Chief Petty Officer angry at the Captain for a completely opposite reason than usual. In both cases Tiaa Sistonen had Lena Drathari’s complete, if silent, support.

“The Echo is capable of fighting in space. You said that yourself.” The Captain was completely unfazed by her outburst. “Our marine detachment is composed of absolutely the best soldiers that one can get without hiring mercenaries or selling their soul to any faction. However, they are not numerous enough for the task at hand. Also, we lacked numbers in the crew as a whole. Texia is an excellent recruitment world. The locals are favorable towards us, and the Protectorate is not notable enough to have a lot of spies going around it.”

“I noticed their ‘favourableness’. I swear you ate dinner with half of their military officers and government members.” Commander Drathari replied.

“Lena, Lena, Lena.” The Captain shook his head. “No captain of the Explorers’ Guild can remain a political virgin. Sooner or later you need to go to bed with someone.” She didn’t expect him to word it like that. “I’m favourable towards Texia because it’s the closest thing to democracy that this subsector has. What’s more, if things go the best way possible, their leaders are a perfect foundation for the new government of the former Republic of Triana.”

This sounded less like ‘going to bed with someone’ and more like ‘going to bed with someone and then planning how to screw someone else with that someone’.

“I’m just doing some charity work.” Captain gave her a wide smile. “By helping the Protectorate of Texia to train their future military cadre, with all the combat skills and knowledge of the Explorers’ Guild. And if the recruits die during the execution of my plan…” He shrugged. “Let’s just say that I have sufficient recompense prepared. This way or another, the Protectorate will benefit. And so will the general state of democracy and freedom in the Human Space.”

Lena remained silent for a while. What the captain just said was rather ruthless. She saw him like that for the first time. Then again, this approach was about as ruthless as that of an average APD’s hawk. Modern democrats weren’t above waging offensive wars, assassinations and terrorist attacks. At least those among them that noticed what sort of world they lived in.

“Is there anything else you want to talk about?” His tone left little to doubt in his opinion about the direction of the talk.

“Two things.” She wasn’t letting it go. “First is… are you really sure that Innocent is the best person to be put in charge of the recruitment?”

“Yep.” He nodded. “What’s the second question?”

She stared at him intently until he gave up.

“Listen. I don’t particularly care if he managed to convert all of the recruits to the myriad sects and denominations of the Church.” He looked at her, with a strange look on his face. “Because he is, among many of his skills, a specialist in counterintelligence. Thus far he found twenty-three Truthseekers agents among the recruits. Lieutenant Commander Mendez and Lieutenant Commander Innocent disposed of twenty of them, while keeping the remaining three under surveillance. He also conducted a thorough search for Seekers’ operatives within the entire Protectorate. With great results.”

She stared at him for a while, not sure what to answer.

“Innocent is, you see, THE Innocent.” He chuckled seeing her face. “I assure you that the tales about him were greatly watered down. Together with Lieutenant Commander Mendez he has practically got rid of the Seekers in Texia.” He sighed. “They, of course, fully expected that. Which is why none of their operatives was even vaguely aware of anything truly important, save for one. I didn’t even listen to what he had to say. It was obviously a ruse.”

“Err…. aren’t you overestimating the enemy a bit too much?” She had to ask. She simply had to. “Having one of their higher-ups be accidentally caught-up in an unexpected purge of their members done by the Innocent of all people sounds like an entirely sensible mistake.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” He shook his head. “You still don’t understand the Truthseekers. They do not make mistakes. They simply don’t. If we managed to draw them out of the subsector, into some place and circumstances they couldn’t take into account earlier, maybe. Here, where they prepared for God knows how long? No way.” He shook his head again.

She still couldn’t believe it. He really did make the Corporation sound like some of… something. She wasn’t sure what to compare it with. He was acting as if they were omniscient and nigh omnipotent.

“Every single one of their plans has numerous contingencies in place. Always.” The Captain continued. “I assure you that they suspected that we could survive the Pristine Jewel incident or simply not run into that ship. Because of that they made sure that there are no people with dangerous knowledge here. If any of the locals knew something, they had their memory wiped. If we passed without noticing their plot, they would simply restore the memories later on. So if there was anything that could help us in Texia, it’s currently aboard a trade vessel somewhere away from this system. They can also install false memories that are indistinguishable from true ones, so that one guy who knew something certainly didn’t know a thing. And if we followed his memories, we would have run right into an ambush.”

“I’m still thinking you’re overreacting.” She said. “”But could they really expect Innocent of all people?”

“They, of all the people out there, are perfectly aware of what he can do.” The Captain chuckled. “They are still angry at him for killing their god.”