Racing the Darkness - An Alpha Centauri Photologue

[Trenacker]

Low population count and a limited supply of bottled oxygen made it difficult for militias to cover lengthy base perimeters. Early expansion reached toward the sky, not the horizon.

Crowded conditions and a near-total lack of privacy pushed many able-bodied colonists to volunteer for long-distance expeditions despite the certainty of extreme danger.

The experience of communal living in materially primitive conditions was considered morally undesirable by factions that emphasized individuality. Nwabudike Morgan, who had promised his followers a speedy transition to familiarity, feared defections. Oscar van de Graaf paid bounties to homesteaders, many of whom were subsequently taken prisoner by Dreamers and Spartans. In Pilgrim argot, the round-topped orange triangle, symbol of the survival tent, became an enduring and universally-recognized danger sign. The New State assigned private quarters as a perquisite of officer rank.

A freak ice storm trapped the University's Polar Pioneer within sight of Сладкая вода ("Sweet Water"), from whence water ice was shipped to more southerly climes. (Most of Planet's groundwater was rendered undrinkable by high nitrate concentration.) Ascendancy Legionnaires captured the megafoil's crew and began unloading its cargo for transport to The Pinnacle, only to be interrupted by the Chiron Guard. Mercator's forces restored the researchers' supplies to them, but their people had already gone.

Pahlavi enforced a scorched-earth policy, destroying what could not be carried off. By this, she intended to discourage future forays into the polar latitudes, which her faction deigned its private preserve. At the very least, punitive expeditions would have no obvious staging areas from which to drive farther into Ascendancy territory.

Low-occupancy Scout Pods were not formally registered on Unity's cargo manifest: they had no place in the final blueprint for colonization carefully laid out by Mission Control. Instead, they were a vestigial remnant of first construction. Spartans stowaways found them while breaking out of hiding and used them as auxiliary landing craft during the general evacuation. Their electric fuel cells could be recharged and the Pods reused as trans-atmospheric shuttles--or, in the case of Santiago's Myrmidons, unarmed assault craft.

When their war with the Tribe ground to a standstill, the Spartan strategoi called for fresh laborers and breeding stock--slaves. The Shuttle Pods became the centerpiece of a surgical campaign of point raids against Planet's less-warlike societies.

[Trenacker]

Residential spaces at the U.N. Archives were organized along new principles borrowed from a study of conquered Spartan garrisons.

Strict limitations on the size and energy consumption for personal quarters encouraged higher use of the Recreation Commons at the center of each habitation bloc. In this subsidized convalescent area, citizens accessed an enviable set of amenities including a semi-private Network Node, full kitchens, and cutting-edge hologram theaters. The base proper was built around a large number of domed parks and observation towers, adding additional opportunities for leisure and isolation.

The experiment was a qualified success. The new arrangements appealed especially to those with large families, and participation rates in the civil life of the faction benefited from the easy access to communications devices. Nonetheless, a majority of the Peacekeeping Forces still preferred private poverty to shared wealth.

Morganite visitors to the Archives were irate to discover "common Drones" living in circumstances very nearly equivalent to those in their most exclusive compounds. Numerous complaints were lodged with the CEO, although without reply.

University Enforcement completes the dawn patrol at Syllandran Pump Station on the eastern shore of Baranov Bay. The site threw Zakharov-watchers into fits. What use had the inventor of cold fusion for an inefficient oil refinery with endless kilometers of vulnerable pipelines?

Rumor had it that Colonel Santiago shopped this question to the typical troubleshooters without satisfaction. The Dreamers, who rarely captured University scientists (perhaps the Ascendancy and Watchers were too thorough in their persecutions), had nothing on file corresponding to the project and saw no reason why a scientist who prided himself for leading his species out of thrall to fossil fuels should spend precious resources to create an infrastructure he didn't seem inclined to use. The Children of the Atom for once didn't trust in the data spat out by their digital oracle. Dr. Anhaldt apologized personally to the Generalissima, but due to as-yet-undiagnosed errors, it persisted in labeling the site a military base, completely contrary to all reconnaissance. When paid to study the matter, Morgan Tactical Services turned in one thousand and seven hundred pages to say with "moderate" confidence that the base was part of a failed attempt to diversify University fuel sources, and was probably under guard only because salvage operations were still pending and the Ascendancy couldn't be allowed to make off with whatever equipment was still on-site.

The vacuum tube brain at The Core was closest to correct. Sylllandran existed for one reason only: to dump 503 million gallons of crude oil and other industrial wastes into the Baranov, stimulating a planetary immunological response that wiped out the New State's Discovery Base and doomed its 5,000 colonists.

[MysticWind]

The Comtes des St. Germaine (pt. 1)

As man is animated by purpose, and ship is buoyed by ballast, a state must be filled to the utmost with culture. Every tenet, each tradition, all must be arrayed in full glory by a cohesive identity reveling in shared beauty. - Remarques Planétaires

Born of imaginable Continental wealth to a family line blessed by Bourbon blood, Élodie channeled her aristocratic legitimacy and plutocratic resources (her family twice-blessed by prudent investments over a century into hydroponic agriculture, low-end personal armaments, drug resistant pathogen-resistant drugs, and water) into the very soul of Western Civilization. A citoyen of the world, but foremost of France, she began public life as a datalinks holovision socialite and emerged as a thought leader, reviving the long-forgotten classics into her own cultural canon that she foisted upon humanity. After her initial attempts in the arts had failed, Élodie parlayed her good name into becoming the foremost cultural critic in the region. Blending cutting-edge social media signal-boosting techniques and lavish professional mass communications production, she elevated the ancient paintings of Rembrandt, the literature of Pushkin, the philosophy of Sartre, the theology of Calvin, and myriads more of long-gone luminaries.

While she espoused the public civic deism of her class, she donated much to New Papacy efforts to challenge the rise of Madrid Catholicism, funding the renovation of ancient cathedrals and the construction of new basilicas alike. (Even if the pews remained mostly empty, she remarked, the work could shepherd millions more tourists each year as cultural-historical pilgrims.) Indeed, many a detractor dubbed her a secular zealot, tirelessly proselytizing the culture over all others. Despite the critics, the high profile of Le Grand Canon and the immense amount of money the project poured into preservation of historical works made Élodie a natural choice to be a librarian of the Unity mission.

As the mission unfolded, Élodie proved to be a constant thorn in the side of all. She constantly hounded Lieutenant Commander Tạ Dọc Thân, insisting Data Science allocate more resources to her staff in service of their vital quest to deliver Earth’s greatest works to the stars. The chief librarian, however, saw her as another celebrity who had bought her way aboard with clout and filthy lucre, distracting from the ecumenical mission with her personal ambitions. Likewise, Chief Engineer Zakharov viewed her and her team of archivists, anthropologists, sociologists, artists, musicians, writers, and talents of all kinds as wasted air and cryotube space, reducing precious capacity for more scientists, engineers, and true knowledge workers. Her requests for more processing power were politely and resolutely declined as Data Core resources were strictly earmarked for his team’s devices. Steward Gennaro da Gama found her cultural breadth encyclopedic in expanse, yet maddenly myopic in selection- he was far from the only rank and file librarian to mutter “chauvinist” when seeing new memos from the master archivist. She even ran afoul of Mission Botanist Skye, needling the agronomist staff for the cultivation of select grapes strains specifically for Bordeaux wine. And yet, her attempts to construct a new Champs-Élysées of thought bore fruit. The cultural curation undertaken by Data Science made straight paths for any crewmember who traversed the ship’s datalinks, greeting them with intelligent agents offering them virtual museum tours at hundreds of thousands of sites on old Earth during countless eras. (Not, to her reluctance, only in old Europe.)

In defiance of her detractors’ expectations, Élodie did not spend the disaster of Planetfall cowering in elite safety. Instead, she herself rallied her staff of cultural laborers to take up makeshift arms and defend the Humanities Wing of the Data Core from mutineers and looters. Her admirers claim that she herself smote a Kellerite with a heavy wrench to protect a Gutenberg Bible. Indeed, her devotion to the artifacts of Earth saved the lives of the librarians under her command. To all others during the crisis, her Picassos and Stradivariuses, the Scottish Crown Jewels (smuggled out to the mission by an irate Remainer who had voted against Free Scotland’s secession), and even the Liberty Bell were but trinkets in the face of extinction. But Élodie rejected the possibility of bringing so many priceless works only for them to burn up in atmo, and so against the orders of Lt. Cmdr. Thân, led her librarians out of the Data Core and into the storage hangar where many of the mission’s cultural items had been safeguarded. In doing so, she escaped the ejection of the Data Core.

Fortuna herself led Élodie to the New State. The Contre-Amirale himself chanced upon the ragtag band of Canoneers holed up in the compartment, absurdly using shredder pistols and peashooter nonlethals against stolen automatic rifles, gingerly taking cover behind boxes of Ming vases and Egyptological crates, careful to not bleed out over Greco-Roman marble busts salvaged from the ruins of the Mediterranean. His sailors annihilated the Spartan-Holnist marauders and took in the wayward cultural crusaders, granting them seats aboard his submersible Landing Pod.

Secretary Élodie visits the wounded at Paracelsus Military Hospital during the Baranov Conflict with the University

Today, Élodie is the Secretary of Cultural Life of the New State - the highest-ranking civilian in the entirety of the stratocracy. In the decades since Planetfall, she has solidified her hold over sentiments and passions of the New Statist constituency, becoming the chief architect of civilian life. The Contre-Amirale, a ruler notorious for granting eternal favors to those he deemed worthy and sufficiently loyal, elevated the Canoneers to his circle for their valor aboard the disintegrating Unity, appreciating the artworks and artifacts they so generously “donated” to his New State. Thus did these men and women become some of the very few civilian paterfamilias and materfamilias of his society, and Élodie herself became the la grand-mère of New State culture. (Though it is often joked that she is more of its “great-aunt”, given the ostracization of civilian power in the faction, and her own tendency to be personally disliked by those outside of her département.)

A fetishization for historical glories, a dictatorial approach to taste-making, Francocentric tastes, and disregard for the free flow of information, all made Élodie a natural fit for St. Germaine’s suboceanic social experiment. For decades, she has worked tirelessly to complete the Grand Canon, and to transform it into a New Canon by infusing it with works created on Planet- those in keeping with the traditions and caliber of the original, of course. Thus, in St. Germaine’s domain, works such as Villevieille’s Les Vagues holo-film tetralogy, Mortimer’s dramatic nonfiction account of Chevalier’s mapping of the Great Maritime Rift, and Nicole Fête’s neo-Rococo Revival reconstructionist paintings are widely celebrated. Meanwhile, the Canoneers became integral to the New State’s public informational apparatus, carefully curating what was accepted on the faction’s datalinks with the utmost care as their great leader herself, and to the same values declared by St. Germaine.

A Calliope Squadron raiding force attack Kui Xing Beach, attempting to force the Tomorrow Institute librarians to cede over their first editions of Harwood
Fritz Merrill writings, or to provide adequate distraction for a New State Cousteau frogmen probe team to infiltrate the base

But culture is not simply fun and fêtes in the militaristic New State. As Madame Secretary, Élodie commands her own naval honor guard known as the Calliope Squadron, as well as her own executive submersible clad in golden colors. In the generations since Planetfall, bolstered by Longevity Vaccine treatments and emboldened by the carte blanche offered by St. Germaine to cultivate the faction’s aesthetic tastes as her own, Élodie has steadily become even more opinionated. Her influence has led the New State to undertake naval raids against Dynamic Enterprise, Tomorrow Institute, and Peacekeeping Forces outposts alike, on the pretext of “acquiring vital cultural assets of historical value.” Such undeclared attacks and probe operations have chipped at the faction’s reputation for honorable and professional behavior, though St. Germaine’s campaigns against the Nautilus Pirates to keep Planet’s seas safe has continued to earn him the good will of the landlubbers. For now, Élodie’s “Calliopean Normans” remain a nuisance and a faux pas, not yet a full offense that must be answered.

As for her own place within the New State, Élodie is content as ever to carve out her own kingdom of letters within the militarist neo-feudal republic. For every submarine needs a counselor to maintain morale even as jovian pressures envelop its sunless crew. What better job could she want but to be the counselor and chronicler for an entire faction?


Casting

Élodie is portrayed by Jodie Foster as Defense Secretary Jessica Delacourt from Elysium.

Notes:

Madrid Catholics are a concept from Earth by David Brin, which is probably from Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner.

Kui Xing is the Chinese Daoist Deity of Examinations.

Calliope is the (chief) Muse of eloquence and epic poetry.

[Trenacker]

The society, of course, is far more intelligent than the individual, and also more resilient, but never as wise or restrained. - The Manual of State

After developing untreatable cancer, Thinker Rawiah Alhazred had her consciousness transferred into a mechanical simulacrum. When she woke, she discovered that certain modifications had been made "in the interests of the Collective." Alhazred's friends later held a private memorial service for their friend, who they did not invite.

Hive Thinkers were the last resort of the stumped scoundrel.

Ideally, the petitioner could pay to have their question answered by "experts."

Johann Anhaldt posited his faction as the premier source of good advice on Planet, and willing to deal with any counter-party. Yet a common complaint about the Nous was that the Children's much-vaunted mechanical brain gave insufficient consideration to "the human variable." The Children of the Atom were notoriously the victims of their own mania for the "independent look," slavishly applying the changes suggested by the system they had created to absolve themselves of all responsibility for hard decisions. Morganite merchants and Believer relief workers who made regular visits to Atomic colonies braced themselves for a new experience each day. The Children lived down to their namesake, one day welcoming outsiders, and the next refusing them entry; disconnecting from the Planetary Grid, then reconnecting; declaring vendetta, then suing for peace on seemingly unfavorable terms. Still, the Nous had an uncanny grasp on strategic matters, and its predictions about faction behavior became an indispensable aid to general staffs everywhere.

Anhaldt worked tirelessly to burnish the Nous brand. For a time, he kept a stable of analysts at work reviewing every one of the assessments it prepared for other factions. After Quality Control complained that the in-house team was providing no added value, the good doctor's militia brought him captives from the University and Morgan Industries--individuals who might possess knowledge, or even values, inaccessible to the Children themselves. Again, the result was the same. Anhaldt now reasoned that rather than attempt to check Nous output on the back end, he should make a bio-mechanical upgrade to the computational systems themselves. His agents purchased bags of thinking chemicals from the Hivemen, only to find that these increased the speed of the Nous's calculations without impacting their content. Next, "volunteers" were forced into a mind-machine interface, resulting in nonsensical outputs and the sale of several vegetative patients to Dreamer collection crews. It was all, Anhaldt confessed, a work in progress.

If the number-grinding Nous was too expensive, or not to be believed, well, that's why God made Probe Teams, no? Of course, this was even chancier than the Nous. If the infiltration failed, the Probe Team might be wiped. Indeed, the high casualty rates incurred even on successful missions resulted in the Dreamers--spies par excellence--insisting that their clients provide some of the team members themselves, a decision that inevitable dampened enthusiasm for their "product."

The Dream-Walkers, University, and Morganites were all limited by the extent of their own databases. Unless they had already encountered the same problem, or a similar one, they could offer only conjecture. Once the Planetary Networks expanded to incorporate most factions, the Tomorrow Institute became the preferred broker of consulting services: its librarians were the most proficient at mining history for useful information.

But what happened when the conventional options had been exhausted?

Politics makes strange bedfellows. The Human Labyrinth was perpetually at war with all of Planet, and therefore also perpetually ready to strike alliances of convenience with any candidate. Since Hive Security would not do for a dowry, Yang offered two other inducements. The first was access--his tunneling machinery could take strike forces throughout Shamash undetected--but the second was insight.

Around M.Y. 70, it started to became clear that Sheng-ji Yang's efforts to "unlock" the potential of the human mind were bearing fruit of at least moderate sweetness. The reason for these achievements was unclear to outsiders. They obviously used nootropics, but then so did everyone. Pahlavi accused Yang of "torturing his brilliance out of others," deciding that the Hermit King must be achieving his strategic successes through the exploitation of high-value captives. The University's Institute of Behavior Sciences guessed that the Hive must have perfected the Mind-Machine Interface, somehow blunting or controlling the sensory overload that proved fatal to most test subjects.

The truth was that Yang had succeeded in breaking certain followers free of the shared moral frame through which twenty-first century humans generally understood the world. In consequence, his Thinkers experienced what became known as the Naïve Mind. In this state, freed of convention and expectation, they could propose a wider range of potential outcomes than other observers of the same situations. Once these ideas had been expressed, Yang workshopped them relentlessly. With his Talents, he examined them thoroughly for logical fallacies. Despite losing the Unity Data Core to U.N. Marines within weeks of getting his hands on it, Yang had managed to extract some of the social psych data collected during the seventy-one year transit from Earth, which he used as a moderator on his conclusions.

Sources:

I found the picture here, but it was uncredited.

Abdul Alhazred was a fictional character invented by H.P. Lovecraft.

Nous is Greek for mind.

The "Naive Mind" is a concept borrowed from Frank Herbert.

[Trenacker]

A United Nations Security Forces Auxiliary posted to Data Services guards her watch desk with shredder pistol in hand. This image, preserved by Tomorrow Institute librarians, was one of many used to inform the Purity Movement's ideal of beauty down through subsequent generations.

Chiron's gravity was one third stronger than Earth's. Most of the outgoing colonists underwent years of intensive physical training to build muscle and endurance, but the problems caused by this difference were legion.

Exhaustion dogged everyone. All factions devised "physical" work days of between four and six hours with frequent rest, followed by mandatory stints of administrivia. Exoskeletons were a necessary component of any outdoor worker's basic Personal Protective Equipment. Spartans wrestled, without exception. New State students and sailors participated in team sport four times an Earth-standard week or incurred demerits. Social ostracism awaited Pilgrim shirkers, while Morganite layabouts paid steep fees to subsidize their sedentary lifestyles.

Safety, already an obsession, remained a top priority Planetside. If a robot could be used, it was. Tampering with Rover safety margins was a capital crime in some societies. Civilian ignitions locked until the pilot was safely in five-point harness and helmet, a lead from which had to be plugged into the dashboard. A set of additional switches had then to be thrown to verify that passengers were similarly situated.

Life expectancy dropped. Rigorous lifestyles and everyday use of supplemental oxygen put severe strain on the human circulatory system, promoting earlier heart failure.

If activity could be done while reclining or afloat, it was. Thinkers, Librarians, and base administrators spent hours each day partially submerged in high-salinity pools. Factions raced to formulate suspension gels with even greater buoyancy.

Over multiple generations, scientists mapped clear changes in human physiological development. Chironians were shorter and thicker than Terrans. They had higher bone density, superior lung capacity, and were much more likely to be severely allergic to Terran foods. Chironians also used different portions of their brains to perform the same thought functions as Terrans. (The scientific consensus was that this reflected the pervasive influence of the Mindworms.)

In theory, Chironian bodies made life easier. In practice, some factions clung to Terran ideals of beauty in ways that led them to prioritize the familiar over the putatively useful. The New State's cultural output encouraged pairings more likely to produce offspring with Terran features. Many families forced the termination of pregnancies without the desired genetic markers. Several studies of the artistic output of the later colonies, including the portraits of faction leadership, point out obvious distortions of physical depiction that centered Terran bodies in favor of Chironian ones.

The three societies that developed "off-beat" were even stranger. Eyesight and lung function were very bad among all residents of the Hive due to the amount of time spent in low-light and dusty environments. Gaians often experienced fungal afflictions differently than others: instead of being overcome with dread, they were more likely to report euphoria. Under the sea, New Staters breathed air so dense it distorted their sense of taste, while also contributing to the same circulatory problems prevalent elsewhere on Planet. A significant minority died of sleep illness such as apneas and exhaustion.

[MysticWind]

The Comtes des St. Germaine (pt. 2)

The enemy howls at our gates. He seeks to break our holy patrimony into playgrounds for warlords and petty kings. Do not let him. Ours is a nobler state. We are many nations united under one flag, one cause, one people. For Europa, semper victoriam! - speech before the Battle of Pristina International Airport

Born in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Immigrated to Paris prior to fifth birthday at the onset of civil war. Grew up in the banlieue of Saint-Maurice-et-Sankara. Discovered to be a chess prodigy after early years of playing street chess. Sent to military academy by parents seeking a safer, more opportunity-filled life for him and his elder brothers. Graduated first in class, attended École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr on full scholarship, while siblings returned to Paris. Subsequently joined the French Navy, entering the ranks of the Fusiliers Marins. Served in various neocolonial “gunboat campaigns”, including the Kouang-Tchéou-Wan Emergency on behalf of the French Indochinese government. Saved the life of two fellow Naval Riflemen after patrol boat L’Épicée was sunk by Vietnamese-backed insurgents. Admitted into the Commandos Marine and took part in the thirteen-hour overthrow of Nikoomba in Libya.

de Bankolé’s staunch patriotism was tested when deployed in the French Union relief mission of the pied noir enclave of Oranais against the Algerian-led invasion. His fierce defense of the civilian transports against Maghrebi forces earned him an officership, and the everlasting enmity of Samatar Jama Barre. The pan-African freedom fighter, an observer to the conflict, would later meet him in open battle mere months later during the defense of Djibouti. While outnumbered, de Bankolé’s French naval marines fought off both Barre's professional Somali troops and his People’s African Union irregulars, forcing a stalemate and peace against all odds. Barre would label him “the ignoblest of imperialist lackeys.” He would return to Paris a hero.

Not yet thirty, de Bankolé would then revisit his original homeland with Operation Golf: the French intervention in Côte d'Ivoire. His war journals, acquired by U.N. psychologists, record immense internal conflict as he wrestled with his belief in the national virtues of liberty and fraternity, against the mission to neutralize the internationally-recognized president on behalf of French and Nestlé cocoa interests- and on his native soil, no less. Tasked with leading the Commando Degueldre into the city of his birth to kidnap the democratically elected head of state amidst a self-declared French Union peacekeeping operation, de Bankolé’s team unexpectedly ran into greater resistance than expected from loyalist troops, and his leadership was uncharacteristically flagging. Holed up in the megalopolis of his parents, watching distant fires break out from the fighting between his native countrymen and his adopted countrymen, he ordered the naval commandos to wait until dawn for a surprise raid. But in the morning, the French soldiers were the ones to be surprised.

EuroFed EmCom kommandos ready for departure from Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport against the French expedition

The Ivorian intervention was one more straw on the road to Quebec. The European Union had had enough of its most prominent member behaving as a rogue hegemon. The European Federal Emergency Command took the French by surprise, arriving under the cover of night with full EW signal jammers and stealth capabilities at its hilt. This second peacekeeping force waved a covert U.N. agreement and declared that France was in violation of numerous treaties unbecoming of a permanent Security Council member. The E.F.E.C. enforcers dug in around the presidential palace and refused to allow the French or their rebel allies entry. Confronted by their cousins, many French soldiers themselves willingly laid down their arms.

The government would pull out of the country that week, tail between its legs and an incipient fury in its belly. Democracy would be preserved in Africa that day, but the road to the breakup of Europe had been laid. French withdrawal from EU commitments would later be barely-supplemented by the bloc of misfits stitched together from West Germany, the Third Spanish Republic, eurosocialist “rose” Italy, the Nordics of the Unified Realm, and even the anti-isolationist, pro-interactionist, nationalist Swiss under the Vitalist movement. It would be another dying gasp for NATO even prior to the Hypersurvivalist Wars. Yet during that showdown in Abidjan, a new hope had been found for the continent. Amédée de Bankolé would leave his home as a soldier of Europa.

The imperial overreach blew apart the constraints that had kept antiwar sentiment in check. This would later be swiftly undone in Canada and in the Levant, but for the moment ashen-faced Frenchmen would look at their deeds with guilt. As demonstrations swept Paris, even some veterans of Operation Golf would resign their commissions. A few, like de Bankolé, would go even further- arriving in Brussels, he would pledge his loyalty to the cause of the European Union, of civilization that does not build empires with force. He who was once praised as “a new Thomas-Alexandre Dumas” would no longer be a warrior for France, but instead a champion for the values it once claimed to embody. Within several years he would rise as a commander of the E.F.E.C., standing guard against Soviet communism to the east and French and Portuguese imperialism to the south, lending a hand against Anglo-American dissolution to the north and the west. While the European Union would prove to be a small-time player in all of those theaters, save the Balkans, its tactics and technology were some of the finest in the world. All too often he craved the opportunity to march south, like Scipio Africanus, and cast the imperialists out from their colonies and back to their metropoles. And then march west, like Julius Caesar, and bring them back into Europa’s fold…

Ultimately, it was that same appetite and capacity for bloodshed that brought de Bankolé aboard the Unity. By the time the mission was finally in sight, the bureaucrats of Brussels and Bremen, seeing twilight gather, sent their most promising commander into exile. Partly to carry a gladius for the glory of pan-Europe, partly so he would no longer be around to rally his fellow Gallic expatriates and agitate for the reconquest and submission of their former patrie. Partly because there was interest in rapprochement with Paris and Lisbon, partly because it was good to have such a powerful check against the likes of d'Almeida and St. Germaine. And finally, because for all of his bluster, de Bankolé did sing sweet and lofty praises of liberty, self-determination, and due process. It would not be so bad to have a fervent believer in European- and perhaps even Eurafrican- values on humanity’s great mission, as a check against both the neo-imperialists and radical pan-Africanists alike.

Like so many other soldiers of destiny, Amédée de Bankolé was thwarted by the chaos of Planetfall. He was not roused from hibernation, nor even picked up by any of the fleeing camps who could have used such a leader. Instead, his cryotube was lost in the forgotten bay of an automated pod that ejected from the collapsing mothership. And so he slept, alongside nearly four-score fellow passengers, as well as a modest store of rations and shredder rounds. Their hibernation chamber remained alone on a beach south of the Mouth of Hercules, until a New State land survey chanced upon the mighty prize.

Marshal Amédée de Bankolé military portrait. Despite seniority, the marshal has a tendency to lead New State ver de mer units into battle himself, dressed in a replica of his original French Commando Marine uniform

The Contre-Amirale regarded the turncoat with amusement, remembering the man’s speeches made in exile claiming that France had abandoned him. And entertained sad counterfactuals- if only such a commander had remained loyal to a Paris that was equally worthy, a Paris that had remained true to its vassals after Golf. Perhaps here was an opportunity to recast history in the vision of what could have been. Planet was the die with which fortunes were made, and here was the mighty arm that could make the throw.

Amédée de Bankolé was roused into a strange and confusing world, and after an even stranger tour of the New State’s topsy-turvy world of submariner societies and great house-ruled bases, was impromptuly made Marshal of its Marine de Terre. St. Germaine’s surface army, it turned out, was quite diminutive. The New State’s shipboard marine corps far dwarfed the size of its amphibious counterpart, the ver de mer (“sea worms”), which was even larger than that army of “land sailors” which was now de Bankolé’s to command. St. Germaine granted him the opportunity to play at Scipio once more, to protect the New State’s interests outside the seas. Purpose, directed outwards. Power, made safely peripheral. Order, inescapable. Such was the way of the New State.

And so, for now, the newly-minted marshal is the most unlikely defender of the New State on land. His sense of duty compels him to protect this apparent bastion of French cultural tradition, and its various values expressed as tripartite mottos. While always pushing against aggressive expansion, the Marine de Terre has done quite well as a defensive force against landlubber vendettas that aim to throw the submariners back into the sea. Even Spartans find the Land Navy to be a surprisingly capable adversary, and Santiago grows intrigued at the prospect of facing off this marshal in battle, or at least at chess. St. Germaine smiles. Truly the New State can subsume all potential problematic elements into its carefully-engineered social system.

de Bankolé, of course, is a man who loves democracy, who loves La République. He views Europe of old as the torch of liberty, of free civilization. The reconciliation between the continent and its former colonies would have birthed a new world. And it would not, he resolves, look anything like the New State. Despite all of the celebrations from the agents of Cultural Life, throwing festivals in honor of this Feuillant or that moderate liberal, it is clear that such a faction is as much a perversion of the ideals of the French Revolution as the tottering neo-colonial French Union he had left back home. He is secretly appalled at the New State’s promulgation of ultrareactionary policies. These were the people who were supposed to destroy the tyrants, not join them. While the Contre-Amirale talks a good game of “hardening liberal values into diamonds in deepsea pressure”, the eyes of the Marshal slowly grow jaundiced, viewing such talk as excuses to infinitely delay crucial reforms, calcifying the New State into an authoritarian Francocentrist ren faire, instead of the true rebirth of Europa. In due time, he grimly surmises, there might come a somber requirement for yet another dutiful general to overthrow a despot and restore democracy. Down with the traitor, up with the fifteen stars. Down with the traitor, up with the stars!

Casting

Amédée de Bankolé is portrayed by General Amadou de Bankolé from Tom Clancy’s Endwar, and by Djimon Hounsou as Kovax from Forces spéciales.

Notes:

Nikoomba is the target of the first Brotherhood of Nod mission from Command and Conquer: Tiberium Dawn.

Roger Degueldre was the founder of the Commandos Delta of the OAS during the Algerian War.

[Trenacker]

All living systems are similar--on Chiron, as on Earth.

Bases, like mindworm boils, are easiest to destroy in their infancy. Both expand gingerly, wary of predators. It is the way of all factions to protect Colony Pods with a heavy militia escort, while fungal spores, from which mindworms seem to swarm, boast skins as hard as igneous rock.

Individual boils form cooperative nestings that negotiate use of the same space. Gaian xenobiologists speculate that this is the species' mechanism for moderating its own population growth.  Like two neighbors, they will accept the mild constraint of sharing rather than fight, which could weaken both sides. Base administration is both art and science among the settlers. Within and between factions, each must balance the production of water, nutrients, mass, and energy, the exchange of population, and the frequency and intensity of war.

If agitated, mindworm boils attempt rapid expansion--a swarming behavior that, observed in purely mathematical terms, precisely resembles the maneuvering of large armies. Boils instinctively encircle the interloper.

Mindworms have multiple methods of making their displeasure known, such as by vomiting digestive enzymes that can eat through most armors, and by release of psychoactive biotoxins from skin glands. Boils have also been known to launch spores on high parabolic arcs, as if firing solid shot from a field mortar. This last behavior serves no reproductive purpose and indicates that the colony anticipates imminent death.

Native Chironians experience less, and milder, episodes of mental distress linked to mindworm activity. There is no medical evidence to indicate that any person in this category has ever detected the "song" that is usually credited to
the fungus that is the worms' herald.

Humans, we have seen, will similarly employ a wide variety of weapons in the aid of conquest, and are also fond of launching unarmed appeals that they hope will settle the contest without a shot being fired.

Amazingly, mindworms in captivity have thrived on diets designed to make use only of Terran foodstuffs. Along with humans, they also feed on a narrow range of leafy green Chironian vegetation that is comparatively rare.

Source:

Picture of Felucia, a planet from Star Wars. It apparently belongs to Lucasfilm.

[Trenacker]

The State did not ordinarily excuse vice in defense of its virtues. I not only forgave, but demanded it. - Under My Wings, All Things Prosper

Oscar van de Graaf poses for a holo capture somewhere in the Monsoon Jungle, one of the few environments on Planet where ambient oxygenation levels were low enough for settlers of the First Generations to safely doff their oxygen hoods.

In MY10, the stadtholders and survivors of the New Two Thousand gathered under an oxygen tent to consider their options. The going since Planetfall had been exceptionally hard. Fewer than one in eight of Governor van de Graaf's Chosen Men--a term applied irrespective of gender--had joined their leader going down. The colony was under-populated, over-extended, and at perpetual war with every neighbor.

Pickings aboard Unity had been slim, leading directly to the present crisis. U.N. algorithms assigned van de Graaf a very low coefficient in the retrieval order, party a reflection of his advanced age--he was 65, partly due to lack of applicable skills--his emergency billet was in supply administration, but also because he was flagged a high mutiny risk. (On this, there was rare convergence of opinion between numerous national and corporate intelligence agencies and senior mission staff, though the assessment provided by Morgan Tactical Services was blatantly prejudicial.) When at last some generous soul came to pull him from stasis, most of his ARC confidants, security contingent, and painstakingly-recruited experts were already missing in action. Cases of old rifles and ammunition, thoughtfully stowed in a hidden compartment, were the only testament to a once-dazzling bazaar that had kept the Space Elevators at full capacity for months at a time.

If van de Graaf mourned this cruel trick of fate, he was probably alone in doing so. Even when free to give their allegiance in later years, few chose to honor the brutal terms of indenture that had first bought them a place, however lowly, under the mission umbrella as one of his two thousand-odd "free settlers." None of the other faction leaders was willing to honor the legal instruments van de Graaf had used to bind his counter-parties, a prospect that would have been exceedingly unlikely even had the agreements been scrupulously fair.

The Wesper-Quinn-Vagner Process placed heavy stress on a patient's cardiovascular system. Van de Graaf's fitness was exceptional for a man his age, but an assassination attempt from his days as ARC Chairman had left a bullet lodged too close to his heart for safe removal. A minor myocardial infarction, resolved by his stasis pod's Automated Medical Unit, had encouraged necrosis of the toes. His companions performed a field surgery, removing two on the left foot. Within the hour, stretcher-bearers strained to carry him through debris-choked passages to the cargo bays only to discover that those, too, were picked clean. Van de Graaf, rising from his cushions like some medieval potentate rousted from torpor, reportedly drew his personal pistol, a Liberator 990, and calmly announced that his companions were to do likewise.

No one man had done more to lay choice personnel and proper equipment for the benefit of the U.N. Mission to Alpha Centauri than Oscar van de Graaf.

I had best claim. In the Old West, to steal a man's horse was to kill him slowly by starvation or exposure. Horse thieves, when caught, were summarily executed. Our situation was precisely identical. We knew it, and more importantly, they knew it, too. - Notes on Arrival

A passing paramedic stopped when he saw the man on the litter. Was there some service he could render? Van de Graaf's companions lowered their charge for inspection, then raised their shredder pistols and declared that the Good Samaritan had just become a stakeholder. This they repeated whenever they encountered somebody deemed "useful." Others falling into their hands, they beat to death--the better to save ammunition "without stinting," they said, "on justice." Many fired back, embroiling van de Graaf's party in extended skirmishes. The prisoners had then to be bound together, lest they try escape.

Reaching the embarkation deck, the Pilgrims secured four unattended Landing Pods immediately and, crowding in behind a gaggle of Morgan Emergency Services evacuees, commandeered a fifth by main force, sealing the hatches behind them before the SafeHaven guards were the wiser. One Pod was destroyed when it failed to clear the chute during launch; the rest made it safe away, bearing with them approximately eight hundred souls and the lasting enmity of many more.

In early speeches to his followers, van de Graaf was clear about what ailed them. Opportunists were already in possession of what the New Two Thousand chiefly needed. Let them work hard to turn the soil and raise the towers; the New Two Thousand would pluck the fruits of this false labor when it confiscated their stolen tools and liberate their brethren. A high percentage of the Charterists had come with family. The idea that their loved ones might had been made into unwilling drones inspired them to take extreme risks. The faction was also known to casually torture prisoners for information the poor unfortunates rarely had to give. In their zeal, the Pilgrims fancied themselves re-fighting the War of 1812. In the taverns of Terra Nova, it was well-known that any Special Project competed by another faction was evidence of forced Charterist labor.

Spartan. Free. Scientist. Brain. Peacekeeper. Weak. Tribal. Cult. Watcher. Crank. Believer. God. Pilgrim. Temper. - Child's Word Association Game, Children's Crèche, The Pinnacle

The most-celebrated of the Regulators' exploits was the recovery of a sand-fouled 'Former from deep within the territory of the Human Labyrinth. It apparently seized during seeding operations in an underground chamber dug too close to the surface and could not be recovered by Yang's operators. A sandstorm revealed it to Pilgrim reconnaissance teams not long after. Trikes carried a team of mechanics to the wreck directly. They resurrected the massive vehicle under fire and backed it into the braces for the tunnel system from whence it had come, burying the Hivemen trying to prevent its capture.

Pilgrim Regulators, for all their bravado, could not prevent raids on the faction's territory by its more powerful neighbors. Terra Incognito, sacked by the Spartans eighteen months before, still counted more graves than people. The New Two Thousand were still processing the lucky find of a Hab Pod containing two hundred American Reclamation Corporation Armed Auxiliaries, but the prognosis was grim. A vanishingly small percentage of the original Pilgrim survivors had any prior military experience. Casualty rates among the Regulators were extreme: few lasted long enough to pass on whatever experience they accrued.

Oscar van de Graaf, for much of his adult life the most powerful man in North America, was not one to take hard blows sitting down.

ARC Auxiliaries pause on the outskirts of Memphis during a rare snowfall. By statute, they were entitled to use the same kit, organization, and markings as the Regular Army. Having learned from experience the importance of supply, van de Graaf lavished it on his legions, first as a patron of privateers, then as a Cabinet official, and eventually as the so-called Iron Governor. On the battlefields of North America, ARC troopers threw grenades first and asked questions later. Some won their battles merely by cutting power to disloyal townships and waiting for the sub-zero temperatures to force a surrender. Against Myrmidons, Minutemen, and Augments, full bellies and topped-up ammo cans were a less spectacular advantage. Pete Landers motivated his fighters by reminding them that a Pilgrim enemy was always rich pickings.

Oscar knew the first rule of being a fish. If you realize you're swimming with the sharks, find a smaller pond. - Ken Burns's Planet: A History

Options were limited. To the North lay Xerxion, and beyond that, Fort Defiance and Keller City. Santiago's people were well-organized, and, because they had got an earlier start at looting, better-equipped. In ten years, they had done more set-piece fighting than raiding. In battles large and small, the Pilgrims had repeatedly earned a punishing second place. South, the ultra-high Frostcap Range promised hypothermia to all comers. The Dune Sea lapped at the western edge of the faction's territory, and while individual tendrils of the Hive could easily be lopped off (Hive Security was even more decrepit than the Regulator militia), the requirement for excavation and their own poverty made them more trouble than they were worth. The most immediate practical targets were merchants and SMACERS that came across the deserts or down from the Slowwind Delta without having to be invited. Citing the exigencies of their own survival, van de Graaf's people were the first to enforce tolls on this traffic. Over time, these increased from the inconvenient to the outrageous. If a caravan could not, or would not pay, the Regulators seized it in its entirety. The Hunters of Chiron, which had a habit of ignoring political boundaries, came in for the harshest treatment, although their own origins meant that they were least of all to blame for van de Graaf's situation.

Were such tricks played on Morganites or Dreamers, their merchants would merely have found friendlier marts. The SMACERS did exactly this. But the Hunters, finding themselves increasingly unwelcome in all the settled precincts of Planet, chose van de Graaf's policy as the one against which they must make their stand. Meeting in pitched battle during a howling tropical rain that carried off more than one precious vehicle, the bulk of the Main Force Patrol and six full companies of Pilgrim Regulator militia had it out until at last the salvage-strewn battlefield belonged indisputably to Oscar van de Graaf. He owed the day only partly to the fresh ARC veterans that leavened his ranks. The double envelopment strategy used to carry off his victory had been suggested to him by the representative of a new ally, the Maréchal Amédée de Bankolé.

Since weakness had already made him a perennial target for others, van de Graaf had opened his bases to become staging areas for New State land forces without fear of further negative consequences.

Most of the Battle at Sensorfield was conducted from Rovers like this one. Van de Graaf prepared his Order of Battle knowing that the Hunters would hesitate to dismount. He converted two squadrons of utilitycraft for anti-material work by affixing to each a laser marker and wire-guided missile launcher. To obtain enough vehicles for the fight, the Stadtholders called upon individual homesteading families to volunteer their own in return for the dubious promise of a generous bounty. Contracts were drawn up that stipulated they must be paid out double if the vehicles were destroyed, a condition Governor van de Graaf went on to honor.

Pilgrim Regulators used the same guns, flak jackets, and uniforms placed back into ARC supply depots by out-mustering soldiers in 2057.

Van de Graaf must have taken ironic pleasure in the recovery of one of the Hunter's two Ontos tanks after the fight at Sensorfield. After all, their presence on Planet had been made possible only through his good offices. That vehicle was kept in service with the New Two Thousand long enough to join the SAMMS round-ups of the following century.

Pilgrim militiamen back from an objective raid. Their hand weapons are literal antiques. The spoils of war are this time unimpressive. Between them, the trio bear an energy canister (slung over the shoulder of the individual at left) and a few bottles of oxygen (carried by the middle soldier).

After Sensorfield, van de Graaf screened the Hunter survivors carefully for Charterists, finding four who were then absorbed into his faction-all ex-SMACERs, not original Forward Contact crew. The Stadtholders additionally voted a Hunter slave to each household. These were nerve-stapled to foreclose flight risk. The remainder were marched into the Dune Sea and sold for a profit to the Human Labyrinth. Marsh and approximately half the enemy force escaped, but their logistical train, captured in toto, yielded dozens of heavy-haulers, ambulances, and mobile workshops, some still etched with ARC markings.

For the Regulators, it was a happy moment of reinvention. With an arsenal much expanded by restored Hunter equipment and the benefits of drill with the Marins de Terre, they soon tried again their old raids on Tribal targets, timing each strike to coincide with Spartan offensives. As it turned out, the Kellerites had indeed been through the Charterist Hab Bays. In MY12, van de Graaf's militia reunited 120 Pilgrim families during the temporary occupation of Old Rusty, a Tribal colony built around the crash site of a doomed Supply Pod. Not all were pleased by the new development.

Liberation of the body is not always easy, but it is straightforward. Liberation of the mind, always difficult. Kellerite converts are the worst. Their concepts of privacy and personalty are missing completely. The work ethic is good, but they ask uncomfortable questions that take as their starting point the illegitimacy of our cherished principle: that the success or failure of the individual rests entirely in their own hands. We have learned by hard experience that the community we can count upon may dwindle in an instant to one. - Notes to the Medical Record of Patient A42, Supplemental

His alliance with a naval power provided van de Graaf with the outlet he needed, and at no cost to himself. Who would the New State upset that he did not already call Enemy? Unmolested by St. Germain's Foils, the Pilgrims roved out in search of other notoriously "soft" victims. Within weeks of Sensorfield, SAMMS crossed the narrows at Sullivan's Hook and staggered, steaming, from the ocean to put the Children of the Atom to flight. Governor Van de Graaf traded the Cray mainframes he found to the Tomorrow Institute in return for information about more of his "missing" colonists.

Sources:

Stephen Lang is Oscar van de Graaf. The still is from Terra Nova.

The artist of the picture of the Rover with missile launcher is unknown. It appears to be a Command & Conquer homage. The picture can be found on WallpaperUP.

The picture of the Ontos is a historical photograph probably taken in Vietnam. It can be accessed here.

The picture of Trike and Harvester are from a Command & Conquer 3 mod on moddb, Réinventer la Dune.

All other pictures are promotional artwork from the recent remake of the Twilight 2000 roleplaying game. They can be found here.

Objective raids are a concept borrowed from Battletech.

[MysticWind]

The Comtes des St. Germaine (pt. 3)

Even the mightiest of fortresses must be illumined by faith. - Regnum novarum

Born fifty-seven years before Unity launch to an unremarkable middle-class family in Naples, Italy. Obscure childhood only noted by desire to see the world and devotion to S.S.C. Napoli. Joined the priesthood out of vocational predilection. Parents mildly supportive, though decision was seen as unusual during the rising secularism of the eurosocialist “Rosa Italia” wave that had reached even the Mezzogiorno. Upon ordination, studied canon law and diplomacy at Pontifical Colleges in Rome. Suffered apparent nervous breakdown while writing dissertation on reconciling the 1917 Reform of Canon Law and relaxation of the Non Expedit with Pope Pius X’s Anti-Modernism and counter-secularism. Abruptly abandoned studies mid-way to profess vows for the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Arrived in the Congo weeks later as part of C.I.C.M. mission, mainly concerned in establishing parochial schools and medical facilities in Kilanga in the Republic of the Congo. Caught malaria shortly upon arrival, requiring care from fellow Scheut missionaries. While in an extended fever, slipped into a deep fugue state and was visited by Marian apparitions, as well as a golden figure upon a throne bearing the crossed keys of Simon Peter. Awoke days later, fever broken and apparently recovered. Antigen-based tests and blood film analysis revealed that all traces of disease had somehow disappeared from body. Observers reported mien had been transformed from anxious with anticipation to one at peace.

Ministered and taught for the next three years, unimpeded. Learned Kituba and Lingala and conducted Mass in the local vernacular of the Zaire Use rite. Developed close ties to and showed great care to the communities along the Kouilou-Niari River. Taught jungle children. In the fourth year, unprecedented amounts of heavy rain caused flash floods in Pool département. Participated in emergency relief efforts, nearly washed away in landslides at Mindouli. Rescued two dozen households with seven lifeboats, a third of the allotment expected for such an effort. Personally led reconstruction of the village church of St. Lea, where he became head pastor.

The Scheut missionaries of the C.I.C.M. undertook infrastructural improvements for the people of the Congo, in addition to spiritual development

Recalled to Europe three years later. Completed studies and entered the Holy See's diplomatic service in late thirties. Assigned to the Apostolic Nunciature to Spain. Witnessed the beginnings of Madrid Christianity, as the Catholic Church in Spain reacted against the reforms imposed by the Third Spanish Republic. Became acquainted with, some say an intimate of, the newly-ordained priest who would later become Pope Eglantine. Friendship described as fraught with ideological differences. Cerutti repeatedly affirmed the direction of the New Papacy, the need for Catholicism to “let each ear hear and every eye see” without resorting to hardline traditionalism. The young Right Catholic replied that it was clear that the temporal world, even as its kingdoms were falling apart, desired to snuff out the last guiding light of the church, gesturing to all that was happening in the country. Despite this, as a staffer to the papal nuncio, Cerutti adroitly navigated the government policies, trading the silence of the archbishops on the Third Republic's promotion of human augmentation and genetic research in exchange for guarantees on the church’s financial assets in-country.

Three years later, returned to Africa. At the Nunciature of Mali, Father Cerutti oversaw the repeated breakdown of negotiations during the Sahara Burst Wars, becoming acquainted with the deleterious effects of PMCs in Africa, in particular SafeHaven and the Morgan corporate family. Despite the doomed mission, gained an understanding of Islamic perspectives of the Catholic Church. Next worked in Biafra, applying said lessons to aid the local Christian-dominated government to strengthen its position through peaceful accommodation of its Muslim minority. Covertly tasked by the local papal nuncio to also reinforce the position of the Catholic Church in Biafra against the Protestant majority by emphasizing the Vatican’s prior support for its independence movement in contrast to British neutrality. Efforts divided the Anglicans against other Protestants, eventually causing the schism of the Biafran Episcopalian Church away from the Anglican Church of Biafra.

Finally, posted to the similarly newly-seceded state of Ambazonia, an Anglophone state separated from French-speaking Cameroon. There he wooed the Ambazonian politicians towards the good graces of the Catholic Church through cold hard cash, delivered through generous loans from the Vatican Bank, shutting out the British once more. Indeed, despite operating under different nuncios, he was able to engineer this. International journalists began speaking of West Africa as “a new papal fiefdom”, and Cerutti as “that Neapolitan pupante”, or “the crusader with a cell phone.”

Father Obua of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Mpala was a leader of the underground movement dedicated to smuggling refugees out of the Congolese conflict zone

The next diplomatic mission to Ghana, to arrange an ECOWAS security pact to combat jihadist and PAU terrorism, was abruptly interrupted by civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. All attention shifted to the immense suffering and bloodshed to the south. C.I.C.M. mandated all Scheut fathers to assist relief efforts. Cerutti reluctant to cut short the chance for the Vatican to broker a new continental holy alliance of sorts. Only repeated quicklink messages delivered hastily over the Starline Network, originating somewhere along the western shore of Lake Tanganyika from his former clerical compatriot, Father Obua of Kilanga, slowly shamed him back into the Congo.

Arrived in Stanleyville on his forty-seventh birthday. Directed church aid in conjunction with U.N. peacekeepers after rebel attacks on space elevator. Narrowly survived blast on hospital district. Left city months later in search of Father Obua. Attacks by People’s African Union-linked rebels and Rwandan army derailed train service part way, forcing travel on foot. Harassed by local Mai-Mai militias en route, at one point performing an impromptu “battle baptism” to be permitted to pass. Staved off malaria even as mission comrades succumbed. Arrived at Lake Tanganyika with fraction of aid supplies. At a massive Missionaries of Africa-run refugee camp, Father Obua presented Cerutti with a refugee column to be shepherded out of the country.

Riverboat return trip faced inclement weather and crocodile attacks along the Lukuga. Unnavigable rapids on the Lualaba River forced land travel. Discovered by Soviet military advisors on patrol near Portes d’Enfer. After mission’s U.N. captain refused demands to surrender, Soviets began indiscriminately firing at the refugees. When Cerutti shouted at them to stop, a field generator overloaded, producing a power surge that knocked out the assailants’ sensors and somehow caused their weapons to jam. Before the soldiers could recover, a wild hippotatomus emerged from the waters and charged their commander. Overpowering the Soviets while suffering no loss, the refugees continued north to Kindu, where a MONUSCO riverine force delivered them to Stanleyville and to relative safety.

Remained in the DRC for the remainder of time on Earth. Continued aid efforts well past the conclusion of the Great Congo War. Rebuffed offers to be made apostolic nuncio, instead becoming the new priest in Mpala after Father Obua could not be found. Reverted to quiet shepherding of rural flock, becoming caretaker of disabled war orphans. Later made Archbishop of Leboa-Sako. Returned only to Europe on three occasions: to receive a cardinalate from Pope Zachary II, to participate in the papal conclave that elected Eglantine, and to see Napoli defeat Crystal Palace F.C. and become victors of the 2066 UEFA Champions League.

Cardinal Cerutti presented with the leadership over the papal mission to Alpha Centauri at the Gardens of Vatican City

After decade-long retreat into a backwater bishopric, was surprisingly designated the head of the Vatican contingent aboard the UNS Unity by the erratic new pope. Marginally passed the grueling training process on the lunar surface. Served as diplomatic liaison to the U.N. leadership and minister to the Catholic population of the mission. Respected but disliked by Captain Garland and ship staff, seen as a subversively regressive element from the traditionalist Pope Eglantine. During run-up to the mission, seen having long conversations along the ship’s promenade with Psych Chaplain Miriam Godwinson, contents unknown.

During Planetfall, Cardinal Julius Cerutti rallied the Catholic colonists and crew to solidarity in the time of existential crisis. Broke more than one deadlock by ordering emergency measures when appropriate Unity officers were unawakened or M.I.A. Prioritized the rescue of trapped personnel and medical supplies primarily. Ran afoul of other leading lights of the chaos. Public groused to followers that X.O. d’Almeida was an incompetent who had abandoned his flock to save fewer than one sheep. Ranted against Chief of Engineering Zakharov as “more preoccupied with playing with his toys” and for “treating this life-or-death-situation as one of his little puzzles.” Denounced the Spartans and Holnists as “pinprick satanic malefactors who drove us from home in the first place”, and Kellerites as “deluded followers of some incoherent radio preacher.” Garland was well-meaning, but ultimately, his failings in managing the disaster “c’é rutt’o o cazz!” After striving in vain to upright the disaster, finally directed the Vatican contingent, along with a sizeable of Roman Catholic passengers and other survivors alike, to escape.

Founded Roma Nova on Mount Eglantine along the Petraeus Ranges. Capital of the Holy See of Centauri, also known as the Prince-Bishopric of Chiron. The “base on a hill” endured its early years under the theocratic rule of Cardinal Cerutti, who immediately moved to enact sustainability measures similar to those he used to survive in the Congo. Cerutti declared the need to “not let a single stomach hungry nor a single form unclothed”, creating an austere but universally charitable society where the least fortunate would always be cared for. In time, this goal was made difficult by the relatively high reproductive rates promoted by the Magisterium’s support for large families, but the Holy See created a cohesive, largely content society, and even managed to expand to several new outposts despite a relatively low economic and technological capacities.

Unfortunately, the building of a new base in the Resurrection River Valley drew ire from the nearby Watch Tower sect that had already settled the area. Increasing territorial tensions and religious differences resulted in the Resurrection Vendetta, the conquest of Hierosolyma Nova by the Watch Tower and its Eighth-Day Adventist allies recruited from the Lord’s Conclave and the Human Tribe, and finally the fall of Roma Nova to a Watch Tower-Eigther-Kellerite force. Staunch resistance from the cardinal’s guards and the militant orders of the Holy See failed to prevail against the Anointed Army of 144,000.

Sister Godwinson herself intervened before the One Forty-Four Thousand could finish its attack- stepping in to broker peace, she offered the flock of the Holy See safe resettlement in the Rapture Hills and a life of religious worship as citizens of the Lord’s Conclave. But in the end, Cerutti was loath to subsume the Catholic Church into the Conclave as yet another holy symbol in Miriam’s quilt of faiths, answering to the American evangelical. He rejected Rapture. Instead, he chose something different. Something impractical. He chose to live under the sea.

Cardinal Cerutti flanked by Secretary Élodie and by a brother cardinal

Just as the first pope, Simon Peter, was a fisher of man, so did Cerutti seek out the sea. Opting for exodus rather than to live under the thumb of their separated brethren, he brought his most loyal admirers and retainers west to Byzantion Bay. In what the greatest devotees of His Eminence label as his fourth (or seventh, depending on who’s counting) miracle, they chanced upon a New State surface exploration mission led by none other than the captain of the Congolese riverboat who had rescued Cerutti and another band of exiles decades ago. Contre-Amirale St. Germaine, believing in Providence, at least that what could be provided by his own largesse, and remembering the valor of the jungle priest, granted them indefinite sanctuary, welcoming them into his New State.

Thus began the Babylonian Captivity of the Catholic Church on Centauri. Fortunately for the cardinal, first contact with the New State had occurred when the latter faction had advanced to base-building capabilities, so Cerutti was freed from the indignity of ministering to his flock from an unmoored submarine. Instead, the Holy See-in-Exile headquarters at Nouvelle Avignon, while underpopulated, is both roomy and well-furnished, decorated by some of the best artifacts from Old Europe rustled up by Secretary of Cultural Life Élodie. (Aside from the usual nostalgic neoclassical gloss and dross, there is even a Paleolithic Venus figurine representing either the birth of Europe, the female nature of the Church, the temptation of impure thoughts, or something.) From his crow’s nest perch, with the mainland just barely visible on the horizon, Cardinal Cerutti now administers to the faithful- and plots his return to solid ground.

The Contre-Amirale, of course, believes the church should be purely subordinate to the New State. Not by fiat, of course, but by simple natural movement: an educated, dutiful citizenry should embrace an orderly, well-administered spirituality, such a faith would be supported by and follow the structure of the state, as ivy clings to a rock wall. It was all very well for ship chaplains to mutter prayers before dawn, but all of the swaying in superstitions followed the movements of the boat, not by the independent will of the individual officiant. In the end, a sailor either follows the security and order of the ship, or is lost to the elements of a cruel and chaotic sea. Make your peace with your deity, but neither priest nor pope can save you in a storm.

Thus, despite ostensibly being the highest of hierarchs in the faction, Cardinal Cerutti discovers that he is scarcely more empowered than if he had simply accepted Miriam’s offer to be one shepherd among many in her flock. Despite both St. Germaine and Élodie’s lip service to past glories of the church and fetish for the Tridentine Mass, both seek to corral his reign from different angles. The Contre-Amirale, as host to the exiled Holy See, insists that each letter from the office of the cardinal must first be reviewed by him alone, and provides no end of cryptic directives in response to Cerutti’s missives. The datalinks broadcast channels of the Holy See are also under close scrutiny by naval intelligence officers of the Contre-Amirale, seemingly subject to strange service interruptions when the cardinal speaks too deeply about redistributing excess stock from the great houses to the families of drones who were left behind by the educational system, or the need to stray from extracanonical works and return to sacred tradition and the Gospel codified by the councils. Meanwhile, his priests often find themselves hassled by the Canoneers of the Cultural Life, always inserting their opinions on updating vestment fashions to “better represent the heritage of the New State”, and asking for readings from the Book of Meronicus during Mass.

So even as he is able to consecrate and give Communion to the Catholics of the New State, the Cardinal finds himself in an arrangement that is half an alliance of convenience, half actual captivity. The Contre-Amirale knows precisely what pulls at his heart-strings and that of many of his flock: the promise of a crusade from the bottom of the sea to retake Roma Nova (currently styled by the Watch Tower as High Kingdom Hall) and its other former holdings. Perhaps, even, to cow the Lord’s Conclave and bring the separated brethren to heel. Then when all Christians on Chiron were united could work be done to recontact the Holy Father on Earth and to reestablish relations with old Rome. And if the unthinkable was true: to elect a new pontiff for Planet.

The Cardinal considers the New State the home of Loyal Citizens who are also Faithful Sons of the church. Those whose hearts are still burning with the true flame, seduced neither by the strange reactionary Gallicanism of the Contre-Amirale‘s semi-Atrian heresy, nor by the avant-garde, au courant empty secularism of Élodie’s superficially traditionalist New Papacy. As unpleasant as it is to continue collaborating with the two, at present Cardinal Cerutti finds that is his only way forward back to Rome. To once again play distasteful political games to win souls for a Church Penitent in hopes of building a Church Triumphant.
      
Casting

Julius Cerutti is portrayed by Silvio Orlando as Cardinal Angelo Voiello from The Young Pope.

Father Obua is portrayed by Father Maliya from Far Cry 2.

Notes:

Cardinal Julius Cerutti is the leader of the Holy See of Centauri from the SMAC Fac Pack project. His official quotes can be found here.

Kilanga is the village from The Poisonwood Bible.

Madrid Catholicism, Right Catholics, and the name Eglantine are from Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner.

A pupante is a traditional puppeteer in the Opera dei Pupi as practiced in Naples.

Ambazonia is a current real-world independence movement. They have a cool flag.

The concept of having Jehovah’s Witnesses be a surviving faction in a post-apocalyptic setting comes from the original Metro 2033 novel.

[MysticWind]

Bending the ARC of history (pt. 1)

True leverage is knowing your competitor’s self-interests before they do. True equity is knowing how to ensure they act against it. - Preface to ARC Handbook on Modern Business Intelligence

Growing up in a little town on the Texas Gulf Coast, Suzanne Marjorie Fielding learned to love numbers. When the fireflies grew fewer and fewer, her mamá taught her how to count them with numbers. When the summer storms blew fiercer and fiercer, the Saffir-Simpson scale made the endless howling outside just a number. When the water rose higher and higher, drowning the little sandy beach at the edge of town where she and her sisters once collected shells and chased kingfishers, that was just a number. And when her once-smiling neighbors grew more and more envious of her family holding on even as the market kept dropping, the farmer’s sons started passing around Holnist pamphlets in her dad’s hardware stores while open carrying SecAm specials, and then finally the insurance company defaulted and couldn’t pay out accrued damages on the store that was busted up and the other that burned down- well, they were all just numbers, weren’t they?

Suzanne grew up and got out of town, but not before she had taken that love of numbers to help her dad get his business back on track. “Every pothole means dinner for the paver,” he’d said as they dusted off the ashes of Fielding’s Supplies #3. Taking that to heart, she had realized the hole in the expenses from the closed store meant a little more capital. She convinced her dad to hire a couple of the neighborhood knuckleheads they were pretty sure weren’t behind the looting to stand guard with their guns against the other guys. Other shops on Main started noticing. A couple of tax-deductible datalinks courses later, and a couple of success stories catching wannabe survies in the act, Fielding’s Security and Surveillance had become an inseparable, successful part of Fielding’s mini-business empire, and her family’s comeback story.

A couple of degrees in post-growth economics and neomathematics accounting later, courtesy of a full ride at LSU, Suzanne was ready to fix the country. And so she did by joining the hottest company of the day: the American Reclamation Corporation. Fielding’s first job was to crunch the numbers for ARC’s efforts to reclaim coastal lands lost to the rising Gulf sea level from Texas to Florida. (And then from Tamaulipas down to Campeche Bay after the Mexican government signed a similar contract.) She took to the balance sheets like a laser scalpel, excising waste and spotting potential windfalls. Not only was success at ARC the optimal path to prosperity, she believed, it was also the optimal method to raise her family’s fortunes along the hurricane-battered coast. (Even before the Hypersurvivalist Wars, ARC was eclipsing both FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the country’s premiere natural disaster response, recovery, and prevention organization.) The noblest form of nepotism, carried out with the longest lever ever constructed by Americans. It was, she calculated, simply cost-effective.

MZ Operations Manager Fielding restocks ARC labor supplies at Belle Isle State Correctional Facility outside Orlando

Shrewd and audacious, with the trademark ethical flexibility of a late American corpo, she went from junior accountant, third grade to Manager of Environmental Salvage Operations, Midwestern Zone within a decade. After ARC CEO Oscar van de Graaf signed the Trans-Mississippi Recovery Initiative, he personally asked Fielding to oversee the governmental resource coordination. She obliged and found herself dealing with more than flash floods and decaying infrastructure. As America’s ecological environment plunged into chaos, so did its civic spirit counterpart. ARC terrain work gangs found themselves politely escorted away from vital locations by isolationist property owners toting more than shotguns. And then impolitely fired upon. As the government privatized crucial services- like the freedom of not getting pillaged by survivalist raiders- ARC stepped in to fill that market gap. Disaster capitalism proved most profitable.

Van de Graaf had provided his Operations Managers with the resources to purchase private security as they saw fit. But even while the global supply of mercenaries was sky high during those tumultuous times, it was a fierce bidding war and big buyers such as Morgan SafeHaven commanded near-monopsony status. So Suzanne took a page out of her past. She first began paying locals to put pressure on their most “ideologically disadvantageous” neighbors from impeding necessary land improvements. She then cultivated a network of informants to gather intelligence from within the militias themselves, identifying weak links who could be turned so ARC’s great work could continue. Finally, when war in the east had driven up the mercenary market to unprecedented levels, Fielding opened a new segment on the low end of the market: striking deals with local and state law enforcement, ARC oversaw “war-release programs” that armed the former incarcerated and put them at work guarding convoys of civil engineers and protecting environmental readjusters as they fought erosion and seeded clouds.

Val Verde Veterans was an elite force of ex-WARPAC spetsnaz who had fought in Soviet conflicts in Afghanistan, the Congo, Bolivia, and Centroamerica. While their Ozarks contract was prematurely terminated, some members of the unit followed ARC as Charterists to Chiron

Fielding’s tenure in the MZ was not uncheckered. Her scheme to use the former WARPAC Val Verde Veterans as counter-survivalist specialists in the Ozarks backfired spectacularly at every level. Even during the mercenary shortage during the Second American Civil War, when American reservists and ex-cons alike were called to fight in the east, it was too politically controversial. But she just shrugged and drafted a higher contract to replace the V3 with Heid’s legendary Imperial Military Focus. Despite the exorbitant terms, the mercenary company’s efficiency in killing completed the reclamation of Arkansas in record time, also noteworthy as one of the IMF’s very few campaigns in the Americas. Indeed, when she was later assigned to the Southwest Zone, Heid and the IMF was the spearhead of her security force that fell militias all the way to Santa Barbara before returning to Africa.

Their pay was also offset by a new incentives program introduced by O.M. Fielding: local governments and residents were offered services free of charge if they were willing to sign over their deeds and titles under reasonable 49-year terms. Thus residents became generational tenants of ARC's new private holdings. Fielding appraised each parcel personally, calculated the max cost-benefit ratios, and determined which areas were most worthy of further ecological improvements. This practice was but one of the many ways that preceded ARC’s use of the Charterist system.

Fielding’s greatest feat in the Southwest was Operation Gold Rush, a joint ARC-IMF campaign under her strategic discretion. After a century of drastic suburban overdevelopment and increasingly dire drought conditions, violent chaos had entered into the sunniest corner of the United States. The water-hungry Greater Los Angeles area seethed and bled as gangs and militias fought on behalf of each particular county, city, town, or street. California National Guard units, backed by ever-fewer numbers of federal troops, were overwhelmed by militias armed with captured tanks and Soviet-smuggled MANPADs. Drought begot riots begot war begot famine begot endless suffering begot fewer customers, and ARC was determined to end it all.

Collecting and analyzing ecological data, military intel, and market movements, Fielding supervised the fight while deferring tactical command to Heid. With Heid's combat leadership and her scrutiny of the cutthroat Greater New Los Angeles underworld power structure, this operation destroyed the major hydro gangs in the area. This allowed ARC to install their proprietary desalination plants and to construct huge seawalls along the coast, to the acclaim of a long-suffering citizenry. As a token of their gratitude, the provisional mayor of New Los Angeles signed over the city's water rights in perpetuity. Fielding's retainer bonus for the Op, and the real estate options she received from the territorial acquisition (equivalent to multiple districts across New L.A.), made her a multimillionaire. Imperial Military Focus made out with a nice payday, and while they would neither deal with ARC nor Fielding until a century later, Heid departed on good terms for Africa.

CFO Fielding dining with Admiral Cato Forsythe, who signed off on ARC’s winning sea skimmer contract with the U.S. Coast Guard. Forsythe was later the center figure of the CSB’s Operation Riverboat financial dragnet

As morning again dawned over America with ARC victories under Fielding in the west, the founder’s own successes with the Nauvoo Legion in Utah, and untold defeats of the Holnists throughout the country. The emergency troika under the Central Security Bureau breathed a sigh and relaxed civic liberties throughout the land. Meanwhile at ARC Headquarters, “the day of the war chiefs” saw multiple elevations to the c-suite. Fielding herself became the Chief Financial Officer of the company.

Beating her sword into a pocketbook, Fielding embarked on diversifying the company’s verticals into the soft sectors of retail and financial services. Building a presence to the east, ARC Singapore hosted the company’s largest shopping complex. ARC Madison ads sold Morgan products, carefully selected to not overlap with their own lines. CFO Fielding also recommended increasing the company’s presence in health care, pharmaceuticals, and neurological research. Using the balance sheet and financial weight of ARC as a massive lever, she crafted shifts on Old Wall Street to position the company as a many-time market leader.

And as the founder made his forays into public service with his political career, Suzanne likewise found another arena for her talents. A notoriously active CFO, she became a fixture in Washington D.C., upholding the company’s fiduciary duty by maintaining its lucrative government contracts while carrying the good word of the CEO. Again, here she used her keen analytical skills towards analyzing the social networks of this high society so far removed from the ragtag militias and gangs she had studied in the war. A wheeler and dealer, she judiciously furthered her company and its founder’s interests with financial operations as brutal as a coup. Scandals and rumors of graft followed in her wake, but also very profitable transactions made under deniable pretexts. For her role in scaring up donors for his failed yet remarkable presidential run, Oscar van de Graaf named Fielding the Chief Human Intelligence Officer of his company.

All the invaluable hard work from our Terrahome Geoengineering teams notwithstanding, the reports are clear: this biosphere will be insolvent in less than a century. Time to stop crying over sunk costs and head for our exit. - Last Earnings Calls of Earth: an Anthology

Ultimately, the call of ARC took Suzanne to Planet as it did its imperious founder. While board members questioned the wisdom of sending so many of the c-suite on a one-way ticket to space, most were quickly quieted by being pledged stakeholder billets for themselves and/or their dependencies. And so, Fielding became the ship’s Comptroller, to monitor the mission’s finances- which was to initially run on a barter system with chits, perhaps, until the colony would transition to a currency system based on a resource like electrical access. This gave her free rein into libraries’ worth of mission financial statements, which she and her ARC accounting staff quickly began disassembling and mining for weaponizable intel.

During the dissolution of the Unity, some of that intelligence came to the forefront as Fielding assisted van de Graaf’s efforts to rally his Charterists and any others of appraisable value. Those who were reluctant had the incentive of debt jubilees dangled in front of them, or promises of corporate assistance towards their colonial aspirations. When the carrot failed, she told the private security heavies which loudmouths were to be taken out to cause the others to fold. This tactic was used on unruly indentured and hostile insurgents alike. The collapse of at least two Holnist gangs in the mid-decks can be attributed to ARC decapitation strikes acted upon Fielding’s intelligence.

Throughout the crisis, she and her accountants tallied up the assets made available to the Two Thousand, determining what vehicles to bring, which supplies to carry, who was worth the trip. Her pie charts and triangle graphs, spun on the fly with her personally-customized edition of Modern Office run from her quicklink, determined the fate of dozens. A cold, but perhaps more equitable ethical calculus less unempirical than the off-the-cuff method of the other Pilgrims. To her credit, the majority of those she came across were deemed worthy of passage, even if only as potential new indentured contractors. Each of them was added to her Togra Holodex, long-term investments worth tracking, as they now owed her their lives.

Mission Comptroller Fielding audits neural scans lifted from the data cache of Chief of Neurosurgery Aleigha Cohen to select prospective salvageable personnel assets during Planetfall

In the years since Planetfall, stadtholder Fielding is among the most crucial of the New Two Thousand’s elite. Retaining the responsibilities she had on Earth, she is quartermaster extraordinaire among the Pilgrims, inspecting the coffers of the survival frontier society and doling the supplies out as per the KPIs set by Governor van de Graaf, ensuring economic stability. On matters of human intelligence, she is also the faction’s spymaster, as she was the corporation’s, tasked with the central mandate to return every single sprocket and each wayward Charterist to the hands of the Pilgrims, or else confirm them as losses. This role has expanded as van de Graaf’s determination and obsession to retrieve his stolen property has gotten fiercer over time. And in the vendettas that the Pilgrims have gotten themselves into, her experience in civilian commandership, in particular her military intelligence-gathering and analysis abilities, has been a core asset.

Like any top-tier executive on Planet, Fielding has had to deal with an innumerable amount of interview requests and job offers from recruiters both human and simulated. Indeed, considerable processing power on ARC network node Iktómi is dedicated to filtering out datalinks spam for her. Morganite PeopleOps squads have braved her Ghost Dancer sentries to beg for a personal audience, only to receive replies of autocannon fire. She has to smile at their temerity. Working for Morgan would be simply trading a humorless boss for a smug one. Neither does Weismuller’s company or any others in the Cartel interest her. And Dai Seung, with its consensus-seeking culture? No way.

And yet, while Fielding’s present in ARC is assured, her future is uncertain. With the advent of longevity treatments, the continued chairmanship of its founder seems all but guaranteed to be eternal. (Aside from the unfortunate consequences of vendetta or assassination, of course.) So would she be content to be the CFO-CHIO of the company in perpetuity? To be another right hand man among van de Graaf’s right hand men? Sometimes she thinks of striking out on her own, to give ARC a little good ol’ American competition. Sometimes she imagines rebuilding Fielding Supply Co. from scratch. Sometimes she dreams of the family she left back home, by the Gulf. But then she wakes up to missives on her quicklink ID’ing this target of opportunity or that asset of interest, and she’s all business again.

Casting

Suzanne Marjorie Fielding is portrayed by Viola Davis as Amanda Waller from Suicide Squad and as Major Gwen Anderson from Ender’s Game.

The Val Verde Veterans is portrayed by the cast of Predator as Dutch’s rescue team.

Notes:

Belle Isle State Correctional Facility is the high school-turned corporate-owned penitentiary from Killing Time by Caleb Carr.

Val Verde is the fictional country from Predator.

The L.A. “water wars” concept is also from Killing Time.

[Trenacker]

...and to the Republic for which it stands, many nations, indivisible, with liberty, opportunity, and justice for all. - The Revised Pledge, Datalinks

Subject at Inspection on Intake Day, Eastern Military Academy.

Name: A.J.R. Chandran
Rank: Colonist II
Position: Assistant Chief, Patrol Special Police, Van de Graaf Expedition
County of Origin: United States of America
DOB: 11-30-2032
Height: 185.42cm
Weight: 84.1kg

Unity Contractor Background History:

August 2037. Father, Aarav Chandran, a Port Authority Police Department lieutenant and his family's breadwinner, assassinated by Free Quebec radical at Grand Central Station.

September 2046. Accepted to Eastern Military Academy (EMA), Cold Spring Hills, New York, one of the hundreds of independent service academies newly founded or recently restored since the closure of West Point nine years prior over allegations that the school had become a "breeding ground" for Holnism and States' Rights secessionism. Recipient of Fallen Warrior scholarship. Suffered from numerous episodes of racism by nativist cadets.

June 2049. Graduated from EMA. Commissioned a Third Lieutenant, United States Army.

October 2050. Deployed to Cincinnati, Ohio, just outside Insurrection Zone. Responsible for sector defense of Federal Disaster Relief Service convoys in the Sixth Military District, covering most of the Ohio and Cumberland River Watersheds. Immediately relocated personal quarters to Camp McRaven, Covington, Kentucky. Began leading vigorous assaults against Holnist strong-points outside the city, reviving low morale. In one memorable incident reported in the national press, commandeered a Van de Graaf Steel corporate helicopter to deliver soda pop and toothpaste to troops in the field, then credited the company for the action. Personally negotiated safe passage through Kellerite strongholds in Louisville Bullet Belt. Frequently placed in command of American Reclamation Corporation (ARC) and United States Volunteer units. Multiple citations for battlefield valor.

April 2052. Victorious at Second Battle of Paducah, destroying the 4,000-strong "Field Army" of the Free State of Missouri. Captured foreign national fighters who, during preliminary interrogation, confessed to being Morgan SafeHaven mercenaries under contract with the "legitimate government of Missouri." (Separately, Governor Hastings Wellerman was captured, tried, and sentenced to a maximum of ten years under 18 U.S. Code. Missouri Adjutant-General Niemiah Kinsale was executed.)

June 2053. Gave lecture, "The Fielding Principles," to subordinates and selected guests of honor at Camp Tarwell, Tennessee, in support of generational tenancy. Using ARC war release programs, compelled ex-Holnists to stand in guard of Kellerite compounds, from which they received all food, medical care, and recreation opportunities, which tactic subject called "radical restitution."

Love for our fellow man begins when we risk ourselves on their behalf. Nobody willingly risks themselves for the unworthy. By definition, my fight for him elevates the dignity of my neighbor, if only in my own eyes. - The Wisdom of the Kellerites

September 2054. Now a Captain with supervisory authority over national reconstruction projects and political rehabilitation of occupied territories. Subpoenaed for testimony before House Subcommittee on Conduct of the War in connection with alleged misconduct of ARC contractors under U.S. Army control. Acknowledged by name in the Marion Administration's decision to absorb the ARC as an independent federal corporation in 2064.

December 2059. As liaison officer to the ARC, subject, promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, assisted in operational and contingency planning for the Chilean Intervention, which averted a United Nations-backed coup against the military government of General Iker Villegas. Two battalions of the U.S. Army's 88th Parachute Infantry Regiment captured Santiago's Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, surprising and routing a combined garrison of Morgan Armored Security and Finnish troops in U.N. service.

November 2069. Returned to Long Island, New York for mother Sarika's funeral, personally attended by ARC Administrator Oscar van de Graaf. Believed to have accepted a formal stake in U.N. Mission to Alpha Centauri on that occasion.

December 2069. Reassignment to ARC Contingent, U.N. Mission to Alpha Centauri. Excused from pre-mission training.

Chiron Service Record:

Awakened by Struan's technicians during Planetfall. Picked from the crew manifest. Placed on indefinite light labor while faction leadership debated how best to employ his skill sets. Subjected to at least three dream incursions by faction medical staff. Redeemed from a Dreamer work crew by Pilgrim merchants on the orders of Chief Financial Officer Suzanne Fielding. Debt soon cleared by vote of faction stakeholders.

Named senior military advisor to Governor van de Graaf despite risk of successful profiling by Dreamers of Chiron. Well-known critic of Column-General Grant Auriole, head of the faction militia.

Temporarily responsible for Northern Front operations in M.Y. 8, during which Pilgrim militia scored a rare victory in the Battle of Skeleton Ridge, opening tributary flood gates that swept away an attacking force of Spartan dragoons that had been pinned by defenders. Action spared vulnerable Pilgrim habitats and gem-mining operations. Formally reprimanded for high casualty counts and loss of salvage opportunities. Reassigned to desk rotation.

Wing Commander at Battle of Sensorfield. Led Pilgrim Rovers against the cream of Marsh's road crews.

Militiamen with the New Two Thousand make final checks to the jury-rigged armament and protection bolted to their precious logistical vehicles. Chandran provided the mechanics with strict specifications and personally inspected the forty craft of his command. The leftmost vehicle was mounted with the jewel of the faction's salvage operations: a close-in weapons system stripped from the hull of the Unity itself. The depleted-uranium rounds were removed in favor of incendiary squad-heads so that they wouldn't pass through Hunter vehicles without doing damage. Later, transferred back to the Northern Front, the same gun platform was reloaded with its original ammunition to ensure parity against Spartan laser tanks.

A Unity Combat Car captured from the Peacekeeping Forces provides the rear guard for homesteaders moving toward the Slowwind River Delta. By this time in the settlement of Shamash, fungal fields around the original human settlements had been reduced to fossilized husks by heavy use of Shaper poisons. Spartan sensor towers beam messages to vacant terminals in silent Xerxion, at last reduced to rubble by Tribal artillery. The rearmost vehicle of the column is a mobile laboratory, sent to scour the pockmarked brinescape for residual indications of exploitable resources.

Psych Profile: Loyalist

Unionist. Placed under Military Restriction during Thanksgiving season of 2025 after interrupting a ring of senior cadets replacing the national flag with a pro-independence banner. The resulting fistfight resulted in two hospitalizations.

Humanitarian. Widely acclaimed for merciful attitudes toward occupied populations. More forgiving of armed resistance against uniformed military forces than brutalization of non-combatants. Rarely engaged in the summary executions of captured Holnists popular among peers, though frequently authorized to administer such justice.

Instrumentalist. Frequently utilized JAG Corps and ARC Office of General Counsel to interpret orders in such way as to maximize possibility of independent action in ways subject thought ethically and militarily best. Demonstrated willingness to consider the other side's interest in negotiations, such as by declaiming credit.

Widely praised by subordinates as a brave, capable, and compassionate leader.

Sources:

Character named in honor of historian A.J.R. Russell-Wood, 1940-2010, a professor who I very much admired.

Movie still is a promotional capture from the upcoming film Laal Singh Chaddha.

Chandran's aphorisim about helping others is paraphrased from Benjamin Franklin's remarks on helping others.

The armored car silhouettes are from from the game Homeword: Deserts of Kharak.

The "homesteaders" picture is from Christian Schumann, titled "Rubber Ducks Convoy," on CGSociety.

[MysticWind]

The Emporium (pt. 1)

Name: James “Admiral” Heid
Rank: Civilian Vendor
Position: Vehicle Mechanic
County of Origin: Rhodesia
Age: 53

Service Record:

My superiors presumed that by plucking me from the crib and beating in the lessons of war they could bind me forever. They never considered it wouldn’t be their war. - I, Contractor

Born in the dying days of the wartorn Republic of Rhodesia to rural gentry, Victoria Province. Parents were local notables, infamous for suspected liberal pacifist and pro-British returner sympathies. At age seven, Watercrest Estate was burnt to the ground by a rabble of hardliner Rhodesian Front partisans. As sole survivor, sequestered to a government-run orphanage for boys and told the attack was the work of Marxist rebels. Sent to South Shropshire Military School shortly after thirteenth birthday following repeated incidents of fighting and defiant behavior. Involuntarily inducted into the Essexvale Cadet Corps, a national youth scouting organization and later focus of United Nations Human Rights Council investigation on child soldiers. Cadets served as civilian auxiliary, delivering messages, medical aid, and supplies to bush troops.

Upon graduation, automatically enlisted into Rhodesian Security Forces due to field experience as a cadet. Volunteered for the Special Air Service. Decade-long service during the Third Bush War marked by Fireforce operations deep behind enemy lines. Took part in the Siege of Sinoia, the Battle of Victoria Falls, and Operation Crusher. Promoted to captain at age twenty after raid on rebel stronghold in Portuguese East Africa. After capturing Camp Nhongo, the 27 (Gully) Troop, ‘G’ Squadron held off a counter-attack from FRELIMON irregulars bolstered by Soviet advisors for nearly three days before Portuguese relief forces arrived. During the battle, Heid exfiltrated the siege lines and destroyed the attackers’ supplies with two fellow troopers, detonating their ammunition stores and neutralizing several Spetsnaz GRU operators.

SAS service would see combat from the Republic of Namib to South Africa. The 27 Troop became one of the most highly-decorated units of the conflict, and was infamous in the country as the first Rhodesian SAS force to admit non-white troopers, many of whom were defeated rebels. The unit was known for its exceptional cohesion, though Special Branch cautioned command that the 27 was cultivating bonds “beyond country.” Despite repeated offers of promotion to squadron major, Heid insisted on remaining troop captain. Upon receiving the Grand Cross of Valour and the Bronze Cross of Rhodesia during tenth year of service at the terminal stage of the final Bush War, abruptly reassigned from field duty to operational intelligence. Contemporaries reported Heid grew overly critical of superiors' escalation of “overkill” tactics in his own native Victoria, e.g. the introduction of drone warbots and the deployment of biological and chemical agents by the Selous Scouts against strategic hamlets with alleged rebel ties.

Tetra Vaal FC-3 Vaas bipedal drones, augmented by Armadyne for military use, were used for intensive counterinsurgency by the Rhodesian government. Zimbabwean Rozvi were renowned for developing sensor camouflage and livehacking tactics against the Vaas

Disappeared from the archives of Flower Court for months before reemerging at the Zambian border. In public datalinks appearance, declared support for the Zimbabwean movement and renounced Rhodesian citizenship. In response, the government stripped all honors, including membership in the Order of Smith, declared Heid a traitor, and marked him for elimination. When the 27 was sent to apprehend, the entire troop defected to the Zimbabweans. When the rest of the squadron was ordered to hunt down the defectors, multiple troops mutinied or deserted, and the British South Africa Police force attached to the mission was destroyed by the in-fighting. For the remainder of the conflict, the RhSAS was a spent fighting force as Salisbury viewed the entire regiment with suspicion.

A nation dies the same way as its soldiers- of heartbreak, its mouth stuffed with ashes and its carcass ridden with exit wounds. - Memento Vici

The defection of the 27 Troop indirectly led to the turning tide of the war. Seeing their enemies in disarray, Umafukufuku Tongogara and Jotham Matopos reunited the independence movement into the Zimbabwe African People’s National Resistance Army and waged a renewed offensive with Heid as a field commander. Knowing the tactics and weaknesses of the RSF, he led the 27, now renamed the Rozvi Varungu despite being a racially-integrated unit, against his former countrymen. Heid pitted the Rhodesian counterinsurgency playbook against itself, using booby traps, decoy targets, sophisticated electronic warfare, psychological operations, and massed MANPADs to disrupt Fireforce tactics. When the Rhodesian Light Infantry attempted to use terrain as cover, Heid equipped his forces with Soviet LPO-160 flamethrowers to burn them out of the bush. With their SAS expertise and a small but growing supply of aircraft lend-leased from Cuba and foreign People’s African Union parties, they paradropped deep into Security Force strongholds, and soon began training their Zimbabwean allies how to parachute. These efforts not only tore out the heart of Rhodesian COIN capabilities, but broke the morale of the Rhodies, some of whom were unwilling to fight against their former elites. While defectors were welcomed, the Selous Scouts in particular received his fury- rank and file were handed over to the Zimbabweans, and the officers were executed by Heid himself. Throughout the country, the sigil of a shattered FN FAL became the notorious calling card of the Rozvi.

Jotham Matopos, Zimbabwean freedom fighter, would later become the first president of Mthwakazi-Mutapa with the dawning of majority rule

These counter-counterinsurgency efforts shattered the tip of the enemy’s spear, leading to ZAPNRA sweeping across multiple fronts. As the Rozvi harassed their commando teams, Portuguese and South African support scaled back. Zimbabwean military and public relations efforts accelerated as cities fell both to conquest and to native revolt. Its imminent victory snatched away in scant months, the Rhodesian government went into shock and was forced to the negotiating table by British pressure. Armistice, then the Locarno Suite Accords, followed shortly. The entire nation was reborn.

The founding of the Republic of Mthwakazi-Mutapa, the election of the first majority rule government, and the restoration of British imperial influence to the land all passed by Heid’s notice as easily as the awards hurled at him and his unit by the grateful freedom fighters. As the new country entered its birth pangs, he found himself in the bush again, fighting on behalf of one faction or another, even at times for former elements of the previous regime against the new government of the RoMM. (This might have been a ploy to draw out former Rhodesian Front members to continue his vendetta.) Regardless, his Order of Great Zimbabwe merit was rescinded alongside other decorations bestowed by the Itsva Mutapa government, and the unit was proclaimed rogue. While the disgraced former Rozvi Varungu participated in some of the intrigues during the early troubled days of the new country, its soldiers eventually left to seek out fortunes abroad.

Heid recruiting a fellow RhSAS veteran into the IMF

At the Eames Bar in Mombasa, Heid gathered the members of the 27 Troop, former ZAPNRA comrades, RSF turncoats, vanquished Portuguese Flecha and South African Recces, French Foreign Legionnaire deserters, disaffected People’s African Union fighters, East German Afrika Korps ex-volunteers, American adventurers, Umojan “black Kellerite” communalists, Gurkhas, askaris seeking promotions, U.N. peacekeepers gone AWOL, and mercenaries of all kinds. There, in the shadow of the space elevator, Heid unilaterally declared the creation of a new private military corporation to serve Africa and all its combatants: the Imperial Military Focus.

True to their name, they began operations supporting British COIN efforts against the Mau Mau, PAU volunteers, and WARPAC infiltrators in the region. Focus contractors reduced attacks on the Mombasa Spire for nearly eighteen months by combining delicate infiltration of terrorist networks with overwhelming attacks on suspected bases. Satisfied by the results, British viceroys in Nigeria next contracted the IMF to support local garrisons, establishing Heid’s foothold in West Africa.

For two decades, the IMF ran roughshod all over the continent. The Focus embroiled itself in Africa’s many wars for independence and internecine supremacy. Like future titan Morgan SafeHaven, they were one of many PMCs that grew in the Sahara Burst Wars. They fought for both deep-pocketed governments and blood diamond-harvesting rebel forces alike. The Bokassan Dynasty of Central Africa counted the IMF as one of their greatest allies against repeated French attempts to reassert Françafrique over the region.

But their services did not simply extend to COIN and counter-COIN, though those were their specialty. The IMF did undertake a number of covert resource acquisition missions, often led by “Admiral” Heid himself. (After seeing the number of grandiose self-imposed titles across the regimes he warred with, he once jokingly dubbed himself one, and the nickname caught on with his troops.) The SafeHaven Carthage Heist, where over $160 million in casino revenue was lifted from resort vaults in Libya, was almost certainly an IMF operation. Heid was also not above simple brigandry, assisting groups as varied as the Lord’s Refusal Army and UNITNAM in pillaging from better-provisioned authorities, then receiving a cut of the spoils.

“Admiral” Heid seizes a U.N. relief convoy in Sierra Leone on behalf of the True Bloodz Krew

At their peak, the Imperial Military Focus’ most renowned- and lucrative- contracts were from waging conventional war. But in contrast to SafeHaven, Iron Key, Excessive Occurrences, MacGrudder Bastion, Powell UK, Twin Cedars Trust, and the like, the IMF did not pose as a one-stop shop for military needs. They did not provide everything from logistics to heavy artillery. What Heid guaranteed was that his operators were a ready force of elites- instant force multipliers. And when deployed upon the battlefield, they often proved to be. Equally conniving and brutal, they aimed to fight smarter and fiercer than the competition. Existing armies considered Focus to be their ultimate secret weapon- by reputation, at least.

Indeed, Heid boasted that the IMF had an undefeated record. That is technically true. Mercenary historians have determined the Focus to be one of the worst contract-breakers in the business. There are no less than thirteen major instances where Heid declared a contract unenforceable, thus requiring the IMF to terminate their agreement and withdraw operations. The fact those instances were paired with less than favorable strategic circumstances is likely to be more than mere coincidence. These include the failed suppression of Katanga by the DRC, and their sudden withdrawal during Operation Golf, the failed French intervention in Côte d'Ivoire.

It's said in this industry that a professional must remain resolutely aloof, emotionally detached from all clients. I agree. I just happen to go a little further. - I, Contractor

However, scholars find even more problematic is the IMF’s tendency to break its own oaths and act contrary to original terms. This was first observed when the IMF greatly escalated the Great Lakes War by attacking Uganda, in contradiction to their mandate to support U.N. peacekeepers. Or during the Biafran War, when the Nigerian government was nearly set to wipe out the rebels, the IMF abruptly nullified their contract and accepted a hastily-drafted one with the underdog Biafrans. In the Ethiopias, there were at least six counts of the Focus switching support between government forces, the Tigray, or the PAU, depending on which side was losing the most. While this behavior has been derided as an unprofessional attempt to artificially prolong conflicts for the sake of sustained income, some have also suggested that Heid’s propensity to favor the challenge of fighting for a lost cause stems from as early as his sudden support for the Zimbabweans. As to why some losing sides are chosen and not others- “Even legendary warriors must eat,” so claimed an anonymous adjunct when asked why the IMF had deigned to fulfill its support of the failed Sudanese revolt against Egypt.

Despite “Admiral” James Heid’s notoriously erratic behavior, his company continued to be sought after for their abilities. They mainly operated in Africa, with a few exceptions: the Fielding campaigns in North America, in Centroamerica, and ironically, two occasions against the British - in Malaya on behalf of the communist MRLA, and in Guyana at the head of the invasion by the right-wing Venezuelan junta. But with the advent of the Unity project, they sought to bring their war to the very stars above.

Casting

James Heid is portrayed by James Purefoy as SAS Captain Gulliver "Gully" Troy from Pennyworth.

Jotham Matopos is portrayed by Delroy Lindo as Captain Wanta from Congo.

Notes:

Rozvi comes from the Shona term Kurozva, to plunder. It is the namesake of the Rozvi Empire, a former warrior nation on the Zimbabwean Plateau. Varungu is the Shona variant for Mzungu, meaning “wanderer”, used to refer to white people in Africa.

Mthwakazi was the ancient Ndebele kingdom now located in Matebeleland Province in Zimbabwe.

Mutapa, meaning “land” in Shona, also refers to the precolonial Kingdom of Mutapa.

East Germany did support African independence and black liberation independence movements with its own Afrika Korps during the Cold War.

[Trenacker]

A weapon from hell. For most of human history, thread was a guarantee of life. We used it to stitch torn flesh. The Greeks imagined fate as thread. To sever that thread was to end a life. But on Chiron, down is up. On Earth, the knife cut the thread. On Chiron, the thread is the knife. - Ken Burns's Planet: A History

As a practical matter, most of the weapons used by warring factions on Chiron were brought from Earth.

The shredder pistol, an old standby, was sourced from Unity's small armory. Stowaways preferred the "simple" assault rifle chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO or 7.62x39mm WARPAC standard, an invention of the previous century still unrivaled for its utility on the modern battlefield of 2071. Hundreds of assorted weapons systems made it aboard Unity or were produced from blueprints after Planetfall.

Chiron imposed severe limitations on the Terran warfighter. Soldiering in the higher gravity well called for exceptional stamina and a revolution in thinking about the capabilities of common weapons systems. Ranges for thrown and projectile weapons dropped precipitously. Trajectories flattened. Blast radii were relatively anemic. Shrapnel, and even smoke, were less effective. The stresses of recoil were worse for both weapon and shooter. Barrels burst with a frequency that daunted the unscientific. Wounds, too, were slower to heal: the low-oxygen environment discouraged blood vessel repair.

As effective combat ranges closed, some militias embraced melee weapons like the shock baton or the simple truncheon, which were issued alongside full-body, bullet-proof shields. Thus the solar-techs of the Sons of Ra were happy for the Spartans to "come and take it" when the two factions clashed.

Laser weapons were an obvious and attractive alternative to conventional firearms, but for more than a century, thermal blooming and the inefficiency of man-scale batteries placed a hard lower limit on weapon size. Like the bazooka or the machine gun, a laser gun was most effective when used as a squad support weapon, and remained infeasible for standard issue due to weight and complexity.

A probe team of the Chiron Guard drops into a Category 2 typhoon during the Vecchio Crisis. Despite miracle advances in trans-orbital flight, personal combat management systems, safety devices, and even weather control, these operators still carried projectile weapons more than two centuries old. This operation was a scrub. No record exists of their having reached Morgan Aquanautics, much less having threatened the Dauphin. All hands were presumed lost in the storm.

Filament weapons were an application of Gauss mechanics. The projectile itself was a sticky, high-tensile wire. This super-material, gossamer and shining but only 30 microns thick, traveled at the same speed as a bullet--about twice the speed of sound. Coated in natural adhesive synthesized from native Kholis sap, it formed a molecular bond with its target and proceeded to accumulate much the same way scrubpaste cakes on the bristles of a toothbrush when squeezed from the foil. The operator had only to depress a button or squeeze a charging lever for the alloy wire to take an electric charge hot enough to melt silksteel. This superheated wire coil would then begin a pendular motion that would cause it to become rigid and, in so doing, slice its target to ribbons. A great quantity of miniscule filament could be coiled in one spool and the requisite batter packs were about the same weight as a grenade, so ammunition was rarely a problem.

A Spartan Myrmidon with early-model filament projector in the ruins of Camp Winston, site of the Minutemens' greatest defeat.

Filament did have many drawbacks. It was a line-of-sight weapon only. Initial contact with the filament usually staggered targets but often failed to wound them, so an operator needed to confirm a hit and then trigger the charge, leaving them exposed to counter-fire longer than a conventional rifleman. The pendular force exerted down the wire became steadily worse until the projector threatened to tear itself from hand or mount. Fail-safes were therefore invented, but these severely restricted the length of time spent "on the spool" against any one target, and a slow-acting operator could "tag" the enemy many times without achieving a kill.

Sources:

Found the picture at UHD Wallpaper, but there was no attribution to the artist.

My inspiration for filament weapons was the webspinners used by the Eldar in the Warhammer 40K universe.

The power armor picture is from Fallout 4. This is a mod called Enclave PA, uploaded by user newermind43 to the Fallout 4 Nexus.

[Trenacker]

For what sells Morgan but nostalgia? The orphaned child knows no sweeter wine. - Our Secret War

To those who expected to make their graceful exit before the coming of the flames, why not fiddle while Rome burned?

Ask Morganites great and small, and they would say the same: the purpose of life was its own enjoyment. The tragedy of Ozymandias was not that he had suffered obscurity in the hereafter, but that, as king, he had wasted on monument what he ought to have spent on entertainments.

Morgan is chiefly remembered today for the empire he raised from nothing. But I don't believe he ever felt a pang of pride a day in his life. Oscar van de Graaf never lets us forget his turn at the political wheel. The Iron Governor took success at something he wasn't born to as validation of his worthiness for a dynastic inheritance. Morgan was different. His obsession was contentment. Pushing his way to the front of the line? Hoarding what he earned from everyone else? That was the apartheid system, not the real man. - Impressions

Humans will adapt to the most outrageous circumstances. The notoriously dystopian society of the Dreamers illustrates this assertion perfectly. Shared dreaming is a violence. The vault of a person's secrets sit open, and when the subject awakens, it is impossible to tell what was been taken in the night. All who partake are perpetrators, but also victims. Their adoption of facial coverings and costumes outside the Dreaming Dens is really no mystery: it restores the privacy that is essential for successful interpersonal relations. - A Social History of Planet

Source:

Both pieces of art by late futurist Syd Mead.

[Trenacker]

The control tower at Twin Eagles Aerodrome was returned to use only on the rare occasions that the New Two Thousand could not replenish the base by sea. To reduce the burden on his anemic budget, the governor sold flight operations as a private concession to one of the faction's stakeholders.

Heavy seismic activity caused by nearby Shaper terraforming led the new owner to favor temporary construction and exposed infrastructure that could be easily rebuilt after collapse. Critical assets like this pedestal were backstopped with structural isolation systems. These included foundations of free-moving rollers (essentially, shock absorber) and high-friction polymer ground mats to increase a structure's grip on harder ground.

Garrison militia favored drawing patrol duty in the exciting and dynamic environment of the tarmac even though it meant helping the skeleton ground crew to service incoming and outgoing traffic. Most aircraft operations were by New State VTOLs. It was not unusual for open-handed pilots to make gifts of rock chull and ice fish to their new allies. From M.Y. 79, for a period lasting more than two years, anti-grav dirigibles arrived weekly bearing the unfamiliar livery of a hooded lantern. Militia patrols doubled.

A dirigible of the Hooded Lantern in flight. These defenseless "heralds" made first contact with all survivors of the U.N. Mission to Alpha Centauri between M.Y. 65 and M.Y. 92. Joralamon Hardacre believed their occupants to be the remnant of the Chiron Probe's Special Analytics Lab.

By dressing a selfish decision in the language of information security, the concessionaire avoided encouragement to make a connection to the Twin Eagles network node. Every three days, flight controllers finished their shift by depositing a stack of data tapes with the base librarian. This slowed aircraft operations measurably since it limited the extent to which ground crews could anticipate the needs of unscheduled flights before they landed.

A shuttered signaling board was often dressed with fresh graffiti. Colonists of every faction were enthusiastic artists of the medium, determined that their survival should not go unmemorialized. The "BFR" tag was particular to the New Two Thousand. Her expectation of one day enjoying "Big F*cking Rights"--as expansive as freedom from indenture, as simple as having enough to eat--explained why a woman put in a hard day's work. It was a battle cry, too, to be thrown back at other factions that presumed to enjoy communal rights on Pilgrim land, such as access to water or minerals, or at the prisoners taken after successful campaigns of self-aggrandizement.

The Pilgrim loudly asserts his rights to everyone he meets. It is telling that these rights accrue solely to himself, never to anyone else. - A Social History of Planet

Sources:

Artist of the first picture unknown. Found in a collection curated by "Jeffrey" on Pinterest.

Dirigible found on Robert Jr. Geballa's Pinterest page. Apparently from the Golden Compass movie or series.