Life2.0 - An "Of Unity" Narrative (Completed)

[CBR JGWRR]

"Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma, Part 3"
22nd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Alexandra HaMaadimi​

I opt to wait for Gillian to finish leaving before I ascend, wishing her well as she goes back to her husband. This is our first time in public since Thando and I had our eyes restored, and our four eyes find each other in the crowd. I wear the bronze armour and red dress I wore the day Naomi offered me that competition to prove myself worthy of leadership; it felt appropriate. I nod to my sister-in-law.

Valerius looks at me. "Alexandra Theodora HaMaadimi, née Whyte, you are present as Imperatrix responsible for the defence of Unity. Are you familiar with the principles and laws with which Naomi is in breach?"

"Yes."

"Does this affect your perception of her leadership?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Several reasons. Firstly, the conventions are international treaties only binding on signatories to the treaties. Neither Life2.0 or MSI are signatories, ergo, they are not binding. Secondly, if MSI were signatories, their treatment of prisoners means they are in breach. The primary enforcement methodology for provisions of the treaties is not actually through legal means like this trial, but through the implied gentleman's agreement that if you mistreat our prisoners, we'll mistreat your prisoners. Legal trials generally do not occur until the victor decides to conduct them after the war is over, their own criminality minimalised. Thirdly, MSI as a Fanatic Materialist-Authoritarian regime do not actually care for their forces, with their standard operating procedures being 'you lost, so whatever happens to you is your fault'. Treating Olinbar well for the sake of trying to encourage them into better treatment of us is not going to change the fact that the best outcome any prisoners from our side can expect is to be used as Industrial Assets until they expire."

"In short, you agree with her actions?"

I nod. "Yes."

Valerius dismisses me, and my husband climbs to the podium. He is wearing the outfit he wore when we first met, and carrying a metal box across his shoulders. This box is where he keeps his most prized possessions; even I'm not allowed to see inside.

He drops his hood. "I am Thando HaMaadimi. Husband of Alexandra, brother of Naomi." He glares at Leonardo. "And this is my business."

He pours the box.

Dozens of officers' Parazoniums clatter on the floor. They belonged to Civic Harmony Officers. Military Commanders. Starship Captains. One to an Admiral. I look at Caeso, Agrippina and Valerius. Caeso is nodding respectfully. Agrippina is shocked, as is Valerius. I catch as Naomi finishes whispering in Buri's ear, and the beast bows his head.

I smile.

He stands on the blades. "How many of you could claim the same? I have fought MSI since I was twelve years old. I have a ten thousand Energy Credit price on my head, and I killed an awful lot of Olinbari to earn that bounty. Knives. Poison. Arson. Personal Transport Device bombs. Chemical weapons. Biological weapons. Nerve agents. Looted food, weapons, ammo and armour. Stole starships. Cut off heads to use retina scanners, cut off hands to use fingerprint scanners. Grabbed people with chloroform soaked cloths. Assassinated the son of a former CEO by accident with a sniper rifle that I must have killed or seriously injured fifty people to get. Some of them civilians who I took their teeth with pliers to get the information I needed out of them." He looks at Leonardo again. "One mans 'war crime' is another man's 'hey, that's a pretty useful tool'. And as someone who has busted into an MSI prison to bust out a comrade, they have no qualms about any of this either."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma, Part 4"
22nd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Grepp-Schnepp Rikki​

"Something that I wish to clarify for the naive among you-" Resist the temptation to look at the accuser "-Is that there are no rules in war. I am Grepp-Schnepp Rikki, Starborn of the Immortal Prikkiki-Ti."

I moisturise an eyeball. The Olinbari in the crowd go very quiet now my true nature is revealed for all to know. I choose a matter of fact tone. "Those who know history will know exactly what that means. You could ask the Ix'dar, or the Glebsig, or the Chinorr, or the Hazbuzians, or the Valtinese, or the Lokken, or the Jehetma, or the Kilik, or the Maweer, or the Repucid, or the Auridan, or the Unbidden. However, there would be a slight problem - we Prikki used them as fuel for our cloning vats."

I let the words settle. "Make no mistake; unless you are willing to do whatever is necessary, you will be a footnote in history. The Olinbari of more ancient times understood this as a lesson from those who ripped them from their world, and who now knows who the Minamari were?" I look at Buri. "Do predator and prey coexist? No; either the predator slays the prey, or the prey lives and the predator starves." Then I look at Naomi. "Human philosophers have long understood this - law is silent in the presence of arms."

I look at the Kyaese. "You know this well. You did not have the strength to resist, and MSI made you livestock." I look at Naomi, Gillian and the other Scarlets. "You did not have the strength to resist, and they took what they wanted from you."

I look at Leonardo. "Tell me, if you know - where now are Cro Magnon, Denisovan and Neanderthal?"

I soften my tone. "Do not mistake this for lacking sympathy for the loser. We Prikki too have known loss. My sister was murdered after living her life in belief in the lie that there can be peace when two people want the same thing. It would be a better world if I were wrong. It would be a better world indeed if the ideals proposed were the standard under which warfare was conducted. But implementing them can only be done from a position of strength to impose your will, and right now, you are not able to impose your will."

I sigh. "The chief lesson of the Prikki is the price we have demanded for our vengeance. Time immemorial ago, we were sealed beneath a shield because of our enemy's mercy. When we broke free, we ravaged the worlds, pillaging and slaughtering wherever we went. Eventually we stabilised into a traditional state." I look around the whole crowd. "If you consider us a race of monsters that should have been destroyed instead of imprisoned, then learn from our captor's mistake."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Dum Anima Est, Spes Esse"
22nd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Leonardo Veres​

I get a tough crowd as I take the stand. Gillian told me I would. But after she laughed at what I originally planned to say, she told me what I should actually say.

"When I left Earth, I took one last look at the planet. At the time, I didn't think much of it - I thought I would be going back in due time. I certainly didn't realise it would be the last time I saw it whole. And stood here, listening to you all in turn, I realised that the two last descendants of Yehoshua HaMaadimi had lost sight of what he saw. Naomi, you are defined by what you fear. You fear being captured, you fear losing your children, your new world. And Thando... Is that knife collection really what your great-grandfather would have wanted? He loved the sword for that it could defend, not for the sake of killing. I've already heard one quote of Cicero used today, but Yehoshua had one he liked more; 'While there's life, there's hope.'"

I look at Naomi; Gillian says she will be easiest to win over. "Yet, in the place his children rule, there's no hope. You've given up! You've resigned yourselves to being just like the world around you. Naomi, having watched Earth burn, do you really intend to be just as bad as MSI? Death leading to death leading to death... That is not the vision of Yehoshua. The man planned to have life from Venus to out past the Sednoids, and he only started at Venus because his ideas called for taking Mercury apart to build the light-harvesting equipment that would beam power to every chunk of rock and ice in the Sol system. He wanted a Mars turned from a god of war into the biggest arable farm in all the worlds, where fruit trees hundreds of metres tall in the low gravity declared what he truly meant when he talked of walking Red Mars, because he wanted a legacy of leaving the barren world green from pole to pole! He dreamed of Jupiter encased in a supra-mundane shell that housed three hundred times the area of Earth. He had visions of cities floating in the skies of Saturn, of Luna as a ecumenopolis orbiting an Earth left as a beautiful paradise world, the template of what he would have his children spread across the stars. He planned to house a million times the population Earth had at it's peak in the Sol system. And yet, you settle for making Life2.0 more of the poison it should draw out?"

She can't bear to maintain eye contact any more, as tears stream her face. I turn to her brother. "Where is love, Thando?"

The question breaks him as grief replaces rage, and he throws himself into Alexandra's embrace.

I look at the others, then settle on Naomi's children. "You are not a people of ash lords, slaves to the basest urges. You are a free people, capable of becoming more than you are. Look at Grepp. You took the same technology that made the caste system that defines the Prikki, and you made Ruki with it. And now you are rolling that technology out. That is the kind of thing I expected to find when me and my people arrived here. I figured we'd come, and you guys would be planning the terraforming of this star system's planets at least. Yet..."

I look around. I look at how many of them are carrying weapons. How many wear armour. I finish by looking into the eyes of the woman with sharpened teeth.

"...yet, I come to a settlement of hardened butchers thinking of revenge. Who think nothing of committing travesties, resigned to remaking the shackles they rose up to break."

Gillian told me there was one particular quotation I should say now. "Live for more."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Prey"
22nd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

It's cold on our little overlook tonight. I run my tongue up my husband's left sabre tooth, then nuzzle him. "Your mouth does have a much nicer scent for having brushed your teeth."

He runs the back of a claw gently up my spine. "It does feel lighter."

I nestle my head beneath his head, and breathe in his chest fur. He hugs me. "I love you Naomi."

"I love you Buri."

"So you'll definitely resign tomorrow?"

I place a claw in the scar through my left lung. "Yes, I need to recover. But also Leonardo was right about me, and Thando." I roll off him. To me it's pitch black, but for him... The reflective glint of his eyes tells me he sees me. "So, thinking of undergoing major reconstructive surgery, led me to thinking about changing my body."

"Oh?"

I place my fingers to his claws. "After what Leonardo said, I've been thinking about me and you and..." I fetch the tablet I drew a concept on. "Would you be interested in me looking a little more... Like this?"

He holds the tablet. His eyebrows rise. Ruki we designed to look more like him, but my redesign retains a lot more of me, just Xenayanised. "Homo Tipheret derived?"

I nod. "The body is. I'd be keeping the internal organs I can't survive without during the reconstruction."

"You've changed your pelvis."

I nuzzle him. "I want to avoid what happened when I gave birth to Ruki."

"Understandable."

"So what do you think?"

He throws me on my back. He comes so close to me, I close my eyes. His tongue flicks my ear. "Stop thinking of yourself as a consumable."

It completely kills the mood. "Buri?"

He rolls me on top of him, his arms weigh me closer. "I love you. But you need to stop thinking of yourself as an asset for consumption by your partner. When I look at this render, what I see is that into our marriage you've been carrying that baggage of trying to alter yourself for me, and I hate it so..."

He rolls away, sits at the edge of the bed. I join him. "Buri?"

He looks at me. "When you talk of changing yourself, I feel like one of the Olinbari who used you. I hate him for trying to get rid of you. But he was right about the poison sentence." He shows me the tablet. "How much of this is your desires? How much of this is a lie telling you I don't find you attractive? That you don't measure up?"

I sit beside him, at a loss for what to say. "I... Feel dismantled."

I lie down. Look up at the stars. He nuzzles me. "I love you, Naomi."

"I love you, Buri. What if who I want to be is attractive to you?"

He looks at me, and from his smile I know I am prey.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Resignation"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

Valerius invites me to the podium to speak.

Monica and Heinrich are going over notes together. Mei Hua is consulting with Li while her husband and mine chat.

Ruki sits quietly, listening to everything.

Rivkah looks at me.

As I face the next stage in life, I remind myself how I need to model how to lose for them too.

I look at the crowd. "I have decided that I would rather jump than be pushed." I rub the aching hole in my chest. "I am resigning from my direct leadership positions within Life2.0 to switch to an advisory role, and I will be focusing on my leadership of the Xenaya as High Queen. I thank you all for allowing me to lead these last ten years, and I wish my successors all the best."

Hundreds of questions and comments follow, all revolving around a single word; why.

"I have several reasons. As Admiral Veres pointed out, I've fallen short from where I should be in regards to how I conduct my stratagems, and I have fallen short of what my ancestors would have wanted me to be. In addition, I have suffered quite severe injuries that limit the performance of my duties, and I must focus on my recovery so that I am ready in the future." I turn to Ruki. I worry about him, the way he calls me mother... He does so because he's resigned to losing me. "And I want more time with my family to be a family."

I turn to leave. Daas stands behind me, opening out his shell to block my passage. "Naomi, when the rules on official misconduct were codified, weren't you the one who suggested that no official could pre-emptively resign if they were subject to votes of no confidence?"

I pretend that I forgot I put that rule in. "Yes."

"Correct me if it was otherwise, but I am sure you specifically said we needed it in case an official tried to escape due process by vacating their position?"

"Yes."

A tentacle pulls out a pair of handcuffs.

Buri bounds up behind him. "And did you not also say that such an official would have to be temporarily taken into custody until the investigation into their conduct was completed?"

I hesitate, try to think of alternatives. My husband takes my hand. "Yes."

I hold out my other hand, and my husband takes me into custody. His tongue flicks my ear. "You aren't finished yet."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Dreaming The Wolf Inside"
24th Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

I lie on the floor of my padded cell, although for now I've set the display settings to render the sky outside above a sandy beach on the walls, floor and roof; the bed is rendered as a rock, not that I use it. The washing of waves breaking on the beach is the only sound.

At night, my husband returns, sealing himself inside the cell with me.

We catch up. He tells me that the vote from the Xenaya has been held; I won. Humans tomorrow. Not much point doing more, there's recording equipment for monitoring the health and safety of prisoners, so we can't do what we would like to do.

No, he curls up, we entwine, and we sleep.

---

I'm still in his arms when I awake. I nuzzle him as I get up, slipping from his embrace; the way our horns have locked together makes it a little bit trickier.

It's early morning, and we are in a cave entrance. I look at the rising star as the light filters through; it's yellow, and warm. He wakes, and his arms embrace me. "I love you, Naomi."

I smile, and lick his face. We nuzzle, standing together looking out over a vast landscape of rocky hills and grassy plains.

We head down from our cave, passing through a light forest glade, picking up breakfast as we go. A lake in the distance calls us, and we run together. He crashes through the forest, his powerful body taking it in his stride. I nip and dive between trees and rocks. We arrive at the edge of the lake, and after we lap the water together, we get our fur wet swimming together.

Eventually, we lay together, drying ourselves in the heat of the day. Then I stand, and walk to the water's edge. He joins me, and embraces me again, his brown and white fur contrasting beautifully with my black fur. We nuzzle, then look at the lake together, looking at the reflection of the wolf and the beast.

---

I wake. Look over my body. Yep, still black skin. Still Human. But...

What if?

I render the me of my dream on the wall of my cell.

Buri stirs, his arms reaching to find me even before he wakes. The floor shakes a little as he yawns. He sweeps me off my feet, looking at the picture of the wolf-like me on the wall.

"What's this?"

"I dreamed of us last night, on another world. This was how I looked."

He pauses. "She's a lot more beautiful than the cat-girl render." He turns to me. "What do you think?"

"I'm thinking about it." I look at his face. Hmm. I was taller in the dream. I reach up, holding on to him, and I lick his face.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Righteousness"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Ruqayya bint Rahil Amah al-Masih​

I cradle my purple petaled flower, gently coaxing it's seeds into my hands. "The rampant secularism that took the old world captive must be curtailed before it's poison destroys us as it did them. The Holy One gave many centuries in his mercy to the old world, yet they exhausted those many years. He chastised them mightily, yet not without the hope of seeds diffused among the ashes - we are one such seed, a seed that must flower."

I cast the seeds into the air, high into the light above the freshly tilled soil within this temple. It's hemispherical roof was crafted with windows that highlight this spot, overlapping the gaze of the star. Then I place my flower into the soil, replanting it with it's future children, drawing the symbol of the Holy One drawing His children - all His children - together.

As the twin rings running around this building re-orient to point the way home, I kneel.

Naomi started well, but she has turned away, and now her trust is in the strength of her arms. But she has been shown the folly of misplacing her trust like that, and now maybe she will listen.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Ares, And Mars"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Ares One​

I step into the gathering, hidden as we all are by my hood, mask, cloak, and voice synthesiser. "Once, there was an old god of men. A cantankerous bastard full of rage, wrath, and violence. Then, others came, and put a new name on this old god, a new skin of a farmer who turned his hand to war for peace." I spit on the ground. "But this old god does not forgive, nor forget, so we must not either."

Someone steps forward from our circle. "The time to take the colony is now; Naomi is obsolete, this she knows. One of us must take her place."

Another one steps forward, with dice hidden in a bag. The way she steps gives her away. She counts us all. I am first to be picked. She counts out her dice at the end. She looks at me. "We need five dice each, so five is your number. The rest, add four to the number I called out over you."

She spins until she can barely stand, then tips out her bag.

Five ones.

They all turn to me. "Ares One."

Beneath my mask, I smile; after all, the game was rigged from the start.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Fanfare"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Monica Aus Heinrichstadt (née Greshaw)​

My husband and I return to Hortensus' Folly for the first time in what feels like a long time. Naomi's vote of no confidence... Is sadly deserved. There's a reason she couldn't reply to Leonardo Veres, which is that he is right. She's lost the moral high ground by resorting to the tactics of the enemy, and by committing the war crimes so brazenly she had to admit guilt.

I don't want to depose my former mentor; but for the colony to build a lasting peace, she has to go.

I don't want war. I want peace. And we can negotiate a lasting settlement that will secure our lives and freedom. That is what we must do.

And as I ride into the city in the... zxekhu... Whatever my husband's people call these beasts of burden pulling out cart while they dance and parade, I let him bask in the revelry.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Humanity First, Humanity Forever!"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Monica Aus Heinrichstadt​

I walk on stage to a theatre of only Humans. I breathe in. "Naomi has failed us all. She failed us by failing to support the PRDTC, even after MSI showed their true colours by destroying Nova Terra. I am Monica Aus Heinrichstadt, the third daughter of five children. And because of Naomi failing to act, I am now left with just my husband; all my family are dead."

I look at every individual in the crowd.

Just like she taught me to...

"I know I am not alone in that position. This leaves us one choice. All the others have options to go to. We do not. Unity is the only world we Humans have left. We should secure it; we need to take the fleet in orbit, and then we kick the others back to the homeworlds that they have. Naomi must be punished; she has constantly failed to put Humanity's needs as a priority, choosing to focus on wild beasts, glorified chickens and worst of all, allowing Olinbari to stand over us when they should be grovelling for their lives. Her duty should be to pursue every last one of the retreating Olinbari making their way to their wormhole home, but she does not. This dereliction of duty cannot be forgiven. It isn't enough to impeach her, or imprison her; her treason demands her life."

I show the footage we obtained from the security cameras. "This is her this morning, discussing making herself subhuman. She's imprisoned, and vulnerable. And I have a plan."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Redemption"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Ruqayya bint Rahil Amah al-Masih​

The Holy One did say to visit those in prison.

I think about that, as I see Naomi in her cell. I can almost hear Bernstein playing.

I enter the room; she still manages to catch the ball out the corner of her eye.

"Salam, Naomi."

She throws her ball again, her mind searching. "Ruqayya Amah al-Masih, right?"

"Yes, that is me." I adjust my shawl, then point next to her. "May I?"

She moves over. I sit. "I wanted to pray together, ahead of the no confidence vote."

She closes up. "I'm uncomfortable praying with a Muslim...."

I laugh. "You think because I am an Arab, that I must be a Muslim?"

She gulps. "I apologise for my prejudice. What religion are you?"

"Yasu al-Masih, is He not?"

She works it out. "Yes."

I put my arm around her. "We are going to spend eternity alongside people from every tribe and language, and we are both xenophiles enough to believe that others too will join in the chorus."

She nods. "Yes." Her eyes bore into mine. "Where do you stand on my relationship with Buri?"

I gaze at the render on the wall. "I don't necessarily share the extreme extent of your love for your husband. But, the Holy One only forbade outright relations with animals, and Buri is far more than just an animal."

"He definitely is..."

I take her hand. "Where exactly are you in your faith?"

It is a long wait. "Honestly, I'm in a weird place with God right now..."

"You believe in your head, but not your heart?"

"Kind of. I guess... I don't know." She sighs.

We sit in silence for a little while. Then weapons are at the door, as men in balaclavas stand at the entrance. "Naomi Of Unity, you are under arrest."

She deems it necessary to rise. "On what grounds?"

"Betraying Humanity in the war against the Olinbar."

She sighs. "It's treason then."

A man preloads a trigger. "Out of recognition of past-friendship, Lady-Protector Monica Aus Heinrichstadt is willing to allow you your last words."

She smiles. "I do have some words. Two actually. Phi Beta."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Great Escape"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

They die screaming as roughly a thousand amps use them as the shortest route from the roof to the ground.

Valerius contacts me immediately. "Your orders?"

"Complete system control."

I tap a few buttons on my tablet, and I am back. I then tap the wall in sequence. Sure enough, Buri and Daas put me in the correct cell; I start loading up like I'm Thando. Ruqayya watches. "Want one?"

"The Holy One is a man of peace."

"He also said everyone who didn't have a sword should get one."

She laughs. "Then He said one is enough."

I slot a sabre on my belt. "I only have room for one."

I hand her an oxygen mask. "You are going to want this."

"Why?"

I tap environmental controls. "Outside that door is vacuum."

She looks around. "Why?"

I laugh. "Daas and I came up with a plan in case we ever needed to plan B our prisons."

I tap the environmental controls again, then wait just a little longer to open the door; my sword ends the asphyxiating backup soldiers. Chest pain. Breathe. Go slow. "Naomi to loyalists; Monica Aus Heinrichstadt has just attempted to assassinate me. Civil war is upon us."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Phi Beta"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Buri Of Unity​

As two Greek letters appear on every screen, I am one of four people who know what it means; Plan B.

I turn to my people. "Our Queen is under attack."

Wami looks to me. "Then we shall rescue her."

I nod.

We start loading ourselves up. A Human soldier needs power armour to lift off the ground what we can carry; I never let Naomi see just strong we can be when we trained together, which was also because of the difficulties in manufacturing lifting weights big enough to actually trouble us. But as I put on armour four times as heavy as what the most heavily armoured Humans wore in the days before power armour - Osmium plates securing non-Newtonian gel - I smile.

And why not? In this, anything less than anti-armour rounds will only slow us down.

Even Thando looks less well armed. We've taken a few pages out the Kyaese book, and we are wearing enough guns to make him drool; our smallest ammunition is still .50 calibre.

Human bullets are too small.​

---

Humans have put Hortensus' Folly on lockdown.

But, I have fifty thousand Xenayan warriors armed and armoured like me.

My attack plan has three layers. My team are within the city; we will break out and cause the Humans to focus on us. That will buy time for reinforcements to drop a Rain on Hortensus' Folly, with a final wave of reinforcements of mixed quality to travel overland and answer the summons to defend their Queen.

I open the barracks door.

For a Human, it is pitch black - Naomi's Plan B takes out all lighting by remote detonation of explosives in power distribution nodes across the city. The Humans will take days to figure out how to repair what we can fix in a few minutes.

For us?

It's dim, but enough to fight in. Especially because they weren't expecting this; they are using torches to light the way. Our Humans will at least have night vision gear, and Valerius will have briefed loyalist Humans to get the hell out of the capital building.

We make our way to the command centre in the vaults beneath. By the time we get to the door, a few Humans have died from being eaten alive while their comms were running - we just shot the ones who weren't talking.

I bang on the door. I could open it, I have my wife's access code, but I want them to know we've come for them first. "Lay down your weapons, or we will eat you."

No reply. Oh well.

The door slides open; they've formed a firing line, but I only get hit by small arms fire by the time I have leapt from the door into them. One man screams where he got impaled on a horn. I gore another so that my head is balanced again. The shock of the assault breaks their formation, and soon the Humans are either cowering or dead.

Unfortunately, one of the latter is their commanding officer. No sign of the "Lady-Protector".

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Directions"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Valerius Albanius​

Naomi's husband is drenched in blood. "Command centre taken. Where is my wife? Where are my children?"

"Naomi is still in the prison. Your children are with Titus Marius."

"Good. I'll go to the prison."

"Unfortunately, the Lady-Protector has captured Daas and Vorosh."

He tilts his head back thoughtfully. "Daas I can sort of see, but capturing Vorosh?"

"Tranquiliser dart."

He scowls. "Very well. Who's on rescuing Naomi?"

"Alexandra and Thando. Titus has offered to drop off Rivkah to assist rescuing Daas and Vorosh."

"Can't me and Rivkah rescue Naomi and Alexandra and Thando rescue Daas and Vorosh?"

"Once Vorosh wakes, she'll be infuriated. We don't want allied Humans near her."

"Fair point. When can Rivkah be here?"

I send a message to Titus. "Ten minutes, I'll direct him to you. And Buri..."

"Yes?"

"You might want to remove the head decorations."

He doesn't reply. I hail Naomi. She responds, leaning on a wall. "How's things?"

"Buri has retaken the command centre, I've assigned him to rescuing Daas and Vorosh. Rivkah is meeting him en-route."

"Who's helping me?"

"Alexandra and Thando, plus the combat-capable Scarlets."

"Ok Valerius, see you soon."

She hangs up. I start hailing the next redirect when I feel a gun to my head. A cold voice comes from behind me. "Hello Valerius."

"Monica."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Overwatch Down"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Valerius Albanius​

I turn slowly.

Monica has bleached her hair to blonde like her husband's, and wears what I think is Gothic plate armour. I might be mistaken though. What I can't mistake is the pistol pointed at my forehead. I sigh. "You need me alive in order to get the negotiated settlement with MSI you want."

"We can handle that."

I snort. "Really? You start executing the colony's Olinbari and MSI is going to wonder where we went. We have beaten one fleet, and Naomi is letting Appia go because she's agreed to reform. You make them take the hard option and they'll lease a mercenary fleet, put Sharpbeak in charge and he won't be coming to accept a surrender."

She laughs. "You'll need to do better than this Valerius."

"I was also Appia's boyfriend once. We're still on good terms."

"Then why did you break up?"

I hesitate. "She leased Naomi, and dumped me afterwards."

She convulses with laughter. "Oh Valerius, I will miss the way you make me laugh." She rams the pistol against my head. "But your attempt to avoid your fate is not going to work."

I kick her in the crotch with my steel toe cap boots. I think I break a toe or two, the pain is severe, but she bends away; I grab her hand, try to grab the pistol, but she's in armour - a plated fist smashes my face.

Suddenly there's two Monicas.

My eyes are going red.

I can't see the pistol, barely see her. I try to flail, but she bends my arm backwards, it's agony. She pounds me, hits my stomach, punches my chest, I bite my tongue when she smashes my jaw as I bend.

I meet an armoured knee cap as I fall to the floor.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Valerius..."
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

I pause for a moment and answer the hail. "Valerius?"

It isn't Valerius. I'm looking at Monica, and blood is on her hands. Until she wipes it off on his robe. "I have broken your guide."

I stare blankly. His jaw is broken, massive gash. on his forehead. "Valerius?"

She stands, and walks away, stopping at the door. "Is it true, what he said about you and Appia?"

"Yes."

She doesn't reply. I stare at his body. I don't want him to be dead. I don't want his last moments to have been a fistfight... He would never have stood a chance with his motor neuron degeneration illness.

Ruqayya looks over my shoulder. "What's happening?"

"Monica just killed Valerius. Damn it!"

Ruqayya drops to face down on the floor. She prays several sentences in Arabic, her urgency increasing with each passing line.

I lie down beside her. I wish Mum had taught me more about what I'm supposed to do here... "God. Hi. Um, I... need Valerius back from the dead. Please? Thank You." Oh. "Amen."

Ruqayya is still praying.

I feel so awkward.

Eventually, she stops. We get up. She puts her arms around me. "Inshallah."

We keep moving.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Valerius' Farm"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Titus Marius steps out the shuttle first. We can't get a reply from Valerius. Titus has got a bad feeling about this, so we're checking on him. He's been visiting his smallholding while Naomi's in prison.

Things are definitely wrong - his door is open, and his chickens are squawking with what I think are alert squawks. Ruki imitates them in an effort to understand them.

Me and Titus head inside; weapons first, we follow the trail of open doors.

We find him.

Titus shouts first. "Ruki medi-pack, now!"

Ruki sprints to the shuttle, while Titus begins first aid.

Valerius...

He's been beaten, badly; whoever it was wore armour, their glove has left marks in several places. Not quite sure what made the gash on his head.

Ruki returns. Titus takes the pack, first running a scanner over Valerius. "He's not yet dead, but something like a coma. Children, you go call for help. Someone you trust. I'm going to work on Valerius."

We go outside. We hope Valerius recovers. Ruki calls the Holocron. I however...

"Hi Dad. We're with Valerius."

"Mum says Monica has killed him?"

I look back inside. "Titus is treating him, says he's in a coma."

"They wake up eventually. Monica is careless. It seems like the woman has never fought, she's been making many mistakes. Her forces are not well trained or coordinated."

"Could it be a trap?"

"If she's anything like Naomi, yes. Are you safe?"

"We're behind schedule. But yes."

"Good. See you soon, I am about to fight to rescue Daas and Vorosh. Mum is still breaking out of prison. I love you. Tell Ruki I love him."

We head back inside. Valerius has been given a blood transfusion and bandages, and Titus is running some medical tech over Valerius' head. I start to worry about my parents again, they're getting too old for this...

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Destiny"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

I stop to rest again. "What do you mean when you say Inshallah anyway?"

"It means God willing."

"I know that. It's one of the few Arabic words I do know... But what do you mean by it?"

She sits beside me. "Naomi, have you ever wondered just how often you've scraped through things that you objectively shouldn't have? The Holy One is favouring you, providence itself guiding you to a destiny of victory. You don't need the Prikki, or the Arishkan. You just need faith."

I curl a little. "You don't really understand..."

"Try me."

"Where was God when... When Mum was killed? When I was sold into slavery? When I was being mercilessly raped? Did I not have enough faith?" I start to cry.

She puts her arm around me. "I don't know what these things were like for you, but the Holy One held you. Preserved you for such a time as this."

I sob as I think of when my husband said something similar. "Buri once said I was God's choice to lead this people."

"Yes. Which does contribute to why I'm gently prodding you here."

"You think I'm off course?"

"We both know these peoples need more than the Materialism of MSI."

"True. But I'm wary of trying to impose religion on them, it just leads to false converts and a dead belief system. We know that."

"You've followed a process of establishing centres of religious study and debate, and left people to decide for themselves. You should at least codify an orthodoxy."

I shudder. "That's really not my place... Maybe one day it will be Rivkah's, but it isn't mine. We Humans have disqualified ourselves through all the bloodshed down the centuries in the name of God."

"What would it take to convince you otherwise?"

I sigh. "I don't know. If the writer of this story wants me to do that, I need a lot more than plot armour and hints."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Fireball"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Buri Of Unity​

Finding Daas and Vorosh is easy - we get out the capital building to find the late evening is lit up like day, and people are fleeing. We follow the screams.

We come to a burning intersection.

Suddenly I understand why MSI had their lackeys on her world purge the mages. She is a miniaturised star, sending torrents of searing white scream at enemy positions. I look at the scanner Wami is using. "Fusion?"

The machine sounds like it is having a fit when he puts the audio on. "Yeah, we... Don't want to be this close."

I think it through. She is utterly furious. That might be the tempest beneath her calm depths unleashed, or, someone has killed her husband and she's letting loose in grief. Either way, finding Daas is the priority.

A man is reduced to just a shadow seared on the path. "Vorosh doesn't need rescuing, let's find Daas."

We navigate around.

They were at the café Alexandra and Thando like when all this started, so we follow the road around, grateful for my wife's city planning making the roads wide enough for a herd of Xenaya in war gear.

We get inside.

Daas is stood with an empty injector. "What did you do?"

"Monica's forces shot Vorosh with a tranquilliser first, then started shooting, I crawled away as civilians returned fire with their own weapons. I had no idea what the right dosage would be so I put the whole injector full of adrenaline into her to wake her up."

I quote my wife. "Goryhell. No wonder she's gone mad."

"How bad?"

Wami hands him the scanner. He cycles the settings. "I may have made a mistake."

I rest my hand on him. "My friend, you have royally-"

Wami hits my shoulder. "She's here."

Vorosh comes this way, melting buildings as she passes. I pick up Daas.

"Buri!"

"You're the bait, we have to get her out of the city!"

"Oh, heck."

I wave him at the star.

That was a mistake.

That was really a mistake.

Run.

Run faster.

She's closing...

I can't run fast enough while on two feet. I look at Daas.

He realises. "Plan B?"

"Plan B."

The key thing about being chased is that you don't have to run faster than what is chasing you, only faster than your friend.

I throw him behind me, then sprint as day turns to twilight.

I turn. Daas and Vorosh are embracing, but I'm looking at the glass road behind them...

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Prison Break"
23rd Qutrok, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

With Valerius dropped off at a military hospital, Ruki and I go to meet up with Dad. It's nightfall, and he's preparing to assault the prison. Monica has decided to make a last stand there, planning to capture Mum.

Who's still inside. Which is odd, given she has complete control.

I join the briefing area.

Dad is really easy to find - he's the only one wearing two Humans.

"Dad, you ought to take them off. What will Mum think?"

He shrugs. I lift them off. They are messes of congealed blood sticking to Dad's horns, drained down into his fur... Dad is going to need a really good clean after all this.

I'm not doing it. Instead, I join Wami. He is analysing the prison.

Mum and Daas designed the prison, and it shows.

While it wasn't quite designed as a fortress, they didn't stop too far short of one. It's a maze of separately controlled environmental system sections, airlocks, access shafts, prison cells and secret armouries, with cooling pipes from Hortensus' Folly's main nuclear power plant running through; push a button to redirect the flow and you can make a few sections at a time boiling hot really quickly. You can swap atmospheres too - there are reservoirs of sulphuric acid, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, oxygen, methane, normal air and water.

In short, Monica can make a decent stand there, if she can get to Mum and take her tablet.

Wami looks at me. "My biggest worry is your mother accidentally thinking we are hostile."

"Agreed."

"Sending only environmental suits seems a reasonable precaution."

"Hmm. I think that's what the acid is for dealing with."

"Which others are dangerous?"

"Methane and oxygen are a fire hazard. Carbon monoxide puts you to sleep and poisons you. Water can be drowned in. Pure oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure is toxic."

"What doesn't react with sulphuric acid? Is there time to coat suits with it too?"

I call my chemist. "Thando, what doesn't react with sulphuric acid?"

"Hmm... Why? What do you need it for?"

"Breaking into Mum's prison."

"Ah."

"What do you suggest?"

"Tungsten shields, and running. Do not let it touch you."

"How bad is it?"

"Corrodes flesh, and it's exothermic too, leaves nasty burns. It'll tear your internal organs apart if drunk, and say goodbye to your eyes if it gets in them."

No wonder Mum used it for this. "Ok uncle Thando. We've got osmium armour; any good?"

"Should be fine, even if it is a rather extravagant use of the metal."

"And any joy finding Mum?"

"Still looking."

He hangs up.

Wami has drawn his plans out on the map. He looks at me. "Thando says we should be ok."

"Then let's move."