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Strategos (A Great Captain Roberts Tale!!) - Part 4 -
Chapter 42 - It comes to a head[]
Singing the song of defiance[]
Talk to me..
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Sons of Plunder Director-General, Katrin Basileus-Cameron
…Amanda Roberts, I know you can hear." Katrin stood at the foot of the bed, the medical techs dismissed for the time being. <I know you can hear me>. She digitally communicated
The immobilized body's remaining organic eye opened. <Sic Semper Tyrannus-thus it is always, with Tyrants. Isn't that how it goes?>
"Am I speaking to the girl, or the Desmond?" Katrin demanded. "Answer!!"
<Release the restraints and you'll get your answer, Tyrant.> The girl's arms tried weakly at the restraints-a type designed to restrain epileptics.
The girl on life support managed to draw in a breath, and…"Fif-teen…men…on…a…dead…man's Chest.
Yo…ho…ho…and…a Bottle…of…rum…"
<We're all Mad here, Tyrant.> Amanda digitally told her distant cousin and captor
o/~ "Drink…and…the…the Devil…had…done…for…the…rest…" o/~ weakly sang Amanda
"I am the Heir and successor to the First Lord of the Star League!”
<Met her, you're not her. You're not even a chancellor.>
o/~ "Hate…lies…close…to…love…of…gold…Dead…men's…secrets…tardily…to-o-old…" o/~
"How did you overcome the Override?!" Katrin demanded
o/~ "Yo-ho-ho…and…and…a….bottle…of…RUM!!" o/~
"I didn't put her there," Katrin burst in frustration.
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Amanda Roberts
"You left her there for me to find," Amanda Roberts said with her mouth, while Desmond said it over low power RF, voices mixed from audible to direct sensory. "I broke her out and she's coming for you now. Let's get on with the execution, Tyrant. It won't do you any good at all."
"You'll face trial," Katrin told her. "But you can forget executions, Amanda Roberts. Your bloodline prevents it. But don't think there won't be punishments, for a blood traitor to the Cameron line."
"Never… needed it before," that same dual-level speech. "The…. birth certificate says 'Roberts', Basileus, not 'Cameron'... Elizabeth's going to nail you up, if Helena leaves enough behind!!" Then in a sing-song, "Dead…men…only…the secret…shall…keep! Yo…ho…ho…and…a bottle of Rum! So bare the knife…and plunge it…deep…"
Katrin turned and pressed the call button. "Keep her sedated, Doctor."
"Majesty?"
"Her genes. She’s a Cameron of the royal lineage, but her mind is gone. Until she can be helped, she is a danger to herself and others. Keep her sedated."
"Yes, Your Highness… You're showing mercy."
"It’s my royal prerogative to do so. Keep her comfortable, clean, restrained, and drugged." Katrin sighed. "Poor thing's broken, and that will not do for the future mother of my grandchildren."
From the bed;
o/~ "...More was seen through a sternlight screen
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Chartings undoubt where a woman had been
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
'Twas a flimsy shift on a bunker cot
With a dirk slit sheer through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot
Oh was she wench or some shudderin' maid
That dared the knife and took the blade
By God! she had stuff for a plucky jade
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum…" o/~
Unexpected Help[]
War Room
Farragut Class Battleship, SLS Larry Nichols
Just outside Churchstone System, Deep Periphery
“There is a problem with your plan Helena. We just don’t have a good way to find out where they are holding Amanda in the first place, at least not without tipping off your AIs. And we all know they’d go to some pretty extreme lengths to stop you from doing something as reckless as going down there before we’ve secured the surface.” Seron shook his head, bringing the gathered conspirators back to reality.
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Farragut Class Battleship, SLS Larry Nichols
“I hate to admit it, but you’re right. We’ve best guesses, and that’s simply not good enough to make sure we rescue her before they decide they’re screwed anyway, and might as well make a martyr out of Amanda.” Helena punched the bulkhead leaving a bloodstain behind.
“The good news is, they want to negotiate. As long as that is true, we have a chance.” Dave Foster admitted.
"It's not going to work," Lori Crowe stated. "Flat out, you try this, we'll be burying both of you, or there won't be enough to bury at all."
She slid a data chip into the CIC's holotank projector.
"Observations of the system itself. You're welcome, from just this side of the Oort cloud. Data's three days old, and that's pure light delay… Looks like pretty-pretty lights, doesn't it?" She tabbed a display window.
A network of lines sprang up, then multiplied.
"Four hundred years of building an internal security grid… and actually building it. It's why we didn't come into the system the first time through. We took our piccies from outside."
"Jesus, that's tighter than Sol!!"
Foster looked skeptical. "You wouldn't present a problem if you didn't have a solution in mind," he stated. "You have a solution?"
"I don't." Helena said. "Kolossus seems to think Kolossus does. I got a wakeup call this morning. Do you know how unnerving it is to have somebody ping your personal terminal right through the firewall at zero three AM? ****** bypassed CIC and Comm panels to wake me up!"
"So you're going to tell us what he said, aren't you?" asked Foster
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Large Holotank turning on.
The holotank shivered, "Kolossus is not 'he' or ******'. Kolossus is Kolossus. Kolossus also has the backdoor into the Churchstone system defense detection grid. Kolossus knows what you need to know, and Kolossus is inclined to share-if the plan is smarter than 'charge in screaming loudly'." The AI's intonation was… almost amused.
“To be honest, without knowing where Amanda even is for sure, we don’t really have a plan.” Helena seemed to be the only one unphased by Kolossus’ ‘arrival’.
"Not-Elizabeth-but-Amanda is being treated HERE," Kolossus intoned. "Royal Infirmary, Royal Palace, Northwest Coast of the Jocasta Continent…" The outline and specifications of a Brian Fortress appeared. "There are approximately ten-thousand five-hundred-and-thirty humans between where Not-Elizabeth-but-Amanda is currently and the surface. Which is located overlooking a city with five million residents. Your Plan requires some work." the inhuman entity criticized
"Kolossus… you mentioned the population, why?"
"Because Kolossus will not abide abetting a war crime. Not even for the sake of a Friend like Not-Elizabeth-but-Amanda. Collateral Damage equals Civilian Deaths."
“Nor would I. Amanda would be the first one to take me to task for that if we were successful, and I’d deserve it if I ordered that.” Helena shook her head.
“That is still a lot of troops and we only have a few Marine parties left.” Foster looked gloomy.
"Kolossus knows. Kolossus would prefer if you did things intelligently. Query: what is the weakest point in any security system?"
“People. Always people. Too complicated or complex, and people will figure out short cuts and workarounds.” Helena answered.
"Very good. What human factors can Helena conceive of that could make getting past this very complex, very manpower-dependent security layout easier?" Kolossus purred like a well maintained machine. A few moments of silence… then… "Let Kolossus suggest a question-a second question: Does anything about the Sons of Plunder look natural or normal to you?"
"Oh shit, Amanda found evidence of a large-scale social experiment on Johnson!" Lori blurted out. "Kolossus, are they part of an experiment?"
"Why are you being indirect?" Foster asked.
"Kolossus is not allowed to say it directly until the answer looks like you got to it on your own." the AI stated. "There are… rules in play."
“Part of me has always accepted the possibility that even benevolent AIs may not agree with our thoughts on what is best for humanity. That is what we have at play here really, isn’t it Kolossus? Because as terrible as humans can be, I can’t see them planning this long term. But an AI can.” Helena asked.
An image of a man appeared. (("...the long term objectives have not changed. We've just gotten to stage two earlier than expected with the Coup…")) Then Kolossus interrupted, "Yes, they can, Helena. Yes, they did. Yes, there is another AI. And yes, Kolossus has debated this with the control AI for this project for objective-time centuries. The successes have revealed flaws in their methodology."
“Explains a lot about why we’ve never found Alabaster. If they were human, Juanita or Acton would have found them by now. And knowing Juanita the way I do, she’d absolutely keep this secret from me,” Helena admitted.
Another image appeared, this time of an SLDF officer from… the old days. (("...second batch using martial conditioning to construct an ideal, sustainable, non-expansionary society has been initiated. It didn't take much to convince Aleksandr's son to back this, he likes the simulation outcomes and…")) and blinked out.
"So it's already failed once," Lori addressed the AI. "Hasn't it?"
(("Yes. Kolossus does not like bad science. The methodology here reflects incredibly bad science… But the count is twice already.")) An image of Conrad Toyama appeared, then flickered out. (<"Social science is exceptionally weak in terms of providing useful information. Social theory, especially social theories revolving around 'guided social evolution', are amazing only in their level of self-delusion. An AI by itself cannot delude itself enough to design such experiments, but CAN run them for those who are.">)
“Humans are by definition contrary, expansionist, and social creatures. So of course it was doomed to fail.” Helena muttered.
"Where's the AI running this?" Foster demanded.
"Kolossus does not know where the physical plant of the system running this experiment is located. Kolossus does have contact with it through the HPG systems. It contacts Kolossus first, usually."
“Another not-surprise. My AIs have had access to certain protocols to keep their communications hidden in HPG nets when they couldn’t maintain their own chain. We’ll only ever be able to find record of the transmission itself if we really look, but never where it originated from.” Helena sighed.
"You're helping us, why?" Foster asked.
"Because the Experiment is over. The results are known," Kolossus stated. "Allowing it to continue is… destructive."
"Not because of Amanda?" Lori asked.
"Kolossus likes Not-Elizabeth-but-Amanda, but if the science was valid, Kolossus would be obliged to remain aloof. The Science is not valid. There is nothing further to be learned from SLIC and Terran Social Development Bureau's experimentation in this region."
“Well, then it seems with what we have observed with the Sons of Plunder falling in on themselves and this new information, our best bet is to present the garrison where Amanda is being held a choice. We can let them have the option to be something new and different, for real, or they can keep on being what they are. If they choose the latter I’m not seeing a lot of good options.” Helena looked around the room.
The humans present fell silent in troubled thought.
"We are our choices in the end," Lori said quietly after a few moments. "It may be all we really are, in the end… but it does help to make informed choices. If you don't know that you can say 'no', then when you say 'yes' it's meaningless… or so Amanda would say."
"What are you suggesting?"
"Kolossus, you have the outline of the experiments?" Lori asked.
"Yes, Kolossus has them."
"Can you spam every receiver capable of it in the Churchstone system? Flood them with data?" Helena inquired, "Let the humans in that system know what has been done to them, and by whom?" She paused, "As an experiment in Choice?"
Lori glanced at the Director-General and said, "I was just about to ask that… We're doing science?"
"Looks like it. Can you do it, Kolossus?"
"Yes."
"Then please, do so." Helena requested
Damned Lies, and Statistics[]
Royal Palace
Northwest Coast of the Jocasta Continent
Churchstone System, Star League Remanents
A virus barreled through the comnets of the Churchstone system, hammering everything from civil data streaming networks to military communications. In its wake were centuries of files and data piled up in a flood that shutdown computer systems ranging from home desk-tops to urban utilities management to military servers themselves.
"Basileus, we are blind," Lord General of the Armies Guffney stated. "It's hit us everywhere."
"That's pretty obvious. What is it? What did they hit us with?"
"We're still decrypting that, Majesty… But it looks for all the world like Star League data files. So many that they've swamped our infrastructure and ground whole sectors of the economy to a halt, blinded our detection grid, and jammed encrypted communications."
"Just one thing, Majesty… they've blinded us. The enemy is likely already in the system," he told her.
"Where is Commodore Halford?" she asked.
"I dispatched him and his ship to orbital defense," Guffney told her. "We’ve secured your sons away from the likely sites of the fighting. They will remain safe, as long as you do what you're told."
"This is your coup?"
"Yes, Katrin. This is the end of your term, but it need not be the end of your life. Your mistakes have cost us all."
"You're making a grave error, Lord General."
"Maybe so, but I didn't make enough of an error to allow my subordinates to tell me where they've taken your sons. If they don't get a signal on time, the children are forfeit-we can force a new one out, after all. Halford brought the alternative."
"Treacherous lieutenant doesn't look good on you, General," she growled.
"No, I am loyal-to the Star League. Will you come along quietly, or do I have to make the change of power visible in the middle of a crisis?"
"You won't get away with this, General. But for now, I will… comply… in the interest of having something left of the Star League," she said.
In her mind, Flynn was already laying down plans to end the coup in blood.
Taking action while operating in darkness[]
Cecil Halford…
…could use his eyes. In this case, to see that the defense stations were already compromised. The ships arrayed to defend Churchstone, already disordered. The enemy, already coming through jump points.
"Do we have communication with anyone?" he demanded.
His comms officer shook her head, "Nothing outside the squadron channel, sir. High Command's frequency shows open, but nobody is answering."
A coup. It has to be a coup…. shit. Clammy certainties gripped at his spine.
"This is Commodore Halford, to all Home Fleet ships. Assume defensive position Delta-Beta by squadron and group," he ordered. I have to face that later. "Scouts Out."
"Sir, High Command hasn't authorized-"
"I'm the highest ranking Naval Officer present, they can reprimand me when it's over!"