Thread: Marine's Lament (Mr. M & Marie Massacre)

Power corrupts, and the more power one has, the more corrupt one can get. Its not universally true, but its a greater force than most honestly anticipate. When one has power over a nation, thats a great potential for abuse. When its an entire planet, thats a staggering temptation. And when its a far-flung network of settled systems and colonies, all joined through quantum-tunneling gateways and ruled by a single small council of Governors under the auspices of the sociopolitical alliance as it would not do to call it empire in all but name known as the Interstellar Governance or IG well, that kind of power is only obtained by those already black-hearted and soulless enough to murder and blackmail their way into the halls of authority better than anyone else. Of course, corruption of that level cant be publicly proven, and even when it can, there are large protective systems in place. And even if evidence were to get out, there are very important areas where it wouldnt even matter. For example, large governments are traditionally accused of maintaining control and solvency through the extortion of the military most of the accusers being the disenfranchised and paranoid, but regardless. However, the formal military nearly always has a strong tradition of honor and loyalty, and likes to maintain the belief that they would refuse to carry out corrupt orders. Which is why military personnel are traditionally protected from the general media and fed positive propaganda. Even honorable people may serve a corrupt system, if they do not perceive it as corrupt. But for every evil bureaucrat and misguided soldier, there may be a freedom fighter. Or for every hard-working public servant and loyal protector of society, there is a misguided terrorist. It all depends on your point of view. The difficulty with controlling vast territory is that traditionally, people dont generally like to be controlled. And the more you tighten your grip, the more star systems slip through your fingers. Or they try, at least. Thats where the aforementioned military comes in. The rebellion on Davis Peak was much like similar resistance organizations all across the IG territories malcontents meeting in secret, trying to share anti-government information and perhaps mounting protests. Like a percentage of those organizations, the groups on the Peak mounted more active protests, such as sabotage and media incursions and destruction of governmental property. And like a percentage of that percentage, IG crack-downs led to a shooting war. It was a brushfire conflict, in the greater scheme of things, but the local IG commandants took such things seriously, even if the Governors didnt care too much. Thats why they sent in the marines in full battle dress. Ten-foot tall armored suits strode through the streets, onboard targeting systems painting any possible threat they came across. Just the sight of the huge armored battlesuits sent civilians scurrying, and there was very little that most rebellion cells possessed that could put a dent in one of their hides, whereas the firepower built into even one of the suits could have taken out an entire battalion of conventional troops. Thats why the guerillas didnt use conventional troops. Like any group fighting a superior force, they used stealth and trickery and, on occasion, a surprising weapon, when they could find one. Davis Peak was an outlying colony, the conflict upon it a small annoyance to IGs Council of Governors. No one could have predicted that the fight on the Peak would be a turning point for the IGs entire future.