WoWS3 Chpt 55

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==Weapons of War Saga: The Final March- Chapter 55 - ==
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===Mother & Daughter Reunion===
Star League in Exile Embassy'''
Tharkad, Lyran Commonwealth
8th April, 3145
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Even before Sally "Roberts" Cameron really got into the bar her mom had already wrapped her in a hug.
“Oh… thank goodness you’re okay.” Helena Cameron buried her face into Sally’s body.
“Of course. I’m your daughter and Dad’s too.” Sally said.
“Grenson? Wow. I didn’t even think about grandma’s maiden name.” Helena straightened up.
How much taller and bigger Sally was compared to her mother was never more apparent than in that moment.
“At least you’re with the Black Watch now. That’ll make it easier.” Helena reached up to stroke Sally’s face.
“Apparently I got bar duty, mom. So I need to get to work before the enlisted start getting cranky.”
“We’ll talk more later.” Helena nodded.
“You really don’t like your kids being in danger do you?” Amanda Roberts walked up to Helena.
“No, I don’t. I feel bad enough with what I’ve asked of Lori and Nathan. But Sally actually being in the service as a marine? That fills me with a whole different level of dread.”
“She’s good at it. Maybe a bit reckless like a certain Great Captain but she’ll be okay since she’s got good people around her.” Amanda tried to comfort Helena.
“I know. It is her choice and how she thinks she can help. So I try to accept it but at the same time I had to order my AIs and my staff to keep which units she was posted with from me so I wouldn’t hesitate about who to send on what mission.”
“That’s just you being a better mom than me again and yeah even with my own daughters I do get we’ll always worry as parents. But we also have to trust.”
“You’re making progress Amanda, that’s good.” Helena looked toward the door.
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===Greeting the Defeated===
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Khan Alaric Ward and his entourage were entering.
“As agreed, Mai Roberts. Unharmed and in good order. Freely released from Clan Wolf service.” Alaric gestured for Mai to step forward.
“To be honest I was certain you’d send her down on her own and start home after everything.” Helena watched Mai step forward hesitantly.
“Perhaps under different circumstances I would, but I find I have one last piece of unfinished business.” Alaric told them.
“They’re not for sale.” Helena said flatly.
“Haha, no. Your ships are clearly formidable but they are not what I am interested in.”
“So what are you interested in?” Helena asked.
“To be honest, you Helena Cameron. You have an ability to build a loyal base of followers seldom seen. I wish to keep studying you for as long as I can to see if I can learn your secret.” Alaric told Helena.
“It’s no secret. Loyalty is a two way street. I’m as loyal to my people as they are to me.” Helena told the Khan.
“Nearly four hundred years of insight and that is it?” Alaric scoffed. “I somehow expected more.”
“I suppose there is an argument to be made that I do have a knack for putting people together that compliment each other well too. Like right now a team of mine is getting ready to have some more fun in the dark of night, cutting out corruption and treason like a surgeon attacking a cancer.” Helena commented.
“Those who think you do not know how to play the game are clearly misinformed.” Alaric admitted.
“Enjoy the after-party.” Helena smiled as she walked to the bar.
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===Two Ladies cooking up hijinks===
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"What'll it be, mum?" Rear Admiral Amanda Roberts was in 'costume' today, Bar-maid costume, fluffy sleeves and an apron, hair tied back.
“Tea, Earl Gray, Hot.” Helena smiled.
"Aye, Mum." She turned and started the double-boiler going, "what anything with it? I've got a few options, rum, vodka, some kind of Gin…"
“Just some honey, I get the feeling I need to stay sober for this party.
"Fair enough. You do know the liver is an evil that ought to be punished, though, hey?"
“Oh yes. I’m on my fifth one. I used to rival you for tolerance.”
Amanda filled the pot, and set up the leaves. "Milk or no?"
“Straight.”
She did the mix and pour with practiced ease. "So Davion style."
“Utterly terrible but it gets me my caffeine fix without getting gassy.”
"Ah." Amanda measured out a spoon of thick, red-golden honey, and stirred it in before sliding the bone-china cup across the bar. "Funny thing about pretty men." She said conversationally, "You know, he doesn't seem to be keen on drinking with us. Oddity that, accepting the invite, and not partaking."
“Well it might be he doesn’t feel particularly welcome here.”
"Ayeh, there's that." Amanda nodded. It dawned on Helena that she was 'playing a role'.
“Out with it. I recognize that look on your face. You’re up to something.” Helena accused Amanda.
"I am!" Amanda confirmed, then pulled two tall steins. These were ornate, worked silver and steel, and filled with a frothy, dark, mud-like beer. She put them on the tray beside her, "Let's go scandalize someone!" her eye glittered.“Who’s our target?” Helena asked.
"Who else? The pretty boy who won't come to the bar. I need you to lie for me, you'll know when." Amanda said, and stepped out from her position, Harold taking up her place in an equally silly 'bartender' costume.
“Oh this should be fun.” Helena laughed. “Okay maybe I will need a bit of something to sell it. Harold. Since we’re on Tharkad, Peppermint Schnapps.”
"Fair…Harry, something for Her Majesty, make it Majestic." 
Harold nodded as he set to work making a proper drink and after a few moments he handed it to Helena..
"Harry? When did you learn…"
“I get bored between rotations. I’m still working on my flair, but I might be getting a little old for some of the more elaborate tosses." Harry told them.
Out from behind the bar, Amanda's costume was even more of a ridiculous stereotype, something right out of a holodrama, even.
"And here, everyone thought you were too modest…"
She laughed, "I am The Great Captain Roberts, there is no modesty!" she giggled.
Helena took a sip of her drink. “Oh yeah Alison is going to lecture me about this later. Perfect.”
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===Drinking Contest===
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Amanda carried the brews one-handed with a sway almost nobody who knew her had ever seen. A few had, anyone who survived Johnson had…
But there were very few from those old days, and even fewer who'd come to Helena's service in the intervening years.
Alaric looked surprised as she vectored in and delivered the two massive steins to his table.
"The Lady bought you a drink, Khan Alaric Ward." Amanda lied, "if you're man enough."
Alaric took the offered drink. He examined it for a moment before downing it as quickly as he could.
"And the party, has begun." she hefted hers, and matched him, before sliding into the seat opposite, "Another, sir?"
"A drinking contest?" Alaric asked
"Unless you sing while sober." she smirked. "You didn't come to the bar, so the bar comes to you."
"I have body mass on you." he said casually.
"I have decades of experience with being drunk…Majesty, if you can get our cups refilled by Harry at the bar?" Amanda suggested.
“Alcohol is not strictly prohibited in the Clans.” Alaric commented.
“On it.” Helena smiled.
"So you arranged to borrow my daughter from Sterling, and because she was raised in a Clan, she went with it." Amanda commented, "Now I know from experience that the name comes with certain baggage, and I would guess you know that most of the success that made Amanda Roberts famous, was a direct result of learning from the best-the Snow Ravens. Makes me wonder why."
“It is no secret I desire Terra and the Republic has tried to hide it but I would be a fool to not believe them to possess a fleet.” Alaric commented.
"You didn't trial for a fleet, you trialed for one of mine. I don't get it, there have to be good navigators in your Touman, or good navigators from any of the Raven bloodlines. Hell, the man who taught me most of what I know is David Foster-a Snow Raven born in the homeworlds, with his own legacies. Why did it need to be A Roberts, and why did it need to be Mai?" Amanda asked.
“I have the Wolf fleet, the Falcon fleet, and if your intelligence sources are any bit competent you know I am building more. As for why Mai in particular, look where I am, what I have observed. This confrontation was inevitable and you have given me a first hand lesson in how you fight that is not a legend or a holorecording. That is not without value.” Alaric stated
"Fair." she nodded as Helena returned with full tankards. "I didn't do anything we didn't encode into the training for the Privateers, Khan Alaric Ward." she observed, "You got one lesson, and it was cheap. Don't think you got the whole syllabus-Hey! Drinks!!"
“There is the standard playbook, and then there is how each individual interprets it. You have given me a great deal of insight.”
Amanda waited for the beer to be placed on the table, then, took a hearty gulp. "Your dropship commander? She followed your doctrine. That's why and how she lost, but you already knew that."
“Failure can be quite an instrumental instructor if used correctly.” Amanda observed.
"Some lessons get harder, Alaric, There are ten of your people who won't be learning from it, They might have been able to, but you sent them out blind." she met his eyes, "You had to know, we didn't keep anything a secret during the war about how to fight a ship, and we had Wolf personnel with the push into the Sons home turf."
“We of the Clans are no strangers to death, especially when it comes to training, learning something. Consider what the lesson to the rest of the touman will be from your confrontation.” Alaric stated.
"Hm. maybe." She said, "you haven't tasted it since the first one. Helena's money's going to waste…and that's not beer, that's Meade."
"Meade?"
"History, a drink made of fermented honey, honey wine, some call it. It was reserved in the ancient days for kings, and heroes. Not what I'd serve, but I didn't make the call. My own tastes run toward various strains of Rum, or Ale, or the occasional wine if it's cut with water-enough to give it some flavor, not enough to end in a screaming migraine." she folded her hands, "this was a sparring match, with rules. War has no rules, only casualties and scenes of horror."
"You speak as if you saw it yourself."
"Devil's Breath, Tresspass, Johnson, Grankum…" she listed quietly, "...ever seen a population starved in the midst of plenty? Worked to death, kidnapped from their homes, to be sold as sex toys? Because I have, I have seen people turned into things, Alaric Ward. There's a reason I spent so long away from everyone, and it's the same reason Helena spent her time away. We have seen the elephant, the whole one, not just pieces with fingertips and a blindfold…now, Allie thought the Homeworlders, who did many of those things, were moving on the Inner sphere as your ancestors did, it's enough of a concern that Trillian sent her there to seek out sign of them….and you're looking to pick a ritual fight with the Republic, while genocidal maniacs might be lurking just out of sight." she sighted down the rim of her cup, "Convince me you're the best choice for First Lord to unite the nations of man against the coming darkness."
Alaric gasped, "You are serious?"
"As an embolism. What makes an ilKhan a better deterrent, or reaction, to the possibility of the Homeworlders coming to deal out genocide and slavery to the masses, Alaric? What makes you the better option over Helena Cameron? Do you even have a strategic plan for if you win this?" she drank again, "What is your end-state, Khan? After you've beaten Levin's armies and erased Stone's legend, how will you keep what you have won? Lay it out for the room, you could win this war in a single night." she gestured, "we have Free Worlders here, and not low rankers, Helena doesn't even want the job, she's being forced into it by circumstances, Kolossus will side with whatever will preserve and advance the human race, and human culture. tell us a story of the galaxy under Clan Wolf. I think even Trillian would bend the knee, if your plan is solid enough." Amanda told the Alaric
“I envision a Star League where citizens are able to work where they are most productive, not waste away chasing some vainglorious mythical life in a job society demands be done but serves no purpose and are thus unhappy. Where the Clan Trial system is the norm rather than the endless wars of conquest and extermination. A Star League where people like Duke Diego never rise to power in the first place.” Alaric stated his vision
“And what if people disagree with your vision of utopia or say they want no part of it? What about your tax and tariff policies? Emigration? Immigration?” Amanda asked. “The big picture pie in the sky stuff is easy. It’s when you need to actually get down in the mud. Details matter.”
“So they do. But then what is Helena’s vision? I now find myself curious.”
Helena produced and slid a ComPad over to Alaric.
Alaric started skimming through it.
“There are thousands of pages to this document…” Alaric’s eyes widened. “It is much larger than the original Star League charter.”
“Yes. That’s how complex of a beast a Star League is. One built on rule of law. With proper checks and balances. Fair taxation and tariffs. Wrangling with the complexities of emigration and immigration. See I’ve had a lot of time to think about how to create my Star League. What it will be like. How it will serve its members but be just towards those who wish to seek a different path.” Helena said with a slight smile. “See, Alaric, I still think you and your Wolves could be a part of it, despite everything between us. In fact I think you very well could do a better job of being First Lord under those provisions than I can.” Helena told the Wolf Khan.
“Why?”
“Because Clan society isn’t without its merits. Just need to clean up some of the elements that are entirely too much like slavery and let the non-warriors have more say really. Humanity has spent enough time, effort, and blood on blasting itself into barbarity. We need something new. Something tangible. So that humanity can finally start growing up.”
“And if I ruled by these provisions you would just let me be First Lord?” Alaric asked.
“Yes. I really would. But I would also always be there as a check. To make sure you are obeying them. And maybe to offer the odd bit of advice or insight.”
“And the Republic?” Alaric asked.
“That’s the great thing about the new charter, Alaric. There’s no need for the Star League to actually be based on Terra. The capital can be anywhere. Terra is indeed a powerful symbol and draw for humanity but it is also surrounded by one of the most resource depleted, war torn, and just generally exhausted areas of space. But that is also part of what humanity must do, it must stop coveting the past but it can’t forget it either. It is time to start looking outward, toward the future.”
“All this power, all your talk of ensuring it is in the right hands. Words on a piece of paper or in a digital record will never ensure that.”
“True. The work of making sure everything is going as I hope will never end, and I imagine there will be times where it will be under great strain. But really that is my problem to worry about.”
Amanda listened, then, she stood up, "Entropy." she said.
"Here, we have two leaders, as you have seen tonight, they share a desire for the future, for a better future…but."
She took a drink, then continued, "the means."
"Good Intent means nought, if it brings bad ends. The means you use, as I learned over and over again in the war of Plunder, as any historian of the last millenia of mankind can attest? The means you use, Decides the end you have to live with."
She finished her tankard, "Or die from." she inclined her eye to a corner of the bar that gained light, images of the slain on display where they died. "The means, decide the ends." Images of ruined cities, of craters, shattered lands and broken worlds lit around the room.
"The Means, Decide, The Ends." she came around to facing Alaric and Helena, "So…let's talk means."
“Clan Wolf have not been mindless butchers.” Helena confessed, then she repeated, "Clan Wolf are not mindless butchers. I state this in acknowledgement." she gave Alaric a side-eye, challenging him to speak.
“Under my leadership they have not been. Our most regrettable incident in recent times was under the leadership of Seth Ward.” Alaric looked at Amanda.
"What say you of your proposed opponents, then?" Amanda asked him.
“I know Helena has made use of assassins. Sending such agents to stab someone in the back, preferably in the dark of night is not honorable. One should face their opponents openly.”
"Value judgment, Khan Alaric. You have two options regarding an intractable enemy. Option one, is to fight a battle that kills thousands, maybe millions. Option two, is a knife in the dark. Which means is more likely to end that problem with the least damage to bystanders?" Amanda asked, "Which means has the better ends?"
“I cannot discount such problems exist but we of the Clans are quite proficient at limiting collateral damage when we are allowed to.”
"War. Of. Reaving, hell, let's look at the reaving process." Trillian spoke up. "Is that the means, or the ends in play?"
Amanda interjected, "as the mother of one of those assassins, I'm biased."
“And the recent events of your own realms does not have problematic histories?”
"Who doesn't? Khan Alaric, I'll remind you, I'm an Outworlder, we still spit at the memory of Amos Forlough, yet I'm supporting the formation of another Star League, despite the blood soaked history of the last ones." Amanda noted, "I recognize the need for a governing rule of law, which you,and Helena both also recognize, though your means to achieve a just society…differ. My daughter, Felicia, has served as an assassin, her work has prevented two bloody civil wars so far, without savaging the lives of millions…thus, I am biased enough to step back from arguing the morality of Helena's, or Trillian's, or Julian's, or Yori, Nikol, or Daoshen using similar means."
“Which is my point. And as Helena stated herself. If we are too consumed by the past how are we to be judged fairly? Those events were long enough ago there are terribly few left alive in Clan Wolf who were there to see them, let alone be judged for them. I have accepted the Falcons despite their barbarity in recent times that many are directly responsible for because they do need a firm hand to guide them on a path of redemption.”
"What will become of the ones who lose?" Helena asked quietly, "warfare, is inevitably about a contest of wills. What happens to the ones who lose in the fighting? If I were to present you, Alaric Ward, with the location of a colony of Clan Wolverine, the 'not named', what would you do? Hypothetically. Keeping in mind your Clan still tests for descent. What if you found a descendant of Amaris, in the present day? What would your outcome be?"
"Is there one?"
"No. No, there is nothing left of Clan Wolverine." Amanda said, "Kolossus has confirmed their extinction, but what if there were? It's been literal centuries yet your Clan, looking to the future, seeks out any trace or clue, and is not the sentence death? Centuries after the conflict?"
Alaric sat in silence, clearly frustrated at his mistake.
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===Dueling Philosophies===
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Amanda turned to Helena, "Helena, what would you do if you found an AMARIS cousin? YOu were there, were you not? That day in 2766? If your fleet's scouts, found Amaris relatives living on some back-end border world, what would your action be?"
“It is easy to sit here in a bar and profess I would do nothing.” Helena said.
"Okay,, I'll play." Trillian said, directed at Amanda, "a Forlough, in this room, right now, you're an outworlder, what do YOU do? Present day only."
"He's just a guy." Amanda shrugged, "Dunno, I'd have to see what he's like, what he does…who he is as an individual, I guess? Maybe he'll be cute?" This drew a laugh from most of the room.
Juanita stepped forward. “That scenario is testable. But it would take some time to arrange. If everyone wishes.”
"The 331st was a North American unit, those guys left descendants, family behind… Alaric, when you get to Terra, your docs are going to go nuts with finding shirt-tail relatives."
“They would largely pre-date the betrayal then.” Alaric stated
"Didn't stop Breen. Everyone just got lucky that her hunting trip never actually got into the old Hegemony before she kakked it." Amanda noted. "I see a problem you're going to have to address and solve if you win there, because a Khan is elected, and if you said you'd void the ruling, that's your powerbase you're offending-it's a big risk. Helena, you've got a similar problem with some of the Lazarites, most of the rest of the former league too-an Amaris would be a man with a death-mark on him if it ever got out from Timbuktu to Filtvelt…but me, being a commoner? I can like or hate who I want, and it doesn't matter to the movements of armies and nations."
"Hardly a commoner." Alaric spoke up, "I know you are a Cameron descendant, Amanda Roberts."
"Long time ago." Amanda said, "it's why I didn't hurry out to get the Cameron name. My family are farmers, Khan Alaric…at least, the parents were and two brothers are. My kids might build a name for themselves, and it's no mark bad on them to have blood with Helena, but it's got to be earned."
“When it comes to the Amaris name though I do have one distinct advantage Alaric. No one has shown to be a relative of the Usurper for a long time. Without a doubt you will find 331 relatives.” Helena smiled. “More seriously though I know I can’t always make a popular decision. So if somehow we did find an Amaris? I’d proclaim them not guilty of their ancestor’s crime and make that clear to my people. I’m enough of a realist to know that might not be enough but my rule is one of law. Not tyranny or revenge. So I’ll just have to hope my people have heeded that message and forgive as well.”
"Can there ever be forgiveness?" Alaric asked.
"Forgiveness is always an option." Amanda noted, "Of course, there has to be a crime to forgive first. The innocent don't need it, and the guilty don't deserve it, but then, you don't forgive the innocent, and offering it, is a statement of might to the guilty-it means you stand above them, if you can forgive them. I've spent years learning to forgive Katrin for what her regime did, learning to forgive the survivors of the Sons of Plunder for what they did, but it's not clean or easy, and there must be an acknowledgment of guilt, and there must be an actual guilt there. It made it very easy to forgive your Clansmen for Allison."
“If you need proof, here it is. Standing before you.” Harold Thurston Howel the fifth spoke up. “I led the defense of Silesia for the Sons of Plunder. Yet here I am now in command of the Royal Black Watch for Helena Cameron. So yes it is possible to be forgiven for the crimes of guilt by association with Helena Cameron.”
"I..can not do that." Alaric confessed. "For the reasons you cite, Amanda Roberts…and because of the nature of Clan society."
"Then the answer to the question of war, is 'yes', after all." Amanda sighed, "but not tonight?"
"Aff." he agreed, "Not tonight."
"Then, let's talk about the kind of war, Khan Alaric Ward, let's set some ground rules, so that whichever side is victorious, does not leave behind an irradiated, toxic, disease-ridden wasteland and the largest mountain of dead since the first succession war." Helena said.
“I’ll even make it easy by starting off. You know I’ll fight by the Ares Conventions. Heck it wouldn’t even be hard to convince me to leave the nukes at home completely.” Helena stated.
"Objection, warships. We keep the limits of the Conventions-no orbital bombardments of inhabited worlds or cities, no weapons of mass destruction against civilian inhabited regions." Amanda said, "it's too obvious a move, and Alaric has allied with the Capellans, who have historically used nukes on their own cities to drive off an invader. He can't sign for Daoshen and expect it to be upheld."
"Clan Wolf will not use nuclear, chemical, biological, or orbital bombardment of cities!" Alaric asserted, "it would be horrifically dezgra, but I accept that you are making a sacrifice to forgo such tactics. I agree with the provision."
"Prisoners of War." Helena said, "The Star League in Exile, and our allies will not put prisoners of war at risk. We will not put them to labor, nor put them to fighting. And surrenders must be accepted. No shooting prisoners either. I will admit that some may wish to 'switch sides', but it will not be compelled, not by torture, nor threat of reprisal or execution. Can the Clans live with this restriction, yes or no?"
'Only if non-uniformed combatants such as spies or assassins are not covered under these rules." Alaric stated. "And false surrenders will be treated as the war-crimes they are."
"Fair." Helena nodded, "It's a pain, but then, we're not doing this to destroy worlds, but to save civilization-there must be rules of civility in play, and covert operations are covert operations because they are decidedly uncivil." She glanced at Amanda.
Amanda frowned then, "Yeah, it has to be that way…dammit."
"Trillian?"
"I can accept that provision…reluctantly." Trillian Steiner responded.
Amanda cleared her throat, "No Reprisals against Civilian Populations. I know it's popular for a House Lord to drop an RCT on tax protesters, but it's wrong to do it out of spite, anger, or fear as happened with Turtle Bay and any number of other incidents throughout history. Non-Combatants are not to be intentionally turned into hors'd' combat because some occupation governor can't do his job correctly. No more Forloughs, I speak for Kolossus in this."
“Easy enough.” Helena nodded.
“You obviously haven’t dealt with many such situations Helena.” Trillian stated. “But we will abide by these terms as well.”
"I grew up in a culture that remembers being on the receiving end." Amanda stated, "Kolossus views it from the observing end…and I saw the long term results with my own eyes during the war of Plunder."
“Such actions are unworthy of Warriors. Clan Wolf will agree.”
"Civilian infrastructure is to be preserved when possible, and restored as rapidly as possible in the event of combat in civilian areas." Helena stated, "For the counter-example look only at the first two succession wars, and the wastelands left behind."
"War industries are still valid targets." Alaric countered.
"Of course, but dual-use facilities are to be restored in the aftermath, as an obligation by all combatants who occupy territory." Amanda suggested, "I saw a city turned to vacant ruin and their citizens living in hardscrabble on Tresspass, Johnson, and Grankum, they looted the water systems."
Alaric looked thoughtful, then, "Agreed… restoration is agreed. I will not hold my warriors back if an opponent chooses to stage in a protected area hoping to avoid being defeated."
"Nobody with a brain would, if that exception weren't agreed to here, it would have to be agreed to later." Trillian observed, "Helena?"
“Civilians as shields will not be permitted among my forces. So, agreed.”
"Penalties." Amanda stated, "The winner can't simply ignore the crimes of their subordinates. Forlough again, that man set the worst precedents. Without them accepting what he did? Amaris wouldn't have been able to do what he did. An obligation must be accepted to investigate, try, and sentence war criminals from our own side-not just the criminals on the other side. Winning does not excuse war crimes. Can we all agree on that? I know 'might makes right' but too often the mighty choose to make it wrong, the concept must needs shift to 'might makes it RIGHT, even at a price to the mighty'."
“I seem to remember scolding a certain Great Captain and having to beach her a time or two because she was getting too close to the line. So obviously agreed.” Helena chuckled.
"So I learned." Amanda commented.
Alaric looked troubled, "That will be hard to impose on some of mine, but…the concept, the idea is sound. Dezgra conduct invalidates the victory, and the dezgra must be punished."
“My forces could use the shake up that such discipline would impose.” Trillian nodded.
"This is going to cause problems for your letters of marque." Harry mentioned to Amanda, "Commerce raiding is by definition, hitting dual-use…"
"Yeah, well, I knew that when I proposed it." she said, "I'm denying some of the best tricks I know, because this is that important."
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===Terms and Conditions of War===
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“Cruiser rules.” Helena offered.
“Not familiar in this context.” Trillian admitted.
“Crew must be given a chance to surrender their vessel, if they cannot be accommodated aboard the raiding vessel they must be safely evacuated to lifeboats or escape pods.” Helena explained.
"What about where safety is too far away?" Alaric asked, showing interest.
"I won't leave anyone to die in darkness and silence." Amanda said, "It's not right. I don't know about your people, and I don't know if it can be MADE a rule and followed…but my ship won't leave anyone to starve or suffocate or freeze."
“Tow to a habitable planet if possible. With the restoration of HPG communications a message can be sent for where to pick them up either way.” Helena nodded.
"Diplomatic contact will be maintained between combatants? To arrange things like prisoner swaps, or to enable peace offers." Trillian suggested, "It's rare, but it's probably better if we can do that. Saves civilian lives?"
“Agreed. I would be willing to trust Clan Sea Fox as a neutral arbiter if need be.” Helena nodded.
“Agreed. Their agenda should allow them to act without undue bias.”
"The rights of Neutrals…Neutral nations may not engage in arms trade with any of the combatants. Food, humanitarian aid, civilian infrastructure work? All are acceptable, but not weapons, nor participation in the conflict. A neutral steps over that line, and that neutral ceases to be a neutral…but not in terms of entering their nation, clan or polity into the conflict, because illicit business will happen. Smugglers, gun runners and other sorts will be treated as combatants…is that acceptable?" Amanda asked.
“In principle yes, but how we are to enforce that is going to be difficult at best.”
"Example; let's say that the Federated Suns is a declared neutral…and one of their shippers decides to run guns to the Republic." Amanda explained, "and he's caught by a Wolf patrol. He's liable to be treated as non-uniformed combatant, acting illegally, but…Clan Wolf must inform his home nation of his actions, crime, trial, and punishment. It goes no further than the perpetrator."
“But there is a problem with your scenario, there are many worlds through which such a vessel could go, many of which realistically that will not have a Wolf patrol at all.”
"We can't stop everyone." Amanda said, "I'm more inclined to focus on the ones we catch, than the ones we imagine. It's pretty easy to tell the difference between a shipment of armored vehicles or munitions, and a shipment of water purifiers or grain. If it's on a civilian vessel and your man has good cause to believe he's not running it to, say, the Taurians, Canopus, or Andurien? That may not be entirely fair, but this is war."
“And I’ll be real. I know I couldn’t stop Clan Sea Fox from selling you all the supplies you can afford. There are simply too many systems for me to monitor for that. But what I can do is the ones I catch doing so can be taught a lesson.” Helena nodded.
"Next part; recognized neutrals may detain combatants from both sides, if they violate their territory, for the duration of the conflict, to include armaments, ships, and equipment. The personnel must be returned at the end of hostilities, but the gear remains behind-this is to prevent one side or the other from exploiting a neutral to re-start the war after an armistice, or conclusion, is brokered by hiding their forces under 'internment'. Precedent is post Amaris war, when a lot of Rim Worlds units went mercenary with their gear after taking shelter in non-aligned states." Trillian offered, "this kept the fires of the first succession war burning right into the second."
“This could be problematic with the Combine but if they’ll agree to these terms I’m game.” Helena noted.
"Violating that neutrality…" Alaric proposed, "if a 'neutral' starts raiding, they become a combatant, if they raid both sides, both sides agree they are combatants-and both sides agree to hit them for it."
"Proof will have to be offered." Helena said.
"Agreed." Alaric nodded.
"Prisoners, once taken, are to be treated as non combatants by forces on both sides unless or until they strike out against their captors." Alaric added. 
"Kind of expanding on the 'no false surrenders'?" Amanda observed.
"Also on your own treatment of prisoners of war….and ours." Alaric said smoothly.
"A prisoner's first duty is to try to escape." Amanda countered.
"Escape attempts will be handled as misconduct, only those resulting in death or maiming merit execution…and then, only at the discretion of the detaining party." Alaric stated, "It would be illogical to assume someone captured in battle whom has not…accepted bondsman status would refrain from trying to escape. Humans do not work that way. In the event of such an escape attempt, and it fails, which it will…if the prisoner dies, their home government is to be informed as quickly as is practical of the attempt, and the outcome. Likewise for suicides or accidents."
“Acceptable.” Helena nodded.
"Non-human combatants." Alaric stated, "It is too much to expect you to give up your AIs, but are they treated as materiel, or as personnel? This question is going to be critical in this coming conflict. I would argue that it is not possible to separate an AI from their vessel without risking death or damage-I have seen holocaps of the installation of AI cores on Bonaventures during the War of Plunder. This must be addressed." He smiled wryly, "I would not have my warriors, or techs, brought up as war criminals."
“Shit.” Helena furled her brow. “ I really see them as people but as you note, their intrinsic connection to their hull makes this hard to answer.”
"Circuit breakers." Amanda said, "and station their guards INSIDE the hull when they're captured in a state intact enough to surrender. They should be kept OUT of further hostilities unless or until a lasting armistice, peace, or prisoner exchange can be negotiated."
Juanita winced, "Mothball procedures?"
Amanda nodded, "Yeah, drain the tanks and you can't move under your own power, empty the magazines and disconnect the weapons and you can't shoot, leave enough to keep the main power on and communicate with your captors, should be sufficient…though I'd ask that a proviso for repair be rendered under the same ideas as medical treatment."
“Remotes can be allowed on a ‘good behavior’ basis.” Alaric added.
Amanda inclined her head, "You tried to intercept Peregrine once, and Allie's signal was jammed, recorded, but not enough to keep…'her'...yet, we're making provision for people who don't have the ability to offsite backup."
"I was wondering if I should bring that up first." Alaric said.
"It's an Oliphant." Amanda nodded. "Don't like losing my kids. It's bad enough when they make it, like Persephone has, multiple times…" she reached into her apron, "since I planned this to get to here…" she laid four chips on the table, "Those contain the correct frequency, amplitude, and outline the tech specs for the necessary storage to keep an…an Envoy, like Allie or Peregrine or Persephone from dying fully the next time you catch one."
Helena looked at her in shock, "Amanda!!"
"Anything to lessen the horrors." Amanda said, "Those will even work on me."
“You put it like that and I just might pull them from the line.” Helena said quietly. “It’s been hard enough accepting them taking the risks they have. I don’t like losing family either, you know.”
Amanda sighed, "The basis of every agreement, is trust, and honor, your word must be worth more than your threats. Trust, Khan Alaric, is what those are-I'll say it again, with the designs on the table there, you could potentially trap ME, if this body dies. No respawn without an agreement. It's Kolossus extending trust to you, through me. Mind you're going to have to do some serious work on your data infrastructure to build the prison and signal interceptor, I'm not sure if your guys know how to make the materials for the parts, but it's here."
“I have kept my word as Khan of Clan Wolf. I will agree to make the appropriate arrangements.” Alaric nodded.
"Wait…'this body'?" Trillian looked troubled.
"Yeah, I've died before. I can say dying hurts a lot." Amanda asserted. "I can say it's bad enough I don't want to do it again."
"Um, and how do you go from…" Roderick Steiner looked a little shocked.
"It's in the files in those chits, I don't recommend the experience, it's not pleasant it IS expensive, and as the Wolves proved, it's not guaranteed."
“And even for me the process for creating cores that can house human consciousnesses is beyond my reach. So it is not something I can offer to anyone no matter how much I value them.” Helena said sadly.
"You are…functionally immortal, am I understanding that right?" Roderick insisted.
"As long as the signal gets back to Kolossus, yeah…but dying hurts, It takes longer the more complicated your memory is, the more real experiences you've accrued, and yeah, this is releasing a whole game-changer on everyone because you know someone's going to try and steal it, block it, prevent it, avenge it, or destroy it…but…we need a Star League. This is tech that Kolossus has, and pretty much nobody else. The Terrans don't have it, Helena has the concepts and principles already but she doesn't have the hardware. Building the hardware you need is a major engineering undertaking and grotesquely expensive, the industrial base you'll have to develop will take a lot of time and work-not as much as it took Kolossus, because I'm giving everyone here the shortcut, but it's gonna take a while before you can do it, and there's the whole question of 'is it me, or just a recording that thinks she's me' to overcome…but, it's this, or letting the Wolves kill my daughters while trying to contain them."
“Someone else will eventually figure it out given the chance anyway. The process to achieve this, has proven fatal in every case. It creates severe neural degeneration. Every candidate that has been uploaded in this fashion was a terminal patient as a result.” Helena said flatly. “So there is much to consider in pursuing such technology.”
"Your daughters…" Alaric commented
"That's a complex issue." Amanda said, "they were…born…as AI and only entered physical reality after. My future grandkids, if I have any, will be straight up human beings, no upload or backup."
“Priss…” Roderick said with surprise.
"Is still traumatized, Roderick. Kolossus said she is…she needs time to process what happened, and what it means, and she's happy you're with Lori. When she's gotten herself calmed down from the experience she might even send a wedding gift."
"The experience?"
"Dying hurts. On a lot of levels." Amanda told him.
“For the survivors too.” Roderick offered.
"I am truly sorry for that part, I should have told you sooner…but you might not have moved on as well, if you knew she was just eighteen short years from having a body again." Amanda tilted her head.
"Eighteen years?"
"Priss was supposed to live, Roderick." Amanda explained, "we didn't have a backup body for her, and minds are minds-the body needs to match or things go…wrong. It's why if Allie had uploaded, Kolossus would've needed to make a clone and age it to fit her, she couldn't just slot into something in storage."
"What about copies?" Alaric asked suspiciously.
"Not possible so far. We tried." Amanda told him, "The experience was almost as bad as dying and the results…fragments. My daughters are the viable ones, and it took me years to recover enough to…go anywhere, but that's tech beyond what I gave you, because the process is inhumane in the extreme, even Kolossus, that pure AI who does not understand people very well despite watching, won't let me try again."
“He’s not the only one who has had enough of you hurting yourself Amanda.” Helena said with a faint smile.
"Savashri…I know how you did it." Alaric's aide, a young woman with Technician's ranks spoke up, she'd been on the McKenna's Pride when Trillian and Helena had visited. "Pure intellect right? so …to make 'copies' you…you imposed multiple personality states intentionally! On yourself!!" her tone was a mix of awe, and horror.
"Yes. and it took me years to recover. I understand natural childbirth is less traumatic."
"Obviously!!"
“And you call us barbaric.” commented Alartic
"I did it to myself, and my friends stopped me." Amanda admitted, "I didn't do it to anyone but myself, and I am still paying the price for it." she put her cup on the table, empty, "I'll be paying that price forever, or until the power runs out."
“Petra too…” Trillian realized.
"She doesn't remember the process, that memory she's clear of…not so much being able to remember me as a drooling near-vegetable, unfortunately. Petra and Veronica were the ones that took it to Kolossus and made him make me stop trying to create a…a better me. One that didn't have my flaws or mistakes." Amanda stated
"A you that did not want to die." Alaric said clearly, "You talked about forgiveness, but I would wager you can not forgive yourself, Quiaff?" he accused, "The secret of your daring legend, Survivor's Guilt."
Amanda, drunk as she was, nodded. "Yeah. I saw them, I remembered them…twelve of us taken and only I made it out."
“And you are much the same. You clearly blame yourself for the Succession Wars. It is now so clear.” Alaric looked at Helena.
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