State of
2002 short story by Jonathan
Hicks Thirty-eight
years after Episode IV – A New Hope Two months after the Fall of
Chancai FROM: Fleet
Commander CATHUM, Zelon System, Setnin Sector
TO:
Prime Lord ATHEUS, Fedarn System, Ki-Ki Sector SCRAMBLE
CODE: 867GHDUE8830 CAPSULE:
Progress Report, Setnin Sector Occupation Forces My Lord, I hope this communication
finds you in the best of health and that all in the home sector is well. It has been two months now
since our successful occupation of the Yatchrare System, home system of Zelon
and capital of the Setnin Sector and, although there have been some problems,
all appears to be going smoothly. First of all, I must report
that the subjugation plans drawn up by your House Barons have been, by and
large, ignored. Hostages and prisoners have not helped our situation and
caused more distress than order. Our purpose now is to bring the citizens of
the sector in line and ruling through fear is effective but impossible due to
the lack of equipment and manpower we now have. Once again I must ask that
more personnel and supplies be shipped to the central occupation zone so that
the heart of the troubles can be addressed. You will be pleased to hear
that nearly all of the remaining worlds within the Setnin Sector have sent us
their formal acceptance of our presence within their borders. In some cases
they surrendered outright. Now that we are in control of their financial
centre, their government facilities and their main trade routes they realise
that any future transgression would be futile. It has been an easy affair as
the Zelon Wave Exchange enables us to send pictures of our victory here,
which helps much with our persuasion techniques. Once they see what has
happened to their beloved, and ‘impregnable’, capital, they are more than
willing to bow to our demands. There are some dissidents, the ‘last stand’
types, but they pose no real threat and can be dealt with in time. The citizens of Chancai have
now returned to help rebuild their shattered city. We have work groups
toiling night and day to have the city prepared for your visit, but we are
behind schedule and I must ask that any arrival be delayed until the area is
completed. I do not ask this from the point of view of one who wishes
everything to be pristine for his Prime Lord – although this is a major
factor – but there are security issues that must be
addressed before any dignitary of major importance should be allowed to land.
Only when the city is back to its former glory and all issues have been
tackled will I be comfortable with the safety of my Prime Lord. This stems
from what appears to be a raiding/terrorist party of soldiers left over from
the assault. They disrupt comings and goings, destroy equipment and otherwise
harass our men. Personnel have taken to calling them ‘The Shadows’ but I have
discouraged nicknaming a group of desperate men trying to live the old glory
of their sector. Besides, I would rather our professional soldiers not give
their enemy such ridiculous sounding titles. Fleet Commander Dagger has been
spending the last few days travelling between the primary occupation worlds
and making sure that all is well. There has been no word of dissent from
these planets and it appears that occupation forces are doing nothing more
than a policing action in already suppressed areas. With that as a factor, I
would like to repeat my request for more personnel to be re-directed to the
central occupation zone, Chancai in particularly, to help with the situation. I can happily report that
Fleet Commander Dagger has performed extremely well during this entire
invasion/occupation. From Prime Warrior to Hero of the People, to Fleet
Commander – one being has never accomplished so much in a whole lifetime! His
ability as a commanding officer and the respect the men give him is a credit
to our military. One the other side of the
credit, there is also Fleet Commander Brotus, who has recently returned to
active duty after his brief ‘personal leave’. What I mean by this is that he
spent weeks chasing individuals who are not important in the scheme of our
invasion for nothing more than petty revenge. He embarrassed the military and
turned himself into the stereotype we have been
trying to avoid this whole invasion – the archetypal ‘evil invading soldier’
image. This endeavour has also cost him both of his arms, one of which has
been replaced by a synth-skin cyborg copy, the
other a hideous claw device, which was all that was at hand at the time.
Coupled with the scars that are so visible, even when he is in uniform, he
does not present a very good image. He is also the proponent of the ‘rule by
force’ plan set out by your House Barons. I can only advise you of this –
Fleet Commander Brotus is unfit for duty, has abused his position and must be
removed from the force and returned to the capital at the earliest possible
opportunity. As you have already been
informed, the Bank of Zelon has been completely cleared out which has caused
a financing problem here in the centre of the occupation zone. All other
occupied worlds containing branches have been cleared and the credits are
being shipped to us but I fear it will not be enough. Much of the invasion
program relied on the money taken from these vaults, the central bank on
Zelon being the prize above all. I think it is time for our Allies in this
war to stop talking support and physically give it. We have a great war
machine here, but the wheels are greased by credits and I feel that grinding
to a halt now, after we have achieved victory, would be an ironic fate indeed. Sheu Ho-Travi, former Policy
Advisor to the Galactic Federation, has now been inaugurated as Governor of
Chancai, Overseer of the Central Zone and Pro Consul of the Occupied Worlds.
A bad choice, my Lord, if I may be permitted to speak clearly. He has taken a
wife (Ambassador Klite, no less) and together they live in opulence in the
upper reaches of the Chancai Trade Centre. It appears that the Fleet
Commanders have been left to deal with the aftermath of this crusade and Sheu
Ho-Travi, whilst I adhere to the fact that he was instrumental in keeping the
Galactic Alliance out of the war, does little to address the problems we
still have. He is already talking of bringing in slaves, perhaps making some
of the citizens here - I do not think the liberal minds of the Setnin
citizens are ready for our ways yet, and such things should be introduced
slowly. He has also talked of turning the Hardball Stadium here into a
fighter’s arena. I must stress that things are still in turmoil here and such
activities will only serve to create more tension. You will be pleased to hear
that the flagship ‘Fedarn’s Shining Beauty’ has now been broken down from the
disgusting mess of command globes that it had been turned into and returned
to its former grace. The vessel will be returned to you within one standard
week for state use. The flagship to replace it has not been decided upon, but
I will send you performance reports of all major capital vessels so that the
decision can be yours. Now, the Galactic Alliance has,
as predicted, kept out of the fight right up to the end. It is apparent that
they know they may have made a mistake but it is too late to correct it. Any
intervention now would be a show of strength and questions would be raised as
to why they did not do such a thing years ago, and they would lose support of
all those senators and ambassadors who voted against intervention from the
beginning. This has placed us in a wonderfully secure position – we have the
support of surrounding sectors, some we are allied with, and the The S.D.F have fled and
scattered, although some intelligence reports say that they have regrouped on
the edge of Setnin space. Where they are we do not know and one of the reason for my request for extra personnel is so that we
can send out scouts to track them. It may be wise to decimate what is left of
the force, or at least force them into complete
submission, for we could do without a band of freedom fighters roaming the
edges of our newly acquired territory interfering with our stabilisation work
and raising possible support. Now that we do not have to worry about the
Mind/Janite threat, we should turn our attention to dealing with what is left
of the S.D.F. We managed to destroy many of the ships of the force but some
dignitaries escaped. We should also be aware that the mysterious Raven
Corporation are somehow involved and, though I do not see them as an obvious
threat as intelligence indicates their motives are ambiguous, can I suggest
making contact to confirm our suspicions. At the very least we should regard
them with caution until their true motives are revealed. I, for one, do not
like their interference. Efforts are still underway to
locate your nephews and niece, the Familee children. It is feared they have
joined the S.D.F, or at least have a hand in their machinations, and so
locating and securing them will be difficult. Fleet Commander Brotus has
asked to take on the task personally, but, with reference to my earlier
doubts, this may not be a good idea. In closing, the entire
operation has been a huge success. We now occupy sixty percent of Setnin
space, control over ninety percent of it through the occupation of the
Chancai Trade Centre, and the last few worlds are closing their borders for
fear of attracting our attention. The Holovids sent
to us showing the celebrations in the streets of Fedarn lifted spirits
immeasurably. Victory is complete. It makes me proud to be a Ki-Ki warrior. Your devoted servant, Fleet Commander Cathum of the
Prime Lord’s First Squadron END * * * * FROM: CATHUM
TO: PRIVATE
SCRAMBLE CODE: 867GHDUE8831
CAPSULE: PRIVATE
My beloved, It has been so long since my
last letter that I hardly remember the words of weeks ago. It was before our
success over Chancai, before we were thrown into a war of attrition over this
splendid city. I hate it here. Such beauty
and grace despoiled by arrogance and war. Citizens bombed and blasted where
they stood, screaming and running, trying to reach safety, wanting to know
why. And me, in my safe warship in orbit, watching
my plans unfold and people die. How can you ever look at me again as the man
you loved? I was afraid that upon my return I would be far removed from the
man you knew. Now I am afraid that you may not know me at all when I finally
do come home. I am so very, very tired.
Desperately tired. I walk the streets and the citizens do not look at me with
submission in their eyes, or respect for my authority as you may have seen on
newscasts. They look at me with hatred. No matter what the species, what the
age, what the gender, they stare at me and I can feel the fire in their eyes,
their wish that my kind and me were gone. Years ago
I felt the surge of the crusade, the feeling that we were freeing these
people from decades of corruption and abuse. I see now, however, that their
existence goes far beyond our black-and-white view of good and evil, that
shades of grey permeate the Setnin Sector. This is their world, their life,
and what right do we have to come into their lands and force our beliefs and
ways upon them? We marched onto their worlds under the thin veil of justice.
Justice. A word used by the aggressor to make their killing honest. Is this right? I am a Fleet
Commander, I should not question the orders I have been given and the goals I
have been set. But, as a soldier, and the man who is sending these soldiers
to kill and be killed, I have to question the honesty of it all, the
sacrifices we are making and the galactic reputation we are garnering. We are
fighting for a ‘Puax Ki’?
For our ideal of ‘Peaceful Systems’? The phrase is a contradiction in itself. Brotus is mad. He does not
seem satisfied that we have won and he wants to root out problems by force of
arms. And Dagger… he spends long hours staring into space as if trying to
remember a lost memory. I have observed him staring long and hard at pictures
of our Prime Lord with an expression of confusion, head cocked as if trying
to force an image into his mind. He has a dark past, does Dagger. I will
explain more of this when I see you face to face. And I so long to see you. It
is hard to believe that we have not been with each other since that first
planet fall on Leogard so long ago. I need to get away from here, back to my
home. Back to you. I am so very tired. I am no longer the proud
warrior you know and loved. I was a simple butcher, now I am a simple
caretaker of a world which is not my own. Be safe. My heart is yours, always, Cathum State of
2002 short story by Jonathan
Hicks Thirty-eight
years after Episode IV – A New Hope Histories – A document of both personal and
professional nature highlighting the inner struggle of Fleet Commander
Cathum balancing the demands
of his career with his own beliefs and worries. Writing to both his Prime Lord and his lover, this Jonathan Hicks tale shows
us that even the Ki-Ki’s
strongest warriors have their doubts about the war.
Cast of Characters
Fleet
Commander Cathum |