"Fuckers," Hara spat as she slammed into the vinyl seat next to Lio. "Have you read what they said about us?" Lio sighed as she looked at her sparring partner.
"It wasn't that bad, Hara. A little presumptuous to 'remind us of our purpose', but we
are killing people & should at least say why."
"What? Oh, no, screw the Seraphim too - but I meant the Lunars! Look." Hara pulled out her PDA, a dark-gray tablet decorated with unicorn stickers that Lio knew covered up dents and scratches. She read the document on screen.
"'Basking in the glow of nuclear fire'?" Lio snorted at that. "And did I miss 'Ousters' being what they call us, or did they misspell 'Outers' both times?"
"Li
o, it's serious! They're talkin' about attacking us if we don't end the war
now, basically!"
"And that sounds ridiculous, & like it'll just turn into saber rattling when push comes to shove?" Hara glared at her.
"You're not takin' it seriously, Lio. The Lunars alone have got a fleet as big if not bigger than ours, and adding in the rest, even a third could see us outnumbered and dusted if things get worse."
"Well, what the hell are
we supposed to do about it? It's in FleetCom's hands, not ours."
Before the argument could continue, their drill instructor barked an order for them to take the simulator controls. As they got to their respective locations, Lio mentally recited her mantra to pass over control to Hreda.
The Astarti, like the Seraphim, protected their pilots from psychic attacks by having them adopt a new identity in combat. While the Seraphim oriented around the components of a hand in their 6-woman teams, the Astarti method had each construct a nonhuman alter ego, whose unique form would hamper viral attacks, and would theoretically make it easier for former pilots to adopt civilian life by deconstructing the identity that had fought. It wasn't perfect, though; there were always parts of one which the other would desire, or which the primary would give to the secondary.
Hreda was something of an ogre, visually speaking; green-skinned, laden with muscle, snaggletoothed with a perpetual expression of stern contempt beneath the knight's armor of her mobile suit. She stared at her simulated opponent with the same grim resolve Hreda gave most things; she'd tough her way through it, be put away, and when the time came Lio would kill her. It was the way things were.
"Delighted to see you, Hreda," one of Danou's heads greeted her with a smile. Another hissed out, "Not really. We're looking for a quick win to get us up a training level." Hreda knew that Danou aimed to become an elite pilot, & be given the vaunted bit systems of their Psychic suits. Their hydra thoughtform would help if that ever happened, she supposed.
"Earn it," she grunted, rocketing upwards as the match began and vulcans began to fire.
- - - - - - -
Coco stared out at the ocean, cheek resting on a fist and elbow resting on the perimeter rail of a fourth-story roof. She'd been in Bandar Abbas for a month now, had nearly had a heatstroke twice, was still not used to the local spices, and was in love with the city. And now…
"How's your new arm treating you?" Memento asked her, leaning back on the railing next to her. Lines of cuneiform raced along their skin in Coco's psychic sight, twisting inside the body they shared with Ilia.
Coco flexed it weakly. "It's coming along. Still have trouble with heavy stuff or fine motor movement, but I'm further ahead with it than I expected."
Coco and the Memento-Ilia pair were former soldiers of the Astarti fleet. Coco had lost her arm before the long sleep, and had entered stasis before a new one could be grown & grafted to her; then the years of fighting their way back to Earth, and the issues after that, had led her to hold off on it. It had been doubtful if it would even work after so long. Memento had been Ilia's warrior thoughtform once, but after the two had been discharged from front line duties, they'd agreed to live together in their new life.
Coco hauled herself up and asked, "What do you make of the letter?"
"It's… infuriating? Lia asked me to take over for a while so she doesn't say something awful. Went looking for records of pogroms and sexual assault by Siberian officials to throw at the Lunari we've met, before she thought better of it."
"Mm, I get that. I almost wish I could do the same. There's not much we or they could do about it, though, is there? No government would just go, 'Our mistake, carry on' after threatening war."
"Their next government might. The Lunari still do elections, at least, even if they're backing the medieval empires."
"Hah. Yeah… We have to pull out, right? The front would collapse if they start attacking CSR bases that our troops are staying in in any large numbers."
Memento nodded their agreement. Coco started pounding the rail with her new arm, lightly at first but quickening.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! We were doing
good here! We're ending a repressive regime so that the people can prosper! We were trying to keep the fucking calamity from happening again because the Juno wanted to play chicken with it! We were reuniting with Earth, getting a place for our little sisters to feel natural heat and walk in real gravity, and live in peace, here…" Coco spread her arms to encompass Bandar Abbas.
Intellectually she knew there was nuance to all of that, that there was harm being done and mistakes being made somewhere along the way. Emotionally, though, she was strung out.
Memento patted her shoulder, and left it there for a while in what was almost a hug.
"For what it's worth, the Caspians I've talked to are supportive, and appreciative of what we've done. I don't think we'll be resented for dropping out if it keeps five other states from joining the war."
Coco had thoughts otherwise, but she simply shook her head and said, "I hope you're right."
- - - - - - -
"Huh," Jakul said as she skimmed through the news.
"Mm?" Aya asked, mouth full of some watery tea. The two were security guards on one of the Astarti colony-ships, watching over a storage facility.
"Buncha the uh, the other Spacers are saying they'll fight us if we don't get out of Siberia."
"Mm. You know what that is?" Aya waited a couple seconds for Jakul to turn and stare at her, bleary eyed. Aya then pointedly picked up her own tablet and started reading her xianxia story. "Not in my pay-grade, not my problem."
"Agreed."
- - - - - - -
In March, 1001 AC, the Astarti began military operations against the regime known as the Empire of Greater Siberia in coordination with the Caspian Sea Republic, in response to the attempted sale of a Calamity Weapon to the Juno terrorist organization. These operations were taken with several goals in mind: to prevent the capture of further Calamity Weapons by a government which could not be trusted with them; to ensure the longterm security of an Astarti-allied democratic republic against tyrannical forces; and to support the war of self-defense waged by the Amazon Territories after the false flag attack orchestrated the Siberian-allied state known as the Margraviate of Jaburo.
This has naturally drawn ire from the ilk of the Siberian regime, but disconcertingly has also drawn condemnation from those in orbit around Earth, in the form of the Selene Letter. The Selene Letter claims that the Astarti have ravaged Eurasia, that it is our advance which the Siberians & their volunteers fight against alone. It presents the Astarti as monsters from the outer system, & not your human sisters.
The Selene Letter betrays a level of contempt for the people and states of Earth felt by its signatories. It is not a contempt of anger and destruction, although it shall lead to those ends, but the contempt of those who view others as beneath their regard. It calls for wars on Earth states by Earth states, as though they were quarreling children whose squabbles were not worth Spacian interference; nor real states worthy of fair examination, cooperation and condemnation as they would grant a Spacian polity.
Let us be clear about what the Caspian Sea Republic is: it is a free government of elected officials, created by the general public so as to better their collective circumstances. It takes a form of government that should be familiar to many of you as similar to your own. It promotes learning for its poorest citizens. It has welcomed refugees from across the globe. It engages in urban development programs to increase public health. It has faced constant aggression from its inception, and remains one of the most welcoming & vibrant nations in the modern era.
Let us be clear about what the Empire of Greater Siberia is: it is a repressive government that has historically threatened violence against its neighbors and its people for the preservation of a caste system that serves a rarefied few. It takes a form of government which had been left behind by humanity for hundreds of years before the Cataclysm. It crusades against religious freedom. It has orchestrated pogroms, engaging in massacre on the basis of its victims' heritage. It has concentrated wealth that could have been used to feed its people into the hands of its elite. It has been a constant belligerent against its neighbors, be they Socialist, Republican, or Monarchist for most of its history before the end of the Diana Counter Covenant, and shows no willingness to change.
That is the state which the signatories of the Selene Letter have decided to act in defense of. They have presented it as something noble to their citizens, allowed their citizens to join its hateful armies, and threatened violent action against Astarti forces within CSR bases & CSR operations unless we the Astarti remove them.
The signatory governments of the Selene Letter have made a firm statement in support of repressive, murderous and authoritarian rule, and threaten to bring their people into war in defense of it.
Such an action will only see those occupying space lessened by the loss of their loved ones, and more of those on Earth subjected to the yoke of the Siberian tyrant as they exploit the high-minded ignorance of the signatories. For the common good of the human sphere, the Astarti will accede to the demands of the Selene Letter and cease combat operations against Siberia save those in self defense.
In turn, we ask you, the
people whose governments signed that ill-considered document: do not let tyranny reign. Call on your erstwhile cousins, sisters and brothers who have joined the Siberian army, and ask them to cease their struggle; let their compassionate hearts & arms support a moral cause. Call on your governments to reverse their course, and support the Caspian Sea Republic in its effort to bring liberty to the oppressed within Siberia. We are of one species, no matter what planet or land we call home, and a crime against one of us is a crime against all; to forget that is one of the most ancient and terrible mistakes. Do not let the oppression of those on Earth go unchallenged.
Attention:
