by Aer-ki Jyr
“Do you really mean to take everything from us?” Ackerman accused, his face beginning to turn red.
“Yes,” Davis said bluntly, a bit perturbed about having to have repeat discussions. “If you continue this war we will whittle your assets down until you have nothing left. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed the trend until now.”
What normal color in Ackerman’s face disappeared, but Rao cut him off before he could blow his top.
“I would assume that arguing you have no right to do this would be immaterial at this point, and given that you’ve already laid down client bans on our countries you’re not beholden to our sales to maintain your revenue stream. It would seem that we have very little leverage at present, so state your terms for India’s surrender.”
Davis glanced at Ackerman then turned his chair to directly face Ambassador Rao.
“If immediately occurring, a 40 year ban on services, forfeiture of all but 1 Lunar territory, a permanent ban on any activity in the Mars micro-system, and total disarmament, with all weaponry and warships being turned over to Star Force.”
“Five territories,” Rao bartered.
Davis shook his head. “These terms aren’t negotiable, and the longer this war goes on the harsher they get.”
“You leave us with a token territory to disguise the fact that you’re conquering our territories through diplomacy?”
“If we have to do it militarily we’ll leave you with nothing at all,” Davis warned. “After Luna, we start confiscating orbital stations and your civilian fleet.”
Rao didn’t say anything for a moment, weighing what options his nation had. “How long will the military ban be in effect?”
“Permanently, same as the Chinese, South Africans, and West Africans.”
Rao’s face skewed with the first visible sign of emotion from the man. “You’d force us to become defenseless?”
“As you well know, Star Force protects its clients and everyone else committed to civilized economic ventures, in part by instituting these bans. Those nations that cannot behave themselves will not be allowed weapons, thus decreasing the likelihood of future belligerent actions.”
“Leaving you with full control of the star system!” Ackerman said, pounding a fist on Davis’s desk.
A glance from the Director down at the man’s hand prompted the Ambassador to draw it back slightly. The desk was made of glass, after all, and his facial expression made it clear he wasn’t going to tolerate such inappropriate gestures.
“We do not deny nations the right of self-defense except in cases where the military in question has been misused. Star Force is not, and will not be, the only military power in space…but we are the stronger and will remain so in order to maintain stability. Your countries screwed up and are being penalized for it. Either take it on the chin and move on or see the penalties continue to escalate. We haven’t barred anyone from access to space itself, but that option is still in play, so don’t push your luck.”
Rao sighed, seeing that their hand had been dealt. “May I request one small deviation in your terms?”
“You may always ask…” Davis said, leaving the rest of the unnecessary sentence unfinished.
“We have very few warships left, and our civilian fleet has been hard hit as well. Would it be acceptable if we removed the weapons on our warships and repurposed them for civilian use, to help replace our losses?”
Davis rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I’ll make you a counter offer. Turn your warships over to us. We’ll do the weapons removal and refitting, free of charge, and return them to you for civilian purposes in exchange for India ceding Star Force possession of Bitra.”
Rao’s eyes narrowed. “You want the island?”
“And the surrounding seafloor equidistant to each of the surrounding islands,” Davis said, referring to the location of one of their six spaceports in India. This one, however, was not located on the mainland, but rather on a small island off the west coast which Star Force had built up considerably with material dredged from the sea floor and shipped in from elsewhere.
“Which would deny us the tax revenue, as well as making your spaceport on sovereign soil,” Rao continued, thinking it over.
“You’re not going to be getting much tax revenue from them anyway,” Davis pointed out, referring to the ban on services, “and it would allow me to keep that spaceport open.”
Rao raised his eyebrows. “Our citizens would still have access, yes?”
“Citizens yes, government no. Your people could always travel out of country to access one of our spaceports in, say, Pakistan or Indonesia, but I think you’d find it less of an international incident if they could transit through nearby Star Force property.”
Rao recognized the olive branch for what it was, as well as noting the fact that Star Force appeared to be interested in gaining land here on Earth. Up until now the only property that they truly owned was Atlantis, which they had created in the ocean, with all land-based properties existing within each country’s borders and legal codes.
“Those terms are acceptable to us,” he said formally, “contingent on you coming to equitable terms with the Germans.”
“How so?” Davis asked, frowning. He had wondered why they had asked for a joint meeting.
“We don’t wish to upset the power balance in the ongoing war,” Ackerman answered. “You may view it as a pointless fight, but we do not. If we opted out alone, the United States would be at a significant disadvantage, but with South Africa already having bowed out and India agreeing to do the same, we can make a more honorable withdrawal…though we are only doing so because you’ve forced our hand.”
“Can I therefore assume the other parties are not inclined to end the war at this time?”
“You can,” Rao answered when Ackerman hesitated.
“Are you demanding the same terms from us?” the German Ambassador asked instead.
“Not quite,” Davis admitted. “You will suffer the same ban from Mars, as well as a general military ban. In addition, you will relinquish possession of your captured Lunar territories and cede all but three of your own.”
“Three?” Rao interrupted. “You only allowed us one.”
“That’s because of Hestig,” Davis said matter of factly, referring to a particularly nasty attack made by the Indians against a German colony back during the early stages of the ground war. The Germans had held out long enough to get ‘aerial’ reinforcements from the Americans, but they lost a third of the civilian population in the city when the Indians had shelled the complex instead of trying to infiltrate and capture it. Massive atmospheric breaches opened up, killing those inside via either explosive decompression or asphyxia.
From a purely tactical perspective, pressure suited forces could disable the colony’s internal defenders in this way, then patch up the hull breaches and repressurized the areas later. This meant no casualties for the attackers, but at the cost of wholesale slaughter. After the Indian attackers had been driven off by the American aircraft the survivors had returned to the dropships that had delivered the army into assault range.
Those dropships were hit 5 days later by Star Force, along with the military base that housed them. Every person on the base was captured and transported off of Luna, after which Star Force’s warships in orbit used the base for target practice, giving them their first live fire orbital assault experience to date, as well as sending a clear message to all the warring nations that targeting civilian populations would draw their immediate wrath.
Rao remained speechless for a moment, then swallowed hard. “I don’t recall you holding the Japanese so accountable for their nuking the American shipyards,” he said, feeling a bit uneasy at criticizing their allies but feeling that the question needed to be broached if India was going to suffer additional penalties for their wartime actions.
“Their time is coming,” Davis promised.
“I would hope so,” Ackerman huffed. “You haven’t mentioned
the length of our ban?”
“It would be 35,” Davis explained, “except for the mitigating fact that, as you pointed out earlier, Germany only entered the war in response to the Japanese attacks. While that does not wholly excuse your actions, it does warrant consideration. Germany’s ban will be 20 years in length.”
“What of our belt mining zones?”
“Those are Star Force operated zones, and as such your ban of services includes them.”
“Will we regain access once the ban is lifted?”
“I can’t make any promises. It depends on what’s available at the time as we expand our operations there.”
“And your Mercury operations, whenever you get around to starting them?”
“The same.”
“Are there any restrictions on trade with other parties?”
“You can’t use them as middlemen to acquire our goods,” Davis reminded him, “but if that does occur the penalty will be imposed on them, not you, which is why I’m sure they won’t offer you that option.”
“Is there a statute of limitations regarding the selling of older model Star Force ships in their possession?”
“The numbers of years we quoted the Chinese was 30, and I believe we’ll be making that our standard benchmark. Any ships with sell dates of 30 years or more will no longer fall under the middleman clause, and we’ll hold that mark to the day.”
“And the future division of Jupiter’s moons?”
“All territorial divisions will follow the same format. Those nations suffering a ban will not be included at the time the ban is in place, but they may take part after it is lifted if they’ve met all the necessary prerequisites.”
“Are you offering the others similar terms?”
“Theirs will be more extreme, but yes.”
Ackerman nodded, seeing that Germany would have an advantage over the other nations for several years once their ban was lifted. “I’ll have to clear this back home first, but unofficially we agree to terms. Withdrawal of our troops in present combat zones will be difficult, however, without assistance.”
“Star Force will extract your people where needed,” Davis noted, realizing that while the Germans and Indians were willing to quit the fighting, those they were fighting against weren’t, meaning some current battles were going to require Star Force militarily imposing itself to cover the withdrawal.
Ackerman stood and straightened his tie. “The sooner you put the terms in writing, the sooner I can send it off for approval.”
“Within the hour,” Davis promised.
Rao stood as well. “On behalf of India, I can say that we’re glad to put our participation in this war to an end and hope to rekindle our previous relationship with Star Force in due time.”
“Talk is cheap,” Davis offered. “If you want to make amends, do so with actions.”
Rao nodded into a short bow, accepting the wisdom in that statement. “Director,” he said, taking his leave. Ackerman left as well, but without any parting words.
“Progress,” Davis announced to the empty room after they had left.
7
June 29, 2109
Amy Garrison pressed the ‘aye’ button on the desk-like console before her, registering her vote in the Armstrong Senate and waiting to see the final tally on the display screen rising high above the central podium in the semi-circular chamber, located in the State capitol city/colony of Horizon. As she watched, the other Senators did not take long to add their votes to hers, resulting in a full vote being completed within just two minutes…far faster than the normal process, but then again these were hardly normal times.
The Star Force blockade had been strangling the American Lunar State in the way of supplies, as well as barring transit for its citizenry to or from the moon. Their neighbors had likewise cut off contact with the 24 American territorial zones that comprised Armstrong, not allowing the normal economic and civilian traffic across national lines else they risk coming under effect of the blockade as well, which was currently only targeted to the warring factions, which had now been whittled down to the US, UK, and Japan.
The blockade had been lifted on the Germans, who had owned two bordering zones with the Americans, and it had been an appalling site watching the stream of dropships coming down from orbit to rejuvenate their ailing colonies while Armstrong continued to suffer. Rationing had become increasingly strict, with growing tensions amongst the populace. Scattered riots had begun breaking out and the overwhelming public sentiment to do something was continuing to grow to dangerous levels.
Armstrong’s Governor had been in constant communication with Washington D.C. and the State’s representatives there, as well as the President, but no resolution was forthcoming. Typical political stalling was the only response, carried on now for months with no hope of action being taken in the near future. The ground war had come to a halt, with 34 captured enemy territories taken from the British, Japanese, South Africans, and Indians now in the American tally, which was why, Garrison believed, that Washington was reluctant to end the war, knowing that Star Force wouldn’t allow them to keep the territories gained.
Meanwhile the reverse was true in orbit. What few stations the Americans had captured were dwarfed by the those now held by the British and Japanese fleets. Nearly the entire State of Nimbus was in British hands, and with the American fleet having been reduced to less than a tenth of the ships it had started out the war with there was little hope of recovering what they had lost. The US Navy was now preoccupied with holding onto what assets remained while the enemy continued to pick and choose at will what they wanted to take next, the only drawback being sufficient troop transports to seize said facilities in the breaching efforts.
Fortunately Star Force’s threats had made both nations disinclined to simply destroy the American stations, and there had not been a repeat of the initial Japanese nuking of the shipyards. Multiple ongoing ‘ground’ wars were taking place inside various stations, giving two fronts to the ongoing war…the orbital front, and the Lunar front, both of which were hammering the civilians caught in the fighting. The Americans caught on the orbital stations were suffering from a British/Japanese blockade, same as Armstrong was, with neither getting the supplies they needed to survive.
Garrison and the rest of her fellow State Senators, representing a total of 27 distinct colonies at present, with several more partially constructed ones having been put on hold by the outbreak of the war, had been driven to the conclusion that the only way they were going to survive was to do like several other nations’ colonies had done…to cut ties with their home nations in order to escape the blockade, with the vote before them being the matter of secession.
When the final vote was tallied it was 52-2 in favor, but no rounds of applause broke out, nor any cheers or jeers. The entire chamber was solemn, partially due to the beginning stages of malnutrition, but more as a reflection of the dire situation that had forced this decision upon them.
As of this moment, Armstrong was legally an independent nation, under blockade, with a foreign army housed within its borders.
Not an ideal situation, and Garrison hoped that they wouldn’t have a fight of their own on their hands when the military was informed of the vote, given that they still took their orders from Washington, aside from the small National Guard unit that Armstrong supported. The plan was to request that Star Force remove the federal troops, as they had done for others, which Governor Harrison was now officially authorized to negotiate the terms of.
The Governor was also present in the chamber, though having no voting power in the process. He did possess the authority to veto the measure, but that wasn’t going to occur. Not only was he a supporter of the course of action, but a 52-2 vote was more than enough to override his veto if need be.
As soon as the last few bits of legal ceremony were attended to the Senate broke up and Garrison caught Harrison by the elbow on his way out of the chamber, looking up at the taller man who ha
d once been a political rival, but was now a fellow rebel in their quest for material and political survival.
“Make good on this,” she urged. “We have a very narrow window.”
“I intend to,” he answered, his tone one of significance.
She nodded her support then released his arm and patted his shoulder twice before letting him walk out of the chamber and head back to his Administrative levels within the capitol building where he would contact Star Force for the first time as head of an independent nation and seek to end the blockade that was slowly killing Armstrong.
Two weeks later Amy stood in her quarters, looking out the window of her tower apartment across the Horizon cityscape to the landing pads as another Star Force dropship departed, carrying some of the last American troops off Luna. Fortunately they had gone without a fight, on the orders of the President no less. It was funny how little he cared about Armstrong until the State seceded and the public opinion polls suddenly shifted against him. The fervor of the space war had suddenly ended for the American people back on Earth when they realized that they’d just lost a star off their flag, two Senators and a Representative from congress, a tidy sum of tax revenue, and their favorite Lunar vacation resorts.
All of the American Lunar territories had been governed under the State’s mantle, meaning that when it seceded it left the Americans without a foothold on the moon for the first time in decades. In response to that political debacle, and expanded upon by sudden insights as to the plight of the colonists under the iron grip of the Star Force blockade, it had been deemed expedient for the President to go so far as to end their participation in the war, with him personally traveling to Atlantis to arrange for terms.
Technically that meant the war was now over, though how it would all shake out Amy didn’t know because they didn’t actually surrender to the people they were fighting. The UK and Japan were still at war, though with the Americans backing out there were now under Star Force’s protection, and she didn’t think they’d cross them to the point the West Africans foolishly had.
