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Sins of the Father Ch68
🕑 Added 2024-02-15 23:13:48 +0000 UTCIn a park, one whose main attraction were giant twisting metal sculptures, a short unassuming figure stepped forward. It looked to the left, then the right, and then the glass eyes of their mantis mask glinted as two curved blades poked out of her arms.
People saw to blades and began to scream, but it was too late. The Human assassin known by the alias of Reaper mantis tore into the crowd. No matter how fast they ran they could never escape the deathworld cyborg.
She cut, and burned, and tore, and laughed.
Her harsh synthetic sounding voice echoed across the committee meeting chamber.
Another video appeared on the screen, this was of a black haired Terran female in red metal armor, she held a crude edged weapon that was so outdated it was laughable. But no one was laughing as she cut and whirled. Killing good, brave, officers of the law with each swing.
The video changed and they saw a team of Terrans in full plate armor storm a station security precinct. They hit with cold, ruthless efficiency, blasting a swath through the defenders and seizing the precinct’s armory. Leaving only fire and dead bodies in their wake.
These were the most recent incidents, but Councilman Gin had more. Crowds of Terrans clashing with lines of officers, any officer who fell was dragged into the crowd and swiftly dismembered and beaten to a pulp.
A gang of wild looking Terran Primates dropped on an unsuspecting crowd in an alleyway and began to enact their dark, primal, urges.
More, and more. By the end of it Councilmen Gin saw every member of the peace and welfare committee were showing signs of nausea and horror. “Esteemed members of the council, this is the threat our city is facing. Monsters and demons masquerading as people slaughtering our people! We cannot sit by and let this continue.” He called out.
“And what would you have us do, we have already quadrupled the Station security’s budget since the last bought of Terran riots. Law enforcement isn’t working.” Councilman Zonic said in a low snarl.
He was one of only three non-Zxx’thi on this committee. The Carkic held a good seventh of the available council seats and had enough clout to place one of their own on this committee.
“Station Security can only do so much.” One Zxx’thi council man said. “They can only arrest those who commit crime in the open, but a culture of lawlessness runs deep in Unity.”
Councilmen Vish held up a hand. She was bold for a Drohodron, but still couldn’t escape her species skittish nature. “With all do respect, we know where the criminals come from. All these Terrans flooding into our station have ties with criminals one way or another. And even if they don’t, they help harbor criminals. Their predatory pack nature demands they shelter their own no matter how detestable.”
Zonic growled at the Drohodon, and to her credit she held his glare. “More speciesm Councilwomen Vish?” the Carkic said acidly.
“It is not Speciest to state their nature. Would you call it speciesm if I said Zxx’thi were old, or that Carkic were brutes.” Zonic began to rise, but Vish didn’t stop or cower. “They are deathworlders! Violence and aggression is in their nature. I received a distressing report just this week of a Kit who was nearly kidnapped by Terrans.” she shouted.
“I received that same report, and that Kit was saved by two Terrans!” Zonic roared back.
“I heard one was a Torweni.” A Zxx’thi councilmen said to colleague.
“The Torweni have not yet accepted our gracious offer for membership. It was probably a human with a skin condition.”
Councilmen Gin watched this all and tried to suppress his smile, they were riled up, just like Ozzath had wanted. “Councilmen! Councilmen!” he roared calling the room back to attention. “If we don’t act now our home will fall to ruin!”
“And how should we act?” Zonic snapped. “the Station security can’t possibly root out all the criminals.”
“Then maybe we should trying to root out the problem.” Kenzo Gin said, Zonic delivered his line perfectly and gave Gin the perfect opportunity.
“What are you implying Gin” Vish asked icily? Her party often fell into the same camp as Gin’s, but that didn’t mean they were allies. Vish’s party just took a defensive stance and didn’t go nearly as far as was necessary to protect the Union’s peace and prosperity. Not like Ozzath did.
“That maybe we’re approaching this from the wrong direction. The criminal elements are too embedded within the Terran communities. So maybe we should instead begin trying to ascertain which are innocent.”
“How is that any different?” Zonic asked testily.
Gin smiled without showing his teeth. “Because until they’re proven innocent they will be removed from this station.”
Chaos.
Pure chaos and outrage.
Zonic looked to be slobbering in fury. “You would have us imprison every Terran on this station, hold them guilty until proven innocent, that spits in the face of all species rights!”
Kenzo held up his hands. “Councilmembers please, let me explain properly.”
They quieted down but kept death stares locked on him.
Kenzo gestured to his side where Richard Heart was standing. “My esteemed colleagues this is my associate Mister Heart. He is an expert in the long term needs and necessities in human habitation. His company have any Terran oriented space habitation modules just sitting empty and useless. What I propose is a temporary,” there was an outcry, he began to shout “Temporary detainment of the Terran population on Unity until innocence can be proven beyond a doubt.”
“Madness, you would have us imprison a whole species on whim?”
“It isn’t imprisonment.” Richard said speaking up. The committee stopped shouting and looked down on him. “Our habitats have every luxury needed for modern life, as well as employment. It would simply be separated from the larger population. It would be like having their own private stations. Their lives will be imprived in every conceivable way. Gravity set to their own biological needs, foods and spices that are not permitted here on Unity. And care facilities specialized solely in Terran care. What more could someone want?”
Kenzo waited for someone to shout “Freedom!”, it was a counterargument they had come prepared to deal with. If Zonic was continuing to play his role in being the opposition he would have, but they knew that even a poorly made counterargument would still be too harmful. Zonic’s role was to be the vocal opposition to Kenzo until something actually important came up, and his aggressive stance often pushed others Kenzo’s way out of spite.
In the end no one said it, and Kenzo moved on. Glad he didn’t need to bring out his admittedly shaky counter argument. The council debated, things were shouted, stuff thrown. But when things began to wind a perfectly timed comment from Zonic about the cost being cheaper than funding law enforcement pushed the council in Kenzo’s favor.
Finally Ozzath’s plans could move forward, and Kenzo would be there every step of the way. The thought of the reward made his skin crawl in anticipation. And it was all because of one reckless pirate who thought she could hide her crimes.
~~~*~~~
Ben’kodic had been working non-stop since he stepped into his new role as station Chief, it was utter chaos that required him to personally address every department.
But he had taken the chance to get a few hours of shut eye before a priority message came in.
Ben read it several times before he could drag himself up. That detestable Kenzo had finally gotten the Committee to see reason and address the Hellworlder threat to this station. It was a long time coming, but Ben wished it could have waited until he had a little more time to rest. Oh well.
He dressed habitually, still wearing the hood and cloak of his old unit. A part of him felt pained as he recalled Judge’s betrayal of their mission, but he had already ousted the traitor and begun the process of undoing his foolishness.
He didn’t like working with Ozzath, or even approve of his plans, but for a better more peaceful future Ben’kodic would pay any price. Still that didn’t make him feel any less guilty for what Zera did to Blik.
Ozzath hadn’t told him who he was letting in, or what their intentions were, only that they were crucial to the plan.
Once all those vile Terrans were gone he would turn his attention to Zera.
Ben’kodic stepped into the assembly room of the ADCU and panned his gaze across the assembled officers. “This morning the Committee of Peace and Welfare has decided on a plan to deal with the menace of Terran criminals. Since the criminal element cannot be separated from the general population the general population will be expelled to separate stations until innocence and a spirit of unity can be proven. We will be assisting in the redistribution of the Terran population.”
There was a murmur of discontent.
One of the Terran officers, Edict, given name Shawn Basista, stood up. “This is textbook genocide. I cannot stand by and let this happen.”
He did not shout, he did not stomp his feet, nor did he glare. He didn’t even look surprised. Like he saw all this coming.
Edict was third generation Unitarian, and Ben’kodic knew he joined the ADCU because he saw the rampant criminality from his own species terrorizing his community. He joined because he knew ordinary officers couldn’t handle Deathworlder threats.
He was a fine officer, and Ben’kodic didn’t begrudge him for his feelings.
“You are free to resign-,” Ben’kodic began, “but I should warn you that doing so will remove you and your family from the exemption list.”
This time Edict showed just a hint of his feelings. His eyes sharpened and his lips turned down, “Like that means anything, once we’ve served our purpose we’ll be expelled as well. Like I said, textbook genocide. I refuse to help with this.”
He set his badge on the table and strode out of the room.
More stood up and took out their badges, some slammed them, others tossed onto the ground and stomped, other just left their badges behind calmly like Edict.
When it was all over a third of ADCU had resigned on the spot, most of them Terran, but not all.
Edict’s partner remained. Though Ben’kodic saw the pain in Oshifa’s eyes. Shawn and Oshifa had been partners for years, he was there when Oshifa’s calves were born, he was there for their birthdays. He was named Nal-waq to Oshifa, the equivalent of Terran Godfathers.
But humans had killed Oshifa husband, and true Kaydica never forgot that sort of grudge.
Ben’kodic hadn’t.
He left his officers and began to read over the file on the pirates and review the footage of the fight. His eyes focused on the black haired Terran pirate, she was a whirlwind of death, cutting down a whole squad of officers with minimal resistance. He would have to create a team just to bring her down.
~~~*~~~
Beric, AKA Officer Heretic, did not walk out with all the other officers. He had sat and listened through the whole meeting. Time tables, holding centers, and the perimeters of neighborhood lockdowns, the media shutdown. He heard it all.
And when it was all over he got up from his chair and went about his duties as solemnly as the other officers.
The mass resignation of a third of their numbers had smothered any triumphant feelings the other officers might have to the Terran Removal.
It was all hands on deck for a rapid crackdown, he wouldn’t have any chance to go home and rest. Even the officers who left had been detained.
But that didn’t mean Beric was without means to spread the word to the right ears. He sat at his computer terminal and began filing reports. An hour later when he was done his reports were sent to the file clerk down in the server rooms. There an unassuming Cèk’ek with dull grey feathers got the message and read the code hidden in the text of the report and passed it along to another mole on the take.
After that he had no more time to spare on such things and began gearing up with the rest of his ‘fellow’ officers.
~~~*~~~
A soft knock on the door drew his attention from his paperwork. “Enter” he called.
A young man in white button up with a scar across the face stepped in. “Grand Chairman, a prioty report just came in from Unity, code black.”
He raised one bushy eyebrow. “Whose it from?”
“Codename Repentant.”
Ah, little Beric, “Pass it here.”
The young man the report and the Grand Chairman began to read. He had many, many informants in Unity, it was a linchpin in galactic trade, business, and politics, but Beric had only one job on Unity. To serve as an early warning system when things finally went down.
He read the reports and felt the years resting on his back like a leaden blanket. He had seen it coming for decades now, it was surprising it took this long.
“That Astarte girl is on Unity isn’t she?” he asked out loud, already knowing the answer.
“Yes chairman, by all means it seems her arrival was the catalyst to things on Unity.”
He sighed. “Unfortunate, another few years and I could have… but that’s all for nought now. Tell me, where is her clan?”
The young man frowned “They’ve gone missing, but we did log them as using our gate into the core sector.”
“So they’re lying in wait around Unity. Knowing her there’s about to be a lot of trouble. Many will die, hundreds of thousands at the minimum.”
The young man went pale. “will we-,”
“Of course we will, prepare my armada, send word to the clans, and get me stealth shuttle. I think its time Astarte and I had a rematch.” Domnal Clancy said as he rose from his leather chair.
~~~*~~~
In a part of the station yet untouched by all the chaos, Astarte sneezed. Then sneezed again, and again, and again.
Alwen quirked a slim blow as she looked up from her examination. “What was that?”
“Dunno, someone must be thinking about me. I’m popular like that.”
Comments
ta583
I predict that if Ben ever gets to have a chance to focus on Zera he will find her harder to deal with than he expects.
Objective_Campaign82
For anyone curios about the end 'zinger' the theme of the last few chapters was everyone because every was focusing on Astarte.
