Clidepp Requital

~ May 12
^th
, 2285 ~

"X, we've just received a message from the
Glassama
," his Chief of Staff reported during their daily morning meeting. "They were attacked as they were about to finish off the Spacc warship."

"What?" the Supreme Rebel Leader, screamed. "We told that idiot NOT to attack the Spacc ship."

"He claims the Spaccs targeted his FTL envelope generator as he was about to depart the area. He then saw it as his duty to destroy the Spacc ship. But during the engagement, our freighter attacked the
Abissto
with the torpedoes we had secreted inside ordinary freight containers. The
Furmmara
was then destroyed when the
Abissto
returned fire."

"Great Lullelian, it's a nightmare! Why did our freighter attack one of our own warships?"

"The
Abissto
was attacking the
Glassama
."

X groaned. "Do I have to drag every morsel from you? Why was the
Abissto
attacking the
Glassama
?"

"We don't yet know who was in command of the
Abissto
. The
Furmmara
hadn't visited it yet. As far as we knew, the
Abissto
was still in orbit above Diabolisto, and the oxygen generation system was not operational."

"Then someone must have fixed it if it was able to attack the
Glassama
."

"It had to be Space Command. They had refused border entry to all Clidepp military vessels, so it couldn't have been anyone else."

"Damn all Spaccs."

"What do you wish to do?"

"Do?" X continued in a loud voice. "What
can
we do? That operation has now ended, and ended badly. I assume the Spaccs have picked up our people on Diabolisto?"

"Unknown, but they must have. We've received no reports from them in months, and not a single query message has been answered since we first learned that Spaccs were in the vicinity. They must either be in Spacc custody— or dead."

"We'll have to assume the worst. It's time to proceed with the next step, and I've just made a decision about the target. The Spaccs will regret sticking their noses in our business once they see grief-stricken Terran families on their nightly news. Instead of the Clidepp embassy on Earth, our new target will be the GA Trade Conference."

"X, no! I mean, are you sure about this? It was one thing to attack a Clidepp diplomatic ship in GA space, but to destroy a GA political event and perhaps kill hundreds or thousands of GA citizens? I think you might be going too far."

"And what has the GA Senate done to stop the spilling of innocent blood in the Clidepp nation? Nothing. They talk about freedom and peace and then say what's happening in our nation is none of their affair. Well, we're going to make it their affair. It's becoming clear that we can't defeat the Clidepp military on our own. At best we can just drag out this civil war for annuals until everyone is so tired of war that one side or the other capitulates. We must do whatever's necessary to involve the GA in this war, and then let
them
defeat the Clidepp military."

"Whenever someone has attacked the GA, Admiral Jenetta Carver has been called in to defeat the attackers. Then she absorbs the other nation into the GA. We'll lose our independence if that happens. We'll just become Region Four of the GA."

"Could the GA be a worse master than the Triumvirate? Does the GA torture innocent citizens and send them to death camps? No! Being absorbed by the GA might be infinitely better than the existence our people have now."

"Do you really want us to be part of the GA?"

"No, not really. What I want is for the GA to take on the Triumvirate and squeeze their heads until the blood flows freely from their eyes and ears. Then we'll offer to step in and take over the reins of power. If we handle this properly, the GA will be happy to back away rather than getting involved in yet another nation's messy reconstruction."

"They won't let us take power if they learn we've killed their innocent citizens."

"That's the
only
way to get them involved, but we'll plant irrefutable evidence that the Triumvirate was behind the act."

"But why would the Triumvirate attack a GA trade event?"

"To make the GA believe we were actually responsible, and we'll even name the minister who was behind the attack."

"But if the GA thinks the Triumvirate is guilty, they'll want to deal with them directly. They won't want us involved."

"They will after we plant evidence that we're really responsible."

"But— but if they believe us to be responsible, they'll ally themselves with the Triumvirate and both will come after us."

"No, they won't. The Spacc Intelligence service is the best there is. They'll discover that the Triumvirate was guilty all along."

"How will they do that?"

"The evidence we'll plant pointing to our involvement will eventually take them to that conclusion."

"What? I'm confused. I don't understand."

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I've been planning this for a very long time. I'll be leading the Spaccs around by their noses until they're worn out trying to figure out who was responsible. They'll be delighted to let us assume the reins of power for the new Society of Aligned Planets."

* * *

Having been out of touch with family and friends since first being marooned on Diabolisto meant that Sydnee had dozens of vidMails to view and answer once communications were restored. Damage resulting from the collision with the rebel-controlled
Glassama
during the attempted envelope-merge hadn't been repaired, but one of the rescue ships had loaned the
Perry
a portable communications system. However, so much had happened that she didn't know where to begin with her responses.

Sydnee feared telling her mother that she had almost been killed three times, but when the transport ship carrying the
Perry
reached Earth, that information could become public knowledge. A formal Board of Inquiry would be convened to investigate the envelope-merge accident, the attack on the rebel camp on Diabolisto, the loss of the three Marines during a later battle on Diabolisto, her deadly shootout with Colonel Suflagga, the near destruction of a freighter and loss of cargo, the space battle with rebels from a neighboring nation that resulted in the near complete loss of the
Perry,
and the total destruction of the two stolen Clidepp destroyers, the
Glassama
and the
Abissto
.

Almost as daunting a duty was that of replying to Katarina's vidMails that reported how Admiral Carver's Second Fleet had defeated the Uthlaro armada handily and annexed the former Uthlaro territory, now known as Region Three, thereby forever bringing the Tsgardi-Hudeerac-Uthlaro-Gondusan accord to an end. Her best friend had had a front row seat to the final conflict from the Auxiliary Command and Control Bridge aboard the battleship
Pholus,
and Katarina's excitement was obvious in her vidMails as she related the events in a play-by-play account of the battle. Her recounting of the event took several days because each vidMail ended suddenly when it reached the maximum allowable time limit for daily transmissions.