So was the Loroi administration like this toward Commander Genocide?Arioch wrote: ↑Wed Oct 27, 2021 11:42 pmThere's a distinction between the Union government, in which the Loroi have a special executive position, and the government of worlds under Loroi jurisdiction. Loroi rules regarding their own civilians only have effect within Loroi territory and regarding Loroi citizens. The militaries of the other Union members are limited by the Union treaty in a similar manner to the way that the various Earth nations agreed to limit their naval power according to the Washington (etc.) treaties, but Loroi law has little or no effect on non-Loroi worlds. The manner in which aliens in Loroi territory are treated similar to civilians is that there is no restriction again them owning and running businesses. And they are probably not allowed to bear arms unless they have some kind of special permit.
Also, a Loroi who has legally emigrated to a non-Loroi nation is no longer subject to Loroi law, and so it is possible for expatriate Loroi to serve in foreign mercenary companies. Though these are few and far between as the Loroi themselves are the major customers for such companies.
It's not really true to say that the Loroi prefer to rely on alien industry rather than their own; as an inherently mercantile economy that values self-sufficiency, the opposite is true. The Loroi are pragmatic enough to adopt alien technologies when these are superior to their own, and being in the Union for so long with the free-market Barsam and Neridi, the Loroi have learned to appreciate that it is more efficient to buy components from entities that can produce them better or more cheaply than Loroi manufacturers, but the majority of military hardware is still produced in Loroi factories by Loroi workers.
The Loroi reprisals following the Enok incident didn't have anything to do with breaking Loroi rules regarding civilians; the Mannadi were a newly surrendered occupied population whose only treaty agreement with the Loroi was the instrument of surrender (the Union at this point did not yet exist). The Mannadi did violate these terms of surrender by allowing or supporting continued armed resistance, which culminated in a successful attack that killed a lot of Loroi and destroyed several ships. And the Loroi response was the action of a local commander, and not officially sanctioned by Loroi law or the Loroi administration.
In Public: "That was an act of utter barbarity!"
In Private: "Well done! Of course your acting out of the bounds of law requires we discipline you in some way. We cannot set a precedent for our commanders doing whatever they want. Still... the Mannadi were a real pain in the butt, so whatever punishment you receive will be lighter than usual. Just keep your nose clean and stay out of the public news for a while. When the time is right you can return to your usual work. In the meantime we will ship you off to work somewhere.. less hostile."
The latter scenario seems more likely than the following amusing one:
"Well done! Too many commanders do not have the strength to do what needs to be done. We need more like you in government. Interested?"