[Fan Fiction] Reforged (Updated 07/26/2021)

[Krulle]

Looks very good.

Can you have a look at the end of paragraph 2? It ends somewhat abrupt, without finishing the sentence.

[dragoongfa]

Thanks, got it and a few other errors fixed. Seems that I have acquired a nasty habit of eating words lately.

[Krulle]

Then spit them out, and bring them to the screen!

(Thanks!)

[Quickdraw101]

So does this mean the vials they were transporting got smashed as well? Or was this just extremely well planned to make it look like an accident, but nothing was lost, any no one died?

[dragoongfa]

So does this mean the vials they were transporting got smashed as well? Or was this just extremely well planned to make it look like an accident, but nothing was lost, any no one died?

Will be covered in a later installment so I spoil it for reader discretion:

SpoilerShow

Captain Ambrosia did warn both Alexandra and Astarte that they wouldn't like the way she planned to cover up the trail; the shuttle that they boarded did suffer an explosion near orbit and the shuttle did enter atmosphere in an uncontrollable manner, crashing spectacularly with no survivors other than Alexandra who was thrown out of the shuttle as a result of the aforementioned explosion.
Alexandra also fully believes that what she recalls and sees at the hearing is exactly what happened and that she is the sole survivor. If someone asks her about details regarding the ganger and her cargo she will recollect with full clarity that it was a heavily encrypted data drive which the ganger swore contained the client records of her gang. Said data drive however remained aboard the shuttle with her duffel bag and could not be recovered.
How did Alexandra come to believe and fully recollect all this? Her prepared for foray in vacuum in a breached pressurized armor not withstanding she did spend several days in a military hospital to recuperate and she had fully prepared herself and was a willing participant in what Captain Ambrosia had prepared. Which was the execution of a pre planned Black Op in case a big enough fish was caught in the proverbial net. Lets say that Confederate Naval Intelligence went above and beyond with this operation, planning everything well ahead of time, even preparing backstories, family records, lifelike online social presence and even living and carefully prepared and briefed 'family members' for everyone aboard the shuttle years before hand.
What they expected from such an operation varies, a major defection of a high value individual would be handled differently as it would be too high profile to hide in such a way. The contingency was initially put in place in case someone managed to smuggle classified farseer technologies and know how but was expanded to cover other potential intelligence breakthroughs. The vials and their contents were included as a possibility but were almost completely unexpected by the higher ups and there is going to be backroom discussions on how to handle things as a self sustaining Loroi population outside of Union control will be cause for war and the Confederation will have to be fully ready for it when knowledge of such a population reaches the Union proper.
As to if the plan included the permanent silencing and disposal of individuals?
No, everyone survived as everyone on the shuttle was a valued asset and was extracted appropriately before the incident. However there were remains recovered from the crash site and from near orbit, in various degrees of messy destruction and completion; both Human and Loroi in nature. As I said, naval intelligence went above and beyond with the operation.

[Dan Wyatt]

So does this mean the vials they were transporting got smashed as well? Or was this just extremely well planned to make it look like an accident, but nothing was lost, any no one died?

Will be covered in a later installment so I spoil it for reader discretion:

SpoilerShow

Captain Ambrosia did warn both Alexandra and Astarte that they wouldn't like the way she planned to cover up the trail; the shuttle that they boarded did suffer an explosion near orbit and the shuttle did enter atmosphere in an uncontrollable manner, crashing spectacularly with no survivors other than Alexandra who was thrown out of the shuttle as a result of the aforementioned explosion.
Alexandra also fully believes that what she recalls and sees at the hearing is exactly what happened and that she is the sole survivor. If someone asks her about details regarding the ganger and her cargo she will recollect with full clarity that it was a heavily encrypted data drive which the ganger swore contained the client records of her gang. Said data drive however remained aboard the shuttle with her duffel bag and could not be recovered.
How did Alexandra come to believe and fully recollect all this? Her prepared for foray in vacuum in a breached pressurized armor not withstanding she did spend several days in a military hospital to recuperate and she had fully prepared herself and was a willing participant in what Captain Ambrosia had prepared. Which was the execution of a pre planned Black Op in case a big enough fish was caught in the proverbial net. Lets say that Confederate Naval Intelligence went above and beyond with this operation, planning everything well ahead of time, even preparing backstories, family records, lifelike online social presence and even living and carefully prepared and briefed 'family members' for everyone aboard the shuttle years before hand.
What they expected from such an operation varies, a major defection of a high value individual would be handled differently as it would be too high profile to hide in such a way. The contingency was initially put in place in case someone managed to smuggle classified farseer technologies and know how but was expanded to cover other potential intelligence breakthroughs. The vials and their contents were included as a possibility but were almost completely unexpected by the higher ups and there is going to be backroom discussions on how to handle things as a self sustaining Loroi population outside of Union control will be cause for war and the Confederation will have to be fully ready for it when knowledge of such a population reaches the Union proper.
As to if the plan included the permanent silencing and disposal of individuals?
No, everyone survived as everyone on the shuttle was a valued asset and was extracted appropriately before the incident. However there were remains recovered from the crash site and from near orbit, in various degrees of messy destruction and completion; both Human and Loroi in nature. As I said, naval intelligence went above and beyond with the operation.

So they crashed this plane, with no survivors?

[dragoongfa]

So they crashed this plane, with no survivors?

A big girl survived.

[Quickdraw101]

SpoilerShow

Maybe it's just me being hopeful, but I'm hoping that among those selected for the Loroi sperm samples is Alexandra. She's raised 3 human children, and I'm sure her husband wouldn't mind her having a biological child of her own.

[Snoofman]

Excellent story. The plot thickens!

Not sure what the Lieutenant Samuel's problem is. Either he has a problem with Loroi and is overexerting his authority or is too bureaucratic to think beyond regulations.

I am confused though as to how Alexandra got her arm shot off and survived out in space.

[Dan Wyatt]

Excellent story. The plot thickens!

Not sure what the Lieutenant Samuel's problem is. Either he has a problem with Loroi and is overexerting his authority or is too bureaucratic to think beyond regulations.

As the saying goes, NEVER TRUST A XENO!

[Dan Wyatt]

So they crashed this plane, with no survivors?

A big girl survived.

For Us

[Snoofman]

Excellent story. The plot thickens!

Not sure what the Lieutenant Samuel's problem is. Either he has a problem with Loroi and is overexerting his authority or is too bureaucratic to think beyond regulations.

As the saying goes, NEVER TRUST A XENO!

They call it the Terran Confederation for a reason dude!

Trust not the Xenophobes! Give up your evil Terran ways! Join the Union!

[dragoongfa]

Chapter 6, Part 3

Like many others things human, coffee was an acquired taste for Alexandra; it didn’t quite have the same stimulating effect to Loroi as it did with humans but it was quickly picked up by many Loroi that caffeine brought forth a heightened state of focus to them, one would think that it would be ideal when someone had to do some mentally demanding work but it did made them sleepy whenever the effects wore off a few hours later which was counterproductive in and onto itself.

Sleepiness that she was looking forward to after this whole charade of a hearing concluded itself, it would certainly help after having to relive the whole mess. She absentmindedly studied her left arm and hand; it took a few days and several rounds in the regenerator for it to be regrown and it did feel just like the original did but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was somehow wrong with it.

The doctors said that this was natural, even in cases like hers where the treatment started immediately after her injury; the nervous system being too shocked by the injury and the painful disappearance of the limb to easily accept the freshly regrown one. It should pass a few weeks to a month after the treatment and if it didn’t it would be a symptom to a couple of unrelated neurological conditions that are otherwise hard to detect.

“Is the seat taken?” Someone asked in fluent English drawing her back to the here and now and making her look at the all too familiar Loroi warrior who at least had the decency to ask and remain standing instead of just sitting down unannounced and uninvited.

“I would normally say that I want to be left alone but I have a feeling that you wouldn’t leave me be until we had a one on one discussion; am I right Parat Mistwatch?” Alexandra asked after taking a moment to compose herself.

“I would be lying if I said otherwise Lieutenant.” Mistwatch said as she sat down at the seat opposite hers. “Although I was a little curious about you ever since the small bout back at Mirror.”

“Is there a problem?” Sergeant Nicholette, a Reforged and the head of Alexandra’s provided for security detail asked telepathically while she and her team remained unseen.

“No problem yet, I will just have a chat to see what they want with me. I will alert you if she tries anything.” Alexandra replied.

“Curious about me?” Alexandra asked while making sure that her mental defenses were up, the beneficial effects of caffeine helping at that.

“Out of everyone we targeted in that mental melee you were the only one who managed to deflect the little prank I and a friend of mine played on you.” Mistwatch replied with a smirk. “A small and benign suggestion but one that even low rank Mizol specialists should be able to easily deflect.”

“My experience with the rank and file of your caste so far has shown me otherwise Parat.” Alexandra commented.

“It’s an unfortunate reality that not everyone is able to adhere to certain standards and there aren’t enough of us around to afford even dregs like them sitting idle with nothing to do.” Mistwatch replied nonchalantly.

“Better to send them somewhere where they will be taught the error of their ways the painful way without getting themselves killed at the process.” Alexandra replied with a smirk.

“Indeed, it’s refreshing in its own way that a problematic neighbor is a safer place to fail than a lot of the new, seemingly pacified, areas of the Union.” Mistwatch replied. “I didn’t have difficulty in finding the various debriefings of the lessons you have administered, both at Atlantis and the ‘Lucky Dime’. You gave some good lessons to some of my caste mates.”

“The infiltration cell onboard the ‘Lucky Dime’ was decent, inexperienced but their techniques were passable.” Alexandra replied at that.

“They were, petty that most of them got burned as assets due to certain rushed decisions.” Mistwatch commented as the waiter came for her order, the Mizol ordering a glass of apple flavored iced tea.

“No coffee for you?” Alexandra asked at that.

“Unlike you I will have to stay awake for a little while after this hearing is done.” Mistwatch replied before bringing the conversation back on track. “Decent operatives but rushed into action without much warning.”

“I figured as such, the background of the two who tried to pass of as civilians was sloppy and they couldn’t really pass as civilians in the end. Every civilian thought that there was something off about them and let’s not forget that they almost got themselves killed by those they were supposed to find and tail.” Alexandra pointed out.

“The two don’t remember anything of the incident but they are thankful that they didn’t end up as a little burned up accident.” Mistwatch replied before frowning. “It’s weird, I and a couple of others Parats aboard Driftwood would have jumped at the opportunity to find and identify an Enforcer hit team. I would have shaved my hair before demanding to be sent undercover if I knew about it but I and those capable were deemed too high profile and important to be notified that such an operation was ongoing on the very ship we traveled on.”

“Being in the ‘not in the need to know’ list sucks.” Alexandra agreed,

“And you not only stumbled onto them by accident but actually managed to catch three Enforcers alive. I would be envious if I wasn’t so incensed by the stupidity of it all; they should have found a way to fully screen the civilians and find the Enforcers before Driftwood reached Mirror.” Mistwatch added at that. “They would have likely taken their last resorts the moment they knew that they were identified but we would at least have something on our hands instead of a handful of charred limbs and bones.”

“You would have probably end up having all three of them alive if someone wasn’t a moron with a stick up his ass.” Alexandra agreed. “I would have also kept my original arm intact and a good friend alive if I had denied the transfer as long as that moron was in charge. I would have gotten in trouble by doing so but they would probably send someone else with the second shuttle.”

“Lieutenant Samuels? What was his problem?”

“Beyond being an idiot?” Alexandra asked. “I don’t know what his issue was in particular but I have run into his kind a few times, the kind of self absorbed moron who believes that only they are right and everyone else is only there to be a hindrance to the perfect way that they would run things.”

“Seems like he needed a good thrashing.” Mistwatch commented.

“He got an empty coffin, they found bits and pieces of some of his men but not his.” Alexandra added as the waiter brought the Mizol’s tea. “Thanks for the empathizing though, I know it’s part pretend but I usually get scorn for being a warrior in pretend by new arrivals when they are honest with me.”

“There are some of us who aren’t foolish enough not to realize how dangerous Loroi warriors in the employ of a foreign interstellar state are. There are hundreds of millions of Loroi civilian emigrants in the Confederation now, nearly all of them far better off than they would be in the Union and the humans are catching up in technology far quicker than it was anticipated; there are some voices in the Union to take care of a problem before it becomes too much to handle.” Mistwatch replied.

“So here you are, a competent Mizol sent out to see what is going on at this side of the wasteland; I am certain that you were once wondering if your talents weren’t better spent routing out insurgents in the areas ‘liberated’ from the Shells.” Alexandra commented.

“That’s true, although there are far fewer insurgents these days than they used to be; if only because we don’t crack down hard on the populace and confiscate everything like the Shells did.” Mistwatch replied. “And I don’t believe that my talents will be wasted here, not anymore at least. “

“Glad to hear that we caught your attention Mizol.”

“That and the fact that some interesting individuals may try to flee or even pursue someone here.” Mistwatch replied. “Who knows, maybe I will teach you Reforged some tricks after I get to shave a few of you as a hello.”

“You do know that all of us would take umbrage to have you beat us up and shaved, do you?”

“Of course, you are Loroi after all.” Mistwatch replied with a smirk. “To be a warrior is in our nature and to treat each other as such is to recognize this fact about ourselves. You and your girls shaved the hair of a fool who didn’t realize she was being played on the way here; that fact alone makes you a more capable warrior than said fool and lets not talk about the borderline rejects you have taken care of so far. A freshly shaved scalp and wounded pride goes a long way in making sure that fools comprehend the most important of lessons. The last thing we want is to not see a threat coming, like we did with the Shells.”

“Glad to see that at least some of you are paying attention to what’s going around you.” Alexandra commented. “Although I doubt that it will be my side that will pursue coming to blows with yours.”

“One could argue that the mere fact that human piracy became such a problem was because there are human interests that are rich, strong and connected enough to shape government policies. Pirate fleets don’t just appear out of thin air.” Mistwatch said dryly.

“And I could easily point out how the Confederacy has successfully cracked down on them; with a methodical ruthlessness that shocked even the Union from what I have gathered.” Alexandra pointed out with an equal dry tone.

“An amusing sideshow.” Mistwatch replied as she took a sip of her tea. “The fact that the criminals and all who cooperated with them are treated as the scum they are doesn’t change the fact that individuals of influence saw the Union as a target to be attacked.”

“And so here you are, ready to treat humanity as an enemy because of criminals who abused their wealth and positions. They are executing even teenagers who were raised not knowing any better and have dismantled corporations that were once considered pillars of their economy. What more do they need to do for you to stop doing that?” Alexandra asked.

“The Galaxy turns, what happened once may happen again. Humans have proven themselves ready and willing to attack us and ours merely for the pursuit of easy profit. The next time they may attack us for something else and their history has shown that they will not stop to mere piracy if they somehow come to think of us as targets again.” Mistwatch replied and chuckled. “I thoroughly studied their history and all I can think of is how ironic it all is. We carry the stigma of the Mannadi and the Tithric; everyone knows that we are fully capable of doing it again and they are right. Humans? Throughout their history they did all that and worse to each other and up until their first contact they were fully capable of doing it again. All that’s changed is that now they have more than a few aliens for them to put in some practice guilt free.”

“You know...” Alexandra begun as she finished her coffee. “If I couldn’t sense you I would have been congratulating on cosplaying a Loroi warrior so well.”

“Cosplaying?” Mistwatch asked, genuinely surprised.

“A human custom where humans dress up and disguise themselves to look like fictional, historical or even living people that goes back a few centuries.” Alexandra replied. “The ones that dress up like Loroi warriors are always off for one reason or an the other.”

“And what does have to do with what I just said?” Mistwatch asked.

“You would be surprised how drearily often humans say the exact same things as you did.” Alexandra replied with a smirk as her personal table begun to beep with an alarm she has set up. “Turns out that they know their history and themselves a little better than you might think; and the hatred they hold for certain parts of their past will surprise you.”

“I can’t say that it has been a pleasure Mizol but it was a civil enough talk.” Alexandra said as she stood up to leave.

“Will see you later warrior.” Mistwatch replied as she in turn finished up her tea.

[dragoongfa]

Just a friendly discussion between warriors, nothing to worry about yet.

[Snoofman]

I liked this chapter. An interesting exchange from two Loroi serving and representing two sides locked in an antagonistic truce. Can't wait for the next chapter. Will we ever see a scene of Alexandra together with her family?

[Cthulhu]

Just a friendly discussion between warriors, nothing to worry about yet.

Cosplaying? Just wait until you learn of LARPers or even RPG games, Mistwatch. That will be a huge culture shock. Especially as an elf...

A nice depiction of a Cold War scenario. Also, Mistwatch must be quite impressed with Alexandra's skill, if she deigns to talk with a "traitor" in such a polite way, even addressing her as a warrior. I mean, even the very idea of the Loroi getting rid of their "failures" and exiling them to the pink barbarians is fascinating.

[raistlin34]

Really, didn't the Loroi engage in wars and genocides among themselves before they got into space?

[dragoongfa]

Really, didn't the Loroi engage in wars and genocides among themselves before they got into space?

Word of god is that their past internal wars were 'civilized' in the sense that only warriors were the ones to be culled by the victor. Civilians and males were absorbed by the victor and rarely were a target.

In human wars, well...

Up untill very recently massacres against the civilian populations were the norm and even encouraged by the respective governments (one can argue they still are). You can rarely find historic instances where the victors didn't let their soldiers run rampant against the civilian populations of captured territories.

[raistlin34]

Is just the fear of the Union eventually becoming a superpower capable of rivaling the Confederation, or the fact many Loroi seem to consider humanity offensive simply by existing and wish to "correct" that?

[dragoongfa]

Is just the fear of the Union eventually becoming a superpower capable of rivaling the Confederation, or the fact many Loroi seem to consider humanity offensive simply by existing and wish to "correct" that?

It's the Union which is wary of the Confederation becoming a power strong enough to rival it.

In terms of raw population and habitated planets the Union dwarves the Confederation by several orders of magnitude but this is a false image as the Loroi are an absolute minority in the newly expanded Union while the majority of the population are either subjugated populations or newly minted member states strong armed into the Union due to the Umiak occupation of their systems. Furthermore these new territories were bled dry by the Umiak war machine and were in need of massive restoration efforts for their economy and ecology.

As thus all of the new territories are a net drain of resources, both to pacify and protect but to also rebuild. By the time of this story the 'worst' of the troublemakers have been 'pacified' but the new Union members have become a political power block to be reckoned with, not because of a desire to seccede but because they have simply learned to play the game and are legally able to affect policy which counters certain militarist Union power centers in favor of long term restoration and terraforming projects.

In contrast the Confederation is comparably tightly knit politically and extremely rich in terms of raw resources and with dozens of easily habitable garden worlds that bear almost no evidence of earlier habitation and exploitation. Turns out that the territory that was granted to humanity was practically untouched by anyone which allowed the exploitation of easily accessed resources that had been otherwise already exploited in the Union. Not that the Union lacks access to these resources but it's one thing to have to dig a couple of kilometers deep to find what you are looking for and an other to simply find entire mountains of the stuff waiting to be exploited. Simply put human industry and GDP is expanding exponentially, to the point of certain economic power centers actively encouraging Loroi migration and with governments financing numerous 'large family' incentive programs. Families with more than 10 children born either naturally or with artificial surrogacy are not uncommon with governments financing them in full and ensuring full retirement benefits for the parents of such families. All this because there arenn't enough people to work in this ever expanding economy even with the advanced automation of the time.

Furthermore, human technological advancement is eye watering when compared with all other known races. 50 years earlier humanity was roughly at the technological point in which the Loroi sister worlds made contact with one an other, at the time of the story the Confederation is on par with what the Loroi had during their war with the Mannadi. The Loroi know this and are extremely wary of being left behind. They in turn have begun investing heavily in technological advancement but their way of doing things is innefficient.

Then there are the Reforged and the Human Lotai. Marking both the nullification of the greatest martial advantage and the threat of hostile Loroi warriors.

If this was a 4x game the Union would have attacked and conquered the Confederation already and they probably would have done it if they didn't need to pacify the Loroi civilians by exiling them and by using the continued migration as an emergency valve.