(Sigma Mercenaries, Story 0002: To Train The Trainers)
(Chapter 6: Planning Phases)

(31 March, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 2230 Hours Local Time)
(SSO Barracks, Administration Building 4th floor, Base Boarhound, Terra 232)
(Day 14 of Campaign)

"All right, guys, time for some planning," Sidonia said as she entered the room. "We all here?"

"Everyone except Rasine, who is hanging with Clarence right now," Moira commented.

The door to the barracks opened, and Rasine stepped in. "I'm here."

"Good, time to begin. Neinke, what we are about to discuss, you are not required to participate in, but by the same token we would be much obliged if you did not discuss it with the principal targets of this conspiracy, follow?"

"A conspiracy?" Neinke set down her tablet and looked around at the other Secret Service Officers. She wasn't officially in their ranks, though for her break-in phase she was training with them until she was ready to begin her 'basic' training and into advanced individual training. She had announced earlier in the day her decision to remain with the Protectorate, but had decided that she would go into the mainline combat forces of the Protectorate and Mercenary units.

"Yeah, we've noticed a problem that needs to be corrected, but to do so we have to force the issue on the persons involved," Anastasia said.

"I will hold silent only on the merits of the matter," Neinke said immediately and forcefully. "I do not favor skullduggery unless it has a solid and proper purpose."

"Huh," Sidonia grunted. "Points for the principled take."

"So, what is the affair?" Neinke asked.

"It's not an affair, it's a lack of an affair," Rasine said. "You spent yesterday with The Boss, yes?"

"I did, most of it," Neinke answered.

"Notice anything between Hess and Toni?" Rasine continued the lede.

The bent of the question explained what they were referring to. Neinke, being a Knight Eloquence of the Kingdom of Havon, had been somewhat shielded from the more tawdry aspects of court romance amongst the nobility, but that bit of separation did not translate into naivete. In training, the Knights Eloquence were sequestered, which prevented any such business from forming (excepting the very rare case of a lady loving another), so Neinke had to learn those aspects of the business on her apprentice tour.

"Not hard to notice, I did catch some hints. I am not sure if Sigma One is ignoring it, or not noticing it," Neinke said warily.

"He knows," Sapphire said with finality. "He just doesn't play that way. And that's the problem."

"How could that be a problem?" Neinke asked.

"They both want it, neither wants to admit they want it, and that constant frustration between them is going to result in problems unless this is sorted out one way or the other," Sidonia explained. "Now, traditional methods aren't going to work — one, we want plausible deniability, two, they are both likely immune to traditional methods. So, way I figure this, we force them to rely on each other and only each other for an extended period of time, they will either split or admit they have feelings for each other."

"This is…" Neinke let the sentence trail off after she realized the others in the room were watching her intently. That little bit of info gave away another secret, this one something they were not expecting to show. "You are vested in the result. Not just in the initial outcome, but the long term results."

Moira sighed. "How much do you know about nonhuman races?" she asked.

"Little, my first exposure has been here," Neinke admitted.

"Most the Secret Service is nonhuman. Toni and myself are a pair of avians — she is a Phoenix in human form, I am a Dragon in human form that was chased off my homeworld by a pogrom. So yes, we have an interest here."

"What do I count as, chopped liver?" Lydia asked tartly.

"Sorry," Moira said demurely. "Also Lydia, a Copper Dragon. Point holds, though."

Neinke took a few moments to process what she had just heard, but came up a blank on how playing (semi-forcible) matchmaker between The Boss and the SSO Chief was in furtherance of their interests. Doubly so when it was already on the books that they were of equal status — was not the rule of law the critical factor?

"It's not about equality on paper," a prior-silent SSO officer said. "Several of us are telepaths, we know what he thinks. What we're working on now is an action to prove that what he thinks is what his heart does, and prove it to the rest of the world — nay, the rest of Existence."

"Thank you, Ellen," Moira acknowledged the point. "We're already convinced he will do the right thing. The rest of the nation is not so convinced. More than that, we need to prove to other worlds that this is a nation friendly to non-humans, as a way to increase recruiting and solidify our base."

"That, and it's obvious that they need a nudge toward each other," Sidonia said.

"Very obvious," Rasine said.

"So we're going to force close quarters between the two," Moira said.

Neinke nodded her understanding of the matter — at least as it was worded. She was still a bit dubious about their actual and unstated motivators, but decided she would hold her peace on the subject. If nothing else, the stated premise was certainly lofty enough, and for the ruler of a nation vying to hold an entire planet, she figured Sigma One could do far worse than Toni. Some of the upper nobility in Havon and amongst the bordering nations would have been extremely hard pressed to have a quarter of her personality, beauty and charm, and Toni didn't even try in that endeavor (so far as Neinke could tell). Not to mention, the whole 'relationship with a Phoenix' thing would score massive points in any kind of noble court or soiree, doubly so that Toni would rank in or above that of a Knight, given her duties and lethality. Being a noble courtier was one thing, being a nonhuman, infantry combatant, security services commander, (unofficial) advisor to the ruler of an entire planet and generally stunning person overall would put her on a different level in Neinke's old homeland.

Tremble, Lords of Havon, for I intend to learn the arts of war from a man whose conduct would put yours to shame, Neinke thought with no apparent justification or prompting on her part. In retrospect, it was a wonderful and ironic thought, given that her choices in life were to join a convent, join the Knights Eloquence, or be married off to a noble that she would neither trust or love. Here in Sigma, she found herself the harbinger of a wide-open future, and intended to make use of her training to catapult herself into a military command position, if for no other reason than to spite the existing political order of her homeland. Even the most senior Knight Eloquence, whom Neinke knew to have better strategic understanding than any two of the Kingdom's nobility (her father included, sadly), was denied any sort of operational command above the size of a company.

"This plan rests on the Boss and the SSO acting in accordance with your plans, essentially following a given path that you designate," Neinke said. "Has it occurred to you that neither Phoenix or American would allow themselves to be so limited?"

"In what way?" Moira asked.

The Knight decided to take a different angle than simply pointing the matter out. "You are aware that your primary foe in this matter is not going to be Sigma One physically, but his propensity for finding unconventional solutions to problems thrown in his path?"

"Yeah, that's the tricky part," Sionet grumped. "We can't make the environment sterile, they'll breeze right through whatever we throw at them, but if we make the environment cluttered and load it with common equipment, we give them materials and tools to bypass anything we throw at them."

"And maybe that is not a bad thing," Erin said. "Maybe forcing them to find ways to bypass what problems we throw at them is the path to go?"

"Practically speaking, The Boss is not going to take a direct path to defeating problems unless it is the best path — or the only workable one. If he can bypass a problem safely, he will. If he can attack a problem from a different angle than expected, he will. So, we give him what he expects, and we give him controlled — not contrived — ways to deal with what he expects in unconventional ways," Moira said.

"Like the fun on the Train yesterday," Rasine pointed out. "He used the direct path, but not with standard forces. He used the Armored Infantry as a bulwark, and had more Armored Infantry and the support vehicles provide heavy fire against their sides."

"Man, designing a challenge to contain them and force close quarters is going to be hard, especially for any length of time," Leonora groused.

"Maybe not," Sidonia said. "Virtue, what is the maximum below-ground depth the METARgraphic can go to?"

"50 meters, which includes the nanomachine factories and critical control systems," Virtue answered dutifully. She had also been sworn to secrecy pertaining to this matter, so as to keep the surprise and intent of the matter away from the subjects.

"So, at five meters per story, that's what, eight stories? Nine stories?"

"If we were to do one meter flooring between floors, and a slightly more than three meter floor gap, it becomes possible to have eleven floors without issue, or potentially eleven below ground and up to thirty aboveground."

"That's too much," Rasine said.

"I think a completely underground adventure would be best for this," Sionet said. "If the objective is to move out through the facility, wind their way through challenges and obstacles, there wouldn't be much stopping Hess from finding a way to demo an exterior wall and just walk out if it came to that. No such luck underground."

"So, what are we thinking? Start on the top floor, work their way down to an elevator to take them to the top and out?" Asuka asked.

"Other way around," Moira said. "Start them off in the basement of the facility, they have to work their way up and out," the Black Dragon in human form said. "Can't just demo floors to move upward, unlike top-down."

Neinke tuned them out to a degree, still somewhat listening to the debate but not hotly interested in it as much as she was interested in her study material on the formation of the Protectorate and the underlying legal principles involved. It had been initially shocking to her to find out that the closest thing to nobility in the Protectorate was actually not technically part of the command structure — the Executors. The reason for the shock was easiest explained ex post facto by Clint in days past: a government is formed of the people, by the people, and for the people. If the people want a street bum as their leader, they will elevate him and piss on the nobility that says otherwise.

The principle involved — who has the authority — was the greatest shock, but on the face of it perfectly logical. Havon's standing army was roughly 3000 troops, and had an expected civilian reserve of maybe 7,000. Conversely, the population of the nation was roughly 85,000 persons total. If the people rose up and decided to overthrow legitimate rule, there would not be enough standing military to stop them — assuming the military even wanted to try. Even if other nations did not respect the usurpers, that much of an army was very much a threat to anyone who wanted to try to dispute the forcible ejection of the prior rulers.

More to the case of Sigma, though, there never was a nobility, and there never would be a nobility. The legal structure designed by them — or, more strictly speaking, borrowed from the Multimages and United States of America with some hefty modifications — prevented the effective rise of a nobility, as the ruler at the time would have to answer to the will of the people as deemed necessary by vote. Tolerance for mistakes or for the common excesses of a noble class would be minimal at best, and in these environs, Neinke didn't want to find out what happened when one ran afoul of that tolerance.

The ultimate trick of the coming society was that the seed of a dictatorship or monarchy was there — Sigma One could easily command the personal loyalty of the people, and with it abolish the restricted-democratic form of government in favor of a direct and unlimited rule. The propensity was there, but the actual willingness of the man in question to do it was not there. The overarching reason why confused Neinke to a degree she never expected to experience. The premise that such an answer was in a history book was preposterous on the face of it, why would tales of the actions of old determine what the leaders of the future would do?

The puzzle of the matter, combined with the rather dry reading she was working through (and what a marvelous medium, a tablet! Thousands of books accessible from one device!), lulled the Knight to sleep.

-x-

(Next day, 1 April, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 0715 Hours Local Time)
(Sigma One's Quarters, 4th Floor, Base Boarhound Administration Building, Terra 232)

"Enter," Hess allowed after someone pressed the call button. He spared the entrant a quick glance, but was on his feet shortly thereafter when he realized who it was. "Lady Honoratia, welcome. Is something amiss?"

"I have something I need to discuss with you, Highness, if you can spare some time?" Neinke asked.

"Please be seated," Sigma One waved to one of the chairs he kept at his primary desk. After she was seated, Hess took a seat as well. "So, what is on your mind?"

"A conspiracy is forming amongst the Secret Service officers that I do not believe is warranted, Highness."

"I am aware they are plotting something," Hess said. "I don't have the details, but I do know the contest intends to be some manner of trial by fire / forging by fire plan."

That caused Neinke a moment of pause. "If you are aware, sir, why not move to stop it?"

"The loudest reason for not stopping it is their overarching intention — they want to prove to the Protectorate that the command level can work with, can tolerate, and can respect nonhumans. If you'll excuse me the sin of participating in some kabuki theatre, a run through an engineered ops maze would not completely quash the fears at the lower level, but would work wonders on it. This, of course, ignores the obvious training value and teachable moments of such a practice run."

"And I should admit that such is only part of their motivation," Neinke said.

"True, they've been making noise about other, more blatant and perverse goals in such intention for some time," Hess said. "Again, though, even under such motivations the prior reason still stands. I'll play the game they intend, if it helps alleviate fears."

Neinke shook her head, looking to the ground between her chair and the desk. "I am not understanding this, sir," she said.

"You're thinking about this as a conflict head-to-head, myself against the SSO conspiracy."

"Is that not what it is?" Neinke asked.

"Yes and no," Hess answered. "In the world of politics and culture, you will quickly find that there are no simple questions, no isolated actions, no easy answers. This is one such case. They intend to use a henceforth-unknown action as a bludgeon against me to make choices and demonstrate principles. I intend to use their drama theater as a demonstration of planning, execution, and principle. They intend to force a relational issue. I intend to demonstrate an even keel in that matter, and allow what may happen to fall as it shall. They intend to demonstrate that an engineered plan can force a hand; I will show that the first casualty of any conflict can and shall be the plan. And, when all else is done, when their challenge is met or exceeded, I will prove to them an old axiom: never ask of someone that which you have no reasonable expectation of doing yourself."

"You intend to break their challenge by meeting the challenge?" Neinke asked.

"Not really," Sigma One said. "We'll take this from a different angle. How much did your training as a Knight cover in terms of command decisions?"

"Some," Neinke said. "Mostly we are individual or small group fighters, we're not really battlefield commanders." The Knight hesitated for a moment. "But I would like to learn," she admitted candidly, almost embarrassedly.

"One of the great lessons of command is that you work to preserve your own decision loop, while you work to break an enemy's decision loop. In this case, the loop the SSO are running consists of confining myself and Toni, and forcing us to follow a set of tasks, goals, and parameters that they envision. The proper challenge of this matter is going to be my effort to break their decision loop — their intention to confine me — and still achieve the overarching objectives inherent to both our efforts in this."

"It is stunning that erstwhile allies — and comrades — would allow themselves to be so divided still, even in the face of a bright start," Neinke grumped.

"The critical part is that you think we are comrades," Toni said as she closed up behind the Knight. Neinke could easily smell the perfume of bath soap and shampoo on her, which told the Knight Eloquence where she had been. "The reality is, we're a Nation in Name Only. A hodgepodge of individual groups trying to form something more, something stronger, and willing to give the Americans a shot at it. Something goes wrong, it all falls apart. That's why we need the effort to not just say we are unified, we need to show it. The more we demonstrate the unity people want us to have, the more likely we stay unified when we have trouble."

Neinke ignored that Toni had, once again, sat down backwards in a chair, but at least this time it was an office chair. "So, you are willing to use yourselves as pawns in this game of what should be common courtesy?"

"As I said, it shall be a play of Kabuki Theatre, ergo we show one thing and accomplish another. Or, in this case, we show one thing and accomplish everything, while making it massively entertaining for everyone."

"So you will let this go forward?" Neinke asked.

"Oh yes, this will go forward. Do not tell the others that I am expecting it, let them move forward on their plan. I want to see what manner of devious obstacle they can throw down, and how they react on the pressure of taking their own challenge."

Neinke was silent, contemplative for a few moments. "I would like your permission today to wander the base, speak with the persons. I am not convinced this is the widespread issue it is purported to be."

"Granted," Hess said without restraint. "I suspect there is some, but not a huge amount. Toni, you willing to accompany Lady Honoratia on this search?"

"I can, yes," Toni said with some hesitation to voice.

"Very well, I'll leave you two to do a thorough public opinion check on the matter. Make sure you both wear body cameras for review of the day's activity and analysis. And check all three sides of the matter, Human-only, Nonhuman-only, and mixed groups. I suspect you will find more of the latter, but all three have valid insight and I want to know both how much and how strong. Good to go?"

"We shall see to it, sir," Neinke said stoutly.

"We're on it," Toni quickly sprang up and was on her way with Neinke.

Sigma One was silent until a second after the door closed. "Now, Virtue, I have naught but an expectation that you are apprised of the conspiracy in question going forward?"

"More accurately, sir, I am doing a lot of the internal modeling for the challenge house they are designing," Virtue admitted. "Shall I halt involvement?"

"Continue as you are, do not inform me of the coming challenges under the same parms as I set for Neinke. On this, though, I set to you a secondary task pertaining to this challenge."

"Listening, sir," Virtue said after a moment of pause from Sigma One.

"As the group designs obstacle sets and challenges, if possible please modularize these obstacle sets so they can be used in successive randomized training scenario sets. I suspect that as the nation moves forward as a group and as the Sigma military groups gain veterancy, they will wish to try their mettle against such challenges as a way to gauge their performance against a scenario and to gauge my performance in relation to theirs."

"And, as yous stated to the Knight Eloquence, you intend that the rest of the Secret Service shall have to run the same gauntlet?" Virtue pointed out.

"Randomized repeat of that gauntlet," Hess said. "If I am to suffer a blind run through the gauntlet, so shall they. Hence the modularization of it, that creating randomized challenge zones allows for transposition and even varying sets of tasks. Also, if they generate ideas but discard, retain those ideas and modularize so they can be added to a randomization pool."

"Understood, sir. I shall see to it," Virtue assured him.

Already the AI was working on creating 'challenge modules' to be used for the purpose of changing around the layout as needed. On this, the Secret Service team would find that their machinations were far more painful to themselves than to their intended victim, given their lack of mental conditioning in finding 'non-standard solutions'. And, in years, decades to come, the 'Maze with no fixed rules' challenge would migrate around the Protectorate as something of a lesson on the art of 'thinking outside the box', which discipline would make the Protectorate Of Sigma and the Sigma Mercenaries even more unpredictable and dangerous in affairs of peace and war.

-x-

(1 April, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 1430 Hours Local Time)
(Muster Ground south of Admin Building, Base Boarhound, Terra 232)

"That root looks big enough for both of us," Toni pointed to the location in question at the base of the Dryad's tree that had pretty much taken up the muster grounds south of the Admin Building. "Lunch break time," she said after she had sat down on the exposed root and stretched out.

"Did you bring any rations? What little travelling rations I kept on my person are long gone."

"Here," Toni passed the Knight Eloquence a MRE meal. "I anticipated this. Later today I'll step you through pulling food from the storage network, or finding MREs in the cafeteria."

Yesterday's adventuring with the Secret Service for Neinke had been a crash-course in some customs and procedures, including the preparation of MRE meals. So, Neinke used her belt knife to prize open the package and array the contents on her lap and the root space between herself and Toni. A shot of water into the heater, a couple shakes, and she slipped in the MRE entree to heat and set it on the ground to avoid burning herself as the chemical heater began its duty.

"What are your thoughts so far?" Toni asked.

"There are a lot of people that want to say something, but won't."

"They won't say it because you're attached to the command level," One of the Cadets said from next to them. How exactly he had arrived there was a mystery to Toni, until she realized that the Cadet in question was the tree — Desmond. "But I will — I know enough about people to know what we have in command, I don't have any reason to fear reprisal."

"He really seems more intimidating than he is," Toni admitted.

"True," Desmond acknowledged the point. "Fucking frightening behind a rifle, though. Anyway, the big deal here that nobody wants to talk about is that every person in these barracks have their fears, and it boils down to four issues. First, the Humans think the nonhumans are conspiring to kill all the humans."

"Don't see that happening by the numbers," Toni said. "Not enough nonhumans to create a parity of numbers."

"Fears don't always answer to logic," Neinke pointed out.

"Too true," Desmond said. "It's a fear, not a rationalization. Anyway, issue number two is the inverse. The nonhumans are convinced that the Humans are planning to kill all the nonhumans. On this one, there is precedent, that one guy that the Boss had slain by underwater pressure. Nobody will say so, but his execution of the guy went a long way to defusing tensions — at least for that week."

"The Boss pointed something out to me a few days ago about that," Toni said. "The numbers favor Humans a little more than 60-40."

"That's about what I count," Desmond said.

"Weapons distribution is about even between the sides, factoring in the Mafiosi and such," Toni continued. "And will to combat, as in diehard willingness to kill is about even as well. So, on those merits, it's an even match, even counting the 3-to-2 distribution of Human-nonhuman. With me so far?"

"Sure, makes sense," Desmond admitted.

"What's the biggest difference?" Toni asked. Her personal body camera was still recording, making this a teachable moment going forward.

Desmond considered it for a minute. "I do not know."

"Magic talents," Toni said. "The amount of nonhuman Mages exceeds Human Mages by as much as 4 to 1. And a lot of the Nonhuman Mages are Transcendent, but only a few Human Transcendents."

Desmond was silent for a few moments while the thought sunk in. "That's a huge disparity."

"It's also why I am not afraid of humans suddenly becoming murderous," Toni said. "Anyone that wants to become homicidal or xenocidal will quickly learn how lethal spellcraft can be. So, what's number three?"

"Third is, well, it's a minor one but noisy and it makes no sense. There is a group of people in the refugees that believe there should be no government and that the Trains were the perfect place."

"That is the most backwards thing I could possibly imagine," Neinke said. "Who would choose slavery or captivity over open skies?"

"There's a technical term for that kind of thing, but I can't remember it," Toni said. "We'll leave that aside. It's a minority of a minority, highly unlikely to factor in here. And the fourth group you know of?"

"Uhh, well, last group is kinda racistly anti-racist, I guess you could say," he explained. "It's a small group as well, but they're committed to mixing the groups where possible. Way they explain it, impossible to play this human-nonhuman game if everyone is in the same genetic bucket."

"And I was under the impression that the prior belief was bad," Neinke said. "How would that be enforceable? Arranged marriages?"

"I'm not saying it's smart, I am saying someone believes it is the path forward. They just think all of this racial tension disappears if everyone is of mixed parentage," Desmond said. "Speaking honestly here, I have no clue how that's going to work for Dryads, I don't know if we're compatible with non-Dryads. I would think so, but…"

"Uh, wow, don't know," Toni said. "I know that Phoenix are genetically dominant in human form, and single-race-only in Phoenix form, so that knocks us out of the running," the Secret Service Operations Commander said succinctly. "I suspect Dragons run on the same rules. But it's all beside the point at the end of the day."

"The fears, or the desires?" Desmond asked.

"Both," Toni said. "Neinke said it best, earlier," Toni prompted the Knight Eloquence.

"The heart wants what the heart wants, nothing more or less," Neinke pointed out. "Total, in the four groups you pointed out, about how many would work toward their goals?" she asked Desmond.

"If I had to guess, maybe six hundred or so," he said. "There's probably more who haven't said anything, so you could guess 800 to 1000 and be safe," the Dryad concluded.

"So, worst-case estimate, you have 1000 persons willing to scrap it out over the fate of 7000 persons, and this mind you is in the face of 6000 persons that want to do what their hearts want to do, not what other people tell them to feel, and in the face of the Sigma leadership, the Mages, and most critically of all, the Executor."

"Oh, wow, stated like that, it's a whole different game," Desmond said.

"I'm not saying it won't happen, but this is a matter in which there is no path to societal harmony unless none of the stated factions win," Toni said. "Sometimes, the only way to win is not play the game."

"If someone wins this contest, everyone loses," Desmond echoed the thought from a different perspective as he leaned up against the trunk of his tree. "Huh. It really is that simple, I guess."

"And the logic of the other side follows the same rule," another cadet said as she approached from behind Desmond.

"And you are?" Toni asked around Desmond's side.

"Dyan Minette. Born unto the Magi, proud to parley my love of Mobile Warfare to the Protectorate," she answered immediately on the request. "I have the Drill Instructor's permission to speak to you on this matter, as does Desmond retroactively."

"Didn't think about that," Desmond grumped.

"You're cleared, it's a necessary fact-finding mission," Dyan insisted. "A paranoid mutiny in the troops would be nasty destructive to the Protectorate, so any assistance we can give in helping policy, I will gladly do so."

Toni considered the offer, and realized that this was about the best bet she was going to get for a straight answer. "We're listening, Cadet."

"I am half-Nymph, so I've been hearing a lot of this since I landed here. Never mind the on-the-ground silence, they won't tell you straight because they think you're in on the conspiracy from the Admin side," Dyan explained her opening position.

"Really? A Phoenix is somehow going to side with humans against nonhumans?" Toni asked.

"Well, the barracks assumption is you're banging the boss, so you'd be protected," Dyan said deadpan.

The sheer absurdity of such an accusation caused Toni to immediately gag on the water she was drinking, which immediate reaction caused her to reflexively shoot water out of her nose on the ground in front of her.

"Are you well?" Neinke asked as Toni continued sputtering for a few moments thereafter.

"Was totally not expecting that," Desmond pointed out. "So, despite having a bed in the boss' apartment, you aren't sleeping with him?"

"No, no," Toni sputtered for a few more moments. "I have thought about it a time or two, but no."

"And also keep in mind that the Secret Service Barracks are right across the corridor from his room, but no such tryst has occurred to my knowledge. Even if he follows no known variant of chivalry, Command Administrator Hess conducts himself in a proper and gentlemanly fashion in personal regards," Neinke said. "More so than I can say for a lot of persons in my homeland."

"So nothing's happening there?" Dyan asked, shocked that the rumor mill could be so grossly wrong on the matter.

"Nothing happening," Toni confirmed. "Now, you want some truth in this matter?"

"Might be nice," Dyan said.

"Any Phoenix is a telepath, it's genetic for us. I've been inside his mind, looking for this information, because a lot of us nonhumans came off the first Train wondering the same thing."

"And?" Dyan asked immediately.

"The Boss expects, if this does come down to a race war, he will be slain while trying to stop it, or slain trying to defend persons who want to live in peace, or be slain while trying to take out the race-war instigators."

"Slain? The guy that can cut down people routinely at 800 to 1000 yards is expecting to be slain in such a scuffle?" Desmond asked. "I'm not buying that," he said adroitly.

"Simple math," Toni said. "One mag in his rifle. 20 rounds. Eight mags match-grade rounds, 160 rounds. Two mags armor-piercing rounds, 40 rounds. Four mags 40-caliber for his backup weapon, 120 rounds. 5 mags for his pistol plus one in the handle, 78 rounds. Assuming one kill per round, that's what? Twenty, one-eighty, two-twenty, three-forty, four-hundred eighteen rounds total, so not even half of the assumed racist element, and that's assuming one shot one kill which we know is not reality. Naturally, such an insurrection has to start with the command level, so the Sigma Leads, Eagle Lead in the helos, Engineering Lead, and the Rail Guard Leads since they're officers now. So yeah, I can understand when he assumes his own demise at the hands of a racist element that would be willing to take the casualties to force the issue."

"So, if that's the case, how do we stop this from happening?" Dyan asked.

"We can't. If the sides are paranoid enough, it will happen," Toni said.

"Then how do we break down the paranoia?" the Cadet continued.

"That I don't know," Toni admitted. "I'll admit I don't know much about high-level decisions and policy, not something I've really worked on in my life. What I do know is that I could sense the big guy knew his stuff and was willing to fix the problems he found on the 523 Train. And so far he's given us ways to get around the problems we have, but…" Toni trailed her sentence off, not sure how to go forward with her thoughts.

"…But yeah, they may not take the chance, they may just go for their fears," Desmond said. "Hell, I'm a fuckin' tree and the Boss went well out of his way to save my ass, up to the point of fast-talking his way past a cavalry patrol with religious philosophy to cover all of our asses. If that doesn't get the message across, I don't know what would."

"Even invented whole new processes for it to move a Tree with the Jump Gate Engine," Dyan pointed out. "Has anyone said when the new scanning devices will be ready?"

"Xigon is working on them, the Chief Engineer said he'd have a prototype to test on my tree in the next couple of days," Desmond said. "We're going to start with moving some trees around the base before we do mine, just to be safe."

"See, this is where the evidence doesn't match the paranoia," Toni pointed out. "Guy rescues us off Trains. Guy goes out of the way to rescue the tree of a Dryad, including facing down a Cavalry Troop with a philosophy debate to BS his way past them. He's working on plans for transformation runes for Dragons and Phoenix. Set up an impromptu hatchery for Phoenix on the command level of the admin building. But yeah, I can totally see how he wants to side against the Nonhumans."

"The opposite side is that now he's conspiring to side with the nonhumans against the humans," Dyan pointed out the obvious logic trap in Toni's persuasive efforts.

"Ughhh," Toni cradled her face in her hands. "Gods help me."

-x-x-x-

(1 April, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 1900 Hours Local Time)
(Sigma One's Quarters, Admin Building fourth floor, Base Boarhound, Terra 232)

"It's been a day," Toni grumped as she thumbed the access panel to Sigma One's quarters. "And who would have thought that our rambling conversation would have been rebroadcast throughout the base, and result in everyone accusing Sigma One of playing favorites?"

"More concerting is the accusation that you are in relations with the Boss, that is the manner of scandal not needed," Neinke said.

"Why is it dark in here?" Toni asked.

"Was watching some video footage, fell asleep," Sigma One said from the vicinity of the couch. "Lights, up slow."

"This wouldn't happen to be, erm, well," Toni asked.

"You did say it was rebroadcast," Hess said after he stood up and stretched. Toni winced at the sound of his back popping in several places, but said nothing.

"Okay, how bad?" Toni asked as Hess moved to his desk and took a seat. He waved them over to the chairs opposite it, which both gladly took.

"Water?" Sigma One offered each a water bottle.

"Much obliged, sir," Neinke said.

"Now, to properly answer your question, Toni, you said nothing for which you need regret," Erich said flatly. "In terms of effort, you've earned a solid A-minus on the persuasion front, but as you have found out through your searches, you have run into what I call the Impossibly Real Conundrum. Anything you do, up to and including nothing, is by default wrong and shall have an equal and opposite criticism. I call it impossibly real because it applies to roughly everything you do, say, or think. The ongoing faux pas with the segmentation of the Protectorate's people is a perfect example. And, no matter what we do from up here, it will be by default wrong and not correct the problem."

"So, what's the solution, sir?" Neinke asked plaintively.

"The solution can only be individual, as you pointed out earlier, the heart wants what the heart wants. And if the heart wants a race war, the only damn thing we can do is hope that there are enough people who do not want a race war and are willing to shut it down when someone starts it. If not, the bulk of us are dead by default, and as you pointed out that will likely include me as well. Clint almost assuredly, Clarence strongly likely, Victoria almost assuredly. I suspect Nereus will survive on dint of being an Executor, and the Mages can ride it out, but something of this nature will blow up sooner rather than later so I expect they'll want in on it just on egalitarian principle."

Toni sighed. "So, in short, there's not much we can do to stop this?" she asked. "Nothing at all?"

"We will do what we can to mitigate it, but even that has no guarantees."

Author's Chapter Afterword:

Another round, another chapter is afoot!

This one is something of a bridge chapter on Neinke's intentions combined with the standing conspiracy for the Secret Service Group to play forcible matchmaker. Everyone's got a goal for this project, Hess included, so this is going to end up more of a case of conflicting conspiracies than anything else.

That said, the intention is not anywhere near as sinister as I am making it sound. The overarching goal is stability and societal harmony, it is not like they are trying to be perverse for the sole purpose of being so, and it is not that they are trying to take over or carve out an undue amount of power or influence on the matter. Quite the opposite, the greater concern in this scenario is the people, not Sigma One, which makes this more of a demonstration than anything else. 'Kabuki Theatre' in Hess' wording, given that he expects a lot to happen, a lot of showmanship, but not much to be set in policy.

And, once again, Virtue puts out some indirect influence by airing the conversation in its entirety while Neinke and Toni finish up their lunch on the root of Desmond's tree. In this sense, Hess has a powerful set of capabilities that he is not quite yet leveraging for what they are capable of: the Artificial Intelligence Entities around the planet. For certain, Hess has started using Virtue to alleviate the administrative burden throughout the base and the Protectorate, but each AI is capable of massive amounts more capability than are being used — and it will take a serious shock event for Hess to both see the wisdom at hand and the capability to be tapped.

On the various scattered notes of Neinke's homeworld, it will be several in-game years before her homeworld becomes a major factor, but rest assured that homecoming will be grand and filled with a LOT of combat. So long as the dice do not roll sinister, I have plans aplenty for that scenario.

Other than that, not much else to say about the chapter. NEXT UP: After a few days of not much movement, the SSO troops generate their prototype challenge house and do an inspection of it. The game is afoot!

Review Replies: Half my reviews for the story so far were for Chapter 5. THANK YOU ALL FOR THE INPUT!

KPhoenix: I'll cover Tenchi's story more thoroughly in the mainline MMC, but suffice it to say that Atrebas poached him several reincarnated lifetimes after his harem adventure (Tenchi Muyo), and during a conflict with another Executor-To-Be, Baigan Nostra. The two of them are effectively inverse operators from each other, Tenchi the straightforward and honorable Knight, Baigan being the shadow warrior, Ninja, Assassin, and all-around cloak-and-dagger guy. (Nereus, being more of a Knight / Paladin than anything else, falls mostly in under Tenchi's dominion among the Executors.)

As to Neinke versus Clint, don't bet any real estate on it yet. Whether or not Neinke will even choose that route for her life is yet to be determined.

On Clint's height, he is 5'8" compared to Clarence at 6'0" and Hess at 6'2". Only Victoria is shorter amongst the Callsigns, being 5'7" herself.

Sajuuk: Sigma's fun with teleportation technologies will not be one-way, but there will be countermeasures eventually. That will be a massive story point in some story segments to come.

As to your ideas about merchant work, stay tuned, I have plans aplenty for that!

Biggie 1947: So far, the dice have been favorable to Sigma, but that will change in chapters to come. Thanks for pointing it out!

Dark Phoenix Jake: Both are excellent quotes, thanks!

On HMMVW variants, oh yes, I will be diversifying in chapters or segments to come. Also, look out for a renewed interest in the Vietnam-era Gun Truck concept, and read up on them if you aren't already familiar with the term.

Winblades: Aye, some chapters have thin feedback sets, I just keep trucking when that happens. My first forays received near zero feedback, so anything is a major improvement!

Hess is an odd duck, but he's also not a born Kentuckian. Not sure when / if his background will further into the story, it might or might not.

You do have a point on swapping around between the stories, and that is the primary reason why I make sure that continuity is clear with the datelines. My intention is more along the lines of Eric Flint, how his 1632 Series branches in an expanding web of novels that balloons the farther into the timeline you go, each story being separate from the others yet part of the same interconnected whole that influences each other story to a degree. In this way, I am writing out the events as they come along but without creating massive amounts of chapters in the mainline story to cover just the action of one day. And, eventually, the first story will itself come to a conclusion but the series will truck onward into new adventures and newer, bigger challenges for everyone involved, with each new segment (story block) covering its own slice of the action and changing the dynamic.

I hope that made as much sense as it did coming out of my brain.

Thank you!

AND MUCH ThANK YOU ALL FOR THE REVIEWS! Hang around, someone is requisitioning more tinder for a coming fire...

The Gripe Sheet:

No real gripes for the last chapter. Eternal thanks to Sieben Nightwing, Takeshi Yamato, and the finishing beta reader Necroblade for keeping my prose mildly understandable.

Footnotes:

No footnotes for this chapter.

Included Works:

No included works outside of prior material.