Edward and David were together the next morning in their usual personal news reading and briefing in Edward’s office. Edward’s mind was still racing from last night, but he was going to try to calm himself by reading the daily reports. It did not calm him and by the time David had arrived with his tea pot clothed in west country tea cosy Edward was nearing a panic attack.
“Hey, Ed? You doing alright? Have they thrown any more shit at you?”
Edward did not meet David’s eyes, “We’re fucked…”
David’s eyes widened, “Have we been cut off from our supplies!? The fucking-”
“No… No… Not yet at least. But they might just break themselves in a few weeks… We’ve got so many fucking bottlenecks…”
“Well, you should be breathing down the logi officer’s necks then! “They know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay” sorta stuff!”
“Well,” Edward sighed, “First off, I can’t do that as you know, and secondly, we just don’t have the transports to get the stuff from earth to here, then here to the ground. We just don’t have enough transports to keep the shipments flowing during a full offensive. In about four weeks we’ll have to stop and hold position because we’ll be out of Helium three and spare parts.”
“Ah. And is that all?”
Edward’s head whipped up, a demented smile spread across his face, “Not at all mate! Not at fucking all! Because do you know who has decided to get in on this?”
“Uhhh- The Airforce?”
“Correct answer! They are sending three light attack aircraft over!”
“And that’s gonna make logistics worse?”
“Yep! And they are using a transport that just got out of the dock and could be brining food and spare parts over but nope! Its Kerosine, Aircraft, bombs, missiles and a couple of extra people to feed! And do you know who the pilots are!? They’re Russian SU-25 pilots who defected during the war because it keeps getting better!”
“Do you want some tea to calm down mate?”
“Yes, Yes I would...”
The two collapsed into their seats, pouring the tea between each other and setting out a few ginger snaps. From there they continued with their ritual, opening up their e-readers and phones to download the latest news from the data probe that had been sent through hyperspace that “morning”. Though that term didn’t really have any meaning in space.
Edward started to flick through the various papers and news websites he had subscribed to. It was when he was scrolling through various highlighted reports from the BBC on his computer that his panic started to grow again. His hands started to shake as his eyes widened, his breath shortening.
David slowly got up, moving around the desk, “Uhh, Edward? Do you need some-”
He then saw it.
The news had been given the information on Caelypsus about a week ago, but it seems like they had been given more.
Specifically, they had been told about the war.
Edward’s shaky hands moved to the mouse, the courser hovering over the play button as he clicked it. The video taking a second to load before playing.
The regular intro to the news played, with one of the new presenters appearing behind the news table. Her clear received pronunciation accent tinkling as she finished the introduction “This is BBC news, I’m Jessica Wood, and this is the news at nine. Our top stories: The Interim Government has declared war on the newly discovered “First Kingdom” in a complete diplomatic breakdown. Fighting continues in the mountains of Iran as remnants of the Iranian army keep fighting the Commonwealth 3rd Army. The Party for Equality and Unity, the PEU, are currently leading the polls on the federal elections. For the state elections in the Federal British Isles the Labour party is in a similar lead over the Conservative party. And finally, protests have continued in China at the new federal divisions and the current state administration formed by the ROC. All that and more later in the broadcast.”
David was left slack jawed, “Holy fuck”
But it did not end there. The last part of the intro played, fading away to reveal the presenter at one of the large screens at the studio showing a picture of the planet.
“The Interim Federal government has announced this morning that war has been declared on the first kingdom, with whom contact was reportedly established only a week ago. The government’s spokesperson blamed a “complete collapse in all diplomatic relations” initiated by the kingdom, who called the representatives sent by the second expeditionary fleet “Daemons”.
So far, the BBC has received little information on the conflict other than that casualties have remained minimal and that the troops dispatched to the theatre are engaged in active combat. So far, we have received no footage of the combat and the ministry of defence has not issued their own statement. However, the Associated Press have received the promise of a statement from the commanding officer of the Operation, a Rear Admiral Edward Fletcher. They have told the BBC that they are expecting the report within the week.
However, many questions remain over the nature of the conflict and what the objectives of the war are. We will now switch over to our war correspondent…”
Edward paused the video.
“Edward, I know this is a fucking lot but please don’t faint on me.”
“I-I- I won’t. B-but…” Edward stammered, his voice devoid of all life, “But everyone now knows me for this. I could end up as just a figure of Imperialism…”
“Now look mate, if anyone here is going to be a figure of Imperialism it will be me. If anyone tries to give it to you, I will snatch it from their grasp.”
“I’ll take that as encouragement?
“Good. Now, you need a statement then? For that you need all the info you can get, and I’ve just gotten the data you requested from the cells on the nobility. I’ll have all the important points highlight for you by mid-day, all you need to do is drink the rest of this tea and think about how not to come off as a shit head.”
David patted Edward on the back, his hand thumping against his poor friend’s shoulder before he rushed out of the room, hurrying to his own quarters. Not closing the door behind him.
Edward couldn’t deny that his 2IC, while infuriating most of the time, did his job when he needed to and always responded the call to action. Sometimes before that call had even been given out. And Edward thanked his friend for doing just that in his time of need.
Just how the fuck would he even start to create a statement!? Would he remove himself from the decisions and the war to the greatest extent possible? Would he try to justify it and spin it? How the fuck would he even spin it!?
Well, the obvious way to spin it was pointing out the feudal system and burning people alive but he though he needed a bit more and hoped David would bring that.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
But trying to remove himself from it… It would be riskier than trying to justify it. After all it’s the fucking nazi defence. “Oh, I was only following orders” doesn’t work when you were the one giving orders for one thing. Not to mention all the other issues with that defence, especially when civilian bodies start piling up due to this thing or the other.
Hell was it even worth spinning this? Should this just be left to the court of public opinion? To let people and history judge him rather than have him mould their beliefs?
He shook his head. People didn’t have a complete picture of the situation right now, and he had the right to tell his side of the story, even if it was a little biased.
He needed a group of people who knew more about this and could act as a test audience, that’s it! But who…
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In front of him was assembled his “crack” media team. It consisted of Alex, Elliot and Amber. David was still assembling his document on the nobility so that left this group. This group of rather awkward looking people who probably had better things to do than help him with an image problem. Though in his defence he didn’t order any of them to help.
He cleared his throat, “So, as you all know the public knows about the war and are going to the rather straightforward conclusion that we’re all a bunch of imperialistic bastards. Now while the mission we have been given is a bit imperialist in nature, I can’t lie, we do have some form of justification for this. That and I don’t think anyone wants that label put on them.”
They all shuffled a little uncomfortably.
“I-I think I can help with the wording Edward, but I’ve never had to deal with the media…” Elliot muttered, their fingers nervously drumming on his knees.
Alex nodded, “I can do a little work on that too and maybe making it a bit snappier in places if you have issues with it.”
Amber simply shifted in their seat, the head engineer the most awkward out of the lot, “I-I’m not sure what I can do to help but I’ll help in any way I can.”
Edward nodded in return, “Right... First call of business! How do we even deal with this? Do we trying to shift all the blame on high command or try and make the case that this is justified in some way?”
The crowded room fell silent for a moment. The three thinking hard.
“Well, they have burnt people at the stake. Alive… And they forbid people from having a lot of common items…” Elliot muttered.
“Though people forbidding the sale of blue cloth isn’t exactly a humanitarian crisis. Nobody will care if we bring that up.” Alex replied, their head turning to Elliot.
Amber flicked her head in turn to Alex, “T-The burning people like witches at Salem is though!”
Edward groaned, “And they do have people in what is slavery in all but name with the feudal system. But the issue is that a fair few people don’t care what’s going on outside of places they consider important. People for example ignored all the persecution in Middle Eastern countries and Russia for quite a long time. So why would they care about shit on another planet?”
“Well,” Elliot mumbled, “People also didn’t know about it until attention was drawn to it, then people cared. Since before they had no idea about it”
They looked to him.
Alex nodded, “If you use your statement to give information out on who we are fighting it’d probably work to sway some people. But that’s if command approve of it when we send it over.”
“Well, we just have to hope they’ll accept it. And that David will have the information I need. Nobody will believe what I say without evidence, and I need to know how far this rabbit hole goes down.”
“And how long is David going to take with this?” Alex asked.
“He says it will be ready around lunchtime.”
“Huh. Surprisingly punctual for him.”
“He’s always on time when it comes to serious business.” Edward corrected.
“And he should be like that more often.”
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They spent the next few hours trying to brainstorm various intros, listing things to avoid, and trying to figure out a tone for the entire thing. It was somewhat of a mess given everyone’s lack of media experience, but they made progress. Slow progress.
By the time they had lunch they still didn’t have anything complete, but they didn’t need to, with David arriving on time with the rest of the intel.
When he came in, his face was solum, looking completely professional.
Alex and Edward both knew what that meant.
“David,” Edward said, his voice curt, “What have you found. I don’t like that look.”
David cleared his throat, “I have a large amount of data that I’ve sent over via email but this part. This part I needed to print out for you as I know you are going to want to see this right now.”
He tossed the report over to the desk everyone had crowded around. Edward picked it up, his fingers handling it like a murder report as his eyes scanned it. His eyes then opened wide, then filled with embers of pure hatred.
“As you can see, the duke Nathaniel has some rather disgusting “hobbies” he indulges in. Our reports show various peasants disappear wherever he is around. Especially those with…” David paused, swallowing as he tried to think of the right words, “Rare traits… Most of the bodies of the people who disappear are then found soon afterwards after being cut open and mutilated. One of the agent’s medical professionals all put their deaths down due to bleeding out during a vivisection.”
Edward dropped the paper in disgust, his teeth grinding against each other as those embers turned into a fire.
“David. I want you to send an order I’m about to give out to all ground troops. I want this duke captured. If he dies a horrible death in a failed attempt that will be an okay substitute, but I’d prefer him to hang after a trial where everyone can watch it.”
“Got it sir. I’m assuming you’ll be mentioning this filth in your statement?”
“Oh, I will. It’s the perfect example of how fucked up things are here.”
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Nathaniel marvelled at the display of nature in front of him. The guts of the male thing spread out across the dungeon table. It was a wonder, given it’s length, that it could fit in a body like that.
Its liver had been particularly interesting given some of the defects it had. He could never figure out what it did, but it did not bother him. It was just so fascinating to look at the red thing and the horror on the dying peasant’s face as it was lifted from it.
But now it was dead, lying on the slab with not a hint of life.
He snapped his fingers, the mutes outside moving to dispose of the corpse without any delay.
He never went anywhere without his silent servants and always made sure to find a secluded space for his hobby. The capital was no exception, and it had all sorts of interesting subjects.
Oh, how it would be if he became king…
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All of the impromptu “Media Team” stood behind the camera. They’d set up a little improvised set in the meeting room with Edward sat at the end of the table in full dress uniform with all of his medals on display, cap on the table.
Currently the admiral was fiddling with his shirt collar, with the suit jacket fitting on nicely but shirt felt so tight in front of the camera. He had also gone through all that they could to freshen up their appearance short of makeup. He wouldn’t accept it and the only stuff they had was in Amber’s draws.
They’d been through several practice runs and all of them now thought it was time to try their first real attempt. Hopefully they will do it first time.
Edward took a sip of his water, took hold of his script, and straightened the pages, “Right, I’m ready, do the countdown.”
Amber nodded, holding her fingers up.
Three,
Two,
One.
He took a deep breath, then the live light went on.
“Hello. I’m Rear Admiral Edward Fletcher, commander of the second expeditionary fleet. I have been asked to present a statement on the war, its causes, and why the situation has developed this way.
I intended for this to be a peaceful venture when I was given my orders. I met with the king with a full diplomatic attaché. The reception was positive, and it looked like they would willingly integrate into the IFC. I had my reservations about them however, but I will not go over them yet.
Unfortunately, the kingdom broke off ties with us a day after the agreed to the treaty set in front of them and said they were going to fight us. As per my orders I issued the government’s declaration of war.
But I do not see this as a war of Imperialism; as while it may have seemed like any conflict would be so, I have discovered a lot of information about our enemy that I wish to share and that change the situation.
The First Kingdom of Aviria is a feudal state who’s people are shackled into serfdom, slavery. They justify it through a fabricated religion which declares common people to be a lesser race than the nobility. These people are then barred from buying many goods, and work on the nobility’s land for no salary. Instead, they gain their money through selling their crops that are not taken as taxes by their lord.
There are many more dramatic inequalities besides that. One of the most disturbing of these is done by the enemy’s commander, a duke Nathaniel. This duke makes live dissections on abducted peasants as a hobby and faces no consequences or investigations. Its simply covered up and ignored.
This is our enemy. The nobility of this kingdom. Many commoners have already joined us in a revolt against their oppressors and are being supported by our forces.
Our forces beelining towards their objectives seek to depose this nobility and bring these lands under the IFC where the people of this land have guaranteed freedoms, a vote and citizenship in the federation with their land as a new state.
I see this as a just, and worthy cause, one that we must see through to its conclusion.
We are not colonisers in this instance, we are liberators.
While many have claimed this mantle, often falsely, I don’t believe we are one of those false causes.
We will bring the hammer of justice to these oppressors and bring them all in front of a federal jury. We will not stop until we have done so, and we shall do so soon. Next time I speak to you, I will be in their throne room with the flag of the commonwealth.
I wish you all well.”
Click