|Viraliv|[20-14]Sliue-Ececs|Ora’s Eye|Tepi|Tepi-3|
11,163,955,738cy
Terraformer Station ‘Favala’, Low Tepi-3 Orbit
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With the councilors deposed the colony stands still, not knowing what to do. Though their rage is still ever present and the ones who drew their ire have yet to be punished. It can be seen in their work, their huffs and puffs, and it can be seen clearly on their faces. Something that Simiffin, the head officers, and the Advisory Council are currently discussing. Simiffin himself didn’t intrude much into the conversation, still happy with capturing the councilors and ending the violence in the colony, even if only for a while. Of course, if a decision isn’t reached soon then the people will start to grow distressed again.
The two main arguments are heavy punishment, from the head officers, and lighter punishments, mostly from the advisory council. Those are rather broad sides but, the head officers believe that showing a strong opposition to the actions of the council are required to gain the trust of the people. This would include seizing all of their assets and incarcerating them for a number of years, all the way to execution. The council would rather just seize all of their assets, public humiliation and then throw them in prison for a few years, or force volunteering service on them for a few decades. While these might seem like rather heavy punishments for the crime of simply enacting a bad social service budget the situation deteriorated after further scrutiny. After capturing the councilors they investigated everything related to them, including their public and private lives, and discovered many backroom dealings, general corruption, and also connections to criminal elements. Not to mention the dereliction of their duty to serve the people and them being the first councilors to commit such crimes, they must be punished rather severely to set a standard.
Of course, true to his word, Simiffin introduced the plan to leave it to the people but that was shot down by both sides. Not only could it get out of control quickly but it would make the Captaincy look less confident, the people might like it but they might also see it as indecisiveness and it wouldn't cement any authority. After a lot of criticisms of the suggestion, Simiffin eventually backs down, afterall it was just a suggestion by his therapist and not his own idea that he came up with his own reasonings for. Ultimately, Simiffin decides to go with his head officers and discussing further they decide to seize all of the assets and throw them in prison for life. Their seized assets will be used to fund new schools, and to invest in public infrastructure in the farther, and poorer, vaults from the first vault. An irony that the people will no doubt like. This will also help the progress of the drilling project, the one to delve into the deeper cavern, by allowing goods to be transported there faster.
On a side note, the drilling has definitely slowed as chaos entraps the colony, hopefully that will end along with tomorrow’s announcement. This simple announcement will be used to tell the people what punishment awaits the corrupt councilors. Like all things this is something that the adverse factions will try to take advantage of, hopefully this time it’ll be hard to spin. Yet spin it they did, talking about the weirdness that the Captaincy had special operatives that were close to the government offices and bringing up conspiracies that the Simiffin made the council do evil things so that they could save the people and make them indebted to the Captain. Even after the Captaincy released the information on the crimes of the council they still snaked out some conspiracies. While these didn’t do much, and the factions were dealt a severe blow from the captain, they did act as an unintentional smokescreen for the mysterious faction.
That faction has been making sure the people don’t give into chaos and many of the other factions believed them to be supporters of the Captain, that has changed recently though. With the announcement, people from the mysterious faction’s controlled areas have been marching down the streets, protesting, and refusing to work until they get what they want. While they weren’t violent and refused to confront the security forces, they still disrupted the working of the colony. Not to mention that they numbered close to forty percent of the colony’s population, with the other sixty being split up amongst the other factions including the Captain’s faction which is in second place population wise.
Their demands were simple, they wanted the ability to punish the council. Instead of the Captaincy deciding on the terms, they would. Simiffin didn’t like that, they already had a plan to deal with the councilors, and a good one at that. Still, he doesn’t want to be comparable to the council who didn’t listen to the people, and decided to enter negotiations with them. Not to mention that forty percent is no small amount.
#One Week Later, 7th Pressure Valve, Point of View of One of Simiffin’s Bodyguards
Looking around all I see is a damp place, hidden from view. Apparently this run-down looking restaurant is the meeting place. A little clandestine if you ask me. Though, going by smell, it does seem to be in business, the meeting is probably underground or somewhere else hidden. I tap my gun for reassurance, just in case things go bad, me and the other five will have to buy time for the Captain to escape. Although I can’t imagine them doing such a stupid thing, even if they do capture the Captain, his authority will simply move to the next in line. And it’s not like these people could defend themselves in an actual fight with the Favala and its crew.
The Captain turns around to face our lead and asks if everyones ready, our lead confirms that we are. The two frontmen check the door and then open it, people are inside dressed like normal, if poor, citizens. Sitting down eating whatever it is this place sells, they all turn to look at us though. Each one could be a potential threat. Light-arms fire might not be enough to penetrate our hidden armor, unless they hit our vulnerabilities but it’s safe to assume that the factions have access to the weaponry from the back market. Those ones could be dangerous, heavy weapons are hard to hide but one well placed and powerful grenade or bomb could do us in.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
After the air grew stale with tension, one of the people went to a door and opened it, ushering us in with the words “They’re waiting.”
We wait for the Captain to okay it and then we start heading to wherever the door leads. The man closes the door behind us, making the tension rise a notch higher. The corridor is even darker than the outside of the restaurant, only the lights from behind and the one at the end of the hallway are illuminating the space. It’s narrow too, we have to squeeze in, shoulder to shoulder with the Captain to stay in formation. If they wanted to kill us, now would be the time; this might be their way of seeing if we trust them or not. Either way, the Captain has a heavy set of balls to be doing any of this, not like any of those pansy politicians from back home.
Each step felt as slow as sand going through an hourglass, but we eventually reached the other side. The two backmen of the formation stand guard outside of the meeting room to ensure nobody comes up from behind us. Leaving the three of us, including myself, to guard the Captain while he deals with these insurgents. Creepy folks, these ones are, all wearing weird masks. Though, I guess they can’t exactly let themselves be known. They number four, the important ones anyway, there are guards too numbering six. They outnumber us but we have them beat in training, weaponry, and armor. Not to mention, while they would only let this small complement of guards into the meeting, we have backup just around the corner hidden in all sorts of places.
The four important ones are sitting at a round table, all sitting very still and silent. No doubt waiting for the Captain to join them at the table, which he does. Once they see him sitting, one of the four masked ones opens their mouth and asks, “So, have you decided to give into our demands.” Quite a unique accent, heavy too, the kind you’d hear from a dust planet where you have to cover yourself with clothes otherwise you’ll get ripped to shreds by the sand storms. The Captain puts on a face of regret and holds up his hands, palms together in apology, “I’m sorry, your conditions are just too extreme. I came here to negotiate, I’m sure you knew that though.”
The ones at the table show no movements, and the woman talks again, probably the leader or at least their spokesman, “Hmm, I see. At the very least I demand that you publicly accept our demands. With our influence we can get the people to demand a certain punishment that fits within your conditions. How does that sound?”
The captain looked surprised for a moment but quickly put back on his poker face and jumped at the opportunity. “That sounds great, we should work off that point. I’ll give you a contact so that you can…”
She looks stern, even through the masks, and says “No, if you wish to give us your acceptable punishments then you shall do so in person.” She pauses for a time and then continues before the Captain can say anything, “Once you are ready to share your conditions come back here and tell one of the workers here that you wish to meet with Ishinah. Now go, go talk to your people and then come back and let us work together.”
After saying as such she quickly gets up and starts to leave out another door, the three others in masks start to follow as do the guards. Leaving the Captain and us in a vacant room with only her name as the clue to her identity. The Captain stands up and brushes off his pants, gives an awkward smile and says, “Well, I suppose that’s the best you’re going to get with these kinds of people.”
We quickly leave, still cautious about our surroundings, but in the end nothing happens to us and we leave unmolested.
#End Point of View
Getting on the transport ship and while waiting to reach the Favala, Simiffin recollects what happened during the meeting. It was entirely not what he had expected to happen. He expected fierce resistance and instead was given gold in the garden. Although, the next meeting might not be the same. If they care more about what kind of punishment it is then that will be what the real negotiation is about. However, maybe they care more about the punishment being under their influence, and therefore the people seeing this as a result of their work and not the Captaincy. Basically, they might just want to steal the show, taking away the clout that Simiffin’s faction would have gotten and giving it to this ‘Ishinah’ and her faction.
That is something that Simiffin will definitely have to introduce to the discussion in their next meeting. However the headway today was worthy of praise, especially since this might be the only faction willing to deal with Simiffin in an amicable way. This could lead to an alliance until the end, kind of relationship. That’s only a hope though, it’s best to be on guard with them. The lack of any information about them is what is scary about them. Even the most tight-lipped factions have leaks or members prone to being captured. Not this faction though, this might suggest that they organize themselves entirely differently than the other factions and therefore might have vastly different goals.
Well, it’s something to think about with the advisors and the head officers, that and the possibility of bringing in an aide to the meeting. That might put them off but Simiffin is going into their territory and they did bring more people last time so he thinks it’s only fair that he brings in some more help.
Thinking about yesterday, Simiffin realizing his tiredness and remembers to stop by Shanak’Ti before heading to his room. When he enters, he is greeted by the soothing scent of a candle burning and Shanak’Ti sitting in her chair. She motions him to sit and says, “I’m trying out these new candles for our sessions, they help with the more stressed out patients.”
Simiffin nods his head, he is feeling quite soothed and almost wants to fall asleep in the comfortable chair he’s sitting in. Shanak’Ti seems to be holding out just fine though, years of experiencing it perhaps makes it lose its touch. Instead of looking soothed, Shanak’Ti instead looks more stern than usual, like she had a bad day. Simiffin asks, “Did you have a bad day?”
She laughs, and says, “If I remember, I’m the therapist here, not you. No, it’s fine just worrying about the unrest in the colony. I’m thankful I get to stay up here and not down there.”
Simiffin gets a little shifty but tells her that it’ll likely be over soon and that he’s dealing with it as soon as possible. Shanak’Ti puts on a frown and says, “Come on now, is my therapy ineffective, you shouldn't be shouldering all of this responsibility yourself you know. Vent to me, it’s my job.”
And he did, telling her many of the things that have been going on, trying to be careful not to give any specific information out. It’s hard to tell if he did or not with how tired he is. When he woke up the next day he definitely felt relieved but also didn’t remember everything from the following night.