Komnenos

Join Date 04/2006

The Twists of Fate and Fortune

I've decided to try and emulate some of the other fine authors here and produce a longer story, more like some of the other epics on this board. I shall try to keep the chapters coming at reasonable speed. As ever comments, suggestions and criticisms are very welcome. Enjoy.

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Chapter 1: The Spirit of Capitalism

Oxana had always enjoyed the sound of her own voice. She loved the chance to pontificate to a captive audience. So she had always relished speaking at orientation day for the new employees.

“Good morning ladies and gentleman. My name is Oxana of Korx II, and I am the chief commercial officer and one of the franchise partners here on economy starbase 889. I bid you welcome as new employees of this station.

“Being Korx citizens you are all heirs to a proud tradition of enterprise. Ever since the Dominion Corporation unified our homeworld and assumed the role of government, all Korx have been united by the pursuit of profit and personal success. But like our governing corporation you must start somewhere. The Dominion Corporation began as a military contractor. It supplied soldiers and weapons to several nation states on the homeworld during the sporadic wars of the middle ages. As the corporation grew in wealth and influence it began to diversify its operations. It acquired subsidiaries in education, healthcare, administrative services etc. After several centuries it had all but replaced national governments in the provision of every public service. As national governments collapsed one by one under political scandal or revolt by the citizens, the Dominion Corporation stepped into the power vacuum, assuming direct control of governance, and the tax base that goes with it. Now it uses that tax base as its primary revenue stream, providing basic services in exchange for a citizen’s taxes, and selling additional services at a premium. You would do well to emulate their patience and vision in business.

“The other races might claim that the Korx are greedy, mercenary and concerned only with profit and personal wealth. They claim that our ways lack compassion and benefit only the rich. To those critics I say nonsense. We Korx operate the ultimate meritocracy. Whereas social mobility may be limited amongst other races, there are no such limits amongst the Korx. A slave may one day rise to become the CEO of the Dominion Corporation itself, and the CEO may fall to the status of a slave. It depends entirely on the merits of the individual. If you have the vision and cunning to succeed, there is nothing you cannot own or accomplish in Korx society. As a system it is utterly fair and unbiased, an individual will truly rise and fall on his or her own merits.

“Keep this in mind as you begin your careers here. Strive, and you shall achieve. I came from a modest family, but my parents bought the best education for me that they could afford. From those small beginnings I invested my money wisely, and worked hard. Today I am a franchise holder in this station, with a stake in all trade traffic passing through this sector. Work hard and there is no reason why you could not follow in my footsteps. I wish you the very best in your careers. Good day and good luck.”

As the young recruits dispersed Oxana caught sight of a uniformed official that had been standing at the back of the crowd. The official made his way over.

“Madam, if you have a moment? My name is Solox of Korx. I am from the Revenue Protection Division of the Dominion Corporation. My colleagues and I have come to this starbase to discuss a statistical anomaly associated with trade in this sector. We would like to set up a formal meeting with you and your fellow franchise holders.”

“I can certainly make time to discuss such a problem with you. It sounds like something of concern to my business interests here.”

“Excellent. I believe my colleagues are setting up in the executive conference room, would you be available in an hour?”

“Certainly.”

“Thank you. I shall see you in an hour then.”

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“Good afternoon ladies and gentleman, thank you for meeting with us. Revenue Protection is concerned about trade revenues in this sector, specifically losses incurred to piracy.”

“Piracy is a problem beyond our control. We do not have the means to hunt down pirate vessels. That responsibility lies with the military. How can you lay this at our feet?” asked Qolox, one of the senior franchise holders.

“We lay it at your feet because of our own prior investigations. Pirates in this sector seem to strike with a far greater degree of efficiency than elsewhere. Indeed this sector sees more piracy than anywhere else in the Dominion of Korx. We believe that someone on the staff of this starbase is on the payroll of the pirates. This individual is passing details of the cargo and flight schedules of freighters in this sector to the pirates.”

“This is an outrageous accusation! What proof do you have?”

“We have as much as we need. While we have not yet identified the culprit, we have sufficient evidence to file for a formal investigation. The high court has been paid to investigate and prosecute the matter for us. In the highly likely event that a traitor is identified, you as the franchise holders would also be held partially culpable for failing to perceive the traitor yourselves. In this event the court would likely levy a substantial fine on each of you and your franchise here would almost certainly be revoked.”

“But we have done nothing wrong! You seek to ruin us just because we did not see one of our staff making a little cash on the side? We will fight this to the bitter end!”

“You protest a little too much I think Qolox. But whatever the truth of this the court will quickly find it. If you have indeed harboured a traitor you will pay dearly.”

Oxana slouched down in her chair with a heavy heart. Virtually all of her financial assets were tied up in this starbase. If the franchise was stripped from her cabal of franchise holders then she would be ruined. Utterly. She thought back over her speech to the new employees. It was likely more prophetic than she had realised at the time.

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Chapter 2: The High Court

The investigation moved swiftly. A lowly officer involved with the freighter scheduling was implicated as the traitor linked to the pirates. He was quickly tried and sentenced. The judge had devised a particularly cruel fate for this individual. The traitor was sold for virtually nothing (a great insult to the traitor in itself) to the Korath Clan. The only condition of sale was that he was to become a combatant in one of Korath’s arenas. Oxana had heard blood-curdling rumours about the fate of combatants there.

Oxana and her colleagues had been summoned to the court to be judged as to their culpability in the affair. They were near the end of a trial for crimes supposedly committed against the governing Dominion Corporation. And they had such a large chequebook that they rarely lost in court. Oxana therefore had made every effort with her appearance. Her lithe silvery form was covered with an elegant blue dress, accompanied with a pair of slender platinum cheek plates. If she was going down she intended to do it in style.

She hastily scanned over the internal screens of the plates that were displaying media coverage of the trial, trying to gain some inkling that there might be a good outcome. In a wistful moment she wished she had invented the devices. Cheek plates had been a revolutionary innovation for Korx society. Sold in a multitude of styles and grades of quality to all levels of Korx society, they contained a highly sophisticated micro-computer that was mentally controlled and possessed a constant live connection to the Korx hypernet. Media, film, music, academic material, business data, instant messaging, voice communication and more, all just an idle thought (and a quick credit charge) away. These devices, along with the accompanying iKorx operating system, had made their inventor the richest Korx who had ever lived.

But back in reality Oxana was in deep trouble. The judge and officials of the court made their entrance, while Oxana and her colleagues stood in the dock.

“All rise for the honourable judge Kirox of Korx.”

“You may be seated. Since the charges and defence have been heard in the previous session we will quickly review, and then move to judgement. Prosecutor, outline the charges again please?”

“With pleasure your honour. The defendants are charged with gross negligence in failing to notice the collusion of one Irox of Vesta IV with local pirate groups around economy starbase 889. The guilt of this individual has been established, and the Dominion Corporation has posted a substantial fee to ensure the prosecution of the defendants as accessories, since they failed to perceive his activity. This failure has cost the Dominion an estimated 380 billion credits in lost trade revenues.”

“An open and shut case it appears. Defense advocate, your summary please?”

“The defendants argue that piracy prevention was not in their remit as franchise holders. They did not possess the means to hunt down the pirates, so can not reasonably be held responsible for their failure to act. In addition the traitor responsible was deemed during his trial to have been in deep cover in the station staff and adept at covering his tracks. The defendants argue that they had little chance of uncovering the traitor without outside help.”

“In my judicial opinion ignorance is not an adequate excuse. I therefore judge the defendants to be guilty as charged.”

Oxana and her colleagues gasped in feigned shock. Oxana had never really doubted the outcome. Now for the really unpleasant part.

“Sentence will be as follows. The franchise of economy starbase 889 will be stripped from the defendants, and all financial assets attached to this franchise will be seized and redistributed to the Dominion Corporation as compensation for the losses incurred due to the negligence of the defendants. Auditor of the court, how does this ruling affect the defendants financial status?”

“Let me see your honour, one moment. Okay, of the 12 franchise holders all but 3 are still financially solvent, albeit with significantly reduced financial status. The remaining 3 would however be rendered legally bankrupt. Noxor of Korx, Oxana of Korx II and Loxis of Vesta I would be all but ruined financially. It is unlikely that they would be able to make the minimum tax payment this month, thus voiding their citizenship. Your sentence would therefore reduce the aforementioned individuals to the status of slaves.”

“Very well. Noxor of Korx, Oxana of Korx II and Loxis of Vesta I, you are now deemed to be tax defaulters, and thus are to be stripped of your citizenship. Since your crimes were committed against the Dominion Corporation, it is most fitting that you are enslaved to them. I hereby declare that you are now the legal property of the Dominion Corporation, to be utilised in whatever capacity they deem fit.”

The judge slammed down his hammer to seal their fate.

Oxana felt sick. A week ago she was flying high in Korx society with great wealth and status. Now, through no fault of her own, she had been cast down to the status of a slave. And as slave of the Dominion Corporation there was only one fate. She was destined to be a state mercenary. How cruel fate is.

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Wow!!

Very nice!

I do not know where in the Great Galaxy you're going with this, but I shall be reading.

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Most Excellent..I too shall be keeping an eye out for this.

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I'm already hooked!

Nice to see a story from the perspective of a regular civilian for a change.

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You surely didn't make us wait for your next work... Grabbing the popcorn!

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Superb Komnenos-a stroke of genius telling it from the Korx perspective and weaving in all of their traits-you really are a Master story teller mr-I will be following this one very closely well done sir!

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Chapter 3: Boot camp

Oxana soon discovered that she was to be trained as a marine grunt. The boot camp on Koronor II was one of the Korx military’s main training sites. Koronor II was a high gravity world, deemed particularly suited to military training. The idea was that the high gravity would toughen up the recruits, making their muscles work harder than they would have to on a world with more normal gravity. Thus once deployed onto worlds with standard gravity they would possess an advantage in strength. This was meant to compensate for the fact that the Korx are hardly the most physically imposing race the galaxy has ever seen.

The moment Oxana stepped off the transport onto the surface of Korondor II she staggered and almost fell. She knew then that this training would be tougher than anything she had yet encountered in life. But serving as a marine would at least give her a shot at regaining citizen status. Being a society centred on money the Korx actually paid their slaves. Not a lot mind you. The income was supposed to be not quite enough for the slave to survive on. Food, accommodation etc all had to be paid for out of the small pittance a slave was given. A slave would have to be very thrifty and cunning to save up enough money to buy back their citizenship and have enough left over to get started in a career or business again. It was the Korx’s only concession to the idea of social security. Offer a thread like lifeline that only the shrewd (and in the Korx’s view worthy) could use to rejoin the citizenry. But luckily troops had their basic needs supplied for them while on active duty, so whilst she was busy getting shot at in some alien warzone she would at least be slowly accumulating money. If she kept her head down and lived long enough she would have enough to begin her climb back up the social ladder.

But first there was the 3 week marine training course to get through. Oxana was relieved and worried at the same at the length of the training course. Relieved that she only had to spend 3 weeks on this high gravity hellhole. Worried that she might be considered expendable enough to warrant only a 3 week period of training.

The first week of training was designed to instil military discipline and physical toughness in the recruits. Discipline was severe, and the slightest dissent was crushed mercilessly. The physical training was brutal and relentless in pace. The heavy gravity made every step a struggle. Weariness set in almost immediately. By the end of the first day Oxana felt like her bones were about to splinter into pieces. By the end of the first week though she began to feel a change, her muscles strengthening quickly in the high gravity.

The second week was focussed on weapons training, although the physical training was still maintained. They were trained on target ranges with the DC91 Plasma Carbine, the standard weapon of Korx marine grunts. Light and easy to manoeuvre, it combined moderate shooting power with a high capacity power cell. But it was a weapon mass produced for slave soldiers. It suffered from poor long range accuracy, and a shorter effective range compared to the weapons used by professional Korx troops and most alien civilisations. But despite these short comings it was an adequate weapon. Since it was an energy weapon it was at least easy to use, as it lacked the recoil of mass and missile based weapons.

The third week was focused on simulated combat exercises conducted with modified DC91’s that emitted a stun beam instead of a plasma pulse, and had a fixed taser instead of a bayonet. Oxana and her fellow recruits were pitted against each other constantly in simulated combat. They ran through everything from small unit tactics to a large pitched battle.

By the end of the training course Oxana actually felt like a half-way competent soldier. Her training had been brief but surprisingly effective. Above all she was surprised at the ease with which she now moved around in this high gravity environment. Never in a million years would she have chosen a soldier’s vocation, but she at least felt capable in it now.

Oxana’s regiment had been passed out and commissioned, and now it was time to be briefed on the enemy. Joxor of Koronor II, the training camp’s commanding officer, moved up to the podium to address the massed marines.

“Good morning marines. I can call you that now your training is complete. Now it is time to reveal your enemy.”

Joxor thumbed a control on the podium and the adjacent holo-projector came to life. An image of a hideous alien formed in the display field. Grey skinned, with a strangely flat and protruding head, and a mass of facial tentacles. The alien was dressed in a black metallic uniform and carried a long, delicate looking rifle.

“Behold your enemy: The Iconians. This is the standard enemy you will face, the Iconian Regular. Notice the body armour and lightweight Graviton Rifle. He is a tenacious and well equipped enemy. His rifle fires a small hyper-dense projectile at near the speed of light. A hit from this weapon will typically kill instantly through kinetic shock. His armour is however only partially effective against energy weapons, so he will be almost as vulnerable to your weapons. Iconian morale is typically hard to break, but otherwise they are unexceptional soldiers, their culture having been stagnant since the fall of the Precursors.

“The Dominion of Korx has been paid by the Yor Collective to open up a second front in their war against the Iconians. Therefore we shall be invading several Iconian colonies near Korx space, with some limited support by Yor forces. You will be placed in suspended animation in the transport ships while en route to the front lines. You will be awakened just prior to planetfall at your target worlds. Upon arrival your cheek plates will contain your mission assignments and appropriate intelligence material. Now fall out to your transports, your squad leaders will direct you. Good luck and may fortune smile upon you.”

As she marched in step with her fellow marines Oxana felt a certain resignation. Either she would be killed in battle against the Iconians or she would survive to reclaim her citizenship at the end of it. The phrase death or glory seemed oddly fitting description her predicament.

Oxana and her fellow marines were taken to spaceport, where they boarded a transport vessel of titanic proportions, one of many such vessels. The commands routed to her via her cheek plates directed her through the endless corridors of the ship to the cryopod that she had been assigned. She climbed into the pod with some trepidation. She felt an odd chill in her bones as the cryopod engaged and the anaesthesia took hold. In her last conscious moments she hoped for good fortune. She would awaken on the front lines and soon have to fight for her life.

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Very nice. I love how you give us insights into Korx society, and still keep the story moving forward. Should be interesting to see how our new Marine handles combat. Keep up the good work!

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Superb as always but there is one small point that jarred...training of only 3 week??? Surely any basic training would need to be several months at least?

Just a little point but apart from that excellent-KUTGW

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Sorry if that jarred mambaman. I am aware that military training is typically much longer. I was trying to convey how little the Korx government values its slave soldiers. It is essentially treating its slave soldiers as cannon fodder, and that is reflected by the training course: A quick toughening up on a high gravity world, a bit of weapons training and a bit of combat practice, and then off to battle.

Compared to some ancient armies this is actually high degree of training. In ancient Greece and in Republican Rome armies were derived from citizen levies, and were given little formal training. In many cases these troops were also expected to supply their own equipment. It was only later in Roman history following the Marian Reforms (around 107 BC) that the Roman Army transistioned to being a well trained body of paid professionals.

It was these kind of levy armies that I had in mind when I was writing the last chapter. The Korx being money obsessed are likely (in my view) to train what they consider to be expendable troops on the cheap (they are an evil civ after all). Perhaps I did shorten the training period a bit too much though.

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This is shaping up to be another excellent peice of writing by you Komnenos.I hardly ever play as the Korx but you have inspired me to give those double dealing, grandmother selling lovable rouges a go..perhaps if we had the korx in charge of our global economy things wouldnt be so messed up at the mo..or would they..lol

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Chapter 4: Planetfall

Oxana awoke with a start. She felt cold, weary and a little disorientated as the cryopod disengaged. She stepped out of the pod and reached for her cheek plates. They contained all the information for the upkeeping mission as promised. The target was the planet Lacaille II. She would be inserted by orbital drop pod to secure and defend a landing site for the transport ship near the capital city. Enemy forces and infrastructure would be devastated by tidal disruption prior to the invasion.

Oxana collected her plasma carbine, equipment belt and uniform from the rack above the cyropod, and then walked through the labyrinthine corridors of the transport towards her drop pod. Gingerly she climbed into the pod and strapped herself into the seat. The hatch of the pod clamped shut. Oxana could feel her pod moving down the line towards the launcher, essentially a giant cannon that shot out the drop pods like bullets. All of a sudden Oxana felt a sudden acceleration as her pod was fired from the launcher. After a split second the pods inertial compensator kicked in. Suddenly Oxana felt a second jolt as her pod entered the atmosphere of Lacaille II. She felt pinned into her seat by the force of re-entry, a feeling the inertial compensator did not entirely cancel out. After several minutes she felt an abrupt deceleration as her pod impacted on the surface of Lacaille II.

The hatch of the pod creaked open. Oxana released her seat harness and climbed out with some trepidation. It was night. Her pod lay in a small crater, gently steaming. Her impact site had been a field where alien crops were beginning to sprout in the ploughed soil. The comm. link in her cheek plates buzzed to life as her squad leader issued orders for his squad to link up. The attached map showed that they had all landed within an area of a few square miles. A rendezvous point had been set 2 miles to the north.

Oxana set off in a gentle run to the rendezvous point, surprised at the ease with which she could move now she was on a world with standard gravity. She soon linked up with her squad in what she could see was a gathering area for all the dropped marines. They waited maybe half an hour for all the marines to trickle in from their respective drop sites. The officers then issued orders for all the assembled marines to advance towards a forested ridge. This ridge lay between the xeno-farm on which they had landed, and Lacaille II’s capital city to the north. They had to hold the ridge against the inevitable Iconian counter-attack before they could advance on the capital. The transport would land to the south on the flat plains of the xeno-farm. The ridge had to be held whilst the main bulk of the invasion force was unloaded behind them.

The massed marines advanced to the ridge, and hastily dug out a network of fox-holes and shallow trenches. And then they waited for the enemy. They didn’t have to wait long.

Soon the Iconian Army began its ascent of the ridge. Oxana felt as if her stomach was knotted around a ball of lead. She caught the first glimpse of the Iconian soldiers through the morning mist and then battle was joined. Oxana opened fire along with her comrades, unleashing a hail of red plasma bolts at the enemy. The Iconians took cover rapidly, but methodically and relentlessly advanced. The return fire was withering. Oxana heard graviton slugs zipping over her and all around her fellow marines began to be hit. The force of impact knocked the Korx marines off of their feet killing them instantly. Occasionally an extremity was hit resulting in a brutal amputation for the victim. Oxana kept her head down as much as she could. Her body felt heavy, unwilling to move. She snapped off quick shots but did not dare expose herself for more than a split second. She felt a sense of panic she had not felt in training, a sense of razor sharp reality. She could hear her heart pounding in her chest.

Strangely the Iconians seemed immune from the fear that was gripping Oxana’s soul. A combination of good training and the naturally high morale of the Iconians had moulded the enemy into calm, methodical soldiers.

The Iconians were better equipped than Oxana and her comrades. Whilst their fire created instant Korx casualties, Korx fire directed against them was partially absorbed by their body armour. That armour had been designed to protect against the mass-driver based weaponry used by the Yor, but it still did an okay job against energy weapons. A plasma bolt would melt the armour at the point of impact, converting that area to molten metal. This did wound the enemy soldiers but typically multiple shots were required to take down a target.

Only the Korx officers had been equipped with state of the art weapons. The DC110 Phase Rifle carried by the officers was roughly on a par with the Iconian’s Graviton Rifles. A shot from this rifle had enough energy to convert the whole suit of body armour into molten metal. The Iconians were literally cooked to a burnt cinder when struck by this weapon. Oxana looked on with envy, wishing she had such an effective weapon. Even the DC96 Plasma Rifle wielded by the NCO’s had more range and more punch than her carbine. But when it came down to it Oxana and her comrades were considered expendable assets, and Oxana was beginning to realise just how expendable she really was.

Oxana stuck her head above the parapet to shoot, and discharged a quick burst into the chest of a closing Iconian soldier. It was her first definite kill. She felt a pang of remorse for the Iconian she had just taken out, but thought rather you than me. The adrenaline surging through her kept her from dwelling on it.

More Iconian soldiers advanced close to her position. Oxana and her comrades desperately returned fire. But Oxana felt a rising sense of doom, looking along the line she could see the Iconians advancing and her side taking high numbers of casualties. The line was collapsing. If something wasn’t done the Iconians would soon overrun the ridge and advance to the landing site. If they reached the landing site the Iconians would succeed in repulsing the invasion almost as soon as it had begun. But Oxana would likely be dead long before that eventuality came to pass. The line had to be held, but how?

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Excellent battle scene Komnenos-really excellent and I see what you mean about the time spent training: I guess my bemusement is that Marines are usually elite Troops given what they are needed for etc

Fully familiar with Marian reforms in Roman history-am a bit of a buff myself

Dont mind me-great story-keep it coming

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