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The author of this story is Evil Knevil. Posted to Apolyton thread.
The Line of Resistance, part 1
The Line of Least Resistance
"Disgusting!"
"Competely Disgusting!"
The twin voices of Gillian and Reede echoed in the chamber. Again they were providing the voice for the council.
Miriam waved them away; she was in no mood for unhelpful comments.
"Finally, now... what are we going to do about the incursions?". Her blue-flecked eyes were distant, looking at the Believer's crest, its jade structure overshadowed the host's chair. The Council knew that she was probably far ahead of them, again she would act without explaination, as if she only needed advice from God.
The Council was, of course, unofficial. The most able diplomats, priests, base mayors and administators were gathered here. The secret Oligarchy behind the supposed equal society. They always met in dark rooms, ministry buildings. But the real decisions were made here. If not, in Miriam's mind.
"The Parliament is of course going to rubber stamp this, if we can use our influence" Reede again, the commentator. 'How banal!' Miriam thought again, yet... she needed Reede. He was her only liason with the civil service. She still could hate him, despite all that.
She had another pang of anxiety, the Lord would not want her to lie and be nice to Reede but he must be cultivated. Her mind fixed on the reassuring thought that if she succeeded, she would be serving God.
The end must justify the means, it must.
"What is the Spartan Federations opinion of this attack?". Her interjection had silenced the fearful council.
"The Spartan Diplomat in New Jerusalem seemed quite hostile"....
...."We have of course recieved intelligence reports about the Spartans Propaganda" The newcomer, Seth, was the only man insane enough to interupt a speaker like that. He was young, naive.
"WELL?" Miriam barked, as if it were needed.
"There has been increased propaganda against us, much as they have done with the rest of the factions"
"This could be typical Spartan xenophobic behaviour, previous intelltells us that this is typical, just before they decide to go on other crusade"
The cynical reference to Crusade earned Seth the hostile glare of Miriam.
"Even their closest ally is regarded with dark suspicion, tell me do you think we can trust our erstwhile allies, the Spartans?" Miriam always knew how to turn around a debate.
"Even the ally of the moment is regarded with dark suspicision, their society is structured around continual war, it provides the psycological state to maintain the Government -George Orwell 1984 DATALINKS"
The AI had butted in again, the archaic Believer technology meant that the AI's often became senile and misleading. Replacement would cost a fortune.
"Yes, thank you PAULINE, but can we get onto the topic, however interesting Spartan society is"
"PAULINE! Give me visual on the Battle for Judgement Seat" Miriam, again jumping around like a hyperactive Darleok.
The centre of the wooden slab was filled with solid 3D images. The projection came from the ceiling, and it seemed to have the depth and color of a real object!
A contoured map highlighted the relative postioning of all the forces, or at least all the detected forces. There was a groundswell of uneasy murmorings from the council, where had such sleek tech come from?
"We stole it from a University Lab, we hope to have it in mass production faster than they will"
The contoured map flashed, and zoomed in on the marshlands below the perimeter defence of the base. Judgement Seat was one of the largest of the 14 Believer cities, 120,000 citizens.
The enemy had come at it directly, hoping to capture one of the richest industrial towns. If they could outflank the defensive forces, and capture the Base it would be a significant victory, two fifths of all Believer forces were built there.
However, the council was debating to level the base, it was almost certain that the Peacekeepers would win this battle, what with the majority of allied forces trapped in the Zion Pocket. Evacuation was not a possibility, the skies belonged to Morgan, and any ground craft escaping would be strafed.
Miriam reached her desision, after the council had concluded that this was a parliament affair.
Continue to part 2Back