The Fringe Wars

3.11

Turning Point

Torrent Headquarters, Terra

"Rebus dock control informed me the Scorpia has been captured and is sitting in their docks," Hari announced as she walked into the lounge where Seda and Critch sat drinking whiskey.

Critch's eye twitched. "And her crew?"

She lowered her face. "Executed. Rumor is they were drifted from a frigate."

"That's a loss to the Campaign," Seda said. "The Scorpia was a good ship and crew."

"The best." Critch took a long drink. The Scorpia was the newest ship in the feared specter fleet—the fleet of pirates turned torrents. He'd overseen the ship's design, and had hired every crewmember back when he was a pirate. He set down his empty glass. "How about we take it back?"

Seda thought for a moment, rubbing his right shoulder where his prosthetic arm connected to his skin. "It feels too soon to make a move for the docks."

"We take the docks, we take Rebus Station. Ausyar will be forced to launch a new offensive or negotiate."

Seda cocked his head. "Corps General Ausyar is not the type to negotiate, and I'm not comfortable forcing him into a corner."

Critch rapped his fingers on the chair's armrest. "We also can't maintain guerrilla tactics. We'll run out of resources and soldiers long before the CUF does."

"I agree with Critch," Hari said. "The only reason we took the warehouse district is because the CUF is under public scrutiny. Citizen support is currently in our favor, but who knows how long that will last, with the Collective propaganda machine skewing all the news. If we can take Rebus Station with minimal loss of innocent lives, then we have a chance at having an honest negotiation with Ausyar or Parliament."

Seda refilled his and Critch's empty glasses, and poured a glass for Hari. "There's a way I can do that, but—" He cursed. "This is going to slash my revenue streams." He looked up at the pair watching him. "There are only two reasons the Collective cares about Terra."

"Your plants provide over ninety percent of the fuel used for interplanetary travel," Hari said.

Critch added, "And we're sitting right smack in between the citizen worlds and their darling garden colony, Darios."

Seda nodded. "I have direct control over one of those things."

Hari's eyes widened. "You're not going to turn the juice plants over to the Collective, are you?"

Seda belted out a laugh. "No. I'm going to blow them all." He then scowled, as if the words had a bad taste in his mouth, and he downed his drink and threw the glass across the room. It hit the wall and shattered into hundreds of tiny shards.

Critch's gaze narrowed. "That'll hurt our fleet as much as it'll hurt the CUF's. Everyone will be running off solar power only within months, if not weeks. That means no more jump capabilities."

Seda shook his head. "The CUF burns through exponentially more juice than all general aviation combined. It'll cripple them before it cripples us—both by losing jump capabilities as well as serving a blow to the economy. I have new plant locations mapped that haven't yet been reviewed by Parliament. I also have the expertise on hand to rebuild a plant. We can have new juice flowing for colonists within two years. The CUF has no such resources, and after the stranglehold the CUF has had on Rebus Station, no Terran would work for the Collective, no matter how well they paid."

"They can force them to work," Hari said. "The Collective has supported indentured servitude for decades. If you take away one of their most precious resources, you may push them over the ledge into legalizing slavery."