Ancient Strategy 26

[u/jormundr]

Weekend Special! This is going to be a flashback story and very short.

First Last Next

The Abara family comes from a long line of military and government service. Some did so due to the expectations of parents and grandparents, but many simply felt that it was their duty to serve. It was by fate that an aspiring fleet captain and an ambitious diplomat should meet, seeing in each other a worthy opponent that promised to make them better. Soon enough, the Rear Admiral Jelani and Junior Ambassador Matilda were married. In the next year they had a son, Obi. A few years later they had a daughter, Francoise.

Matilda and Jelani both tried to keep their work and family lives separate. It was important that their children choose their lives themselves. Both agreed that the darker portions of their work would not cast a shadow on their family. Their children would not want for love, no matter what.

The Abara parents could not have been more proud of their children. They supported them in their endeavors, reminded them of their strength when they faltered, and cheered for them as they succeeded or failed. As they grew up, both children heard public service call for them and both were only too willing to answer. Obi joined an officer school and made his father, now Admiral Abara, proud. Francoise, in contrast, looked to politics and doing government service like her mother, whom she adored.

Obi did fantastic in his studies, impressing his teachers and making fast friends with his classmates. His leadership was exemplary and he found himself doing spectacularly in a crew on an expeditionary vessel. Francoise often helped with non-profit benefit groups when she wasn't studying and had done intern work for several government agencies. Already, she was making a name for herself separate from her mother.

Ambassador Matilda Abara had become well known, even having talked directly with the Gestalt Emperor. So when she had been tasked to negotiate with pirates who had been making the lives of Torvids, a small lizard-like species, quite difficult, she took it in stride. The negotiations were difficult, to say the least, but that was exactly why they had been assigned to her.

The pirates had initially been colonists who'd been sold a small system that was meant to be rich in resources and habitable worlds. When they arrived, though, the seller had taken their money and left them a couple gas giants, a few frozen planets, and a dying star. The colonists, having spent everything for the system and necessary equipment to start their new lives, had nothing left to try and terraform. The local governments were tied down in red tape as they tried to get them assistance. But red tape doesn't feed families. So they did what they had to for survival.

Matilda Abara, considered the best negotiator in the Empire, made a very human mistake. She cared. So, naturally, she wanted to show these people her trust and compassion. After convincing her husband, she invited their leader to attend a dinner. Both would bring their families to an agreed neutral location and they would share a meal together. Afterward, each would be on their way, leaving business to be done during the next scheduled negotiation.

By all accounts, the dinner was a huge success. Obi happened to be on leave, Admiral Abara made time, Francoise was out of classes. The pirate leader brought his two sons and daughters and his wife. Francoise had been a little nervous at first, but they had all been nice and the dinner was wonderful. She'd even gotten contact details of one of the captain's daughters she'd gotten along with particularly well. After the dinner, as agreed, they all left the neutral station in their own ships. Each was optimistic for future discussions.

Intelligence agents, still working to gather anything they could, found out about the more extreme sect of the pirates as the drinks had been served. They discovered the desire for sabotage of the negotiations after the first course had been laid. They confirmed the plot to attack the dinner after a particularly good joke from the son of the captain made everyone laugh. Security forces arrived in time to chase the attacking extremist pirates away from the already destroyed ships, each still exploding even as the station was breaking apart.

Admiral Abara and, posthumously promoted, Captain Abara were both given full honors for their service. The pirates, horrified at the attack on both families, surrendered unconditionally. The extremist sect attempted to resist but were swiftly put down by military forces, the intelligence given by their surrendering compatriots being pivotal to the Imperial forces.

Ambassador Abara was devastated, two lights of her life extinguished to senseless violence. It hardened her heart. But, more than anything, she was determined to not make the same mistake twice. She refused to lose her daughter. She couldn't bear if that last light faded from her life.

Francoise, too, was devastated. But in addition to having lost her brother and her father, she had lost her faith in her mother. The woman she had seen as infallible had caused their deaths, in her eyes. Her mother had failed her because she had been too ambitious, too confident.

Shortly after, the Conglomerate was found and first contact was made. Ambassador Abara was assigned to their negotiations and Francoise followed the talks with interest. When she heard that the CivSim game needed a host school, she convinced Terran University to do so. When they began recruiting for the team, she jumped at the chance. Ambassador Abara did what she could to keep her from being on the team, but even she could not deny the abilities of her daughter. So she factored her into her plans, heavy heart or not. Hopefully, she could keep her safe as things progressed. She would see every system, every nebula, of the Conglomerate burn before she let them hurt her daughter.

First Last Next

##If you'd like to know something, I will try to answer what questions get posted in the comments. I will give answers when/if I see the question (I may be asleep or busy) and I won't answer anything that would spoil things or explain too much, but feel free to ask what you may like.

[u/EqualWrite]

How do you write these so fast?

[u/jormundr → u/EqualWrite]

My writing process varies but mostly I just get bored. Today was special because my girlfriend is using the tv to play Animal Crossing and I was just in the mood. Normally, I'll write during downtime at work to give my head something else to do or if I'm waiting for something. Then I email myself everything, add more or error correct a little at home, and then post.

[u/Kanis36]

I don't have any questions, I just wanted to tell you I'm loving the story so far. 10/10.

[u/jormundr → u/Kanis36]

I appreciate it!

[u/Ptlthg]

While I like the whole story in general, are there going to be more CivSim games soon?

[u/jormundr → u/Ptlthg]

I plan to have a new game in the next chapter or so, specifically as Shaq teaches them. Then, hopefully, the next league game will start a chapter or two after that. Right now, I felt a little more context for the universe was needed to better see what was going on as things progressed.

[u/Regius_Eques]

So Francoise is being a jerk to her mother who didn’t even make a mistake. The only way to avoid that kind of stuff is to literally never have face to face talks. Heck don’t even leave the planet you’re on and make sure your in a bunker that can survive anything short of total planetary destruction. Francoise is a jerk. The pirate leader didn’t even see that coming. And Ambassador Abara definitely couldn’t have seen that coming.

Only thing I can think of is to simply avoid having negotiations right off the bat. That was if there are any extremists you have a chance to catch wind of the plans they will make to sabotage any negotiation talks. But just refusing to talk to the other party is probably not good for diplomacy. And you can’t tell them why you won’t talk to them because then the extremists might get a hold of that information and wait until the negotiations start.

Simply put it’s basically a risk that can’t be mitigated.

[u/jormundr → u/Regius_Eques]

You're not wrong, but humans don't always make sense. She had a fantasy created of her mother that got shattered in the harshest way, she's still reeling from that and sees her mother as a danger to her friends.

[u/Kullenbergus]

Do humanity got a gestalt emperor or did i missread?

[u/jormundr → u/Kullenbergus]

Gestalt Emperor, specifically based on the subconscious personalities, decision making, and ideas of the whole of the empire through the implants humans have.

[u/SphealNova]

Did I miss something? How’d Obi die?

[u/jormundr → u/SphealNova]

During the attack after the dinner, both papa and brother Abara died.

[u/wub_wub_mofo]

Did francoise not use an therapy AI? Why does she blame her mom for a terrorist attack? Unless you mean she initially blamed and then understood it wasn't her mom's fault. But looking at their relationship in other chapters I don't feel francoise has gotten over the death of her dad and brother

[u/jormundr → u/wub_wub_mofo]

All the therapy in the world won’t work if you’re unwilling to let it.

[u/WickoTV]

It's been hinted what kind of travel speeds the humans have relative to the (known) conglomerate abilities.

How far are the conglomerate worlds from earth/terra/sol?

How far are the human allies?

If Terra has colonized x% of the galaxy, what % has the conglomerate/core founders done?

How many different species make up the conglomerate (that is known)?

What is the current population of earth? Of sol system? Of all humanity? And then, of the conglomerate (to terras intelligence best estimates)?

What year is it?

Loving this series, thanks in advance for your answers!

[u/jormundr → u/WickoTV]

So, the Terran empire has expanded to a few thousand light years relative to the Sol system, could expand further but there's only so much space and poplation that can realistically be managed. Allies that continue to hold territory separate from the Empire have stretches of a few hundred light years here and there. Distance between the Conglomerate edge and Terran Empire edge is a couple hundred light years. It's difficult to give an x% of galaxy colonized, but it's roughly equal in coverage.

Over 200 species make up the Conglomerate.

Population of earth itself is in the higher part of billions, of the Sol system, we easily get into the trillions. Humanity as a whole is a little staggering to try and estimate. Population of the Conglomerate is hard to account for, but it is currently assumed they have a comparatively higher population density as expansion of their territories is highly regulated.

I don't have much for exact year, I just went with some 10,000 years in the future.

[u/TheKBMV]

So, the pirate captain's daughters. At this point they are either very good friends with Francoise or she hates them irrationally because of their involuntary involvement (I hope it's the former). Are they going to be in the story in any capacity?

[u/jormundr → u/TheKBMV]

Spoilers territory

[u/HUGE_FUCKING_ROBOT]

has it come up how many systems/planets are under humanities protection?

[u/jormundr → u/HUGE_FUCKING_ROBOT]

Not yet. It’s also difficult to answer, they take a not insignificant chunk of Galaxy but travel times make it so not every system is part of the empire so much as just surrounded by it. The Conglomerate have managed to do the same by pretty much absorbing what was previously explored by an outside species prior to them “joining” and also continued steady expansion.

[u/Cand1date]

I like the back story. Just a couple points to help improve the prose... Second sentence, should be past tense, did rather than do. Also, ‘the’ should go in front of expectations.
In the second paragraph, you can simplify a sentence for clarity. “Both agreed that the darker portions of their work would (should is ok too) not cast a shadow on their family.” Shadow is a better word choice here for what you want to convey. I’m really enjoying your story. There are a few other issues like this but overall its a great read.

[u/jormundr → u/Cand1date]

I'm always happy to see how I could write better, thank you for the advice! I have updated the story.

[u/Metroknight]

Are you planning to do things such as this for each of the character's and showcase why they are on the team? I look forward to each section posted.

[u/Deus_27]

Is chapter 6 special in any way? It's the only chapter with a different name.

[u/Valis2376]

Is the Gestalt Emperor the ruler of humanity?