CHAPTER 1

Simple laws for all to hold,
Both the timid and the bold,
Followed from the sa of old,
Broken once, now hearts are cold.
- The Great Scroll of Wisdom

Memories

Luna was hungry. Two more died that night and as Solanus shyly emerged on the

horizon she wasn't hungry any more. She rose up from where she had spent the last

hour resting and regaining her strength for the sa ahead. Glancing furtively around

for a moment, she went through the unavoidable task that all must do especially

after a heavy meal. But her caution was merely out of habit for there was no other

sentient of her kind or otherwise for kilometers in any direction. She hated it, all of

this desolate terrain and the terribly hot glare in the sky. But Luna would have to

face it with the same boldness that she had joined the opposition with. Her father

always said she had a soldier's spirit; this was where it was most needed. She

remembered her father - strong and brave but somehow gentle - as she had known

him long before she joined the army. Memories only stoked the fire of longing in

her, longing for home and familiar places; for the old sa when survival was not a

struggle. At times like this her backpack felt heavier, as if her burden of troubles

was a tangible mass. A light breeze comforted her as she walked on over the

endless sea of sand that was underfoot. She wondered whether the others had

survived; she couldn't contact them since her communicator had been destroyed in

the crash. Even if she had had it, a Traeian handheld communicator would be almost

useless in these surroundings. Handheld communicators had very little range

without the aid of booster stations and there were definitely none of those here.

Because this report contains frequent references to Traeian military ranks it is

imperative that some introduction to the subject be afforded. Traeian military ranks

are generally divided into two sections: non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and

commissioned officers. A recruit usually starts off at Private Rank 3 which is an NCO

position right above the wadi, or civilians. Rank numbers are counted downwards

such that Private Rank 0 is the highest ranking private and Senior Private Rank 0 is

the peak position in the NCO pecking order. Crossing over to the ranks of

commissioned officers is seen as a huge promotion and admits one into the club of

the privileged. The commissioned ranks of course begin at Sub-Captain traditionally

though in some cases it is possible for a very exceptional senior private to be

promoted past that position. The highest ranking service officer in the TPA is a Field

Commander. Above that is the Grand Command - the executive organ of Trae's

military government.

A state of being in a dream still clouded Luna's mind even now; only thirty-four sa

ago she had been Commander Rank 3 Luna Vorcia of the Traeian Planetary Army,

with great prospects of moving to Rank 0 in less than a dec-nel. Now she was stuck

on this waste called Hamrah - a planet not far from her homeland and cursed with

total lack of aqa. Hamrah was where only the most wretched of beings dwelled,

having adapted over cent-nel to life without any of the cool and refreshing

translucent-green liquid that no Traeian could survive without. And to add to that

Solanus Eriut, the star closest to Trae was even closer to Hamrah; hot and dry would

be the weather forever. In the dark past sa of Rymuz the Savage those who opposed

the Grand Command were sent here to die in what was known as exportation. Her

father had suffered that fate, though long after the 1st Traeian Revolution of Nel-760

in which Rymuz was overthrown. She tried not to think about it; it reminded her that

all her existence up to now had been in support of the same authority her father had

fought. So many good ones now dead because of the greed of a few who only cared

for their lofty positions; and what of she who had only thought of the ranks that she

aspired for and turned a blind eye to the ills of the new, supposedly reformist

Command that had taken over? Her eyes glowed silver with anger and all her

emotion-control training left her for a fleeting moment. Granted, you could no longer

be exported for such petty things as fiqra - political opinion, but other than this small

concession everything had remained the same. She could not say she was ignorant

of this fact; she had been - by her own aspirations of promotion - rendered

insensible to the suffering of all Trae which her own father had valiantly objected to

at the cost of his life. It had taken a supreme effort from her father's comrades to

show her this. And when she had gained the resolve to avenge that death in the only

way she could see, it seemed that the gods conspired to deny her the opportunity to

do so.

Luna fought the terrible urge to fly, because that would mean almost fifty percent

more consumption of aqa every sa. Speaking of which, she had only enough to last

another fourteen sa of strict rations after which she would be dead. Strict rations

meant two liters a sa, a mere fifth of the recommended amount for an active adult.

Except for the precious receptacles of aqa which she carried everything else was

almost useless. The deadly TPA-24 she had holstered on her was quite a necessity

back home for soldiers but up here she only had it because her personal spirit Su

told her it was unwise to discard it. It might be needed yet though definitely not for

hunting the desazil, the repulsive creatures that roamed this planet. She didn't need

a Class Z weapon for that. They were moderately large creatures but with the most

primitive of body systems and more to her chagrin, they had a really bad taste. But

she had to feed. On her first night on Hamrah she upheld her Traeian principles

completely and did not kill any of the creatures. But after a sa of looking for

vegetation hunger made her do what, if she ever got back to Trae would require

more than half a lifetime of hermitage for Su to forgive. It was not Traeian nature to

feed on any creatures but those that were manazil - allowed by Figr, the goddess of

the land. And even so the Traeian diet was largely vegetarian. At present Su

understood that she had more to worry about. Luna wondered how desazil managed

without any aqa at all. Since prison ships started exporting in past sa their captains

had brought back news of the creatures that for lack of any other name they called

desazil which simply means 'not edible'. Their existence disproved the widely

accepted theory that climatic conditions on Hamrah did not allow for life. It was

something that still had the best brains on Trae baffled. What she would give to

discover this secret right now - her aqa supply wasn't going to last forever. Nine sa

had passed since she landed - or more accurately - crash-landed on Hamrah. She

replayed the memory of the events that led to her predicament for the umpteenth

time.

She was with her squadron of P-12 Skieters, four-winged machines that were

arguably Trae's best attack ships on a routine patrol around Charon, one of the two

planets that made up her home planet. She had read that primitive astronomers

thought Charon was a moon which seemed ridiculous to modern Traeians. Charon

has its own atmosphere and though it is the smaller twin it is still too large and

sustaining to be a moon. Trae was the sort of planet that scientists refer to as a

duoplanet - a body made up of two individual planetary spheres that have been

joined either by some natural action or artificially. As with any military government,

the Grand Command considered aerial patrols a necessity. It was Luna's turn to

command the fleet which was done in rotation by four Rank 3 commanders. Sarcan,

Millox and Funi were all on Damar, the larger constituent of Trae enjoying their

vacation. The Grand Command treated its soldiers with honor and respect and

expected unwavering dedication and diligence in return - a fair trade. It was almost

time to turn homeward when suddenly a pair of her ships broke formation and

headed for the Hala-Kim Bridge, one of the two super-bridges that linked Damar and

Charon. The bridge was a spectacular landmark especially from an aerial point of

view, a gigantic limb covered in transport-pod traffic, with the regular bulge of a

gravity generator along its span of approximately forty million kilometers. By means

of these generators an artificial gravity was procured on the bridge, allowing

transport-pods to drive along it just as on any other road. On each end of the bridge

a great city stood: Xasme in Charon and Silima in Damar. The pair buzzed the bridge

threateningly, like the yuwzil bird does before swooping down on its prey. Luna felt

the anger rise in her.

[Camil and Zewak, what do you think you're doing?] She asked in rage. There was

no answer for a while and Luna went after them realizing that she was responsible for

all her crew, even the ones crazy enough to try and blow up a bridge or scare wadi.

Her deputy Haki was right by her side in the pursuit. Luna's on-board computer now

showed her the profiles of the two rogue soldiers. Both had records of participating

in various uprisings against the Grand Command which was highly illegal. She

wondered how they got into the TPA at all. Two imbeciles decide to do something

symbolic and it has to be when she is in command. This would need some delicate

handling. She had heard about some rebels who sporadically attacked strategic

installations although she had never understood what they wanted, considering that

Rymuz was gone and all was well. Her own father was sent to Hamrah for being in

league with such terrorists and only her position and good reputation in the TPA

saved her from the disgrace of being branded a rebel.

[Attention Commander Vorcia, you have direct orders to bring your squadron in

immediately] she heard from Charon's main TPA base. She stopped herself from

screaming at the controller that she was busy containing what might turn out very

disruptive. In a tone just tinged with anger she explained to the base that she was

trying to contain a potential mutiny as Haki waited patiently for her instructions.

Luna's mind was now working overtime - weighing options.

[Ignore the order and let's get these ingrates out of the sky], she said with finality.

She was trained to hate rebellion. Haki didn't bother telling her that this was a 'direct

order'. Luna put her engines on overdrive and roared over Xasme, the

administrative capital of Charon and unofficially the greatest city in Trae. She was

soon on Camil's tail. She paused a while before turning the communicator on -

emotion control.

[Please don't make me shoot you down Sub-Captain. You still have time to surrender

and if you're lucky you won't be exported.]

Camil didn't look like he was worried about Hamrah. He began evasive maneuvers

that he had actually been taught by Luna - unless he happened to have his own

military base hidden somewhere, which was just absurd. Haki was also being kept

busy by Zewak. Deciding to observe the order halfway, Luna ordered the rest of the

squadron to land and concentrated on getting a good lock on her junior. The Skieter

was steered by mind control; one just had to think 'left' and it would bank left. But it

took lots of dedicated training to be able to focus all your thoughts on flying. Traeian

engineers hadn't yet figured out how to make the ship filter out those thoughts that

are not meant for navigation. Luna was now almost in a trance, banking left, rolling

right and gracefully mimicking every move Camil made, powered by the Skieter's

three turbocharged engines. As Camil suddenly headed straight for the bridge Luna

knew it was time to shoot. With a relaxed push of the trigger which was not mindcontrolled

for obvious reasons, an M7 medium range missile flew out in fury from

her eastern wing which was known as wing-2 in military jargon. There was no way it

would miss. Luna was subconsciously visualizing the P-12 bursting into flames when

the impossible happened. Camil's ship climbed almost vertically, not more than a

few centimeters from the bridge's beams. There was an unusual brilliance as this

happened and Luna for a moment thought that she was seeing things. That was a

maneuver that would surely kill him if the bridge didn't do that first. No being could

have such mental resources as to sustain that vertical climb in an attack ship at such

speeds and emerge alive. Luna then watched in horror as her own M7 having missed

Camil, headed for the bridge. Su was speechless and Luna felt a sickening sense of

helplessness; there was a lot of traffic on the bridge.

A Class Y weapon would not destroy the bridge but there would be unimaginable

casualties. Killing a creature that wasn't manazil was bad, very bad. But killing your

own kind in peacetime; that was unmentionable, which was why prisoners were

exported and not just executed. It was a Traeian ideology; if someone died on

Hamrah the Grand Command was responsible but they could argue that it wasn't

really murder. Politics had a way of allowing some to get away with almost anything

though it was rumored that in some cases prisoners were actually executed in

secret. As these thoughts went through her mind Luna saw the impact, the explosion

and worse, a few transport-pods thrown off the bridge spiraling away into the

nothingness of space. Her missile had evidently damaged an artificial gravity

generator on the bridge; nothing seemed to be held down for a fifth of its length.

Then the secondary charge exploded, sending more transport-pods to space. By

now Luna was flying back to base and passed a group of rescue ships which didn't

make her feel any better. She thought of what would happen once she landed at

Xasme. Already she was wishing she had used her cannons instead of an M7. For the

moment, the rebels were forgotten.

Comm. Rank 1 Tyrea Reddz was standing at one end of the star-shaped landing pad

as Luna touched down. The silver in her eyes was a permanent feature, not because

of deformity but because this particular soldier was always angry, most times

seemingly without reason. Her juniors did well to stay away from her and would

rather admit wrongdoing to any Grand Command member than to her, which is

quite a statement in Trae. She had just received news that Comm. Rank 3 Luna

Vorcia had blown up part of the Hala-Kim Bridge in what appeared to be a failed

rebel containment operation. Additionally, she had ignored a direct order to land when

Tyrea had called in the Rexxa, the Grand Command's own elite force, after

observing trouble unfolding. The Rexxa were feared all over Trae and a visit by

them usually meant someone would be exported. They enforced the authority of the

Grand Command even within the military and were generally known to be more

powerful than field commanders. Tyrea knew that according to military laws this

particular soldier was in very great trouble. And the Grand Command had a special

hate reserved just for anything mixed up with rebellion. She knew of course what

her duty was as a commanding officer.

"Salutations Commander Reddz" Luna ventured as she saluted. She tried not to

tremble.

"Greetings Commander Rank 3 Vorcia, how is the bridge destruction trade these

sa?" countered the senior, with great emphasis on the 'Rank 3'. And without waiting

for a reaction she continued.

"Didn't you hear the direct order? No, you must have. Don't you know what a direct

order entails? No, you must know. And why in the name of your personal spirit did

you engage in hostility so close to the bridge? Didn't you learn anything about that in

military school? No, you're a mid-level commander so you must have. Sub-Captain

Camil would never have gotten out of the trap you drove him into, didn't you see?

No, you did; he was right in front of you. But heroic Commander Rank 3 Vorcia had

to fire a missile, a Class Y one too!"

Then Comm. Reddz stopped her monologue and looked at Luna as one looks at the

deranged. Luna was sure silence would be best at this point. Unfortunately, Comm.

Reddz expected a reply, the fact that she had so far done all the asking and

answering alone notwithstanding. And Luna's silence was fuel for her

inextinguishable anger.

"Do you realize how many wadi you have killed. Yes, you must have watched

transport-pods flung into space. And what about a whole gravity generator you've

destroyed? The largest one that supports almost twenty percent of the Hala-Kim, you

must know how important the bridge is to the wadi of Trae; the pride of Xasme and

Silima. This will cost millions of terrazim to repair...give me your rank badge."

Luna was quite taken aback but she complied. This meant that Tyrea had effectively

discharged her from the TPA. She looked at her Skieter somewhat wistfully, against

the backdrop of the emerald Traeian sky. There were few clouds up there this sa,

pale green and yellow cirrus clouds that bore no rain. It was strange that she could

consider the weather at such a time but as she did great thoughts drifted through her

mind. So this was the unexpected and cruel end of her career; Luna lived for the

military and nothing else. She hardly noticed the Rexxa guards who led her into the

base dungeon. The building had housed several high profile political prisoners

awaiting trial and was commissioned by Rymuz himself as a necessity in Trae's

largest military base. It was situated directly opposite the main hangar, probably to

make it difficult for escapees to reach a serviceable ship without being spotted.

Automated state-of-the-art TPA defenses were liberally installed around the base,

including acoustic pulse cannons that disabled any individual engaged in

unauthorized activity. To Luna these were just standard base defenses built for

criminals and rebels. This sa they would have new meaning to her. She was very

shocked when they placed her in a maximum security cell and wondered what the

significance of that was. Her trial would be as Solanus went down as most court-martials

were. It would be a long and idle wait. Strange that the Grand Command insisted on calling trials

of soldiers 'courts martial' when even wadi were tried in the

same courts. Trae was the embodiment of martial law. Luna's cell was dimly lit and

had several inscriptions on the wall, obviously messages from prisoners as they

awaited their exportation. She noticed that the initials 'TRF' were dominant in the

inscriptions which contained defiant words against the Grand Command. Since she

was loyal to that Command, she did not pay much attention to them; the rebels had

only brought trouble to Trae.

Luna's father had been a member of the planetary government, a superficial organ

that Rymuz the Savage had created to appease wadi. Joran Vorcia had questioned

the absolute authority of the Grand Command intending to lobby for devolution of

power. He had argued that even the planetary government had no real power. To

Rymuz, who knew nothing of democracy this was an insult and he made it clear that

he would not allow dissent by ordering Joran's exportation. Luna's father managed to

escape from his cell before the journey, apparently with some help from prison

guards as the story goes and was among those who led the 1st Traeian Revolution.

This made him one of Trae's heroes with the legacy of deposing Rymuz. The

revolution was not a military confrontation per se, rather a series of 'industrial

actions' or strikes if you will coupled with subversive machinations that brought the

planet's economic life to a standstill. Of course it helped much that the army

commanders eventually supported the revolution and Rymuz was killed along with

his bodyguard unit while trying to flee. Then in Nel-799 (58 nel after Luna was born)

there was the first sign of authoritarianism in the revolutionaries - Joran was

exported by his own comrades for association with rebels. It was the first post-

Revolution exportation; a breakage of the promise that the revolutionaries made to

outlaw exportation. That was when the talk of rebels had surfaced in many TPA bases

and there were rumors of soldiers joining rebel groups. Of course the Grand

Command made all efforts to assure the wadi that no such thing had happened at any

base. From then some said more promises had been broken but that was just wadi

and their gossiping. For a long time suspicions of secret movements and subversion

were present though little evidence was found. At present the tension had cooled

somewhat, at least before Camil and Zewak's actions this sa. Joran's status as a hero

vanished after his exportation and many of his admirers-turned-critics said that one

revolution had not satisfied him. Others claimed that he had been exported because

he was much more popular than his comrades; a victim of political expediency.

Luna thought about her own situation. Being exported for defying a direct order

would be a little extreme on the Grand Command's part. But to add to that offence

she knew the Rexxa would say she usurped their authority by going after the two

rebels. She only hoped the judge would recognize that Haki was just following

orders. She didn't want her deputy to be punished for her actions. But whatever Luna

foresaw in the court-martial she definitely did not expect what actually transpired.

"Ex-Commander Rank 3 Luna Vorcia, you are hereby charged with defying military

authority and also separately charged with acting beyond your jurisdiction in trying

to contain rebel soldiers. As a result of Commander Rank 1 Tyrea Reddz's advice to

the Grand Command you will also stand trial for being involved in rebellion against

the said Command. This is based on the fact that you destroyed a bridge in

circumstances that put to question your intent for firing a Class Y missile. Your family

has long had an association with rebellion...."

As the judge - a Section Commander with all the pride attached to being the third

highest ranking officer - read the charges in a solemn voice blissfully unaware that

he was shattering a loyalty that had pitted daughter against father, Luna understood

that she was being made a scapegoat for the military's mistake of conscripting

known rebels into armed positions. They didn't want to explain Camil and Zewak's

employment; allowing known rebels into armed Skieters did not sound too bright for

any government, but especially a military one. And she began to think Tyrea was

trying to settle some score by getting her exported. It was no secret to Luna that her

father had not been popular with the military; he had always complained that they

had too much power. Luna had studied Traeian law in military school and she knew

that a powerful military was essential to the stability of any planet. And there was

precious little that she and her father had ever agreed on. Thus the judge's words

were very unfair. She made a spirited effort to defend herself and Haki also testified

that he was ordered to act against and not collude with the rebels as the jury seemed

to suppose. But the court martial jury seemed already opinionated in their verdict. It

took all her mental resources to suppress her anger at being forced to convince

anyone of her loyalty. Joining the TPA against her father's wishes should have been

proof enough she thought.

"Ex-Commander Vorcia, this court finds you guilty of insubordination by defying a

direct order and for a soldier of your stature this is highly unacceptable. You are also

found guilty of acting beyond your jurisdiction in allegedly trying to contain rebel

soldiers; even if you were acting in the interests of the Grand Command that is no

excuse for such careless breach of protocol. Furthermore, based on the evidence

provided by Commander Reddz and the present eye-witnesses, the court have

sufficient grounds to find you guilty of willfully destroying part of the Hala-Kim

bridge in collusion with two rebel soldiers. For these three offences we would

export you, but considering the number of deaths you have caused the court has

decided that you will be executed by firing squad."

Luna nearly fell down in disbelief. Where was the justice in giving soldiers the guilt

of killing their own, against all Traeian principles? She now understood the reason so

many hated the authority she had devoted her life to. In one evening she had

experienced the highest level of injustice that could be imagined of any jury. And to

think that she had dismissed rumors of executions as wadi gossip, now she regretted

why she had not joined her father's fight but on the contrary joined those who

reinforced the dictatorship of the Grand Command. So it all meant nothing to them,

all the principles that the ones who overthrew Rymuz promised to uphold. She had

just witnessed the judge breaking a cornerstone law of Trae. It was all just the same

old greed for power, the same breakage of principles of sa gone by. This was what

her father had discovered and had tried to correct. And let it not be thought that

Luna was only concerned with the fact that they were going to kill her; soldiers did

not fear death much. Of course her execution would be secret; the wadi would still

wallow in their ignorance of the Grand Command’s tyranny. Ignorance that she too

had willingly swam in all her life. Rexxa guards led her back to her cell and they

were heavily armed, treating her like some dangerous criminal. She felt an

unbridled anger for the Grand Command and her own failure to oppose it. Su

seemed to agree with her as she silently resolved to either join the rebels wherever

they were or start her own uprising. But first she would have to escape. Images of

acoustic pulse cannons guarding the base dungeon reminded her that it was a lot

more difficult than it sounded. That she would receive some help was something she

simply had no way of knowing.

The inscriptions in her cell gained a new importance and found an attentive reader

in Luna. No mention of the meaning of TRF was given though it was clear that it was

something all the captured rebels knew about. Probably something like 'Trae

Rogues and Felons' Luna thought, managing a weak smile in spite of herself. She fell

asleep in her musings related to the mysterious initials and was awoken by the

sound of the door being unlocked. She readied herself for battle with whoever was

seeking entry in what she knew would be a very hopeless attempt at escape - one

has to try. As the intruder ventured into the gloomy cell Luna attacked using all her

weaponless-defense skills. It was only when she noticed that her opponent was not

fighting and only trying to whisper something that she stopped and listened.

"Ah, very much like your father. A bit less wise in violence but similarity I see. We

must hurry or we will not make it. The guard will be back very shortly. Follow me."

Comm. Rank 1 Tyrea Reddz was still silver-eyed as usual and without wasting time

she left the cell with a confused Luna in tow. Here was a soldier who had testified

against her - a traitor of truth - now leading her out of captivity. She for a moment

considered it might be a trick to get her into even more trouble but then decided

there was really nothing to lose. What more could the court do to her, legal or

illegal? They headed for the base engineering center carefully keeping to the

shadows cast by the great buildings of the Xasme TPA base by the failing light of the

setting Solanus. The base was the largest in Trae and contained a ship-designing

research unit within its confines. That morning Luna might have looked at it with

pride but now it was the recipient of her unparalleled contempt. At the dome shaped

engineering center the guards at the entrance let them pass without as much as a

second glance, much to Luna's amazement. The acoustic pulse cannons did not halt

them as she had feared and her mind was full of questions. The bay had about twelve

mobile repair units in sight and military ships in various conditions, some fully

dismantled. A mobile repair unit is a wheeled platform on which a damaged ship or

vehicle can be restored to serviceability in a very short time; it is equipped with

mechanisms for fault diagnosis and repair. Luna found Haki and to her great surprise

- Zewak, both well armed with Class Z weapons. Tyrea handed Luna a TPA-24, a

weapon usually reserved exclusively for Rank 0 commanders and above. She began

to have a nebulous idea of what was going on.

"We welcome you to the Traeian Revolutionary Front ex-Commander Rank 3 Luna

Vorcia. I hope that after the shock of discovering your Grand Command is no better

than Rymuz's was you are not feeling very loyal anymore. You have fought us and

been trained to hate us but because you knew no better we are at peace with you..."

The orator was Zewak, standing side by side with Haki as if the events of the sa did

not occur. Haki flashed Luna a blue-eyed smile to assure her that all was well. But

she still had much to learn, it is not every sa that one gathers with comrade, traitor

and enemy and is expected to take it in stride.

"Seeing that some are yet to arrive, I should offer an explanation to you Luna. You

see, your father was a great Traeian, cared for the wadi and was prepared to

sacrifice anything to have freedom for everyone. You know his story, although I

suspect you understand it like the turncoats who exported him. We thought you

would carry on his fight..."

At this point Tyrea looked down as one who has been greatly disappointed. Luna

kept her silence. She noticed Tyrea had not emphasized her rank like before. Haki's

weapon suddenly pointed at what seemed to be empty darkness. Two soldiers came

out through a door somewhere at the centre of the building with their hands up and

were soon recognized as part of the group. Tyrea continued.

"You chose to fight for what you trusted was a new and fair Grand Command and

kept your loyalty even in the face of clear inferences to the contrary. I am sure you

knew that only the most basic of freedoms were granted and everything else

remained the same. You saw all the promises that were broken - the exportation of

your father, the general neglect of that planet Damar and many more. Damar is more

than a TPA tourist resort and deserves as much development as Charon if not more

(this Tyrea said with much passion in her voice). So I being the senior-most TRF

operative planted in the TPA - or a 'TRF plant' as we refer to ourselves - I undertook

to give you a chance to join us. But being the very loyal soldier that you are - I must

say (for the first time in Luna's life she saw Tyrea blue-eyed), it was rather a tricky

task. Haki here was won over long ago and has been a TRF plant for seven nel now.

By the way, his conviction was a trip to Hamrah but he doesn’t like the weather there

(laughter all round). But back to the events of this sa. They were partly planned; the

two 'miscreants' only had to make a show of threatening the bridge and you would

see for yourself how your Grand Command treats suspected rebels. The judgment

was already made when you landed. Of course I had to give false evidence so that

no one would suspect me when you escaped prison as you have. No doubt you think

I have some grudge with you after that court-martial but it was only a rather

laborious way of showing you what Traeian justice looks like. I'm sure you don't

know that over twenty soldiers have been executed in the past four nel alone. Even

Rymuz was above that."

Luna inquired about Camil and his suicidal end.

"It's easier to tell the Grand Command that his ship crashed in the outskirts of Xasme

and provide a wreckage for the purpose than to explain how the ship actually flew

into one of the servicing bays in the bridge as you chased a hologram which

proceeded to do the impossible and then fly away to a prepared crash site. We are

quite well-connected, you see. But you still made a mistake in engaging the ship with

a Class Y weapon and you are still accountable for the carnage; though that is

between you and the gods."

"Why are you telling me all this when I haven't yet decided to join you? I could

betray you right now."

The cold muzzle of a TPA-24, a weapon Luna knew could stun her before she made

any sound gently nudged her back fur. Camil, who was until now apparently

deceased materialized behind her from the gloom. She had started raising her own

weapon when about five others also appeared, as if they were invisible and had

suddenly been commanded to 'appear'. That put any ideas of being a traitor well

away from Luna. Haki said that it was obvious she had made the decision to join and

was just voicing her concern about their apparent lack of caution. Luna couldn't

agree more.

All at last present the next step was to introduce Luna to the small portion of the

merry band of rebels she had joined very precipitously. And that being dispensed

with the TRF members, old and new were to fly to the main base in Damar by means

of two transport ships that were conveniently leaving for that planet. Before they

went Tyrea gave Luna her rank badge back, which Luna proceeded to tear into two

and toss carelessly away, an operation that afforded great delight to all present.

Leaving Tyrea at the base to take care of matters the rebels departed, seated among

boxes of missiles and other military hardware. That was when Luna realized that

almost half of the night shift guard unit at Xasme was loyal to the TRF. She had been

wondering how it was that a convicted prisoner could walk out of her cell and into

the engineering center without any questions, even if a whole field commander had

been her escort, let alone a Commander Rank 1. They had scarcely left the ground

when the whole base was awash in alarms - the escapees were at last missed. But

their ships were scheduled for military cargo flights to Damar, which was the more

rural of the twins, so they were not bothered. If Luna had looked out of the ship's

window as they took off, she would have observed Tyrea reprimanding the guards at

the base and generally making their lives very unenviable.

On the flight the ship flew over the Hala-Kim and there was a large area that was

bathed in service lighting as engineers assessed the damage. The bridge had been

closed for at least half an hour as rescue work reached a peak. That was the first time

the bridge was fully closed in its history. And Camil amused his comrades with the

tale of how he had flown past the holographic door of the service bay at full speed

and once inside he performed a maneuver that was known as 'instantaneous speed

damping' or ISD in military jargon. It consisted of putting the ship in a tight spin

while every drag-inducing surface was extended - spoilers, landing gear and

negative flaps. ISD is used to land a ship in a confined space which it has entered at

high speed and a small mistake means crashing into a wall with enough momentum

to kill the pilot several times over. Luna listened in amazement - she had only tried

ISD in a simulator and even there it had left her well shaken. She wondered at the

threat the rebels posed to the TPA if such low-ranking officers had mastered such

skills. And even more interesting was that the Rexxa had chased a hologram

dramatically over the Xasme skies until they finally 'shot down' the ship. As the

Rexxa ships moved into their traditional arrow formation of victory and flew off to

their secret lair they failed to notice the unmarked vehicle that drove stealthily to the

'crash site' and dumped a smoking ruin of a Skieter. Such forensic details the Rexxa

left to the Traeian police - the paramilitary force that wadi consider poorly trained

and poorly paid soldiers.

As Solanus unfolded a new sa Luna was at the headquarters of the Traeian

Revolutionary Front in Zixa, a picturesque city of modest size in Damar-Linna, or

central Damar. Zixa had all the features of a Traeian city including a road network

serving a variety of business complexes and residential areas, industrial plants

where all sorts of machines were used and made and of course agricultural

plantations. Traeian buildings are ryst structures that rise quite high and also

possess underground chambers. Some areas have large underground complexes

that may spread as widely as the streets above in what has proved to be an effective

method of creating space in urban areas. Ryst is the main building material in Trae

and is mined chiefly in Damar. The deep blue mineral used to bring much wealth to

the planet before the Grand Command decided to take control of all ryst production,

effectively killing a lucrative export. Because Charon still sold fuel to Damar this was

a very unfair move. But let's save the politics for now. The TRF base looked like any

large, modern military base would look save for the fact that anyone outside would

only see a large lake. The technology of cloaking was in its infantile state and Luna

didn't even know it actually worked. She was informed by Haki that only the TRF had

advanced to a practical stage in the field. Since lakes don't appear out of nowhere

the TRF had to purchase the land first and start a very deep ryst quarry. Then an

underground aqa spring was breached and the quarry was flooded, causing the TRF

'massive losses' which forced them to 'abandon' the flooded quarry. In reality only a

moat of modest width surrounded the base to convince wadi that this was actually a

lake. Traeians greatly hate getting wet if they can avoid it and lakes were generally

left to the wildlife, fishing camps and aqa-works. The lake was named Qezra which

means 'uprising' in the Traeian tongue. Obviously the Grand Command knew

nothing of the double-meaning since the naming ceremony was presided over by

the Rexxa Chief in a rare visit to Damar. The physical cloak extended to the lower

cloud layer so that ships could land and take off without anyone noticing they did so

into and from a lake. It was produced by a towering spiral structure known as a

stealth generator. The unit consumed a very large amount of power and had its own

power plant nearby. It would not do for the authorities to find an inexplicable drain

on the power grid of Damar from the vicinity of a lake. The radio cloak was more

extensive so that communications could be made without risk of the TPA noticing

some unidentified ship issuing landing requests to an unidentified airbase. Physical

cloaking and radio cloaking were definitely going to be significant in the military

future of Trae.

The two transports had landed in the cloaked base and most of the cargo had been

off-loaded after which they continued to the TPA base in Kinna, another city in

Damar-Linna which was their official destination. The TRF base was very impressive

and more so to Luna who had been trained to understand that rebels were generally

a disorganized and scattered lot. She counted six ship-making bays and anti-ship

missiles that would make the Xasme TPA base commander turn red-eyed with envy.

The command center was an underground facility with the latest in security gadgets.

A training center stood close by with simulator-based facilities customized for

ground combat, dogfights and even stealth missions. Of course Xasme had most of

this equipment in larger numbers but from all she saw the TPA presence in Damar

could be greatly wounded by this one rebel base if an element of complete surprise

was present though it was clear that it was not enough to accomplish defeat. Most of

the soldiers were from TPA bases and were incorporated into various stages of

training depending on one's rank on defection. Some of the ships too, were from TPA

bases. It was quite surprising that Haki seemed to suddenly possess a lot more flying

skill than she remembered him to have; almost all the TRF plants had to conceal their

abilities from official notice. It wouldn't do for a Commander Rank 4 to show

knowledge of maneuvers that even the Rexxa had difficulty executing. Of course this

explained why Luna had found Camil a very worthy opponent despite the rank

difference.

The main advantage the TRF had over the TPA was technology. That made some

compensation for their very inferior numbers. And they also had the advantage of

being heavily under-estimated by their foes as Luna knew only too well. In addition

to this base the TRF had one small base in Gismisz, the Damarian city on which the

Hira-Jinn Bridge stands. The Hira-Jinn is the second super-bridge linking the Traeian

twins and links Gismisz to the Charonian city of Awasan. It is covered in rails since it

was built for the newer rail-based transport pods. Being located far north of the

equatorial region of both planets, the Hira-Jinn is of course slightly longer than the

Hala-Kim - a difference of only eighty thousand kilometers between the two great

lengths.

"The recent propaganda spree by the Grand Command has greatly capitalized on

'the bridge attack' and named our comrades Luna and Haki as the masterminds. I

feel that the time has come to begin execution of our plans which I believe we all

support; plans to bring about a true liberation in Trae and maintain a state of

freedom. (Cheers). To this end we..."