+- Discovery Gaming Community (https://discoverygc.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Role-Playing (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=9)
+--- Forum: Unofficial Factions and Groups (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=67)
+--- Thread: The Unstoppable Truth (/showthread.php?tid=8365)
The Unstoppable Truth - Laowai - 05-07-2008
I stand before you now, as one of you. No different from any one of you from Houston, from Manhatten, from Detroit, From planet Pittsburgh, from all corners of this great nation that we called Liberty. A name that once rang out with hope but now stands as the greatest irony of the lies we are fed, that now stands as testament to a betrayed ideal.
I stand with you no different from the lowliest worker on our capitals streets, from the thousands of innocents incarcerated in our corporate run Jails, from the millions lied to and cheated by their government who have failed in their duty of care. I stand here among you, no different from any of you. I am one of you.
But you ask, why is it that i, as one such as you, stands up here before you today? why is it that i, who walks the same streets you do, who battles for food as you do, who chokes on the bitter taste of his own failed dreams AS YOU DO stands up here before you today?
I will tell you why.
I have seen the truth, i have seen the answer the question that brought you all here i have seen the truth behind the lies your government tells you. I have seen what they do not want you to see and i am here today to show you the truth and to tell you what i have seen so that you can know these things and you can hear the truth finally with your own ears - that you can stand here with your brothers and sisters of liberty and know that here is a man who will tell you how it is, here is a man who will show you what lies behind the curtain, here is a man who is one of you and you can finally know the truth that has been denied to you for so long.
Adam Greerson - Public Rally, Planet Houston
This is a collection of the works of Noted Xeno speaker Adam Greerson. It also contains biographical data collected from various sources, as well as media quotes and public speaking appearances. Some of the events in this exert have been dramatized for the reader but we feel they are as authentic a reproduction of actual events as can reasonably be constructed from the information available.
This collection does not attempt to vindicate, nor defend, attack or condemn any of the allegations surrounding Mr Greerson, or the Xenos -a group with which he claims affiliation. This collection is an independent resource to allow interested parties to have access to these works and documents that have been banned by the liberty government.
"In knowledge there is Freedom, in truth there is power, in Liberty, there are the Xenos"
Adam Greerson - The Unstoppable Truth.
The Unstoppable Truth - Laowai - 05-07-2008
The rain fell lightly down as the man walked towards the glowing lights of the window. He was cold, and drew his heavy coat closer to him as he walked. Drawn by the glow of the window shining like a beacon in the cold drizzle. He peered inside. Within he saw laughing, smiling, happy faces, men and woman sitting down at finely set tables eating meals that he would not be able to afford after a month of begging for change. He hadnt eaten anything of substance in two days, his stomach ached with hunger. "Hey you!" a gruff voice called out from nearby, a big man, security, LPI was coming towards him, "Get the hell outta here" the man shouted.
"Please, I meant no harm, its cold; I just wanted something to..." His voice was cut off by a swift blow to his face. He cried out and fell to the ground as the security man kicked him, "Get the hell out of here you scum, we dont want your kind here"! He scrambled desperately out of the way as the guard kicked him again, struggling to his feet, "ok ok im going" he ducked again as the guard hit him across the back with a baton, "Get out!" the man growled again.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sitting in a bench he watched as they streamed out of the theater. His hands trembled, he could smell his own stench wafting up from the rags he had been wearing for weeks. Ever since he had lost his job, ever since he had been evicted from his small apartment, ever since he had been on the streets. They laughed; they smiled, decked out in finery. A tall Rheinlander hailed a flier, his chest bedecked with Rheinland trinkets, on each arm, a young, beautiful eager looking Libertonian girl, drawn by money, drawn by power.
He scowled.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A year previously.
"What do you mean fired?" Adam Greerson shouted in disbelief, "You mean all of us?" The Foreman stood before them, flanked by two LPI guards; He held his hands up to quiet the room as shocked mutterings began to rise. "The contractors from Samura have offered us a better deal and Im afraid we have no choice in these difficult and highly competitive times to take it, the company has to survive". Adam clenched his fists in disbelief, "Survive? This is about lining your pockets; this is about your fat Kusari friends and you pocketing our livelihoods!" A chorus of angry cries grew up around him, men started to call out in anger. The foreman turned to the guard next to him and nodded. "Allright you bastards, meetings over, everyone out!" the guard shouted, several more LPI officers entering the room and lining up before the assembled workers began to hustle them forward, shoving roughly, some of the men shoved back, Scuffles broke out, The LPI officers began to use electro-batons, shouts, cries of pain, Shots were fired
Adam fled.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He stood outside the kitchen window, waiting for the handout that would sometimes come, if the place wasn't already full that is. A sound behind him caused him to startle and he turned, colliding with a large Kusari man and accidentally hitting him in the jaw. "Watch where you are going you Liberty Filth!" the man shouted. "I didnt see you there, I didnt mean to..." Adam said. The man spat at him and walked past, the large Samura patch on his arm clearly visible. Who the hell do you think you are?.. Adam thought. A door near him opened up and a dark faced man stuck his head out, "you coming in for the food or what?" Adam nodded eagerly.
The Peacemaker food hall was one of a few places the destitute in this part of California could find food. But more then that, they could find others like them, these places had become a refuge of the despairing, a hotbed of extremists, where the fringes of liberty society huddled, and a fertile recruiting ground for those who were - organized.
As the crowds ate, people would stand at a table at the front of the room, some would tell their stories, others would advertise for work. This night, feeling the hopelessness around him, the simmering anger in is own heart, was the first night that Adam Greerson spoke:
My friends.
We have arrived here, from different places, but sit here, in this room, for the same reasons. We were driven here, driven against our will, to this place. I see these same faces before me, I see you in the streets, I see you lining up at the kitchens like this one, I see the same looks in your eyes. These are the same things that I see when I look within myself.
We were driven here. Why? I ask. For food! I hear you say, for food to feed our starving bellies, the starving bellies of your children, of your husbands, your wives! For food you tell me. But I tell you no! That is not why. Why were we driven here? We were driven here so others could profit, we were driven here because it was economically expedient to reduce us to this, we were driven here like dogs, like animals, so someone else could get rich, so someone else could ply the skies in their luxury liners, wear their diamond and niobium trinkets. So someone could buy their Corsair artifacts while their rich overfed brats squander even more wealth on cardamine and spacecraft, clothing and finery.
This is why we are here!
Who did this to us? Well.. I will tell you who did this to us, I will tell you, who your enemies are. They did this to us, the foreign companies that control our corrupt and morally bankrupt government, The Corporations of Kusari, Of Rheinland, Of Brettonia, who grow fat off our wretchedness. And the final villain, the final co-conspirator in this disgrace? Your own government, and its police, who lay in bed with the traders, the businessman, and the foreigners, who prostitute themselves before the lure of riches. Who desecrate our Liberty values, our sacred heritage which our ancestors dragged to Sirius from distant earth! They did this to us, THEY drove you here.
Excerpt from The unstoppable Truth Adam Greerson, Pg 103.
The crowd had grown increasingly still as he spoke, the sound of clunking cutlery and eating dying down as his words drew them in. They began to murmur in agreement, nods of acknowledgment. By the end, the crowd stood and loudly applauded. Later that night, as he stood outside talking to some of the people who had waited around to speak to him, he saw the Samura man again. He was on the other side of the street, walking quickly. "See... That's what Im talking about" Adam had said.
He hadn't instigated anything, had not suggested anything, only those standing around him had seen the man.
The Samura man was found by the LPI a few hours later, severely beaten to within an inch of his life.
After that first night, Adam continued to speak, first at the Peacemaker kitchen, but people invited him to others. At first, people would gather to eat and they would hear his speeches. But soon, people would come just to hear him speak. At the Factory Dock kitchen, he crowds were so great that they spilled out into the street, the kitchen owner using a microphone to amplify the speech. There was a growing anger and restlessness among the people and Adam flamed it incessantly. Acts of vandalism against corporate targets began to increase, violence against foreigners rose sharply, at one point sparking a comment from the Rheinland ambassador.
Though nothing ever tied Adam to these events, he became known as an agitator.
Late one night the door to his new apartment, financed by groups who supported his speeches and his politics, crashed open and a squad of armed LPI and LSF officers burst into his room. He was arrested and sent to LPI Huntsville in Texas.
The Unstoppable Truth - Laowai - 05-07-2008
It was in Huntsville that I began to see how truly widespread this sentiment was
Adam Greerson - The Unstoppable Truth. Pg 198.
The bench that he lay on was bare metal and cold to the touch. He lay there staring up at the ceiling. Lights out had been called an hour ago and he lay silently considering his fate. His bunk mate above him stirred. The days at Huntsville were long, spent toiling for hours in barely equipped factories overseen by some of the most brutal and sadistic guards the LPI could have mustered.
It was here that Adam met his first Xeno.
He stood at the bench, carefully fitting the electric components into a kitchen appliance that would cost more money than he used to earn in a month. A man worked opposite him, watching him carefully. "Do you want something"? Adam said. The man said nothing for a moment and kept watching; finally he spoke, "you're Adam Greerson aint ya?"
"What of it?" Adam answered.
The man smiled, "Saw you speak at the Sanctuary Kitchen, it was... inspiring..."
"My names Matthew", the man said, "Matthew Flax I know some people who might like to hear you speak, and these people can do more than smash in a few shop windows"
"Matthew Flax was the first Xeno I met, through him I discovered a network of brothers and sisters who thought as I did, who saw the failings of our system. Who saw the evil tendrils of greedy foreign traders invading the very core of our Libertonian values"
Adam Greerson. The Unstoppable Truth pg 248.
The prison guards had heard of Adams speeches somehow and he was often singled out for particularly harsh duties, and he was often beaten. They hoped to break him, but rather then crush his will; it only served to further inflame his indignation. Through Matthew Flax a small group of supporters and Xenos began to form around him. Some of the guards were corrupt, and Adam and his followers were able to get messages outside the prison to Xeno vessels in the system. It was this encouragement and exposure to allies that started the plan to escape.
Several ships made a regular runs to the prison to pick up consumer goods every Friday evening, others docked as regular stopovers for military or police patrols. A plan was hatched to board one of them. Making use of a couple of corrupt guards, Adam and his group made their move, covered by Xenos who remained in the prison they reached the docking area undetected, only one sentry was on duty, their sentry, who had already taken payment.
The ship was easy to borrow, the LPI as easy to corrupt as ever.
They did not know what they were releasing.
The sole motivation of our enemy is greed. Greed drives them, greed fuels their corruption, greed powers their trade ships across the stars until they reach our lands, where they spew forth all of this greed upon our people. Corrupting our hearts and minds with their filth. They walk amongst us with attitudes of superiority, they buy our lands; buy our woman, and even the souls of Libertonians with their promises of greed.
It is time we showed them that we do not want what they offer. We are not buying what they are selling. We will not bow and scrape before these foreign dogs and their Liberty government pawns. If greed is what they value then we shall strike at their greed! We shall shed their greed ships of their cargo, we shall find their lackeys among us and drive them out, we will make their greed cost them so much that they will take their wretched hides from our space and slink back into their foul nests in Rheinland, Kusari, Brettonia or wherever else they came from. We shall show them, in simple language that their evil minds can understand, that from this point on, Liberty is not for sale.
Adam Greerson - The Unstoppable Truth. Pg 560.
The room was lit by a single desk lamp. It cast is orange glow over the man hunched at the desk. He sat in silence looking over several documents before him. There was a knock at the door. "Come in", Greerson said without looking up. A tall man in a black combat uniform entered the room. "I have a report from Denver", The man said, "thought you might like to see it."
He handed Adam a small slip of paper and Greerson leaned back in his chair and read it out loud; "Foreign casualties 115, Police, 23" he nodded, his expression never changing. "And collateral?"
The man before him nodded slightly, "Yes a few, the staff were mostly locals, our first reports indicate that somewhere in the vicinity of 14 were killed, and we dont know how many wounded."
Greerson shook his head, "Well... Its regrettable, however, those who work with these fools know the risk that they take, and our position is clear and public."
The plan to bomb the business luncheon on Denver had been hatched weeks before. Representatives from several foreign companies had been invited and Greerson's sources had made it know that they might be able to get some kind of explosive into the venue. The opportunity had been too good to miss and so he had authorized it. An announcement had been made to the public to avoid the area, though most Xeno transmissions into Liberty were jammed by the government and so it was inevitable there would be civilians there.
Unfortunate, but necessary.
"Good Job" Greerson said, "That will be all". The man turned and left the room and Adam turned his attention to the papers in front of him. Shipping manifests for several inbound convoys due into liberty space over the next few days. He poured himself a small glass of wine; sipping it silently he set back to the task of which convoy would have the most impact, which would be the most noticed, and which would leave the most foreign dead.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is claimed by some that my methods are barbaric, that they are murder. My hands it is said are stained with the blood of innocents.
Well, they are. I have the blood of those I am trying to save on my hands, it is my shame and my pain, but I am a soldier, and this is the burden I must bear.
Those of you, who attack me, find me one war in history where the innocent did not suffer, this is the tragedy of war, and none can deny this.
But we are not just fighting here because we are violent people; we are not trying to steal lives, steal futures, and destroy dreams. No my friends, we are fighting for the survival of our people, we are fighting for a dream. You cannot see that the shroud of money has been pulled over your eyes, you cannot see that these people that you so vehemently defend care nothing for you, they care only for their own wealth and the power of their miserable houses. If it were possible to fight this war in a way that no son or daughter of liberty fell, then I would do so, but you know it is not. Our enemies use our own people against us, and unfortunately, some who should not, will fall.
We do these things now, so that one day soon, you will be free. You will live in peace, harmony and purity, with your eyes open and the shroud of deceit that the government and its foreign corporations will be lifted. This is my promise to you all.
Adam Greerson. The Unstoppable Truth, pg 478.
The Unstoppable Truth - Laowai - 05-07-2008
What is a trader?
I have heard said among some of you that we should spare these peddlers of death in our skies. You feel that they are innocent, that they are not responsible for the servitude of our people.
Yes I have heard it said.
Now let me tell you this! What is a trader? What drives them and motivates them to come into our space across the void, what brings them to our doorsteps laden with the allure of commodities and wealth? A Trader is your enemy. These venomous peddlers cloak themselves in their shrouds of business, their cargo holds filled with false promises to lure you into servitude, a servitude driven by a desire to posses what they have because they tell you that that is what you need. You believe you need these things to better yourselves, to give your lives meaning, to adorn your houses with tapestries and appliances so that you may show those around you that you have these things, that somehow, by having them, you have raised yourself up and are better than those who do not have these things.
I say to all of you, anyone who desires what these traders bring is a slave. You have sold yourself to their insidious propaganda and lowered yourself to the same level as the pathetic Liberty government.
I say that those of you who desire leniency for these poison merchants, these bringers of corruption that you yourselves have lost sight of what it means to be free. You have prostituted yourself on their altar of wealth because in your hearts you desire what they have. So be it! Trade in your wares, trade in your Cardamine that ruins the minds of our youth, trade in your Rheinland diamonds that you wear on your fingers and around your necks, shining like glorious targets that show for all the world your moral emptiness.
I will show no mercy to these traders, I will rid them of their false promises, and I will send them back from whence they came. You who know the truth, you who desire to be truly free, you will see there is no mercy in this struggle, there is no leniency, for these devils will never stop, they will prey on your good natures as good and decent people to let them be until once again they hold you in their grips. Never again will we be servants, the time of compliance is over, the time of retribution is at hand. We stand together.
The Unstoppable Truth Adam Greerson. Pg 712.
The Unstoppable Truth - Laowai - 05-07-2008
The Todd Toddman interview: SNN current Affairs program Insider:
Ladies and Gentlemen. The following was recorded by myself and my loyal and brave camera crews just a few weeks ago. I cannot tell you the location as we were taken there by heavily armed men who kept us blindfolded the whole time. At first, Insider did not believe getting an interview with Adam Greerson - the firebrand Xenos speaker and agitator - would be possible given the secretive and paranoid nature of the Xenos themselves but nevertheless we persevered and the following is the result of that perseverance:
Todd Toddman: Im sitting in an unknown location after a journey of some 5 to 6 hours in a room with Xenos speaker and terrorist advocate Adam Greerson, the.
(Muttering off Camera) Toddman: Oh my apologies, the Xenos speaker Adam Greerson, who so recently has been making a headache of himself for the Liberty government and her inter-house trading partners. Mr. Greerson, Good morning.
Adam Greerson: Good morning.
Toddman: Mr. Greerson, I suppose the obvious question which must be asked is; why do you and the Xenos do what you do?
Greerson: To preserve something beautiful.
Toddman (muttering)
Greerson: Now, I objected to your use of the word terrorist before because this is a highly subjective term. The Liberty government labels myself and the Xenos as terrorists. But we believe we are standing up to preserve something that is in danger of being lost.
Toddman: And what is that?
Greerson: That is obvious to anyone who has eyes to see, and a mind enough to think for themselves. Our way of life, our freedom as individuals, our ability to choose, these are all under threat as we sit here. The Xenos have stood up and said no to this.
Toddman: Yes, in your speeches, and of course in your book, you particularly target foreign traders and corporations as a source of this threat, what would you say about that?
Greerson: Indeed, I make mention of this several times, congratulations on reading my book, it is your first step to thinking for yourself. (Greerson smiles, Toddman chuckles). But let me tell you why I make mention of this, If these traders were just simple farmers bringing food, perhaps our fury might seem unjustified, though that being said, Liberty has enough food to feed her own - but I digress.
Traders are the long arm of foreign governments and corporations that are at the heart of the sickness spreading through liberty society. The Liberty government itself is infected with this sickness, and through her, so to are the unsuspecting citizens of liberty who blindly believe that their government is looking after them. That the police are protecting them. The truth is, despite the propaganda of the Liberty government, and with the rampant corruption of liberties own legal forces, WE are what is protecting the people of Liberty now.
Toddman: Yes, and yet, it is known that Xenos have attacked outbound Liberty flagged trade vessels as well, surely that is not protection?
Greerson: Are you a parent?
Toddman: I beg your pardon? I ah.. Err no, though I have recently become involved with a lovely young lady and..
Greerson: Let me tell you this, and any parent will understand. Sometimes when you are raising a child, you cannot let that child run, unrestrained. The child will ask for something, try to do something, and you will say no. The child will resent you for this, become angry, perhaps even in a fit of temper claim that they hate you. But you will bear the brunt of the tantrums and outbursts because you know you did the right thing. A child, lacks the experience to know when it should or shouldnt do something, sometimes, a parent must protect a child from its own limited nature, from itself, knowing that in the long term, the child will thrive.
Liberty traders are like these children and we are protecting them from themselves. Do you know what happens to the goods that they take to the other houses? Do you know what weapons of war will be made from them? Do you know how they will be used and twisted into commodities to be sold back to us at triple the cost? How they will fuel the machines that fire the foreign houses as they grow in strength whilst weakening our own?
It is unfortunate, in our hearts we feel that we must sometimes restrain our own people, but, sacrifices must be made in any struggle.
Toddman: You mentioned earlier the corruption in the Liberty Legal forces. Yet most civilians at home view these people as brave men and woman who risk their lives daily, could you expand on that?
Greerson: (chuckles) There is a place, a single place in Liberty from which the vast majority of illegal goods into Manhattan flow. This place is not especially well hidden, in fact, if you walk down any street on Manhattan itself and ask anyone over the piloting age they will tell you where it is. Liberty college students even organize group trips to this place, where they can freely buy Cardamine, Artifacts, weapons and other such things. Here they may mix with Outcasts, Rogues, Lane Hackers, even Corsairs on a good day.
This place is Rochester, a Junkers base only a stones throw from Manhattan. Everyone knows where it is, everyone knows what you can buy there. Do you seriously mean to suggest that this nest of vipers sits there unknown by the Liberty security forces? Do you not think that if they seriously wanted to shut down the drug trade, the artifact trade that they could not do so in an instant if they shut that place down?
Now to any person of half a mind - this begs the question you must ask. If this place is so well known as the vital heart of illegal activities in Liberty, why is it not shut down? By what, magical protections do these Junkers dance through the raindrops in Liberty without ever getting wet? No my friend, the conclusion one reaches here is obvious.
Here is another thing to consider.
In the heart of Liberty space there is a vast minefield that contains a single jumpgate. It is known as Zone 21. This place is heavily fortified and is supposed to be one of the greatest kept secrets in Liberty - Why? We all know, we all know of the alien horrors that are said to lurk beyond that gate. And yet, I have seen with my own eyes, smugglers entering our space through that very jump gate, unscanned and unknown. Who knows what they carry on board? But how, how do these villains enter this secret area? I will tell you. The Liberty forces are either not there or in collusion with them, making them incompetent at best, in collusion at worst. Furthermore on the other side of that jumphole lay operatives of the order, and I dont need to tell you how far up that nefarious organization has infiltrated into the heart of the liberty government.
These are glaring truths that everyone in Liberty should hear and know. These things are easy to find, if one knows where to look.
But I wonder Mr. Toddman, will you even be allowed to air that last part eh? (Chuckles)
Toddman: (laughing awkwardly) ah..Moving on, what is it that you and the Xenos ultimately hope to achieve?
Greerson: Indeed this is the most important thing that people need to understand. We are not a political group seeking power. What we are aiming to do is twofold; restore our peoples belief in and reliance on themselves, and to rid our systems of the influence of others who would use Liberty for their own ends. We do not need anyone else, and our so called dependence on them is the result of lies, propaganda and corruption. We by our stance are showing the true path for our people. Why do you think that we are universally attacked by multitudes of enemies? Even the wretched Junkers, whos spread of corruption, extends well beyond the borders of Liberty. They do not wish us to succeed, for if we do, they lose, and our people win.
Transmission lost: .
Toddman: This is the transcript of the small interview that insider was granted by the elusive Mr. Greerson. I had intended to continue with further questions but we were interrupted by Xeno security personnel who demanded Mr. Greersons presence elsewhere.
Mr. Greerson actually apologized for this interruption. He said that he had been called away on urgent business and that he regretted we could not continue our discussion.
Greerson appeared calm and coherent during the interview, he was even joking with our camera crew before the interview began and after as he was called away. This is in stark contrast with the government claims that he is a desperate fanatic who has been backed into a corner. While the Liberty government has claimed considerable success against the Xenos recently it does seem that they still have their work cut out for them. For, if the Xenos are truly beaten as the government has claimed, it seems that someone needs to tell the Xenos, and indeed Mr. Greerson, that that is the case.
Todd Toddman, Insider, SNN news, Manhattan.
The Unstoppable Truth - Laowai - 05-14-2008
I remember reading my history when I was younger. Do you recall? Reading about how life could have been, or how it was when humanity all lived on once single planet, when we all lived on Earth.
Can you imagine that? The whole species crammed into just one planet. Where we had no choice to live across borders because nation state A needed nation state B to feed it, or defend it from Nation state C who was only after Nation state A because they controlled some insignificant plot of land in some insignificant backwater. A claustrophobic mess of humanity crawling over each other like scavengers on a carcass all bickering over who gets the best piece of meat.
But when I look around, when I look to the stars at this collection of systems those ancient people’s named “Sirius” I see the same thing. We’re still bickering and fighting over the meat on the table. Why?
We’re not on some prison of a planet, we don’t have to share borders with Nation State B and why should we? We live here! Among the stars! Where there is limitless abundance, limitless potential; limitless freedom! Who knows what wonders are out there, who knows what we the people of Liberty alone can find.
And yet, there stands a Rheinlander, and we must grant him homage, there stands a Kusari, and we must grant him homage, and there stands a Brettonian, and again, we must grant him homage. And there stands a Bounty hunter, An Outcast, A Corsair, there stands a Junker…..
And why?
Why do we open our doors to these snakes? These Nation B’s and C’s that swan through our space in their ships and with their corporations like they own the place, taking the food from our mouths, the fuel from our ships and yes! Even the weapons from our hands?
“Because we need them” our fine government says.
“Because we are all in this together, we need things from them to stay strong, to stay united… We need them” Our fine government says.
But when you look up at the stars which light our skies, and you visit the planets that are Liberty and you see greatness of our people’s accomplishments which stand alone in Sirius as a light of unity, of hope and of prosperity. Do you see us lacking? Do you see our need for these ….crackpot salesmen?
No! you do not, for to any man or woman of sound mind and reason you can see that what we have we did ourselves and we have never needed anyone else. In the vastness of space there is no reason to want there is no reason to not have work there is no reason not to reach further and farther and do so knowing that the heavens will provide and why?
Because they always have.
So You then say to our fine government; “NO!” we do not need them, No we don’t need what they are selling us to survive out here because we have done this on our own till now and we do not need to live like some petty ancient nation state.
So I say we do not need them, No! But to the government I say, perhaps, You do, perhaps it is you who needs them because through them you line your pockets with wealth and through them you construct palatial mansions and through them you waste your lives in luxury liners sniffing cardamine while goggling and your latest piece of Alien trinketry.
No.
You need them, we don’t. That is what I say to the government.
And then, you might pause and think and then realize something, then you might say once more to the Liberty government:
“We don’t need you either”
Adam Greerson, the Unstoppable Truth. Pg 212.
From a speech given at the Labour Union address, Planet Denver. A few minutes after, LPI officers broke up the gathering with force. 65 people were killed.
The Unstoppable Truth - Laowai - 06-10-2008
Lights out.
The banging of batons on energized iron bars echoes across the rooms. The LPI guards amused themselves by hitting them across the doors of the prisoners cells. Usually by this time, most of the inmates were asleep. It seemed to amuse the guards to walk down the line of cells, trailing their batons across the iron railings, the loud crack of energized baton on metal waking up any prisoner who had tried to preempt the lights out by falling asleep early.
Adam lay on his bunk, the LPI officer strode past hitting his cell door with his baton. "Lights out smartass" he called as he walked by, "if you feel the urge to talk, let us know, we LOVE to listen". As he said this he smacked his baton against the rails again, a loud crack echoed around the ward as blue sparks shot out from the guards baton. Adam ignored it. This kind of puerile intimidation no longer had any effect on him.
The beatings it seemed had had the opposite effect on him then had been intended.
"We'll get out of here", The Xeno, Matthew Flax muttered as the guard walked by. These same events were played out, night after night. Adam no longer heard them.
"So youre the **** stirrer from California" The warden had said. "We have something for you, a special cell in which we put our most favourite guests"
That cell was the decommissioned Liberty Navy Gunboat the LNS Merrick; The personal trophy of the warden. She sat docked at Huntsville and was the place where prisoners that the prison authorities had a personal dislike of ended up. They were kept in special cells on board, always in solitary. The guards would manipulate the gravity in each cell, meaning those locked on board existed in a permanent state of nausea and helplessness. Some days, the warden would take her out, eject a pod and use the ships sole remaining gun to vaporize the unfortunate soul within it. Adam had done two voyages on the Merrick already.
He did not want to do a third.
He and Matthew Flax worked on the prison factory floor. They made kitchen goods mostly, ovens, machines used to process food, real food of the kind that people like Adam and Matthew never saw in prison, and could barely ever afford before they were locked up. The work was tedious and repetitive; the guards would amuse themselves by walking by the prisoners, shocking them with their batons and then docking their food ration when their work quota was not met. Deaths in Huntsville itself were common, though no records were obviously kept prisoners would often just disappear.
It had taken months, but slowly while they worked; Adam and his friend had stolen machine parts, begged and borrowed others enough to construct a short range communicator. At first, they had heard nothing, but a well scrounged battery had the night before, suddenly opened up possibilities they had not considered:
"This message is for anyone out there on LPI Huntsville" The voice had said "We are the Xenos, we are out here, and we have not forgotten you".
The Unstoppable Truth - Laowai - 06-17-2008
The guards onboard the Merrick were protective of their jobs. Why wouldnt they be? Working onboard the wardens pride and joy any LPI officer chosen for such a privilege was sure to be in with the warden and thus doing better than the average baton wielding grunt onboard. It would be difficult for any prisoner to offer these guards something that might cause them to look the other way on anything. Though some had tried, they usually found themselves heaving and retching in a zero gravity tank onboard the gunboat for their troubles however.
But it wasnt these guards that this Xeno breakout would be targeting. While the Merricks' men might be difficult to fix, the guards actually guarding the docking bays itself were not. "We'll need to get out on one of the cargo ships thats in dock" Matthew had surmised, but Adam had shook his head; "No, we go out on the Merrick, I want the son of a bitch to see the irony in it".
She was stripped down of her main guns and most of her armaments, but they all knew the Merrick was still flyable. She also had working cruise engines, having been used to transfer troublesome prisoners from LPI Sugarland several times. "Getting to the ship wont be a problem if we can deal with the dock guards", Adam speculated, "However flying it out will be the issue, none of us know how to fly a Liberty Gunboat.. And then there is the station door".
Matthew had agreed, they would need technical specs for a Liberty Gunboat but this was something they would not likely find on board. "We'll also need cash" he'd said' "Plain cold hard cash, that will get the doors open".
Rich in words, rich in ideology, vengeance and supporters they were; what Adam knew they were not rich in was cash. He had plenty of financial backers on the outside, but getting the money in was a problem. They would need someone on the outside to liaise with them and get the money in, as well as get them the specs on the Gunboat.
That night, after some tinkering on the radio, they were able to get out a short message: "To unidentified Xeno vessels, we are here in Huntsville, and we can hear you. We need your help, we are getting out."
The Unstoppable Truth - Reverend Del - 06-18-2008
The Kushan Freighter hit the landing pad's rings and hovered in place, not the prettiest of ships, but then the folks flying her weren't flying her for the looks. Purpose, practicality and efficiency this was what the Kushan brought to the table, especially for this job. Ostensibly the ship's manifest claimed passengers from Denver vacations as it's cargo, 24 folks all coming home at the same time. They'd clearly got a second class flight. However 4 of the passengeers were not entirely as they made out.
"Okay when we clear the customs area, we make for the safe house. Keep it calm like, stick to your cover and we should make it where we need to go." The instructions were issued subvocally, using movement of the vocal cords to convert to electrical impulse then transmitted over a very short range communicator, each of the four team members had one, enabling silent and effective communications.
As the passengers emerged, blinking, into the sunlight, Manahattan's finest came to check their paperwork, after ensuring all was in order they ushered the new arrivals, or re-arrivals, out of the spaceport and into waiting taxis. The taxi carrying the unusual 4 headed for one of the shadier areas of Manhattans vast urban sprawl.
As the taxi ride continued, the leader, a large man of indeterminate age, sporting a blatant cybernetic replacement arm, rather than a custom grown clone replacement, recieved a call on his regular comms device.
"Greetings," The voice on the other end of the line was thin and reedy, as if the speaker was somehow ill or just weakened, "I am Fixer, I have what you need to do your job. I will be waiting."
The taxi stopped near a broken and battered truck. The sprawl beyond whilst not a wasteland, could only be dscribed as slovenly when compared to the view behind. This was the place nobody talked about, where the down and destitute went to waste their last years. Rated a Z on the LPI security tally, it warranted no less than 2 riot control vehicles with two patriot class light fighters overhead for any incursion. Incursions were rare as even then the LPI could be almost garaunteed to lose members. It featured in no brochures, no quarterly reports, and officialy the government denied there was a problem here. As such it was the perfect place for anyone who did not want their business known to hide.
"I go no further than this pal, I'd lose my wheels and likely my life, know what I mean? Why on Earth you guys want to come here is beyond me."
The big man merely smiled, paid the cabbie his fare and exited the vehicle, his companions, two women and another man followed mutely. The common factor about them all was the cheap cyber replacements that they all sported. Cyber was normally used for manual labour techs who lacked the requisite funds to pay for vat grown replacements when a praticularly nasty accident happened. It marked one out as poor. If not as poor as the folks living here, but poor when compared to Manhattan and Denver's elite.
"We head to the market in Dogtown, keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you, move out."
The Unstoppable Truth - Reverend Del - 06-20-2008
Dogtown was aptly named, fresh food and even synth paste were hard to come by here, it was either the few soup kitchens, or the dogs. Frankly round here if it didn't have two legs and it moved, it could be eaten, with enough cooking that was. However aside from the dogs, Dogtown had one of the best open markets in Sirius, if what you were after was information, illegal sidearms and other sundry black market goods. The smell of roasting animals pervaded the air, cheap knockoffs of corporate goods clung to the ramshackle market stands. Cheap neon lighting advertised tattoo parlours and used cyber replacements.
The market was thronged with folks, those selling and those buying. The team of four moved through this like a ship through space, neatly avoiding people as they headed for their destination. Hope Street Soup Kitchen.
The Hope street kitchen was a worn and pitted building used by locals as a place to get warm food that didn't taste like it had been living on the streets for years; it was also a Xeno recruiting ground. Adam Greerson himself had spoken at this soup kitchen and it was almost a place of pilgrimage for the disillusioned and destitute looking for a way out. The four of them looked out of place, dressed as they were in middle class clothing, a far cry from the street rags most of the people in here wore.
The smaller of the two men accessed his headware memory, pulling up the holo of the man they were supposed to meet across his right eye, a finely crafted cyber eye designed to look natural, he compared it to the man and motioned the rest of the team to follow him.
As they approached the man's table he stood up.
"Ah, the team sent from Ouray I suppose?"
"Indeed" the bigger man replied, his voice was thick and gravely. He held out his hand and shook the other man's, "You'd be Fixer then."
Fixer nodded.
"Then you have what we asked for?"
"I do, but I warn you the equipment alone was not cheap, and the information even less so."
"Money isn't a concern here, we have a prominent member of the movement in danger and I have been authorised to pay you the required sum. Some specifics, perhaps?"
Fixer smiled. All was going well; these folks were more professional than they looked. It was nice to find a team that might actually be able to chew what it had bitten off.
"Weapons, snub pistols for fast draw as well as the latest Ageira SMGs, for heavier targets, considering what you're aiming for you'll need it, a brand new Ageira Arms T130 Heavy Machine Gun. Explosives, military grade, just in case. Thermal smoke grenades, designed to restrict IR sight. Additionally security countermeasures including bug sweepers, white noise generators and false ID papers, totally backed up no hint of a weakness. Two million credits for the kit."
The big man didn't miss a beat. "And the information?"
"Well yes, I actually tried to get the information you are after, but it's in an off cortex host, meaning you'll need to be physically at the terminal to get what you're after. The terminal you need to get to however, well that you'll need to find for yourself. I have prepared a dossier on likely targets for extortion and bribery; it also includes all the basic data pertinent to your run, the price is five hundred thousand credits."
The big man nodded. He motioned to the smaller guy who placed a slim black card onto the table.
"Three million, untraceable. The Xenos thank you for your efforts. Have the equipment delivered to the address given to you before this deal was brokered. Good day."
With that they turned and left.