Chapter 407

407 Pandemonium

Gaea, Sol System, Core Sector, Sol Federation

It was the same in almost every city across Gaea, whether it was Tokyo or Shanghai or Istanbul or Paris or New York. Billions of people all over the planet took to the streets and skyways of their home cities, and angrily protested at the galaxy at large.

In London, the people had packed the streets down below with so many bodies that all foot traffic was all but halted.

Up above them, fleets of hoppers did the same for the skyways above. They too clogged their pathways between buildings and all but ensured that the city’s economy ground to an absolute halt. Not a single commercial or industrial or otherwise “productive” vehicle could get through.

The swarm of civilian hoppers literally crowded around commercial vehicles and ensured they couldn’t move anywhere. Vehicles filled with goods and tourists and deposits and deliveries couldn’t budge more than a single meter per hour.

Even emergency hoppers were unable to get through the muck. And even if medical and fire hoppers could get where they were going, leaving became an even greater nightmare.

In short, Gaea had fallen into a standstill.

The people needed their voices to be heard, and so they stopped time in order to ensure it. Every crowd chanted their slogans, all of which was caught by the countless EyeCast drones swarming all around. Though the slogans were filled with the same words, they were all told with different languages and colloquialisms and expressions and intonations.

Regardless of that, everyone made their anger clear.

.....

“Fall on your Sword, Minister!”

“No More War! No More Death!”

“Pax Hegemon! Pax Imperium! Pax Federat!”

There were also numerous drones that projected even more signs and slogans above their heads or around their hoppers. They were almost as numerous as the people themselves, and filled whatever little space there was left.

In fact, there were so many that it was close to impossible to read all of them individually. Despite that, they all reflected many of the same sentiments and worries that the rest of the Federation felt.

–

All the WAR does is KILL our sons & daughters

–

Wartime Inflation is STRANGLING the Federation

–

End Colonialism, Withdraw the Troops

–

Of course, they were far from the only ones out there. London’s Defense Constabulary Forces had been deployed, as a necessary safety precaution. In fact, every city’s defensive forces were deployed in response to the Gaea-wide protest.

“For the good of the people,” as the Grand Minister had stated in his Ministerial Order only a cycle ago.

As a result, armed forces did their best to contain the crowds as best they could. In London’s skyways, numerous heavy armored hoppers with light electromagnetic barriers pushed against the protesting civilian hoppers.

They pushed them close together as much as they could, so that the rest of the city could continue to operate. Or at least, that was the goal.

All they could manage was tentatively keep the crowds at bay. There were simply far too many civilians, and not enough LDCF present.

It was much the same down below at street-level.

Millions of people swarmed London, but were kept contained by heavily armed LDCF Officers in heavy riot armor. They violently pushed against the front lines with their full-body transparent steel shields.

Despite the fact that they maintained an orderly formation and employed an interlocked shield wall, they were slowly and constantly pushed back. The thin line of officers were absolutely no match for the literal ocean of people.

Their lines eroded further and further, to the point where they were forced to use heavier hands.

Armored hoppers with antipersonnel turrets atop them came up behind the front lines of the Riot Officers, then fired numerous canisters into the crowds beyond.

Many struck the people as they marched forward, and sent them to the ground. Some were instantly knocked out, or had their bones broken on impact. A few died.

Regardless of what happened to the citizens, each of the canisters burst open and spewed out thick red smoke. The smoke filled the streets’ front lines quickly, and enveloped many of the protestors at the head of it all.

Most of them coughed and gagged as whatever chemicals in the smoke were sucked down into their lungs. Their minds blurred as their breaths shrank. They literally took heaving gasps for air, but all they got was more and more smoke.

The last thing most of them remembered was when the LDCF charged into them shield-first, and were knocked violently to the ground.

Then came the stun batons.

Most took one or two hits before they fell. The shock combined with the smoke was simply too much for them to handle. Those who didn’t fall were instead beaten over and over until they finally collapsed or were killed.

The LDCF charged further into the retreating, screaming crowds with their shields and their batons up. Each of them shoved a protestor, then took a few turns beating them senseless with their stun batons before they moved on.

And the more they did so, the more their line broke apart.

Which allowed the more aggressive protestors to act. They too ran to the front while carrying their own makeshift shields in front of them. All of them also wielded various heavy tools and sports clubs as impromptu weapons.

More importantly, they all wore industrial and civilian rebreathers and filtration masks, which allowed them to run through the smoke with ease.

They cornered each of the isolated officers quickly and brought them down to the ground as well. Then, they beat them with their weapons in exchange until the officers also stopped moving.

Thousands of them charged in after, and pierced through the weakened LDCF lines. Deeply angered by the smoke attacks and the beatings, the crowds responded in kind. They rushed into the remaining Riot Officers, knocked down, then trampled them underfoot.

Worse, they swarmed around the armored hoppers, and using their combined strength tipped them over and toppled them. Many also simply banged on their armor with whatever weapons they had, or had taken from the Riot Officers, and dented the plating further and further.

What began as a protest turned into an outright riot.

In one of the many apartment buildings overlooking the streets below, a couple of children watched with awe and fear and excitement at all the violence down below.

Fresh counter-rioters had charged into the line of rioters, whereupon both sides began to beat on each other with complete abandon. It didn’t take long until blood began to wash down the streets by the gallon.

“You two get away from there!” yelled a woman.

A frazzled middle-aged woman ran up to where the two children were, and ushered them away. As they scampered off, she tapped a control screen near the window itself. A moment later, armored shutters slid down and blocked out the rest of the world.

Then she walked back to the middle of the living room and turned to the large screen off to the side.

“Sorry ’bout that,” she said to the man on the screen.

He was also middle-aged and clean-cut. He too looked frazzled and tired. The bags under his eyes were certainly heavier and darker than hers.

“It’s alright,” he replied. “Look, I just wanted to make a quick Comm and let you know that it’s gonna be another long cycle. And you oughta keep the family’s security team in the hab, just in case.”

“Seriously. We can’t keep doing this. It’s not good for the kids,” the woman replied.

“Nothing we can do about it, just take a good look outside for heaven’s sake. And if you think you’ve got it rough, believe me, it’s a hundred times worse over at the Capitol. There’s personal security every three meters.”

“If the Grand Minister simply stepped down, we wouldn’t be in this mess! You would be home by now!”

Both of them sighed deeply out of frustration.

“You know as well as I do that stepping down isn’t that easy,” he said after a moment. “The Federation’s on the brink of spilling out into chaos. If we leave office now... I can’t even... Look, the Minister doesn’t want things to go out of control.”

“Sounds like he lost control ages ago,” she retorted. “And it’s time he actually gave up trying.”

Just as the man was about to argue, the sounds of shouting could be heard from the background. They caused him to take pause as he listened to it. Then when it was done, he turned back to her.

“I’ve gotta go,” he said. “I know you’re frustrated, but I’ll be back on Gaea soon enough, alright? I love you, love the kids. Goodbye. Sorry!”

The man then deactivated his personal comms and the mental projection of his wife winked out on his DI. He quickly adjusted his suit and recomposed himself as he rejoined the Grand Minister’s entourage in his massive office.

The Grand Minister looked relatively young, and was incredibly fit and handsome. It almost seemed as though he had been carved out of stone, and was designed to exude charm and power. Perhaps he was.

He stood next to his workbench, which displayed numerous reports on the screen set into the surface. Surrounding him were a handful of his aides, who assisted in arranging and organizing and filtering those same reports.

There were many other aides scattered around the massive office, some of whom were at their own terminals. They busily and frantically worked on them, even as the rest of the aides ran around the room itself.

The man walked right up to the Grand Minister, who appeared to be somewhat impatiently waiting for him to get there.

“Apologies,” he said. “Just needed to square the family away with what’s going on here.”

“I understand how important they are to you,” the Grand Minister replied. “Family is critical, after all. But there will be time for that later. Right now, we’ve got mountains to climb.”

“You have me for however long we’ve got left in office.”

“Good to hear.”

The Grand Minister beckoned the man to come to his side, then brought up specific reports on one of the screens. He gestured to them and allowed the man to read them.

After a moment he said, “You’ve been my legal counsel for how long now? 15? 20 years?”

“Twenty-two,” replied the man. “Long time.”

“Mmhm. A long time. You’ve been by my side for all this time and helped me build all this.”

The Grand Minister gestured to the room all around him. The Grand Minister’s Office was the center of power for the entire Federation. Simply standing inside of it gave all of them a sense of awe and wonder.

“You’ve been instrumental in keeping these bricks upright,” the Grand Minister continued. “In the best of times, and of course in the worst of times. Especially in truly terrible times. And we are in truly terrible times right now.”

“I... I wouldn’t say it’s terrible times, Minister,” said the man. “It’s bad, yes. But it isn’t as though we’re being murdered in the streets. It isn’t the Empire here, sir.”

“True, things are a bit wilder in those parts right now. But it could be just as bad here. Even after I step down.”

“So you are stepping down, then?”

The Grand Minister nodded gravely. His lips pursed even as he responded, and made his absolute hesitance clear.

“Before we do that, we need to do some serious housekeeping,” said the Grand Minister. “Can I trust you to oversee that for me?”

.....

“O-of course you can,” the man replied. “You mean like with the Balthur Corporation, yes? The ones with the industrial land rights on a colonial planet. You want a full data purge like we did with them, right?”

“Exactly what I need. This time, I want you to find all ties to the Benefactor and erase any mention from every record possible. Not just mine, but from any applicable High Admirals as well. We can’t let anyone know about that. Can I trust you to do this?”