Scorched Earth Policies

[rekindledtitan]

Blaze tends to treat the Plaza as one stop on her patrol route through the Nexus - and usually the last stop, at that. Today, however, she’s not going anywhere else. She didn’t even stop to repair the burns and blade-marks that mar her white armor before she showed up, and she doesn’t sit now. When her boots hit the paving stones she strides a little way further in and just stands there, metal face locked in a frown. Her tiny silver Ghost materializes beside her shoulder, shell spinning as he studies his troubled Guardian.

"If you found out someone erased part of your history from the records, how would you deal with that?” she blurts out, never one to hold back on her thoughts. Her helm’s gripped in her left hand, and she taps it against her leg uneasily. “You think there are any stories that just shouldn't be remembered?"

Comments

[rekindledtitan]

"Maybe I'm biased, but I know which theory I'd put money on," Blaze notes. The lights of the Exo's eyes are dim and narrow as she listens. "Those Augments were soldiers. Critically flawed, sure, but you can see the kind of logic that designed them. I guess it's not that strange, considering what humanity was like in the old days. Just disappointing. Hnnh. If I'd known Khan was so far gone I'd have been faster on the draw with him." It's a regret, but not one she'll dwell on.

"So... did your people wake them by accident, then?" Ghost sounds concerned, but he wants to hear the end of the story.

[boldygoing]

Jim just nods, not disputing her conclusion. The equality theory is popular because that's what the Federation is founded on, and people often want to take the more optimistic view of their ancestors. But humanity can also be ugly and brutal and savage, and especially in the days before First Contact, it often was. He has no trouble whatsoever believing that the old governments would use genetic engineering as a power grab, or that it backfired on them so horribly.

This is the part of the story where he has to be careful. Can't give so much as a hint that part of Starfleet was responsible, that Admiral Marcus was behind it all, no matter how much Jim hates having to bury that small detail. The consequences could be steep, if word ever got out. "The faction that found their ship woke Khan up, yeah. I don't know if they knew who he was before they did or not, but it seems pretty damn likely, considering he's the only one they revived. They kept his crew in cryosleep as hostages to his good behavior and tried to get him to work for them. Making weapons and stuff like that. It... didn't go well." He looks away, remembering just how many casualties came from one man's warmongering. Civilians. Starfleet officers. Beloved friends. Himself. The wounds run deep, and even months later, it still haunts him.

"The man who made all those decisions is dead," he adds, since that is probably tactically relevant. No reason to have them prepare to face a threat that won't be coming, not from that corner, anyway. "Khan killed him too."

[rekindledtitan]

Starfleet's involvement is less a secret than he might think, since Khan himself was quite vocal about blaming them for his treatment. The two bots can draw some immediate conclusions about the faction Jim describes, although both more-or-less just think it's clear enough not to be worth commenting on. They listen closely, Blaze nodding now and then.

"Doesn't surprise me," she says to his last remark. She doesn't sound sorry to hear the man's dead, either. She's no cunning reader of hearts, but it's clearly hard for the captain to talk about what happened, in a way that goes far beyond concern for clearance levels. It's not too hard to extrapolate the kind of damage Khan would do on his way out, if he started with access to a weapons lab.

"Thank you for telling us all this," she says, voice a little gentler. "It's more than just intel, you know. To me anyway. Puts things in context."

[boldygoing]

It's nowhere near as secret as Jim thinks, or hopes, that it is. Most people here have been understandably hesitant to discuss the events in detail, and after his own recent encounter with Khan and Section 31, Jim has not remotely wanted to pry. His imagination can fill in most of the gaps just fine.

He's not sorry that Marcus is dead either, only sorry that the man's daughter had to watch. The rogue admiral had every intention of destroying the Enterprise and killing her entire crew to keep the secret from getting out. Had succeeded in killing over twenty percent of them, nearly one hundred souls. Without knowing who else might be a part of Section 31, who else might be willing to go to those lengths to keep the shadowy branch of Starfleet out of the public eye, Jim is adamantly keeping his mouth shut about those details until it's clear to him that they're already out there. The last thing he wants is for that to be traced back to him, and put his people - and everyone else who knows - back in the crosshairs. He might be jumping at shadows, but he'll take that over being blindsided any day.

"You're welcome," he says, looking back up at her, and at Ghost. "I kinda know how it feels to be stuck outta the loop when bad shit happens."