Free Rebellion by William H Keith Page B

desperate.
    Dev sat with the other striderjacks of A Company, 1st Battalion of the 4th Terran Rangers in an open space in the bay. Each morning briefing for the past month had been more of the same—“Expect mass demonstrations or civil disturbances”—but the pace of events seemed to be picking up. So far, there’d been remarkably few incidents between the local population and the Hegemony peacekeeping units stationed on Eridu, but the change in ROEs was almost a sure-fire guarantee that the situation was also going to change.
    The staff briefing officer stepped away from the small wooden podium that had been erected in front of the ranks of folding chairs. Colonel Duarte took his place. “Thank you, Captain Ranescú.” He paused for a moment, gripping the sides of the podium as he stared out over the faces of the assembled company.
    They were in the capital city of Winchester, not far from Eridu’s south pole. Company A currently mustered twenty light warstriders out of a usual complement of twenty-four, organized into two platoons of eight each, plus a command section. Present were the strider crews, along with key maintenance and armorer personnel, plus 115 men and women of Company D, one of the regiment’s two close-support leg infantry units. Companies B and C were stationed in a neighboring city, while the 2nd and 3rd Battalions were posted halfway around the planet in Eridu’s north boreal region.
    “Okay, people,” Duarte said. “You’ve heard the word. There are rumors in the city that there’s been a major Xenophobe breakout just a few kilometers from here. The rumor is false, but the dissies are using this to stir up the mobs, convincing them that we’re about to use the Imperial solution.”
    Dev whistled softly to himself. “The Imperial solution” was a military euphemism for ground-penetrating nuclear warheads. By Charter law, only Imperial forces could deploy nuclear warheads. “Dissies” were dissidents, the anti-Hegemony or anti-Imperial factions who had been stirring up trouble on Eridu for nearly a year.
    If Dev had learned anything during the two months he’d spent on Eridu, it was that the locals—the vocal minority involved in the demonstrations, at any rate—were fanatically opposed to the use of nuclear weapons of any kind on their world.
    How did the majority feel about it? Dev wasn’t sure. There were several pro-Hegemony groups on the planet that supported Imperial intervention, but their voices tended to be lost in massed freedom-for-Eridu chants. Most Eriduans. Dev suspected, wanted nothing more than for the noisy people, pros and antis alike, to go away and leave them to get on with their lives. After six months of demonstrations, strikes, and protests, Eridu’s economy was in chaos.
    ‘“Our mission until now,” Duarte continued, “was simply to keep the peace. Today, however, we have been directed by Hegemony Military Command to disperse the mob and declare martial law.
    “HEMILCOM does not believe there will be armed resistance to the order. Nevertheless, we have been directed to use every precaution. We will return fire only if fired upon, but we will maintain a highly visible presence within the city until the Governor’s office has time to restore calm through political means. Warstriders will at all times avoid the use of unnecessary force. Company C squad commanders, you will see to it that your troops are issued with Iijima-44 sonic stunners in addition to their regular combat gear. Our call sign will be Blue Lancer. Are there questions?”
    Dev wanted to ask about events elsewhere on Eridu. The 4th Terran Rangers were one of just two Guard Regiments stationed on Eridu: the other was the 3rd New American Mechanized Cavalry, which, like the Rangers, had units scattered across the planet. What was happening with the two companies of the 4th stationed at Memphis and Chaldee, just a few hundred kilometers from Winchester? Or at the towerdown outpost of Babel,