The one wherein politics gets reshaped in the name of expediency

I'd received a number of waves during my fast burn across the Black from Londinium. Most of them were from concerned citizens who wanted to hear it from me directly, that the colony would be OK. I told them what Genni had told them. As long as Colonel Silvermane was in charge of the unit patrolling our little slice of Heaven, the Alliance would act civil. Maybe not always so nice, but at least civil. We don't give them cause to get violent, and they'll act righteous.

At least I expected them to. Of course, I had a different view of the Alliance military than most Rimworld colonists did. I also had a different relationship with Colonel Silvermane than did other folk. I'd worked hard to establish a civil relationship with her after the fiasco of Loyalist influence on the Sun Tzu.

The problem was, she was subject to orders from a chain of command that still had a measurable Hardliner influence. Worse, a little checking found that she was already being considered for a promotion to Brigadier General, which would almost certainly mean her being moved up from Regimental Command to Brigade level, and away from the 1st Marine Raiders.

Couldn't fault her for it when it came to pass. Good soldier. Deserved it. But it would leave us in the position of dealing with a new Commanding Officer for the 1st. Even if they left Lieutenant Xeltentat in charge of the platoon on the Sinkov, there was no guarantee his new CO wouldn't change their standing orders. The only real hope we had was to have the Martial Law situation resolved before anything changed in the Alliance's local structure.

Resolving the Martial law situation though, was looking problematic. Things were still reasonably calm. No one had been shot yet. At least that I'd been told about, but the wave from the Colonel didn't bode well.

""Mayor Kawanishi? I've got some official news. This is being recorded." she started out, the formal tone alone enough to tell me what was coming next.

"Go ahead, Colonel."

"Per instruction from Sector Command, and under the auspices of the Colonial Charter Board, the Hale's Moon Colonial Government is being suspended until further notice. Until order is restored to the satisfaction of Alliance Authorities, the existing government will serve in an advisory capacity through a Liaison Officer. All government functions will be in the hands of the Alliance. Your cooperation is appreciated."

"I understand, Colonel. I'm assuming the transition will be complete before I make it home?" I kept my voice calm, though I'd been prepared for such a contingency. There'd been situations in the past where local government had been suspended, though usually because there was some sort of active insurgency on the colony. That wasn't the case here, but I couldn't ask.

Yet.

"That is the plan, Madam Mayor. Thank you for your cooperation." She paused a moment, looking away from the iris, then the 'recording' light and 'open channel' warnings went off, switching us to a secure link.

"I'm sorry, Seana. This came down from several steps above my pay grade." She looked genuinely upset by the situation. Our recent meetings hadn't made us friends, but they'd established a different level of working relationship.

"I'm not entirely surprised, Corrine. Given the history out here, I'm actually a little surprised no one made a grab for us earlier. Situation's still status quo for the Orbital?"

"Affirmative. Corporate assets are being treated with kid gloves. Blue Sun and Kawanishi Heavy Industries have enough influence that High Command is reluctant to disrupt operations out here. Though Blue Sun's facilities are on the surface, so they'll probably feel more scrutiny. "

I paused, then nodded. Even the Hardliners were reluctant to offend the corporate powerhouses for fear of repercussions. Hell, for all we knew at this point, this could be coming down from pressure from one of Blue Sun's internal factions. Not everyone there was happy with x0x0 in an executive position.

"Thanks for keeping me in the loop. Can you send your liaison officer by the orbital? I'll have my secretary move my kit out of the office and up to the station."

The Colonel acknowledged and signed off, leaving me with a mildly disturbed feeling deep in the Black. Genni already had instructions on how to deal with our systems if something like this ever happened, and I expected a wave from her within minutes of the Town Elders being told the news.

Still, it wasn't all bad. They hadn't decided to issue arrest warrants for the entire local government, something that had also happened in the past. But given the documented levels of cooperation, it would have been hard to pull off without raising some eyebrows. Even if Hale's Moon was a bump on the butt of the 'Verse, a couple of major corporations had interests in the colony and they'd raise a stink in Parliament even if no one there had even heard of our little slice of heaven.

For the time being, I was officially out of a job. Would be a great excuse for a vacation. Unfortunately, being out of one job meant I would have to do some serious work on the other.

Someone would be displeased by where this was going.

I would make sure of that.