yojimbo sharp teeth
part 1
Why We Fight--The Fall of the Empires of Earth
In the mid 21st century, the governments of the world began to decline. After the war of terror, the people stood up to the government--asking for the reasons behind the war. The credibility of the US administration was wearing thin, so the government tried some other ways to keep the people under its thumb. The president of the time decided to put together a secret police to control any upheaval, crashing freedom marches, peace rallies, and when that didn’t deter the protests, they got the idea --what happens when people without guns stand up to people with guns? With this, they repealed the law that no military personnel are to be used against citizens and started turning the U.S. into a militaristic government--and employing secret agents, they rode rampant. People began disappearing. The population stopped listening to their president…but the self-proclaimed emperor of Earth would not take no for an answer. The damage was already done. The enlisted soldiers would not fight their own friends and neighbors. The soldiers were shot for not obeying orders.On the eve of that year, the Empire dissolved. With no government, a lot of people were out looking for the same jobs that they had been doing all their lives--but the only way they were going to have jobs was if they made their own group or joined organized crime. Crime ran rampant, syndicates fighting each other. Some tried to bring government back. Some of the people said. “This is impossible. Listen, you fight if you want to--I’m going off-world. I’d rather live in a society where I’m dirt poor but free than live in a world where I have all the money I could ever want--but be subject to the whims of a king or government.” They left the earth for the stars. Whole communities charted ships to seek out new planets and hundreds of moons where they could be free. The race for the stars had begun.
It wasn’t easy to create new lands. Rocks had to be ground up into sand. Most started with hydroponics using a liquid solution or aeroponics--having the plants suspended in the air and spraying them with nutrient solutions--and slowly manufacturing dirt by using worms to break down their garbage, creating new life from paper, teabags, and coffee grounds -- even using mushrooms. Some came prepared, some with nothing but a space suit and a ship and seeds thinking that they could put plants in the ground, water them and they would grow. These people didn’t understand. Some stayed with the group trying to help in any way they could and some couldn’t see how anybody could want to live this way and went back to Earth. In those times, some people would have to defend their property and so they’d extend themselves with knives, guns, and even swords.
For five and a half generations the people lived in relative harmony and, as in the colonial days, all the people had and exercised their right to carry side arms. There was no law to what you could and could not use but you were asked to limit it to hand-held side arms--but some carried large battle weapons. Most carried small weaponry, mostly as a convenience. If you’re loading boxes you don’t want a heavy rifle getting in the way. There were places where you could not carry guns so you would hand them over and you would check them. For mass travel, you could carry weapons onboard the vehicle. The only thing is that you had to have weapons that couldn’t puncture the hull and you would check the rest.
Since they had left the planet Earth behind, they spaced the laws and the rules. For example, children from the age of eight wore given a small knife called gadvarge or Protector of Independence, originally carried by Romany gypsy’s on Old Earth. If they wished, by the age of sixteen they had the right to carry small sidearms of her choice. In a free society, all people have the right to defend themselves against those who would do harm to others. Another thing that changed was that without a government, there were no taxes--there was no one to pay them to. But nothing is free, so you were advised to give time and money to the people in your community that were doing good works, such as keeping the roads in repair. You freely give to help the community.
Crimes were dealt with differently on different worlds, but this is what happens on my planet. Crimes were dealt in this manner: for small crimes such as stealing goods or services, you were required to repay to the offended party in goods or services or with money. In other words, if you were not willing to repay, then you would be tattooed by the local people--indicating the crime that you committed. The arms were the best place to be tattooed. You were fitted with a band that would sound an alarm when you entered a public place. For taking the life of another, you would have had to repay in the amount of money that the victim would have made throughout his expected lifetime…and depending who it was, this could be very expensive. As far as pleasure drugs--as long as you didn’t use them to harm other people, this was not an offense. With no victim, there is no crime. The only way you could no longer be tattooed and not have the band was when you paid the offended party and then the only thing that you have had against you would be in the mind of the community. Throughout the ‘verse, there was peace, justice and the free way. Everybody lived happily ever after.
The End…
Hello? I said it was the end…
Hey…why are you still here? Didn’t you believe me when I said that it was the end?
I guess not. I guess it would be wrong of me to not tell you the truth. Very well. There’s a writer named Conner--very nice guy. I net him once, real nice good with kids. He liked to write books. They’re pretty good--the royalties pay the rent. He writes about dragons, spirits, heroes, fomori--creatures of the dark in Ireland…but I digress.
On Old Earth, things were reverting back to what they were. Damn, history seems to repeat itself. Another group of people planned to enter the “business”--government. Coming in and hassling…and in a few short years, empire on Earth--ruled by one man. So he thought “Why stop here? I could be the leader of the entire ‘verse and in time the multiverse!”
Are there actually multiple universes? Maybe I can met a Dal… or a Cyberm…” but anyway, back to our story. So…he sent out his men to the other worlds. They would work to “keep the peace”. But the people of the Outer Planets didn’t want the interference, because when newcomers tried to keep the peace, they would normally break things--and they wouldn’t pay for them.
I must say, never in my life have I seen--in one day--so many guys walking without anything but their underwear with tats of Looter/Killer/Mugger in my life. Well, word of our treatment of his forces got back to Earth and the Lord President was not pleased. His men looked like fools--and by association, so did he.
He sent in his men. In full body armor, they shouldn’t be worried about any forty-four mag slugs and yet it only took about five minutes—well, maybe four and a half--to bring this to an end. All the President’s man came in and simply blasted the place.
Hey, I carry a Callahan full-bore auto lock with a customized trigger and I’m the village storyteller! In other words, we don’t mind defending ourselves.
We finally understood exactly what was coming…and on a side note, I severely regret I didn’t shove him in to a starship engine. Gods help us all for what was to come.
