Back Home – The Dual War
by Warringer
Chapter 53 (Party written by Psychosama)
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Ryoko was a little jumpy as she entered the Oval Office for the second time in so many months. Not nearly as nervous as she had been the first time, but still, even for someone like Ryoko, meeting the President of your country could cause a bit of anxiety.
It made her chuckle a bit. This normal human, this elected official made her jump more than any noble or king of Jurai with all their age, strength, and near absolute political power ever could. The reason was that he was her leader. This gave him an undeniable influence on her life, and surprisingly enough, she did not resent it at all. President Ryan was a good man. He actually reminded her of her Tenchi a bit. They both held the same quiet dignity and strength, and while Tenchi was still cuter, Jack Ryan was a man she could happily follow and one that she was proud to call friend.
President Ryan smiled slightly as Ryoko entered the room. "Hello, Ryoko. Please, take a seat.
"Thanks, Jack." She replied as she sat down. "So, why did you need to see me?"
"Two reasons, actually," he replied. "First, I'd like to thank you for your performance in the last battle. Without you and Ryuu-oh-ki, our losses would probably have been far more severe."
Ryoko nodded. "My planet, my country, my responsibility as a Privateer."
Jack smiled. "Glad you see it that way, because when you ran out last time you were here, you did so before I was able to make a second offer to you."
Ryoko blanched. "Oh, I'm sorry about that..."
The President shrugged. "No worries. You were anxious and I can accept that."
"So..." Ryoko began, "What's the offer?"
Jack pushed a form to her. "Please sign that."
"What is it?" she asked.
"It's a Non-Digression Agreement. It means that you can tell no one of what is about to be said in this room, and if you do, you will be prosecuted."
Ryoko gulped. "Is this necessary?"
"I'm about to divulge a state secret to you, Ryoko. I'm afraid to say its VERY necessary."
She paused for a moment, and then signed. "Alright, Jack. Give me the offer."
Jack pressed his intercom. "Send him in."
Ryoko looked over her shoulder as the door to the oval office opened and a hard looking man with black hair wanted into the room.
"Mr. President..." he greeted.
"Please take a seat, Mr. Fisher."
The man did so without comment.
Ryoko blinked. "Who's he?"
"Someone I want you to talk to once I'm done giving you the offer."
She nodded and gave the president her attention.
"In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech defining the corner stones of American ethical belief that define who we are and what we stand for. Those cornerstones are freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear. What he did not articulate is the existence of a fifth freedom: the right to do whatever is necessary to protect and uphold the other four."
Ryoko blinked. "What does this have to do with me?"
"As an agent of the United States government, I am willing to grant you Fifth Freedom privileges. This will allow you the freedom to do what ever you deem necessary to protect and uphold the moral principles of the United States and to protect its people."
Ryoko gulped. "Why me?"
"Ryoko, I know that you're a good woman and with a strong moral center who has seen first hand the horrors the abuse of power can bring. We also need agents in the field who are capable of doing what's necessary to win this war. You know the galaxy, your power is undeniable, and lastly, and please do not take offense to this, due to your state as a privateer and undeserved reputation, they will expect you to act with a certain ruthlessness that would be the perfect cover for your true activities."
"I'm not sure about this," she replied, "I... I appreciate the offer but I don't want to be that person anymore."
"Mr. Fisher, why don't you tell her about you experiences."
He nodded and looked to Ryoko. "He'd not asking you to be that person. The unfortunate fact of the universe is that for people to live their lives free, there will always be the select few who willingly make the preservation of that freedom their personal responsibility. Without hard men willing to do what is necessary, to bend certain ethical principles in order to combat those willing steal, murder, and destroy without concern for others. Really, its not much different from the 'License to Kill' principle that British 00 agents posses."
Ryoko blinked. "Isn't that just a movie?"
Sam grinned. "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he doesn't exist. MI6 actually paid Ian Fleming to write the original Bond novels."
"By the way," Jack cut in with a grin, "I played your game."
Sam laughed. "I told them Ironsides was the perfect voice!"
Ryoko blinked then laughed. "Splinter Cell! You're the guy that the game is based off of?"
"Guilty as charged," he replied.
"I'm still not sure, though," she replied. "I don't want to become a monster again..."
"Don't worry, you won't," Sam cut it, "Some people will tell you that the Fifth Freedom means that all means are acceptable. That you can murder, kidnap, torture, dominate, extort and some such without any moral accountability what so ever. They're wrong. Ethics is what makes us different from them. We are hard people who do a dirty job in the service of others. Don't let anyone ever tell you that the things we do are not wrong, but the simple fact is that we deal in lesser evils. When we act it should only be to prevent greater evils, and only with as much nastiness as is absolutely required. You have to know where to draw the line and you can ever allow yourself to enjoy it. That's what separates us from the monsters."
"You're not going to have to do anything you don't want to," Jack added, "This just gives you a legal shield, within reason, to operate outside the law."
"Alright," Ryoko replied with a mask of conviction, "I'll do it."
"Good," Jack replied. "Remember, Fifth Freedom is a state secret so make sure to limit yourself if anyone can see you do it. Also, as a public figure there be missions too covert in nature for your to be able to do yourself so be assigning Sam and his team to your ship to serve as backup."
Ryoko nodded. "Sounds good to me."
"Great," Jack replied, "Now Sam here is can fill you in on all the details..."
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"... Infineon has build two more fully automated factories in Springfield, USA, and Melbourne, Australia. These factories have been designed to build several key semi-conducting elements used in space ships. This will make the construction of new space ships much easier..."
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"... has massively lowered key interest rates, hoping to encourage more new investments in the new technologies available. The Wall Street reacts to this step of the European National Bank with a raising of..."
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"... have been presented by the Admiral Jackson, the current head of GDI. The Pallas Class Frighter was designed by a German team of engineers, who won the GDI design contest for a fleet supply vessel and have also designed the Somtaaw class tender. The Victory class Super-Dreadnought is the first battleship of native Earth design however, its design crew isn't what most people would expect. Rather than being designed by a team of engineers of a Defense Contractor, it has been designed over the last month in an Internet forum, The thread that lead to the design of the Victory, has more than a hundred thousand replies over the course of three month..."
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"... was the General Electrics/Microsoft M244 'Mjolnir' powered armor introduced to a number of special operations units of the US Army and the US Marine Corps..."
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"... was presented by EADS. The Barracuda is the first unmanned combat vehicle designed by a european defense contractor and is the first world wide designed UCAV capable of air and space borne operations..."
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"... was launched by the British Jupiter Mining Company. Hundred thousands of fans of the British space sitcom 'Red Dwarf' have been at the Liverpool docks to watch the launch of the first Earth asteroid mining vessel Red Dwarf. The Red Dwarf has been build to be a one to one copy of the 'original' from the sitcom..."
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"... Moon 44 is the second asteroid mining ship that was launched by an Earthern corporation to try and make competition to Jupiter Mining. Roland Emmerich the authors and director, as well as his co-authors, of the movie 'Moon 44' has said that it is an honor that one of their works is used to name one of the first mining ships in Earth history..."
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"... has begun to introduce the MiG-37 'Viper' into service. Like Russia, several other countries, like India and many eastern European countries have began bid for the 'Viper' and the licenses to build it in their own factories. Also the Eurofighter concern has began to work with Mikojan-Gurewitsch for a European fighter based on the 'Viper'.."
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"... by Boeing. The F-37 'Hammerhead' is considered the counterpart of the MiG-37. The US Navy, as well as Air Force and Marine Corps have already ordered four hundred F-37..."
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"... Iceland has joined the GDI and ..."
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".. began a localized orbital bombardment on suspected sites of Al Quaeda bases and hiding places..."
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"... has captures Osama Bin-Laden. He will be placed in front of an international court to face charges..."
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"...Lockheed-Martins Skunkworks has presented the final design of the B-6 'Avanger II', a heavy attack bomber..."
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"... the end of Operation 'Spring Cleaning', the largest international operation against terroristic cells all over the world, with more than 45 countries taking part. The estimated number of killed or captured terrorists has been set to 95 percent, including Osama Bin-Laden and a number of high ranking members..."
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"... grown to 16 nations as of today, May 1st 2004. Additional to having joined the EU, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, have also joined up with GDI..."
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"... has finished building the first ten Devastator class Patrol vessels. These ten vessels are going to be introduced into service by Thailand, Malaysia and New Zealand..."
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