The following are a selection of articles, some Masadan, some independent and some Manticoran, detailing events during the Manticoran invasion and ongoing occupation of Masada. The rhetoric of many Masadan sources can appear overblown to the point of comedy and open to ridicule, but there is nevertheless information to be gleaned about Manticoran behaviour from even these articles.
The fleet of the apostate's ally, Satan's whore Queen Elizabeth of Manticore, has entered the Endicott system. Sword Simmonds has not returned with "Thunder of God" and his crew from the Yeltsin system, and in the light of the size of the approaching fleet it must be feared that he has been martyred in attempting his Test.
Father Church is calling on all his sons to be prepared to resist any attempted landings by all available means. This may be the greatest Test of our times. Rise up and smite the apostates! Drive back the servants of Satan with fire and the sword! There shall be weeping and grinding of teeth in courts of the whore queen of Manticore. Rise up to glory, brothers, for the greatest Test is at hand!
Endicott Tablet
Units of the Royal Manticoran Navy under Admiral White Haven have entered the Endicott system in response to the hideous losses suffered in the Yeltsin system. The inexorable logic of war has taken hold following the loss of two Queen's ships and the battering to wreckage of two more, the death in action of the highly respected retired Admiral Courvoisier, and the rape and murder of Manticoran POWs. Having suffered such losses against what is barely a third-rate power, the Cromarty government now proposes the conquest of their home system, with all the further massive casualties that a planetary assault will entail.
And for what? Why are Manticoran lives to be spent so freely? This was a war between Grayson and Masada, yet it seems to be being fought by Manticore and Masada, and in the process seems to be leading us into conflict with the People's Republic of Haven yet again.
The Graysons and Masadans have proved themselves similar religious bigots, trampling on the rights of women and refusing all attempts to bring them to a sensible compromise. This latest war has left neither of them with an effective interstellar naval capability, and that is the way it should stay for the peace of the galaxy. Instead, Cromarty proposes to arm the Graysons with modern weapons and, in the meantime, conduct their war for them.
Our troops have already experienced the viciousness of the Masadans in a forward position. How much worse will they be when their home soil is at stake? Yet Cromarty's imperial pretensions will not allow him to quit. The blow to Manticore's pride must be avenged in the blood of Masadan women and children. Make no mistake that that is what it will come to. Wars are not neat and tidy things even when they are kept in space, and what we are talking about here is the conquest of a planet. Civilian casualties in large numbers are certain, and all this will increase Manticore's security not one jot. All it will do, when all the blood is shed and our sons and daughters sleep under foreign soil or between alien stars, will be to convince the PRH of our hostility and expansionism, and bring closer the war that Cromarty believes is inevitable and seems to seek rather than avoid.
Sensible negotiations with the PRH could have ended the tensions between us long ago. It is not too late to do that if Cromarty is removed.
Progressive Times, Manticore
Three patients and two medical staff are reported to have died when a hospital was hit in fighting between Manticoran Marines and local forces in the Masadan town of Micah. Local sources claim that thirty other people were injured in the incident. Manticoran sources have admitted that the damage pattern appears to match that of an impeller-drive anti-armour missile, but claim that some weapons have been lost in Masadan ambushes. The Marines have not gone so far as to directly claim that the damage was caused by the Masadans themselves, but have pointed out that they still do not control the area and so cannot conduct an investigation.
Individual troops have been less restrained. "The [expletive deleted]'s are crazy" said one soldier. "I've seen 'em take on blokes in battle armour with clubs! They might not deliberately shoot their own, but they bloody well don't check what's behind what they ARE shooting at!"
Local sources are unequivocal in blaming Manticore for the incident, and declare that with the Tester's help they will spill rivers of Manticoran blood until the "infidels" are defeated.
Beowulf Chronicle
Manticore has announced that military resistance to its invasion of the Endicott system and the planet Masada has ended. But although the Masadan military has lain down its arms, civil resistance continues. This week in the capital alone Manticoran troops are claimed to have fired scores of tear gas canisters and baton rounds to disperse violent civilian protests at their invasion. Ten soldiers and at least thirty civilians have received hospital treatment. One soldier, crouching behind a wall as bricks filled the air remarked "If this is secure, I'm Tilly Treecat" (a reference to a children's cartoon character).
New London Observer
Manticore has acknowledged that the true casualty figures of its invasion of Masada may never be known, as kinetic strikes on military installations have completely vaporised many bodies. However, military sources have admitted, when pressed, that Masadan estimates of 100,000 casualties may well be a reasonable approximation.
In addition, civilian casualties continue to mount as the populace expresses its outrage at the invasion. It is clear that Manticore will not find the conquest of other systems a painless way to expand its already large sphere of influence.
The Progressive Party has called for a vote of no confidence in the Cromarty government over its handling of the Masada occupation. "The mounting casualties among both our own military and the civilian population should be a source of shame to any civilised society" said a party spokesman. "Any decent person would resign over such a brutal imperialist adventure" he added.
Landing Times, Manticore
Murder rates have soared under the Manticoran occupation of Masada, figures out today reveal. Manticoran sources blame the rise on repressed wives taking revenge on brutal husbands now that the theocratic government of Masada is no longer in a position to support their abusers.
Public disorder continues at extremely high levels, with riots and stoning of troops commonplace. Violent weapons searches continue to antagonise the public.
Church elders across Masada have been taken into "protective custody" today. Manticoran occupation forces claim that the move is necessary as attacks on clergy spiral out of control, but the Church has claimed that this is an organised attempt to suppress the Masadans' religion.
The detentions have provoked the largest, most widespread, and most violent protests of recent months, with Manticoran troops firing over a thousand gas and baton rounds so far today. At least three hundred protesters and sixty troops have received hospital treatment.
Manticoran attempts to form a puppet secular government on the occupied world of Masada have foundered on the populace's refusal to play along. Manticoran officials have expressed frustration at their inability to find anyone who even understands the concept of a non-theocratic government, never mind anyone willing to attempt to form one.
The people of Masada have consistently refused to co-operate with the Manticoran occupation forces, and the level of force required to keep even the very vague semblance of civil order that the Army does is causing deep disquiet even on Manticore itself.
The information above is provided by the Office of Public Information at the direction of Citizen Committeewoman Cordelia Ransome, Committee for Public Safety
Written by Kevin Logan, based (very loosely) on the information set out in "Flag in Exile" by David M Weber, Baen Books, New York, ISBN 0-671-87681-3
Author's Note. The people of Masada are presented as extreme religious bigots in the books and therefore also in the pieces above. If you look at David Weber's depiction of the religious leadership of Grayson in "The Honor of the Queen" and "Flag in Exile" you will see clearly that he does NOT equate profound religious belief with extremism, bigotry and hatred. Neither do I.
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