Act 33: Rules of War

When they get to the war room, there is something happening there...
"Stic...is it true what happened out there today? They are saying that..." It's Shrewn, he is talking to the Meowstic who is sitting at his table. By his tone he sounds scared.
"Yes, Shrewn, it was a massacre." Stic explains to him. "The Avali truly have things that are out of this world, on one hand a miracle that helped you regain a part of your body...in another hand a horrifying destruction."
The Sandshrewn looks shocked, his eyes shaking as he looks down a little. He is starting to feel some...doubts, but the Avali are really here to help right? But what they did today...
"I know, Shrewn...I know." He sighs. "But this will not happen again. Remember, they want to help us..."

"Its... It's true." Ranii says with a sigh as she enters the room. Still a little down, but not quite as shell shocked as she was before.

Shrewn turns around when he heard her voice. "Ranii...i..." He paused for a moment to take in a breath. "You are not going to be using THAT again, right...?"

"No." Ranii says. She hopes they don't have to use that again, but in a universe of no guarantees, even she cannot say for 100% certain.

"I...see." He nods. Shrewn looks at her, seeing how she seems to be down.
Luca watches without knowing what to say really, but he just hopes Shrewn is still going to be alright with them despite what happened.
Getting calmer now, the Sandshrewn approaches Ranii to give her a hug, he can tell she is not feeling very good right now. "You know...Vaper has been wanting to thank you for what you did for me." He smiles. "If you want you could come see us a bit later."

Ranii is taken a little by surprise by this, but smiles and pats Shrewn on the head. 
"Alright. I'll drop by later." Ranii assures him. "Give her my warm regards, won't you?"

Ranii is still a good friend in Shrewn's book for what she did, so of course he tries something to help lift her spirits. "Yeah, i will do that." Now he must get going. Walking past Luca and Ranii, he goes out of the war room.
"The battle today was short, yet it feels...heavy." The Meowstic sighs. "But I'm glad the citizens are safe, and the only 'casualty' we suffered was the gates."

"That's what matters... I suppose." Ranii laments. "It was either us or them. If we didn't use that artillery blast, we'd probably all be facing our last stands right now. Or having to flee."
At that moment, the councilor's hologram flicks on from the drone.
"Right you are, Ranii. Right you are." Khaako confirms. She turns to Stic. "I take it the artillery was helpful?"

The psychic feline gives a solemn nod to that. "Yes, quite so..."

"You sound troubled." Khaako says with concern. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing that won't go away." He shakes his head. "The artillery's effectiveness was more than I could have expected..."

"Ah... yes. How callous of me." Khaako nods. "I forget what kind of psychological effects seeing that kind of firepower for the first time has on someone who has never even conceived of such things before. I apologize." She nods. "Even though, all things considered, that is on the rather low end of things."

"'On the rather low end of things'?" He is not quite sure what the Avali councilor means with that.

"As I recall mentioning, those artillery guns' explosive yields are well below what the accords allow." She confirms. "Believe me when I say that those artillery blasts aren't the biggest things science is capable of."

He was already suspecting that was what she meant. "I see." He sighs. He was about to say something else but then...
"It was merciful, just saying." Mattias' voice comes from the medallion as it comes online and displays his hologram.
The Meowstic looks to him. "...That's not a topic I want to go into right now." Indeed, there are other things to start worrying about. "Sandstone is the cusp of finally getting self-sufficient, and safely too...without us having to worry about attacks after today."

"Quite so." Khaako says. "And once that's on its way, you'll be on your way towards liberating the rest of the sand kingdom towns taken by The Grove. And then, possibly the world." Khaako nods. "Although when you get to that point, I still do hope to have that Kentaries 3 Accords talk with you."

"I'm not against having the talk about these Accords now." He thinks that maybe these accords will really be important moving forward, especially since he wants to stay within the Avali's good grace.

"Alright." Khaako clears her throat before beginning. 
"The Kentaries 3 Accords were created, or rather REcreated from the proceeding and almost forgotten Geneva Conventions of Old Terra, after the USCM civil wars almost destroyed humanity and several other species along with them. They are mostly centered around protecting civilians from indiscriminate killing and crimes of war. "
She takes a breath and continues.
"Now, most of them regard which types of weapons can and cannot be used in warfare, planetary or space. I'll just be brief about those since you're not yet technologically capable of producing let alone using 99.9% of those illegal weapons. Then I'll get to the more important part: conduct of soldiers during war. Specifically, what can and cannot be done to unarmed civilians and enemy combatants. More the latter than the former."

"Alright, I'm listening..."

"First and foremost, all space-to-planet bombardments or vise-versa of any kind are banned. This also includes planet-to-planet or moon-to-planet systems. Which is the reason we had to set up an artillery battery in the first place and not just use a ship-based system. This is to ensure that space warfare stays in space, and planetary warfare stays on the ground. 
Back in the USCM days, that used to be a favorite tactic of the warring factions: Get a bunch of warships loaded with nukes and kinetic energy weapons and drop them on anything that even had a hint of an enemy presence. It would end up with entire planets turned to slag and entire populations massacred for very little gain."
"Speaking of which, I should probably go into that now."

Luca decides to take a seat at the round table while Stic talks with the councilor.
Stic just listens, he doesn't know a lot about this 'planet-to-planet' talk so he doesn't know what to ask.
Mattias asks something though. "...Is a laser grid covering a planet forbidden?"

"For the moment, no, as we've never encountered something like that." The counselor admits. "In fact, thinking about it, it's also completely ridiculous. Such a thing would take an INSANE amount of power to operate, let alone be effective in any sort of capacity. You'd basically need a whole dyson sphere just to power the damn thing reliably. Not to mention it would be a nightmare maintenance-wise. Honestly, only the apes would ever think of something like that, and even then they'd probably discover that such energy is better used elsewhere."
"So no, it's not actually banned, but only because a 'laser grid' around a planet, let alone a medium size plus one like this is so beyond stupid no one would ever try it."

"Hhhmhmhm...alright alright." The human nods. "...Go on."
Stic gives a weirded out look at the hologram of the man for a small moment, before returning his attention to the Avali Councilor.

"Anyway, weapons of mass destruction. Nuclear weapons, wave motion guns or other large-scale energy weapons, extremely high yield conventional explosives, orbital kinetic energy weapons, chemical weapons, biological weapons, etc. Are also banned. 
Biological weapons are banned in any and all cases, as they can quickly get out of hand and cause plagues. 
Chemical weapons are more gray area, but are generally banned, and we take a 'better safe than sorry' approach to them. 'Dirty bombs' or radiological bombs, also fall under this category but are on the 'definitely banned' side of things.
Kinetic weapons are already covered by the first stipulation that says you can't have orbital bombardment weapons. 
Nukes, including fission bombs, fusion bombs, gluon bombs, and worst of all, antimatter bombs, are banned in planetary warfare as they leave vast amounts of dangerous radiation wherever they explode for centuries on end. They can still be used in space warfare with some stipulations.
As for anything else, anything that produces an explosive yield of more than 100 tons of TNT is considered a weapon of mass destruction when used planetside. Again, rules are different for space warfare, as long as they're a certain distance from life-capable or inhabited planets. For reference, those artillery blasts you saw earlier have a yield of a little less than 1 ton. Again, well below what is allowed by the Accords."

The Meowstic just listens, trying to commit this all to memory.
"Is Artificial Intelligence banned?" Mattias asks a question once more.

"No." Khaako says. "I mean, most of our whole society is managed by a shackled AI. Not to mention there are AI species out there. The Glitch, the Trinks, certain Drodens, Protogens, Synths, just to name a few..."

"...Is that safe? Shouldn't it not want to be shackled?"

"It's worked so far for us." Khaako replies dismissively. "There used to be some crazies that want to unshackle it. But they're been more or less dealt with."
"Anyway, we're getting off track. Though before we move on, it does kind-of sort-of segway us into another type of Weapons of Mass destruction that is banned.
Any entity that have abilities capable of causing destruction on par with the aforementioned weapons, entities colloquially referred to as 'gods', 'demigods', 'demons', etc, are not allowed to be summoned, petitioned, recruited, tricked into, or otherwise used in warfare of any kind. Otherwise, they are considered existential threats and must be terminated. Basically this was made to prevent summoning malicious entities like The Ruin. I'm sure you've heard mention of THAT abomination once or twice."

"Are there really entities individually capable of such destructive potential...?" Stic is the one who asked this time.
Mattias bite's his lips and looks to the side a little.

"We... can tackle that question later." Khaako tries to prevent the topic from being derailed again. "For now, let's get to the more important part. The conduct of soldiers in warfare, and what they are and are not allowed to do"

Stic nods. "Yes, please go on, that is a part I am very interested in."

"I will need to send you the full book on this, but I'll give you the short version of each of the accords regarding these things.
First off: surrender and wounded.
1st rule: Soldiers must always accept surrender if an enemy attempts to do so.  Any enemy that is laying down their arms, laying down on the ground in submission, waving a white flag, or shouting 'I surrender' and refusing to fight any further is considered surrendered.
Now, obviously that produces somewhat of a problem when it comes to the nobles. But, as neither Gaben nor Gar officially surrendered, it passes. 
Killing surrendering opponents for psychological effect is a crime of war. However, defending yourself from an opponent who uses false surrender is NOT considered a crime of war, using false surrender is in fact a crime of war.
2nd Rule: Prisoners of War cannot be mistreated. They cannot be tortured, raped, etc. for information, revenge, or other purposes. Prisoners suspected of crimes of war must be held on trial or brain scanned or other means. Doing otherwise is considered a crime of war.
3rd Rule: All prisoners of war NOT convicted of crimes of war can only be held an upward of 3 standard months after a war has ended.
4th Rule: Any enemy soldier attempting to take wounded out of the battlefield must not be fired upon or attacked, unless directly fired upon by them. Medical personnel using medical symbols on their personage may not be attacked.
That's the brief version. Of course, there's more, and again, I'll have to send you the book." 

"Hhhrrmmm..." Stic rubs his chin, pondering on how much this might affect them, on paper it seems easy to follow but it might need some getting used to. The book can certainly help him impart that knowledge to others too, once he gets it. "This only applies to the battlefield, right?"

"The 2nd rule applies off the battlefield too." Khaako corrects him. "The Miniknog in particular are notorious for breaking that one."
Ranii nods solemnly, having seen more than her fair share of Miniknog 'thought reassignment' facilities. 

"I see, I see." So if there is a need to assassinate a noble from the shadows, or use deceptions of any kind, it won't break the rules...he hopes so. "I will be sure to impart this knowledge to my Aces, so they can then impart it to those below them in rank."

"Quite so." Khaako nods. "And now onto the last and most important part I'm going to cover. I don't think this should be much of an issue for you personally, but I need to cover it nonetheless because it is just that important. And that is, the treatment of Civilians."

"Go on..."

"And just so we're clear on this... yes, dungeon-dwellers, for all intents and purposes, do count as 'civilians'. Anyway, here's the short short short version:
Soldiers may not pillage, rape, extort, enslave, or murder unarmed civilians and non-combatants. In other words, basically everything the Grove tried to do here is considered a crime of war. They may also NOT use civilians as shields or hold them hostage in warfare."

"Of course." He nods. "I would never allow those under my command to stoop so low."

"Of course not." Khaako says very solemnly. "And should such a thing happen, it falls to the soldiers' superiors to punish said soldiers for such crimes. Being complicit in such crimes is likewise a crime of war, and must be punished, either by their superiors or by authorized observers." 

"I know. If they betray my trust like that, I know what must be done." If it does come to that, he knows he must not hesitate, ending up like the nobles or worse is the last thing he wants.
"Okay, I have five things to say to you, Stic." Mattias says, intent to also give a lesson to the pokémon. 
"The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow
him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger. 
Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times
and seasons. 
Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger
and security; open ground and narrow passes; the
chances of life and death. 
The Commander stands for the virtues of
wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness.
method and discipline are to be understood the
marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the
graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army,
and the control of military expenditure." 
After letting that all sink in if it must, the human spoke again. "You got all of that?"
Hearing that from the human was...quite a surprise. He was questioning how 'helpful' he would actually be, well better late than never. "Yes."

"Anyway, that's pretty much all the accords." Khaako tells Stic. "Or at least, the ones that pertain in any way, shape, or form to our current situation. I mean, I don't really have to go into the one telling you not to summon demons or use invasive species as weapons or the like."

"So we are done?" Stic asks.
"Can I be the one giving you lessons now then?" The human asks.
"Anything that helps."
"Good. So Khaako, why is that rule about 'gods', 'demigods', 'demons' a thing? You want to talk about that?"

"Did they not tell you about the whole 'Occasus Wars' thing?" Khaako asks him with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah..." Mattias seems to find that response a little underwhelming. "So this is still about The Ruin? I thought you had actual experience with this." He sighs. "It's alright...for the most part at least. The more you make yourself known, the more you are probably going to invite something dangerous to come knocking, probably."
The Meowstic sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "This again?"
"Yes, this again. Because if you get caught unprepared it won't be pretty. And raw artillery fire probably won't be enough. The chances of the tremors of those guns waking something up is low, but never zero..."

"Should probably note, that when  it comes to those types of beings or other existential threats, the rules regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction and Space-Planetary bombardments do not apply." Khaako apparently didn't think to add this earlier. Probably because she didn't think this applied.

"Good."
"What can warrant such a thing anyways?" Stic asks the human, he understandably thinks he is talking about ridiculous things again.
"I...come on..." He faced palms. "Alright...alright. Listen." He raises a finger. "I'm not saying it can't happen. But if this 'Drought' is what I think it is then you are going to have to deal with a giant creature that evaporates water with its mere presence and is not shy of using Wave Motion attacks."
The thought of that is...quite intimidating but believing in it's actual existence is another story. "What even is Wave Motion?" Stic crosses his arms as he asks that.
"Hyper Beam and such."
"Right."

"Well, I'd explain the science behind these 'wave motion guns', but that's neither my department nor, I suspect, are you really interested in it. So the short version: a gigantic beam weapon capable of obliterating large chunks of planets." Khaako explains. 
"Question" Khaako asks. "This... whatever it is that may or may not wake up... is it capable of breathing in space?"

"Very unlikely." Mattias replies. "'The Drought' is not able to fly either if that is why you are asking. Even if it could survive in space somehow it would not be able to do anything."

"Alright." Seems like Khaako is already thinking of contingencies in case this 'thing' shows up. And if it doesn't breathe let alone operate in space very well, there's one possible advantage.

Stic decides to butt in now, since it seems like Mattias is done talking about these 'big threats' for now. "So is there going to be anything else?"
"Oh, well I still got some lessons to give you that should help you out as a military leader." The human replied to him. "War is an art, you know?"
Meanwhile, Luca has something to ask Ranii. "So we will have to show mercy to our enemies now? Is that a good idea? Do they deserve such a thing?"

"Only if they actually surrender." Ranii sighs. "So far, they haven't done such a thing. Though on the whole, to answer your latter question, not really. But I can see the reason for these rules."

"Mattias, do you mind if you teach me this 'art of war' later?" Stic says to him. It's clear that he is starting to feel mentally tired again here. "I might get a little busy right now."
"Sure why not! I will be back later then." And with that the human's hologram disappears.

"Is... is there anything else, Stic?" Ranii asks. She notices his fatigue, and looks a little worried.

Luca is worried about him too.
The Meowstic gazes down a little. "Can I speak to the both of you? Alone?"

"Of course." Ranii replies. 
"Right, then. We'll talk later." Khaako's image flickers out of existence.

"What is wrong, Stic?" Luca asks him.
"Being a ruler is not exactly easy, I expected that, I know how much of a burden it is." He frowns. "But it has been getting to me more and more. I tried what i always did, meditation and reading whenever i could but these alone are not outweighing the stress." He sighs. "So as a friend, I want to ask you...what do you do when you are stressed?"

"Welllllll....." Ranii tries hard to think of an answer to that. She rubs her talons behind her ears idly as she does. "I'm not sure how well this would work for you, but for me there's Ara's place.... That's one way." She finally says with a small blush.
"Though if that's not your sort of thing I can understand. Hmmm... I guess, there's also exercising? Squishing a squishy ball? Playing solitaire? Writing? Listening to music? That last one is really popular among most Avali." 
Indeed, as Avali are natively an auditory species over a visual one, they tend to put a lot of stock in their music, and the music of other species. 
"Hylotl music I hear is really good for that."

Squishy ball? Solitaire? Aside from the music and exercising those two things he doesn't quite understand. "Something I actually understand would be nice. So, what is this 'Ara's place?" He enquires.
"Well it's...sort of place where you get drinks..." The Lucario is trying to explain, not sure what words he should pick.
"Oh, so a bar then?" Stic sounds like he can consider that idea.
"Actually it's...that 'Brothol'. You know?"
"Oh, you mean..." He comes to the realization. "Oh."

"Yyyyeeaaaah." Ranii replies embarrassingly. After all, she just implied, albiet somewhat indireclty, that Stic should get himself laid to releive his stress.

"Are you sure that is a good idea...?" Stic asks.
Luca is not sure what to say here, he doesn't want to offend him in any way.
Still he doesn't want them to be so uptight. "Don't need to worry, right now I'm asking this as a friend, not your superior." He says to reassure them.
Luca has to admit that having sex helped him a lot, he knows for a fact the Meowstic is not a virgin but he has buried himself in his work for so long he might as well be. "I do think it is an idea."
"Honestly he is right." Mattias shows up again as an hologram from that medallion. "You really should go out a little, it might boost the morale of the citizens if they see you are like them, enjoying the simple pleasures of life."
Stic looks back at him for a moment, then back at Luca and Ranii. "Well..."

"Mattias is right. Ever since I've started here, you've been cooped up in your little room. And then when we liberated Sandstone from both the Grove and from Gar, you traded one cooped up room for another. Get out there, meet some people. Have some fun. Play some games. Listen to some music. Get some ass. Something!" She feels invorgated to say that now that Mattias has suggested it too.

After giving some thought, Stic closes his eyes and nods. "Alright, we will be going...if that is okay."
Luca is a bit surprised. "We?"
"If you have the time for it." He added. "But if you accept this, I will ask that you leave behind your weapons and your armor alright? I do not want people to mistake you for my bodyguard while we are out."

For Ranii that isn't a problem. She doesn't even have her spear out in the first place. One of the many advantages of having a weapon you can call from nowhere.

"Well, Alright then." Luca would get a place to stash his things away but... "Ranii, you mind carrying it for me?" Since she has the Matter Manipulator and all. 

"Of course." She takes the items and places it into her matter manipulator's inventory. "Though, strictly speaking, we are kind of your bodyguards in this." She reminds him. After all, even with the main forces routed, there are likely still those who would want Stic dead. After all, whoever blew up the front gate is still at large.

"Of course...Now, shall we go out into town?"
Luca nods to that. "Yeah, shall we, Ranii?" He is basically asking her if she is ready to get this started.

"Definitely" She wraps an arm around Stic's arm, and gives him a smile.

They are going as friends, so Stic welcomes her by taking his arm as they go. The three of them left the mansion and went straight to them. The fact that Stic was out and about drew a few curious gazes from the citizens, but so far everything seems to be fine.
"hmhmm...everyone is staring..." Stic said, a bit uncertain.
"It's fine really, it's just a few people." Luca responded with that to reassure him.