KP Duty
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 | Not Canon The subject of this article does not contribute canonical content to the BattleTech universe, either because it is not intended to or because it is not an official product. |
| KP Duty | |
|---|---|
| Product information | |
| Type | Short story |
| Author | Jason Hardy |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | BattleCorps |
| First published | 2006 |
| Content | |
| Era | Age of War (Era) |
| Timeline | 27 November 2417 |
| Series | BattleCorps - Iron Writer |
KP Duty, written by Jason Hardy, is a short story created during the Iron Writer challenge at Gencon 2006.
Synopsis[edit]
Simon Davion muses philosophically on the role of specialists in cleaning up the messes of war - techs fixing machines, medics fixing bodies. He recalls doing KP duty when he was on active duty - resenting it at first, but accepting that it was unpleasant but necessary.
He waits outside the High Council (Federated Suns) room, where raised voices argue over the path forward, how to purge the Federated Suns of the cancer afflicting it. Likewise, he compares the corruption of the Federated Suns government to eyes on a potato, and recalls cutting out the eyes to preserve the rest of the potato.
Furthermore, he pats the pistol in his pocket, and then moves forward towards the High Council chamber, where he has an appointment to kill his cousin, the President of the Federated Suns.
Featured characters[edit]
Featured places[edit]
Notes[edit]
- Notes from the external link below:
- President Edward Davion was one of the so-called "twin tyrants," who ruled by putting House Davion entirely outside the laws of their planet and the Federated Suns as a whole, and who ruled by whim, dissolving the High Council when it displeased them, and then reconvening it to approve whimsical taxes and pointless construction projects. Edward succeeded his brother Edmund when he died in 2415. Seeking to secure control for himself and his line, Edward gave orders to kill Simon Davion, but the Federated Protection Force officer on duty tipped Simon off.
- Edward had started to build a secret police network, and was laying the groundwork to eliminate the High Council and rule as an absolute monarch.
- Despite the warnings, Simon returned to New Avalon in 2417 and attended the High Council meeting towards the end of November. According to the official history, he seized a sidearm from a guard and fired five shots at Edward, killing him, then submitted himself to the High Council for justice - eventually becoming the First Prince of the Federated Suns.
- This story differs only slightly from the established canon, in having the gun be concealed in Simon's pocket, rather than stolen from a guard. It seems likely that Simon would have his own gun, since otherwise he's trusting to another individual letting him take his gun - not necessarily a good bet in an era of secret police.
- This story gives us insight in how Simon viewed his action - an unpleasant, but necessary bit of cleaning, required to save the Federated Suns as a whole by excising the corruption of Edward and his cronies. Importantly, he views the job of "fixing messes" as the responsibility of personnel in specialized roles. For cleaning out the government, he views himself as the only candidate. This is key, since the High Council members had already begun planning to overthrow Edward in the so-called "November Conspiracy."
- If the November Conspiracy had gone forward, succeed or fail, it could have plunged the Federated Suns into a civil war between Davion loyalists and Council supporters. By having Simon Davion be the triggerman, that weakens the Davion-loyalist viewpoint (though many Edward-sycophants and media-manipulated masses called for Simon's execution and the ascension of Edward's son Arther) and heads off the danger of an internal conflict that would open the FedSuns to attack from its enemies abroad (particularly the still aggressively expanding Terran Hegemony).
- The guard who supposedly gave Simon his weapon was killed in a fire before he could swear out a statement. There is circumstantial evidence that the guard was tied to the November Conspiracy as well. This story's suggestion that Simon was allowed to come armed into the chamber implies that the collusion was in letting Simon come through security checkpoints armed, rather than letting him grab a gun in the chamber itself.
Canonicity[edit]
Unfortunately, all Iron Writer challenges stories are not considered canon, as they were written in a very short challenge period and published as-is with no fact checking.