Economics of warfare.....

"This battle revolves around two things," sighs Probe, sounding profoundly human. Fred shivers at the sight. "One is survival. The other is interwined with the first. That is natural resources.

"The Lizards, as you call them, are not nice people as a group," the cyborg explained. "This you already know. However, you probably don't know is that they consider themselves, and ONLY themselves as people. The rest are animals to be used and abused as wanted."

Fred nods grimly. That sounded like his father at the core of matters.

"They see what humanity has, and wish to make it their own," the AI explains. "We humans objected, and had need to form the Earth Alliance. More on that latter.....

"What happens is that we need those resources to keep our happy little worlds working....or we'd soon collapse to darker....more brutal means of getting the job done. It would be ugly, just take my word for it. Without the resource, we can't fight effectively against these scaley bastards. They'd use us like cattle. This conflict has spread to your world....which is rich in a critical resource we call Tiberian. It makes space travel and diminsional hopping possible. It's a green crystal found almost everywhere on your planet....and it's as common as dirt. The Alliance and the Enemy both want this stuff, but while we'd compensate ya for getting it.....you saw what the Lizards did. Now, we can't use it because the Phage is super nasty! So nasty that the idea of mining this place is just plain nutso. Only way for the humans of the Alliance to be safe is to not touch ground. Biological samples of the Phage proved to be immune to all means we know of to neutralize.....even the vacuum of space. Get the picture?"

Fred almost asked what the Golem meant by the "vacuum of space" but decided to skip it. He just nodded affirmative. This was interesting, in a way.

"Now the Alliance," the AI says. "It's a bunch of parallel worlds joined together in a common defense. However, the government is a system you've probably never heard of before. It's a corpracy."

With a quick scan to see that nobody is listening in, the AI says in a low voice to the listening manfox.

"The original democracy collapsed under the strain caused by attacks from Enemy attacks," the cyborg whispered. "The corporate businesses --something like your Trading Houses--banded together to take up the slack.....and they basically now run things. Not many are thrilled with that, but.....what can a person who owes his existence....and continued existence do? If the war ends.....perhaps something is to be done. Now is not the time to topple the only effective organization that runs things....along with the Military....'course."

Fred's muzzle wrinkled in a slight sneer at the whole thing. It reminded him too much of a nearby nation to Allaria that had been run by a slick character by the name of Bill. However.....Fred and the folks of Terra were NOT in any position to help the Alliance. They first needed to help themselves....and that would prove difficult enough!

"As for why I am doing this," smiles Probe. "Just call me an overgrown Boyscout."

Probe then spent the next fifteen minutes explaining what a "Boyscout" was, and what was meant by that phrase.

1. Latter, with a possibly better understanding of his new "friends," Fred joins Synizn and the other Manimals and adventurers (sans Willian) to discuss.....what had been revealed today.

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