Chapter 1

There are few things that sophisticated, cultured, civilized societies hate more than a group that doesn’t play the game by the rules. This is particularly true when the game being played, involves violence.

Boxing is violent. As a sport, it is only acceptable because there are rules that dictate how the two opponents physically pummel each other. The rules are quite comprehensive in that they govern who can fight each other, where the fighters can hit, how long they fight, the conditions under which the fight ends, and how a victor is determined. There are referees and judges to make sure that all of the forms are followed. Both fighters are there because they volunteered to be there.

It is also important to recognize that boxing matches are scheduled, tickets are sold, and large crowds watch them. There is money to be made in boxing. Being able to make money on the sport gives it a legitimacy beyond just having rules.

Bar fights, on the other hand, are crimes because there aren’t any rules governing how a bar fight is to be fought. One can’t engage in pummeling another unless there are rules, referees, and judges present to make sure that the fight occurs ‘in a fair and civilized manner.’ For example, a boxer will lose if he kicks his opponent in the crotch, while that kind of behavior occurs frequently in bar fights. While both boxers volunteer to fight, it’s possible that some participants in a bar fight may not even want to be there.

Since there are no rules dictating civilized behavior in a bar fight, there remains only one rule regarding bar fights: engaging in bar fights is illegal. When a bar fight erupts, a civilized society will send peace officers into the bar with the express purpose of ending the fight and arresting all those who participated. After all, one can’t have crimes taking place and one can’t let criminals walk free.

As representatives of a civilized society, the peace officers operate under rules that are even more restrictive than those which apply to boxers. They are to engage the combatants without throwing punches, kicks, or weapons that can injure. The only real protection the peace officer has is a rule that states that hitting a peace officer is a worse crime than engaging in a bar fight.

What happens if peace officers charge into the bar fight swinging clubs, cracking heads, and generally beating the hell out of the combatants? Well, the peace officers are guilty of breaking the rules and have to be punished.

To the sophisticated and cultured society, war is barbaric activity that should be avoided. However, it is also thought that war is inevitable. In order to be a civilized activity, war must have rules. This turns war into a boxing match in which the opponents are armies rather than individuals.

Thus, a civilized war is one which is fought according to rules and there are a plethora of rules. There are rules dictating who can fight, when they can fight, and how they fight. War must be declared in a formal fashion so that everyone knows that the fighting is about to begin. Only bullets which are more likely to wound than kill are allowed. The participants have to be identified by uniform and killing someone not in uniform is against the rules.

With rules governing war so that it can be considered a civilized activity, one would think that all would be right. Yet there are times when armies engage in combat without following the rules. In much the same way as a bar fight is a crime, armies that do not operate under the appropriate rules are considered criminals.

Approaching war like a bar fight is a crime, while approaching it like a boxing match is acceptable despite its barbaric roots. Civilized behavior, regardless of the death toll, demands that rules be followed; and it doesn’t matter how stupid those rules are!

One would think that the reaction to a war that is being fought without following the rules would cause civilized nations to call out some kind of peace keeping force to bring the fighting to an end. After all, this is done when individuals engage in bar fights. For the most part, though, nations tend to stand on the side-lines trying to talk the combatants out of fighting. It is only when things get really out of control that non-combatant nations choose to intervene.

When the nations do intervene in ‘illegal’ wars, or at least wars that are being fought illegally, the rules are extremely restrictive. It isn’t a war, but a “police action.” The goal isn’t to kill the enemy, but to arrest them. Since the illegal combatants aren’t wearing uniforms, then the police force must take extreme care that no ‘innocent civilians’ are killed. Individual soldiers who might have killed a civilian (even in the heat of battle) is charged and, if found guilty, sent to prison.

When the Committee on War Crimes of the International Federation of Nations examined what had happened in Palarma, it was obvious to them that Jade Force did not act according to the rules that dictate proper behavior for an Army involved in a policing action. In fact, they could not find any rules that Jade Force had followed.

Innocent civilians in a war zone? Dead meat. That was obvious from the very first day that Jade Force had been brought into the conflict. Hadn’t Pen Sada, upon signing the contract with Amra, said, “In the next forty eight hours, you have a simple choice to make. You are to take a side in this conflict. You must join us or join the Enforcers of God. There is no alternative. There is no one who is innocent in the battlefield. You can’t hide from this war. The Enforcers of God will shoot from behind you and we will shoot them, through you.” Clearly, killing innocent civilians was an official policy of Jade Force.

Then there were the deaths of all of the ‘tourists’ who chose that period of time to visit Palarma. They had blown up the cars on their way to the capital. Jade Force didn’t even set up check points to separate the tourists from suspected terrorists. Sure the tourists were all young men of fighting age, but that didn’t make them terrorists. So what if the explosions were caused by bombs carried in the trunks of their cars? That didn’t make them terrorists. After all, the poor driver could have been tricked into transporting them. It had happened before, so it could have happened in this case.

Let’s not forget the reporters who had died in that strafing incident along the highway. Reporters are exempt from anything dealing with war. According to the rules, a reporter should be able to stand in the middle of a battlefield and report on what is happening without having to be worried about getting killed. That’s the theory, anyway.

Jade Force killed a whole town by blowing it up. A town, by definition, must contain innocent bystanders, otherwise it would be a fort. Even if it was full of terrorists, they didn’t even try to capture them. With a little work, they could have taken thousands of prisoners. Instead, all of those young men were dead. Such a tragic loss of life.

Then there was their treatment of prisoners. They actually killed prisoners and impaled them on stakes, naked, for the whole world to see. They were prisoners! Those poor men should have been remanded over to a prisoner of war camp for repatriation at the end of the police action. The rules specifically said they were to do that, but Jade Force didn’t abide by that rule, either.

Finally, they incited the citizens of Palarma to riot. Involving citizens, who were supposed to just live their happy little lives in the midst of a war zone, was outrageous. They let loose a mob that killed without restraint. There was no leadership or organized military to ensure that the rules were followed. That was an act that was unimaginable and it was all the fault of Jade Force.

Palarma wasn’t the only place where Jade Force didn’t follow the rules. There was that episode with the pirates where they killed almost an entire town. Even after the pirates were defeated, they fired artillery into the homes of upstanding citizens who might have been involved in the piracy. There hadn’t even been a trial to establish the guilt or innocence of the individuals killed.

The worst crime, and the one that the Committee on War Crimes of the International Federation of Nations couldn’t forgive, was that they didn’t attack the government of sovereign nations by first fighting the military of those countries. No, they went directly after the leadership of the country. In the Sumar/Desera war, they took over both governments without even engaging in a single battle with their armies. That was against everything that civilized nations held dear.

The Committee on War Crimes of the International Federation of Nations reviewed all of the evidence to determine who was guilty of war crimes. After months of deliberation, they issued a writ declaring Pen Sada to be a War Criminal. She was to be captured and tried in the world court.

When asked to turn Pen Sada over to the proper authorities, Jade Force answered that Pen Sada was not at home. Complaints to the government of Misera were answered with the statement that she was not in country. Of course, no one believed Jade Force or the government of Misera.

After several years of trying to get Pen Sada into custody, the Secretary General of the IFN chose to involve the military forces of the member nations in her capture. The idea was that they would invade Misera, storm the Jade Force stronghold, and capture Sada. It would all be done in a legal manner with a proper declaration of war as stated in a resolution passed by the General Assembly.

The vote that morning had been unanimous although there were some irregularities. Just enough countries had showed up for the vote for it to be legal. While the vote was unanimous, it was well known that the countries who hadn’t shown up would have voted against it. Although no one remarked upon it, it was recognized that none of the countries that had any experience with Jade Force had shown up for the vote.

Mr. Jacques Descroix, the Secretary General of the IFN, now stood proudly in front of a horde of reporters ready to announce the result of the vote. They were gathered in a little park across the street from the main building. This park had been the site of many press conferences in the past. It made a nice little stage complete with the IFN headquarters building in the background. Not only that, there was plenty of room for the press without interfering in the day to day operations of the IFN.

Mr. Descroix started to read his official statement, “By unanimous vote...”

Sandy Dancing shouted an interruption, “Almost half of the General Assembly was absent. How does that constitute a unanimous vote?”

Feeling his blood pressure rise, Mr. Descroix glared at Sandy Dancing. Although he prided himself on being a civilized man, there wasn’t any person in the world who he hated more than her and if given a chance would have killed her outright. At any press conference, she was the one who asked all of the awkward questions and wouldn’t stop asking her questions until they were answered.

He wasn’t even sure what she looked like. As always, she stood there totally covered by the traditional garb of a woman follower of Jarjan. The only part of her body that was visible was her eyes. He had once made the mistake of asking her to remove her head gear so that he could see who he was talking with. That had unleashed a storm of protests that he had asked a woman to undress in public.

He growled and said, “Ms. Dancing, allow me to finish my prepared statement.”

Undeterred, Sandy Dancing asked, “How does it constitute a unanimous vote if almost half of the members are absent?”

“It was a unanimous vote of all those in attendance,” he replied, knowing that she wouldn’t stop asking her questions until he answered.

“Just wanted to be clear about that,” Sandy Dancing said. “Please continue with your prepared statement. We’re all anxiously waiting to hear what you have to say.”

The other reporters snickered. There was a regular betting pool on how many questions Sandy Dancing would ask before Mr. Descroix stormed off. Letting her ask all of the awkward questions made their jobs much easier.

Mr. Descroix said, “By unanimous vote of the General Assembly...”

“Those that were in attendance,” Sandy Dancing interjected. “Let’s be accurate here.”

“ ... a resolution was passed declaring war on Misera.”

Sandy Dancing shouted, “Excuse me ... But ... What did Misera do that was so wrong that the IFN felt it necessary to declare war on it?”

“They refused entry of IFN personnel attempting to arrest the War Criminal Pen Sada.”

“That’s suspected War Criminal Pen Sada. She hasn’t had a trial yet.”

Turning bright red, Mr. Descroix said, “Let me finish my statement.”

“Actually, I have another question,” Sandy Dancing said.

“Let me finish my statement.”

“Does the absence of so many members of the General Assembly have anything to do with the email sent by Jade Force earlier this morning?”

Furious, Mr. Descroix said, “That email was an attempt to intimidate countries from voting on the resolution.”

“It sounds more like good advice than a statement of intimidation. All the email said was, ‘War is a serious endeavor. It is a matter of life and death for the state. Think well before entering into war.’ That’s a really good piece of advice. I mean, war is a serious matter and shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

“It was intimidation.”

Sandy Dancing said, “So you passed a resolution declaring war against Misera and stating that Jade Force is an outlaw organization. How do you think they will respond?”

“I expect Misera to act like a respected member of the international community. They will abide by the decision of the member nations of IFN and allow our forces to arrest members of Jade Force.”

“Good luck with that. They’ve already said they’ll resist.”