The Supreme Authority
Iron Alliance International Summit
Avenius actively resisted the urge to giggle as the man censored his own speech in a strange series of clicking sounds, managing to remove every vowel from the words “democracy” and “freedom”. The behavior of fascists and their ilk was always quite humorous to watch, and this was no exception. He nearly scoffed at the idea of the Iron Alliance’s “full fury” when he realized that some nations within it did not yet possess FTL travel. A single Hwach’a-class arsenal ship could likely glass half their member states, if he remembered correctly.
“Are you aware of Louis XIV of France?” Avenius decided to take the route based on evidence rather than arguing logically, something which O-1 was clearly incapable of if he hadn’t yet abandoned his own regime. “He centralized his fractured nation during his reign, and brought France to great heights. After his death, the nation rapidly imploded into a violent revolution.” He paused, trying to recall more ancient history which the dictator might be familiar with. “Mao Zedong united a fractured China under one of the most authoritarian regimes ever to be seen, slaughtering millions in the process. The minute he died? The people began working to replace his oppressive system with a more free and capitalistic one.” A third example would likely do him well. “In Yugoslavia, following the death of Joseph Broz Tito, the nation imploded into a violent and genocidal civil war due to the aforementioned man’s attempts at rearranging the population into racial homogeneity.
And you, Ozymandias, mean to tell me that the free people of the world should look upon your works and despair? The moment age catches up to you, assuming your own people don’t speed that process, all that shall be left round the decay of that colossal wreck will be but lone and level sands.”
Avenius was genuinely surprised that Eyling had managed to read anything about Olimpiada, given its many light years of distance from Earth, but restrained the emotion to a raised eyebrow. “Forward looking? I wouldn’t call it that. We’re just good at industrializing systems. Gaia, Delphi, and Atenai all make an economic powerhouse.” Or perhaps he meant socially? The capitalistic nature almost inherent to Olimpiadans had subconsciously veered him towards the flow of cash and resources, and he caught himself before going into detail on that front. “Socially, we merely follow the idea that the divinity of man should be followed to its logical end, and that all humans deserve every right available short of collapsing into anarchy. And in Hallegia? I’ve heard little of it. Perhaps you could inform me some.”
Avenius’s otherwise enjoyable conversation was interrupted by some child in a military uniform going on a rant so lengthy, Avenius did briefly have to check his watch just to count the minutes. They were too many. “Are you finished yet?” No immediate response. “Excellent. Well, there’s a few things you should know. What you call ‘noble’, four hundred and sixty billion people understand as heresy. What you call ‘free’, the same number recognizes as a lie. What you call a ‘benevolent dictatorship’, the same number once more calls it out for what it is. An excuse. Perhaps I was mistaken on which of you really was Ozymandias. You have much more the flawed attitude than the other one. King of kings, I charge you thusly: You prop up a state with endless brainwashing and censorship. The boundless passion you believe you see is merely fear that sees no other way to survive than senseless worship of a man-child that believes himself a deity. So by all means, when you do finally get around to finishing that manifesto, send a few hundred thousand copies our way. We’ll be glad to feed them into the First Flame.” The fact that anyone had seen fit to hand Turnabout a nation was amusing to no end.
