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So we seem to have three factions on this small station: two "true believer" factions (the followers of "Bill Gates, Jr" and the radical Colonials--Larissa and her gang) and the "regular" Colonials. Releasing Hammer is not going to please the Colonials, but it's really going to piss off the radicals. That part's easy. But how does that help Bill Gates, Jr.? Is he just trying to goad them into making a move against him?
I'd say some sort of an existing tiff between Gates and Larissa is probable, with Hammer perhaps being a one-up on his part. But the reference he made to his crew on the last page has me wondering a bit. Also, I'm not sure I get the point of making Hammer strip before releasing her. Well, aside from the obvious, that is.
Edit: You might be right about Gates's angle on this. Based on Page 37/7, Gates seems to have lost some support amongst the Kids faction (your "regular Colonials", I assume) after the battle of Risae. According to my take, based on what we've seen here, Larissa is the biggest threat to his authority at the moment. The Kids and the Mercs might be influential, but it could take either of them a long time to go against the chain of command and organise themselves around one of their own leaders to cause troubles for Gates. Whereas Larissa has a built-in separate power base in her own crew, who are used to taking orders from her. So perhaps Gates is trying to provoke her into doing something inprudent, while military discipline still outweighs his leadership shortcomings in the minds of the two other factions.
Edit: You might be right about Gates's angle on this. Based on Page 37/7, Gates seems to have lost some support amongst the Kids faction (your "regular Colonials", I assume) after the battle of Risae. According to my take, based on what we've seen here, Larissa is the biggest threat to his authority at the moment. The Kids and the Mercs might be influential, but it could take either of them a long time to go against the chain of command and organise themselves around one of their own leaders to cause troubles for Gates. Whereas Larissa has a built-in separate power base in her own crew, who are used to taking orders from her. So perhaps Gates is trying to provoke her into doing something inprudent, while military discipline still outweighs his leadership shortcomings in the minds of the two other factions.
Thanks for pointing out that page, it's been a long since I'd read it and I obviously have some of the factions mixed up. Based on that breakdown it's likely that the woman in this page is one of the mercs. It's likely that Gates hired the mercs, which means that they are nominally loyal to him, but then the same lack of respect for the lives of his followers that is losing him supports among the "Kids" is likely straining his relationship with the mercs as well.
It's also interesting that Larissa and her crew are Charans rather than Colonials, which may complicate the balance of power even further. The Charans are also the only faction on the ship that is organized and focused enough to make a real stand against Gates. It remains to be seen what he hopes to gain by antagonizing them this way.
It's also interesting that Larissa and her crew are Charans rather than Colonials, which may complicate the balance of power even further. The Charans are also the only faction on the ship that is organized and focused enough to make a real stand against Gates. It remains to be seen what he hopes to gain by antagonizing them this way.
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