Lawful or Unlawful Combatants?

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I think that in T2K, the idea of unlawful vs. lawful combatants would be thrown out, in favor of "who's shooting at me" vs. "who's helping me."

Right. But I'm wondering how people would handle "first contact" with armed groups. With the numerous criminal groups, enemy combatants, deserters, stragglers, militias, partisans, hunters, etc. it seems very complicated. One would want to be extremely cautious when approaching armed groups but at the same time avoid blowing away folks unecessarily. It's a razor thin line.

A thought on deserters: anyone in a "friendly" uniform but not acting as part of a recognized unit would be considered a deserter. Deserters are sometimes (or oftentimes in totalitarian systems) subject to summary execution in the event of capture. In the Twilight War, where there would be even less of a distinction between deserters and marauders, this practice might be even more widespread. On the other hand, manpower shortages in T2K would be so accute that some armies may feel in necessary to try to rehabilitate deserters and reincorporate them into legit units. How do you think deserters would be dealt with?