Guard Dogs
11 Feb 2023Iridium Nova
So the Thargoids finally reached Pathamon. Apparently it was quite the battle. The news came to me a bit late due to my distance but from what I've read it was a harrowing tale. The system's still there from what I understand, and the people are slowly recovering and starting to rebuild, but the losses were heavy. I suppose that's to be expected. The Dogs did their best to protect their own people and others, even sacrificing to protect Society transports carrying civilians out of the system... Though the pessimist in me wonders if those people then made it to a rescue ship or found a new life as unregulated slaves. I suppose anything is better than winding up in a giant space bug's digestive tract. A part of me hopes my role as a mediator between the pirates and the Dogs helped sow some good will and cooperation in the face of common enemies, but my experience tells me that it's far more likely all I did was enable the pirates to extort more money out of desperate people with no other way out of the system.Anyway, what's done is done and the few people left in the system are free of Thargoid oppression for the time being. Which leads to the other bit of news I've been reading, about the citizens of the big three starting to wake up to the fact that their leaders are all warmongering assholes. Oppression exists in many forms these days, and can be found everywhere. With the Thargoids tearing a swath of destruction toward the core of humanity, the superpowers have loosened their iron grip on the sheep and no longer are the cries for justice merely a muffled roar. A revolution is coming. I can see it clear as day, but I don't know when it'll get here. The timing is bad right now: we need cohesive military action to defeat the bugs and that won't be possible if the foundation of the state isn't there to support it, but a century of oppression creates a powerfully motivated insurgency and the minute they have a chance to bring change, they'll take it, whether by pen or sword, or multi-megaton warhead. While I have always supported righteous and just insurrection against a corrupt and decadent authority, I fear for the future of humanity should it happen now. A disunited humanity stands no chance for survival in the face of a mindless, murderous swarm of corrosive annihilation.
Looking back at the bubble from here, I see a vast, empty darkness: the signature dust cloud that we call home, against the backdrop of the vast nothingness beyond the rim. And yet, that cloud of dust is not empty. It contains a species unique to this galaxy, one well and truly of this galaxy, and perhaps destined to be the masters of it, should they one day learn to get over themselves. Or perhaps the destiny of all species born in this galaxy is to be destroyed by the Thargoids. The Guardians might think so. But I never liked the idea of destiny. And, I think, neither does the majority of mankind. So, if we are doomed to go down in flames, let's at least try to make sure those flames are directed against the thing that's trying to kill us. Because at least that way, fate will know that we did not go quietly.
It is an undeniable, fundamental quality of man, that when faced with total annihilation, any alternative is preferable.