This Damn War
03 Feb 2024T.Fulda
Commander T.Fulda log, Earth date 2/3/3310. I've been, uh, been back fighting the Thargoids. My kid and her mother probably won't be too happy about that, but it is what it is. The Thargoids are--seemingly at least--losing this war and so they're fightin' like demons to secure territory. I don't think they liked the fact that we isolated one of their Titans. Don't think they liked it one bit. Now it's like when this war began... Systems under attack, Thargoids seizing back territory we fought tooth and nail to reclaim. It's like that damn thing... Whatcha call it? Snake eatin' it's own tail... Ouroboros! Ouroboros.
Shit's got me thinking... What's the endgame here? We just gonna keep throwing ships at each other until one side runs out of pilots? I know some folks say that the Thargoid ships aren't piloted... That they're organisms unto themselves... But I don't know. As much as their tactics and piloting can sometimes seem programmed, I've seen a few of those bastards pull some clever maneuvers. Got me thinking there's some kind of pilot in there. Hive mind or not, there's some kind of bug pilot in that seat that's learnin' and adaptin'.
Anyway... I'm ramblin'. Saw on the GalNet that Ram Tah and Professor Palin got some kind of weapon that'll kick the Titans in the teeth. If that's true, then great... I trust the two of them a lot more than I ever trusted Salvation. Just got me thinkin', what comes after? We supposed to just go back to our usual lines of work line none of this ever happened? Like I ain't spent the better part of the past year evacuating frightened refugees I can hear screamin' from my cockpit as I pull high G maneuver after high G maneuver to dodge incoming attacks? Like I ain't spent the rest of my time usin' skills I developed to neutralize human criminals against an alien threat? Besides, what guarantees this weapon will work? Who's to say the Thargoids don't have more Titans in reserve?
Too many damn questions. Not enough answers... But I suppose we've got no choice. We can't not strike the Titans just because of my highly theoretical misgivings.
I don't know, man... Sorry to say this, kiddo, but if we're truly reachin' the end of this conflict I might need to go spend some time deep in the black again. Clear my head in the silence of the frontier. There's somethin' therapeutic about mappin' the galaxy. The silence, the repetition, the chance of findin' the next big discovery... Of course, there's always the chance the loneliness will drive you nuts if you stay out there too long, but I'm not sure I can just go back to my regularly scheduled programming.
Anyway, made over 70 million credits shooting down bugs. Hefty profit, just gotta remember it's extreme hazard pay. But hey, I made it, so time for a glass or two of Indi to calm the nerves. CMDR T.Fulda, signing off.