A Night of Terror: Monsters and Politicians
01 Nov 2024Argon Shadowstar
As you probably know, the Pilot's Federation released their latest and long-debated 2.0 update to their political management software suite, "Powerplay", which comes standard on all Pilot's Federation ships for the last decade. This software is largely responsible for the amount of agency PFed commanders have in manipulating the higher level political landscape of the galaxy. Understandably, every major power wants to be represented in the Powerplay software since it allows them to leverage the sheer power of independent commanders with nothing better to do than to maintain the oppressive and tyrannical status quo which holds the human race in its iron grip. So, it comes as no surprise that every major power was willing to acquiesce to the rather unusual reorganization demands that Powerplay inclusion required of them. As such, the political landscape of the galaxy changed fundamentally all in one night. Ironic, considering that ancient cultures (and some current ones) observed "All Hallows Eve" on this night, October 31st, coincidentally the day that Powerplay 2.0 was released. For those who don't know, "All Hallows Eve" was a night of horror-themed entertainment, originally based on some archaic customs involving the bullying of nature spirits or some such. In any case, it was common practice for celebrants to scare themselves silly on this night, while dressing up in costumes intended to scare other people silly. Or something like that. All very ridiculous, but that was the way things were thousands of years ago when humanity was in its infancy. From these celebrations, some of history's greatest works of classical literature and entertainment media originated, themed around various horrors, both supernatural and mundane, from terrifying monsters to psychological collapse. In today's galaxy, such things are considered a pointless waste of time. We know now where true horror lies; in the insatiable lust for power and glory that certain human beings lose themselves to, and in their success, become monsters far more terrifying than any ghost or goblin. These people barter the millions of lives under their control like credits at a card table. They use their people like resources or weapons, caring nothing for them, shedding no tears when they die for a foolish cause. These tyrants have the blood of worlds on their hands but it causes them no grief or remorse, so drunk are they on their narcotic power. And when they throw their great world-ending bombs at one another, their only concern is that it kills as many of the other guy's people as possible. I suppose it's better than them killing their own people with those bombs. Not like they need bombs for that though - their own self-serving policies do a good enough job of that.
And now, this massive reorganization of the major powers has already cost millions of jobs, split up families, and redirected funds that should have been used to address famines, disasters, and security breaches, just to name a few. Of course, I and the other members of the Human Liberation Movement are testing the system, looking for any new vulnerabilities that this new organizational structure presents. But it is still early days in this new political landscape and much is yet to be learned. We remain confident that the new system will prove to be as exploitable as the old, or, if we're lucky, more so, such that we may continue to battle oppression and liberate the people to govern themselves. Regardless of how it turns out, you can rest assured that the Human Liberation Movement will continue to work tirelessly toward our ultimate goal of bringing down the powers so that all may live as they choose, not as some distant politician thinks they should.