Commander's Log: The Battle for Sol
12 Dec 2024Dean Knight
COMMANDER'S LOG12/12/3310 7:00 GST
Hell of a past couple weeks. Titan Cocijo decided to push in toward the core of human space and Sol itself, putting tens of billions of people under threat. Guess the Titan didn't want to sit there and wait for the inevitable. Last week saw me and many of us Pilots Fed Commanders scrambling to try to defend the system and get as many people out before the Titan landed, with a few opportunists and extremists using the opportunity to try and cause some havoc. I was helping defend the system early on, but when it became clear that we weren't going to be able to dissuade the Thargoids, I switched to rescue ops to try and get as many civilians as I could out of harm's way. I kept things going up until the Titan was right on Sol's doorstep. Had a few people who thought they could use their authority to try and push ahead of the normal people trying to leave but I wasn't having it. People tend to change their tune when you show that you mean business. I'd say I managed to get maybe a few thousand out at most. It still wasn't enough.
When Cocijo itself landed around Earth, its fleets devastated the orbitals and surface ports. I can only imagine the casualty counts. Only Galileo, Mars High, and Haberlandt Survey, as well as two Federal Farragut-class battlecruisers, managed to stave off the incoming Thargoid forces. They quickly took control of Alpha Centauri, Wolf 359, some WISE system, and Barnard's Star, destroying the rescue megaships deploying there. I hope to whatever god is out there that they weren't full of refugees when they jumped. They also destroyed rescue megaships heading to Sol itself, which was the worst fucking move imaginable. Whoever ordered those rescue ships to jump to Sol has blood on their hands. The Thargoids also advanced on several other systems nearby, but many of us Commanders, including myself, were on the scene, ready to stand and fight. In the course of the past week, all Thargoid forces outside of Sol were systematically routed and the Titan itself possibly rendered vulnerable.
You know what gets me about all of this? We ourselves were at least partially responsible for this tragedy. Had humanity not followed Caleb "Damnation" Wycherley (I refuse to use his self-appointed nickname,) we ostensibly could have avoided an escalation of this conflict in the magnitude we've been seeing for the past two years. This whole war itself very likely began because of the superpowers trying to gain a leg up on each other and drawing the Thargoid's attention. I'd argue as much of the blood that has been spilled in this war is on our hands as much as the Thargoids.
During the final rescue at Mars High before Cocijo landed, a family had come to me hoping to get out, but I only had a single seat left. They begged me to take their son to safety. Sam was his name. We made it out but I had no clue until just recently if this conflict made him an orphan. Luckily, a Commander got his parents out after the Titan itself had landed. Many others weren't so lucky.
I'm just so tired of this war and the consequences of humanity's constant attempts to dig themselves an even deeper hole. Once this is over, I might take some leave. I hear Inara's nice, especially since they've got the system back up and running after Oya's destruction. I guess we'll see what this week has in store.
This is Commander Dean Knight, signing off.
END LOG