Through Time, Darkly

[Vogel]

They'd even had their own full-scale wars by now.

Doyle grimaced. He'd already picked up on this little fact a while ago, but it was sickening nonetheless. He knew the Alliance was no haven of peace and freedom, contrary to all the propaganda he was fed. At least, that's the way it seemed, what with all the bickering among the leadership, and several attempted coups. But the thought that everything he'd fought for, everything his fellow soldiers fought for, amounted to repeating the same mistakes of warfare and injustice, was simply pathetic.

At least the Coalition was gone.

Mostly.

According to this datalog entry he'd found, some group claiming to be the descendants of the Coalition had sprung up, and had a reputation for precise guerrilla-style warfare, akin to the pirates the Alliance had to deal with only much more motivated. The funny part was that apparently they were vocal about things like Communist-style ideology, "revolutions", and junk to that effect.

At that point Doyle couldn't help but let out a little snort; as if the Coalition he knew had anything to do with that. Where he came from, both sides were simply fighting because they should. It was a war of extermination between arbitrarily-defined sides, "red versus blue" so to speak. The only ideology either side had was "We're the good guys, they're the bad guys, so kill the bad guys so the good guys can win."

Still, nostalgia aside, he found he rather preferred this new "Coalition". It was comparatively harmless, and was in no position to undertake the same horrifying acts against humanity that nations often do when locked in total war.

Like butchering everybody.

In any case, this terminal had been instructive enough. These colonists seemed to be mostly detached from the past, seemingly caught up in their own modern affairs rather than remembering their common history and staying united. As far as he could tell, there wasn't even a "United Nations", not that that particular body had done any good back on Earth. And the information available from the "pre-settlement era" was sparse to say the least; there was hardly anything describing the political intrigue, the chaos, the massacres, that had preceded the launching of the Sleeper Ships. Just basic little facts, the names of battles not properly divulged upon, an imposing list of names, each one representing a life like his snuffed out and forgotten.

He frowned. Maybe they didn't want to remember. He sure as Hell wouldn't were he given the chance. Could he blame them for their ignorance? Even though it cost them unity, and a chance at sustainable peace?

His head started to get swimmy again.

That time again, huh? Figures.

Bracing his arms against the terminal, Lieutenant James Doyle, serial number AF012989701 of the defunct Alliance Navy, 92nd International Volunteers Squadron, got to his feet and plodded back towards the cargo bay.