Seventy Hours on Raener-12 : Part 2

A Captain's Message

Decades after the galactic terraforming project, resulting from the migrations that followed, unrest burgeoned in many quadrants of the galaxy occupied by Man.

From 2716 to 2953 the colonies began to split apart. Trusts that were bound by borders failed. Deeds were discarded. The allegiance of man to keep the species intact unraveled in violent and foolish ways. Had the Earth been saved, had our elders saved that tiny world, many men would not have died in battle. Lives would not continue to be sacrificed.

On the verge of extinction man's impulse to dominate bloomed. Unions of planets demanded more: more money, more power, and more space to expand. We had forgotten that we were all together, united as a collective race. Despite diplomatic approaches a phantom hierarchy sprouted, and with it contempt. They were expensive times with most disputes ending in hostile courses of action. From these schisms the civil war in our scattered species began.

After centuries of conflict peace has not yet arrived. Flurries and onslaughts continually bombard my area, the Raener system. It is a collective of twenty-one planets and moons. These attacks come from the Vertigo sector, localized in the space that Earth formerly occupied. Vertigo has been the strongest and most aggressive system drawn to power and remains the Raener system's largest threat. There are no neutral territories; amnesty still remains a fruitless dream. Nothing has changed in centuries. Fear and doubt remain with Raener in the stead of past peace.

The powers of all systems continue to mount and train new units. It is apparent that we have blindly and hastily forgotten our bonds to one another. The sectors mobilize, they attack and defend: my system is following suit. Now as I write this, Raener is assimilating the last of its remaining space cruisers. After years of hushed development our force is unparalleled and one swift strike against the Vertigo sector may bring order and peace back to our planets.