Re: The Walkers, updated 9-28-03
2408.8 � 2411 ~ Ruminations in Time
The following is an excerpt from the journal of Lord Chagnon:
These past years have gone by without much incident, and it is for that fact alone that I am well pleased. It seems that every tenth that goes by lessens my fear of an attack from the Aquilaeians. This is not to say that my vigilance has waned, on the contrary, Vice Lord Defcon sees to it that it is forever in a heightened state. However, the constant weight of suspicion and dread has indeed diminished from my consciousness. I do not think the Aquilaeian threat is any more or less than it has been in the past, but I do believe that they have perceived our growing strength and can no longer take us as lightly as they once must have. The time of their intimidation has come and gone and we have been made stronger because of it. Again, I must not let myself sound confident in this fragile peace however. Vice Lord Mandron assures me that their attitude towards us has not warmed in the least, and that they still continue to ignore our transmissions. At the same time, they too have grown much stronger. Through their wars with the Rebel Alliance and the Terran Confederacy, they have managed to gain control over the majority of our cluster and the majority of the cluster to the south of us. While tactically our position between the two star clusters is very sound in relation to the Aquilaeians, their overall strength remains much greater then ours. This is a situation that our space yards work endlessly to correct, our captains, especially Admiral Nefta, work tirelessly to overcome, and our scientists, led by Vice Lord Junon, work incessantly to reverse. �It will never be said that we Vandron were a people who were ill prepared for an invasion,� Defcon routinely intimates to me. It is through displays like this that I recognize that through all the strife our people have experienced and have expected to be thrust upon them, we have not lost our ability to recognize the wisest course of action and seize upon it. There are those among us, however, who have argued that we should abolish our means of agitation, namely our military, and make a concerted effort to pursue a pacifistic means to peace in our quadrant. And while I would agree with this notion in principle, it is not one that in good conscious and clear thinking I can agree with in practice. While I still hold the pursuance of peace above all other goals, I will not needlessly sacrifice our ability to protect ourselves; especially through a decision that appears to be as unwise as destroying that ability. It is through this line of reasoning that I have continued to govern and guide our people. We have continued to expand and update our navy, colonize new worlds, and research new technologies all with the express goal of being prepared for the worst case scenario. It is my duty to remain steadfast in the protection of the Vandron people despite what some within their ranks may perceive to be the wrong means of leadership. Nevertheless, we are in a state of relative peace, and I have every intention of keeping that state constant.
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