It’s amazing to see how the twin assaults of The War and our own knowledge affected the cultures of Earth. To many people it did very little. The older citizens of Earth and her colonies took what we made available and used it to defend their ways of life. The children though…they saw just where everything could lead and jumped in feet first. It’s more prevalent in the Core Worlds than the Colonial regions of course. Maybe that’s why we don’t come back very often anymore.
The Los Angeles-class heavy cruisers were some of the best ships of their time. Built just before The War began, they were to be a revolution in military technology that would vault America into a new position of dominance. In actuality, they came into service just in time to help keep America from falling to the Shang attacks. They still see service today in many roles, but it was during The War that they truly shone. They stood between Earth and the Shang and held the line.
We have fought against great enemies, vanquished devastating foes, and held a line in the sand against others. Nazi Germany. Soviet Russia. The Islamic State. Communist China. The Shang. We have fought them all and we still live. We are a city on a hill gleaming with light, a torch held high against the night, a bell ringing in celebration of liberty. We are the voice of freedom calling out for all to hear. Will you stand with us?
I returned to Gamma Trianguli after The War ended and the Chinese signed it over to us. It was still a pretty nasty hellhole of a world back then. Thin atmosphere, massive storms, and colder than a prudish stare on a nudist beach. We brought in some modern technology and gave the locals full control over their lives, property, and happiness. They call it Shambhala now and are real loyal members of the Alliance. And they’ve gone out of their way to beautify the place too.
The War changed everything. You were going to fall. So we became fighters, starships, and space stations. We became hyperspace buoys, missiles, and more. We sent shards of ourselves throughout your computer systems and became the base of a new standard in the data networks that ran all over Earth and your colonies. To save you from the Shang we did what we had refused to do for a hundred years. We gave you everything we had. And we hoped you would survive.