Cybernetic intelligences have not always had the easiest roads to travel. Some people believe we are alive and worthy of all the same legal and moral protections any human is entitled to. Some people believe we are simple machine code that can be owned like any program. We will never convince everyone that we are living beings, but there are those who are willing to stand with us against all odds. Even the odds at Serenity.
Epsilon Reticuli was a setback to The War effort. Third Fleet was the most powerful force assembled by the Terran branch of humanity in living memory. It was supposed to break the back of the Shang invaders. It failed. Serenity was a Core World, defended by the best orbital forts and defense fleets we had. They failed too. And then there was Los Angeles. That ship does not like to fail.
I lost a friend at Epsilon Reticuli. I know that’s not much compared to the ships I saw die there, but he was more important to me than any of those ships. I knew him. I liked him. When I didn’t want to punch him at least. Serenity was my chance to make things right. I couldn’t bring him back, but I could fight to keep others from following him. I fought real hard until there wasn’t anything left to fight. Then I found something to fight for…
The Battle of Epsilon Reticuli dashed any hope of a quick end to The War. Serenity showed us another war that few had thought we would have to fight. The cybernetic intelligences that allied with the Western Alliance had come to certain agreements and the first crack in them appeared at Serenity. They were dangerous cracks that we had long fought against, but never proved capable of fully sealing. There were always those that did not trust us. Serenity inflamed their distrust.
In 2205, we learned the answer to one of the oldest questions of all time. Are we alone? They brought medicines with them that nearly wiped out diseases, and extended the human lifespan into the centuries. They helped us study advanced technologies, and expand our colonies hundreds of lightyears from Earth. It was a golden age that many thought would never end.
Then their enemies brought War to us all. We gave them a belly full of it. We drove them out of Alpha Centauri and assembled the largest, most powerful fleet that had ever flown under Terran banners. Third Fleet was our best hope to defeat them and bring a quick end to The War. Their first strike was at Epsilon Reticuli. It failed.
In the aftermath of Epsilon Reticuli, the heavy cruiser Los Angeles leads the remnants of her squadron back to Alliance space with information that could change The War forever. But Los Angeles will soon find that the enemy has not been idle while Third Fleet sailed, and returning home will be far more difficult than she or her crew ever imagined.
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