The Chinese changed everything when they made their first hole into hyperspace. Scientists had still been arguing over whether it was even possible to do so up to the second it happened, and some hours later due to how long it took the reports to arrive on Earth. We still have not mastered the speed of light after all. For the Chinese did not go faster than light. They merely found a place where the speed of light was faster than ours. And that changed everything.
The War was almost as hard on the Chinese as it was for us. I’m serious. They walked into it prepared and knowing how it would end. They were the superior race in their minds. We were too weak to put up a fight. We were lazy. We were soft. They grew up learning this as children in school. It was a matter as simple as faith to them. And still we beat them. We broke them. And we humbled them when we demanded the Hyades Cluster. I don’t think they will ever forgive us for that.
Market research from season one suggested that people didn’t enjoy the cybernetic side of Twilight as much as the network had hoped. That was why season two went real world so heavily. It also featured several actors from Dixie in recurring or even main series roles since the other show had finally ended. Most of the actors enjoyed their characters so it was easy to get them to return. And with early stories taking the team back to southern Texas it was easy to write the Dixie characters into the series.
Americans like to think that we have always been the motherland of inventions. We like to think that we changed the world and conquered space with our culture of dogged determination. And it is easy to think that when you see the list of things that we have created. But one should never assume that others are less capable than we are because of that. One should never forget that the Russians went to space first. That the Chinese were first into hyperspace. Never underestimate our adversaries. For they are at least as determined as we are to be the greatest of nations.
Sometimes I wonder what our worlds would be like if there’d been no War. We’d have a lot less technology of course. The Peloran really had to open up their can of tricks for us. But what about our culture? What about who we are? I like to read Pre-War science fiction just to see where people thought we were headed. Nobody saw The War coming. Oh, lots of authors forecasted wars out in the colonial regions and such. But the Shang were a serious left turn at Yosemite that nobody saw coming.
Forge of War on Amazon
Angel Flight on Amazon
Angel Strike on Amazon
Angel War on Amazon
Wolfenheim Rising on Amazon
Wolfenheim Emergent on Amazon