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+--- Thread: En-route to Jiangxi (/showthread.php?tid=95647)
En-route to Jiangxi - Talion - 03-17-2013
Late 819 A.S.
Entry: 1
A revolutionary. That's all I'll be to the House governments now, isn't it? This man has left the comfort of Sirian civilised capitalist society in favour of the communist world of the bandit-infested Omegas, he obviously objects to everything we hold dear and we must exterminate him to prevent the collapse of civilisation! At least, that's what I imagine they think.
After a day on a ramshackle Zoner transport starting out at Leeds, I've arrived at Gran Canaria. I'm making this entry from the comfort of a small bistro on the other side of the capital city from the main space port, away from most of the tourists. I wanted to see a small part of the real Gran Canaria, hoping that it would convince me to settle with the Zoners instead.
But I've thought about it plenty. The Zoners are nice folk, there's certainly no doubting that. Their values are honourable, but in my opinion there's no place for them in this new world we find ourselves in. Constant warfare. International anarchy reigns as alliances have been established, dividing Sirius into separate zones of combat. Bretonia and Gallia. Liberty and Rheinland. Outcasts and Corsairs, although that one hardly needs to be mentioned. Some fight for imperialist conquest. Some fight for economic superiority. Some fight for disputes established centuries before. Bretonia fights to survive.
That's why I don't feel ashamed to be Bretonian, at least right now. Bretonia didn't ask for war with Gallia, Gallia had been planning an invasion for seven hundred years, with an astonishing build-up of ships to attack. Maybe the only reason Bretonia has so far survived the crush of Gallian military might is because a predominantly militarily-dominated system had already been well established? A few more years of peace instead of the Tau War would've been nice in the short run, but without Kusari hardening Bretonia against incursion the Gallians would've been pushing through to Cambridge by now, easily.
Oooo, my panini is here. Smells damn good.
RE: En-route to Jiangxi - Talion - 03-17-2013
Entry: 2
If you're ever on Gran Canaria, definitely check out this place. Joey's Bistro, about a five mile trek from the main space port you'd probably arrive at, but definitely worth it. All the food is great, the waitresses are nice, it's got a very rustic feel to it. It's a wooden interior, feels homely.
But anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, I was talking about Bretonia, but that can wait. If anybody else ever reads this they're gonna think "Who is this guy? Why didn't he start with his name?" Well, my name's Dylan. Dylan Finlay, and I'm from Leeds. The name sounds a bit too upper class for someone coming from Leeds, but my dad was originally from New London. After the divorce he lost a lot, my mum didn't want me so he had full custody of me. Living on New London is pretty expensive, and his business was going down the toilet so he took a management job on Leeds instead. I was only a few months old at the time so I don't remember any of that, it's what he's told me. Anyway, I consider myself as being from Leeds. Maybe I'll change the name when I reach my destination? Yeah, Dylan doesn't really suit me anyway.
So, I grew up on Leeds. My dad died when I was 10, run over on the street by some drink-driving prick. So I went into care. We'd been living pretty poorly before that, the management job had fallen through and he'd ended up another "Average Joe" worker in a factory. But he was carefree before he'd died, simple life had been good to him.
Maybe I took the images of my dad's sunken face when sat at a desk and my dad's smiling face after getting home from the factory with a couple of mates and my child brain decided I wanted the latter. So I did the best I could in school certainly, but I just wanted to be happy.
Chocolate cake is here. I never like to multi-task if eating is one of the tasks.
RE: En-route to Jiangxi - Talion - 03-17-2013
Entry: 3
That. Was. Good. Seriously, Joey's Bistro on Gran Canaria, couldn't have had better chocolate cake if I'd asked for it from a wishing well.
But yeah, my story. So I went through school, got pretty high grades as well. Definitely high enough to get some high-paying job on New London. But... did I really want to? I had no interest in corporate matters, didn't care about money. So while I decided, I joined the BAF for a tour of duty. My tour ended about a year into the Tau War, before it got really serious, so I had a fairly relaxed tour in Cambridge. Fought some Hessians, fought some 'sairs, before I knew it four years was up.
So I went back home, to Leeds, got a job in a factory and got ready to settle down working in a factory and living my life to the fullest with friends and family and hobbies and other stuff. That was the plan. But how often have plans really worked out?
Kusari broke through into Leeds soon enough, and the bombings started soon after that. After that, well, I wasn't really in the right mind-set for starting a family, seeing as I had to fake my death to avoid the military draft. Yep, I officially died in one of the first bombing raids on Leeds. Given the state of crisis in Bretonia it was only a matter of time before they called able veterans back into service. Actually, they did,a few days after my fake death.
I spent the next year going around, working in a few different factories wherever they'd hire a guy with no paperwork. Life wasn't that bad, I made some money and had some laughs. So I'll skip forward to the event that really got me thinking about more than me.
My old squadron had been re-assigned to the Leeds front a month after I'd left. In late '18 they were lured away from the planetary defences, and ambushed by the Kusarians. Four Hussars against two Kusarian destroyers and eight Chimearas'; they didn't stand a chance.
My friends were dead, but it took a long time for the news to really sink in. I'd had another year to think, during which Gallia had replaced Kusari as the attacking force. By the time it sunk in, everything on Leeds had become a depressing reminder of fighting I now saw as pointless. So I wanted to move away, far away. My home didn't feel like home now, it was just a dull shell. A reminder of what I'd lost.
So I decided on Jiangxi.
RE: En-route to Jiangxi - Talion - 03-17-2013
Entry: 4
Why Jiangxi, you might be asking. Or you might have stopped reading, I don't even know if I'll ever show anyone else what I'm writing here. I've got a few hours before the shuttle arrives to take us the rest of the way to Omega-52.
Like I said before, the Zoners are honourable but there's no place for them in this world of warfare. The Junkers are just thieves who're too pussy to call themselves thieves, stealing whenever they're guaranteed to not get caught. Obviously not any criminal groups, obviously not any military establishments in other Houses.
I've read a bit about the Coalition. Read the Katz Manifesto a few times, been keeping up to date with all the happenings in Omega-52. Yue Fei, the Volkhan, Katz's retirement, Vaschenko rising to power. I even read a bit into Sol history, the founding of communism there.
I don't know if it's worth fighting for. I haven't even left planet Leeds before (apart from immigrating from New London whilst a baby), let alone left Bretonia. I don't know if I'll like the politics, the economics, the culture. I've read about them and they sound interesting, but I remain sceptical. Guess I'll have to see to believe.
The Zoners have been very nice, offering Bretonians a way off of Leeds to head for the Coalition, but I think they were hoping most people would see the Zoner way of life and settle with them instead. And that's fine, for people who don't want to fight for something.
But I've decided that I want to fight for something. What that something is yet, I don't know. But the easy life of little effort for little reward shall be put behind me, and I'll work. And if I feel good for the work that I have done, then I know I'm doing the right work.
Aaron Tyrer. That's the name I'll use when I get to Jiangxi. I should've changed my name years ago. Dylan Finlay died with his father.