Star Rider

Alcon's Journal #3 -- Turmoil

DSF@510d4eed5182914c1ec4fd0422a7999b

The glory of the peaceful era continues, but in the dark, the social and class divisions caused by the wealth gap are becoming increasingly severe. Especially with the development of deep space technology, exploration, and new energy technology, capital is becoming more and more concentrated in the hands of groups and individuals capable of high-tech development. With the solidification of class, ordinary people have begun to harbor a vague animosity towards vested interests and those who concentrate capital.

My 16th birthday had just passed when a news headline suddenly appeared. The last survivor of the "Massacre Battle" had died after years of battling leukemia. This victim was called the "last civilian victim of the civil war" in the news media. The federation held numerous commemorative and reflective events in the hopes of cherishing the hard-won peace. However, some voices emerged claiming to seek retribution against the military personnel on the federation's side of the war, referring to them as "war profiteers/criminals/massacres."

Although the federation repeatedly declared that the soldiers were merely professionals obeying federal law, the governing party no longer existed. Some radical groups pressured the federation to release the list of military leaders at that time. Although it was rejected by the federal parliament, the list was leaked and made public.

On the day the list was leaked, Mr.Bryan came to my house with weapons and several soldiers. My mother anxiously closed all the gates and activated the alarm system, while my father was calm and tried to comfort her. He greeted Mr.Bryan and the soldiers to eat and rest, and advised them not to worry and that they could return home.

For the next few weeks, everything was calm and peaceful. In order to protect government officials, plainclothes guards were stationed around my house. My father had always told me not to get involved in military matters. It was then that I realized that my father's position in the military must have been very high, but I didn't know the specifics. Although anti-war sentiment was particularly strong among the younger generation, with almost every weekend having civil rights and anti-war activities, I did not encounter any problems commuting between school and home. This was also thanks to the fact that the work and positions of all the students' parents at school were classified information.

One summer evening, Mr.Bryan and my father were chatting, and I was watching a sports broadcast on the hammock in the yard. Mr.Bryan signaled for me to join their conversation, but as soon as I sat down, my mother bent over from behind the couch and hugged my shoulders. "Alcon, there's something we can tell you now..."

My father looked at me calmly, and Mr.Bryan reached out and put his hand on my knee. "Your father is General Fletcher."

General Fletcher?! The same Fletcher who was called the "Number One Butcher" by anti-civil war activists after the leak of the list? My father was the general who ordered the neutron bombs to be dropped on the city in the final battle! I was a little surprised, but not particularly shocked. Perhaps I inherited my father's calmness, which actually surprised them a bit. After a pause, Mr.Bryan continued:

"From the beginning of that war, the Federation had always held the initiative. The anti-Federation counties originally just wanted to modify the resource allocation law and call for a ceasefire, but they didn't expect the Federation to be so tough. So in the final battle, the anti-Federation counties made a decision to engage in a strategy of mutual assured destruction. They prepared a large number of dirty bombs to launch at the core cities of other counties in the Federation, and it cannot be ruled out that some of the dirty bombs were strategic nuclear weapons with a certain yield. They reiterated 'either exclusive resources or share death' while the Federation demanded that the military locate and eliminate the enemy's command personnel before they launched the dirty bombs. When we received the insider information, there were only 35 minutes left before the dirty bombs were launched..."

"At that time, we could only roughly locate the enemy's command center in a military-civilian mixed city, where normal tactical operations in modern warfare were impossible, and time was not enough. We could only use the last resort, the neutron bomb, to directly kill the target and all living forces around it. The person who gave the order had to bear the blame for slaughtering civilians, but someone had to do it, otherwise there would be more deaths..."

"Later, the team responsible for cleaning up the battlefield reported that they found 31 dirty bombs and 2 tactical nuclear warheads at the base. The neutron flow instantly destroyed the material of the nuclear warheads and made everyone in the base pass out and die in a few seconds. The civilians within a dozen kilometers also became victims. The rest of the story is now publicly available information..."

After Mr.Bryan finished speaking, my mother whispered in my ear, "Alcon, I don't think your father did anything wrong..." I raised my hand and put it on my mother's arm, "I know." I paused for a moment and looked at my father. "What should we do now?"

"Currently, no one knows your father's real identity and address, but the military information has been leaked. It may be the work of those within the military who support the revenge..." Mr.Bryan sighed, "If anyone comes here, you must inform me immediately."