– by Undefined Anomaly
The devastation… I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t experienced it in person. I still don’t understand the people in this city or how things went this far. A few days ago, I found a journal amongst the rubble:
Entry # 1: Starting our new life…
The day is finally here! Our belongings arrive from the spaceport in a few hours, but my wife and I could hardly contain our excitement so we took the first shuttle to our new home.
Twenty years ago today, we set out with a simple dream: a quiet home in the mountains where our three children could grow up in peace. This place is everything we dreamed of – just a few miles outside New Smyrna, we found a two bedroom cottage on the bank of a beautiful river.
Before we could even catch our breath, the neighbors were at our doorsteps with such warm welcomes. I’m confident that we have found the place we will spend the rest of our lives.
Entry # 2: The Announcement
At the town-hall meeting this afternoon, the Mayor broke the news… CONCORD lifted their restriction limiting capsuleer interference with planetary life. At first the room was filled with silence, but quickly fell into chaos as shouts of anger filled the room.
“By what right? Aren’t there enough resources in the belts?”
“They’re going to strip our lands bare and destroy our livelihoods!”
In truth, I can’t imagine our neighborhood holds much value for those who make their lives amongst the stars. If they can harvest resources from other parts of the planet, it can only serve to boost our economy and help me reach retirement. I look forward to spending more time with my family once I’ve saved enough to retire.
Entry # 3: Protests in the Streets
They started arriving a few days ago. First it was just a few prospectors looking for carbon compounds. Now, their minions are absolutely everywhere!
I took a walk into the hills this morning and everywhere I looked, there were extractors. All you hear on the news is how non-intrusive these extractors are and that people will barely notice them… lies! Pipes from a single extractor appear to cover an entire mountainside.
And then there’s the infrastructure! A high speed freight line is being built right through my neighborhood. There was hardly any warning… announcements were made and less than an hour later, homes were plowed under. Barely any time for my friends to escape becoming rubble themselves.
This must end. I have been hearing reports of protests in New Smyrna and for the good of my family and my life, I will be joining them tonight. We must send a message to these capsuleers and CONCORD. We will not allow them to bulldoze us over without a fight!
Entry # 4: House Arrest
Two weeks in and the government finally decides to do something about our obvious outrage… declare martial law! A few days ago it was only a curfew, but now everyone is under complete house arrest… They’re fools if they think we will willingly stay like this for long.
We may be lowly civilians to these capsuleers, but plans are starting to come together. Hopefully we can disrupt their activities enough to eliminate profit… then and only then do we have any hope of driving the scum from our land.
I bet they don’t even hear about protests like ours, just sitting in their castles in the sky looking at strategic maps and planning how to most efficiently stripe mine the places we call home.
Entry # 5: The Incident
I woke to the sound of explosions this morning… it must’ve been the spaceport, our first target. That will get their attention. All our hopes now rest on making sure we do enough damage that they don’t want to open the port back up.
It is eerily quiet right now, I can hear a single bird out the window. I would normally go fishing with my oldest son on a day like this, but the next steps of our plan are already falling into place & we all must do our part. Bridges, Factories, Extractors – none of it will be spared so long as there are people left to resist.
Wait, I hear… explosions. These weren’t part of the plan and there are far too many.
They are raining down fire from the sky! I never thought they’d be this persistent, but we’ve come too far to stop now. I have to see my part of the plan through.
Epilogue: The Aftermath
I may never know what happened here or to the journal’s author.
The official reports are saying that the protesters lit the fires that consumed their homes, but the craters here tell a different story. The protests are silent now and I can’t help but think the profiteers had something to do with that…
The will of the capsuleer is strong, I imagine it will only be a few weeks before they return for a second attempt at claiming whatever resources remain. I know I won’t be here and I hope I don’t see anything like this again.
ROC'S RAMBLINGS 