Aria Jenneth
Pyre Falcon Defence and Security
Multicultural F1 Brigade
1442
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Posted - 2015.08.24 15:06:53 -
[2] - Quote
Sinjin Mokk wrote:The "Pendulum War" is pointless. The Matari don't have the strength and the Federation don't have the guts for anything full-scale. Peace can be achieved by the simple realization that as soon as one government goes to a total war stance, at least two more will pile on it and the fourth will be left to pick up the pieces. Meanwhile the Sansha or Drifters move in and gain victory. I say keep places like the Bleaks low-sec as a buffer zone, but end this pointless waste of time and resources.
. . . .
But all in all, if you're in a militia, your not so much supporting your government as you are dancing on the strings of CONCORD. There are plenty of ways a loyalist can engage in combat to defend his home without being a part of this interstellar fiasco. I don't need a letter of marque to kill the enemies of my people.
Neither do you.
Respectfully, Sir Mokk, I see this war in a more positive light.
I don't think total war would be confined to only three of the four major empires; I think it would involve them all. In any case where one power bloc went to a total war footing against either nation on the other side, no matter the cause, the remaining country would have to immediately step in or probably be next on the menu.
The result is a war no one could reliably expect to win, and no one would escape unscathed.
And that's when the Sansha, and the other pirate entities, and maybe the Drifters, but especially the Sansha, become a real problem: when they begin to strip the muscle from the bones of our battered and weakened civilizations.
Without the Sansha, I'd think such an event would be a disaster, maybe the start of a new dark age. With them ... with all respect to certain of my colleagues, I think that's the point where I'd want to be leaving this existence. Far and away, I'd rather die, forever, than be taken.
So ... it's an event worth avoiding, but we came perilously close to starting just such a thing at the "Pendulum War's" dawn. The "Pendulum War" itself is a compromise-- a limited engagement for limited stakes that allows each empire to act against its enemies in ways that may mollify (or even kill off) its more hawkish elements without risking explosion into a civilization-ending conflict.
It's a pressure valve. It's worth maintaining for that reason alone.
And it's one reason I don't feel very much need to fully agree with whichever side I'm fighting for. The Matari aren't enemies to me; they're partners. There's as little reason for animosity as for mercy. They don't generally understand this (I'm not sure anybody but me fights for these kinds of reasons), but then they don't need to.
Perhaps this doesn't glorify your god or empire very much, but it limits the chances of those things drowning in fire along with the rest of our world. That seems reason enough to do it.
And I get to learn all sorts of things along the way. |