A Slow Fall Into Madness, Part 6. (Unfiltered)

Maybe finished?

…

War, Deferred

For a while, it looked like the news that the entirety of Galactic civilization had been destroyed would act as a catalyst for lasting peace. The 2050s in particular were one of the least conflict-driven decades in human history, as nations actively sought to avoid wars and even skirmishes. It was widely feared at that time that the day of humanity’s reckoning had not yet come, and that the only way Earth could hope to survive would be by cooperation and unity. 

The problem was that this newfound desire for a united front was linked to a steady military buildup during the same time period. The average nation’s percentage of GDP dedicated to defense tripled between 2050 and 2076, with a large proportion of that dedicated to orbital kinetic energy weapon (KEW) defense. One of the first useful applications of Amalgamation technology was the introduction of reactionless drives. Terran scientists didn’t quite understand how they worked, but Terran engineers could build and repair them, which was the important thing. Every nation that could soon had a bristling array of KEWs in orbit, ready to attack any space armada that might come boiling out of charnel blackness of deep space.

(Truthfully, most people assumed that there was no way that humanity could survive the same kind of attacks that had murdered the Amalgamation. Even so, few were willing to go down quietly. Besides, there was always a chance, right?)

Unfortunately, by the early 2070s the early panic had begun to fade. The armadas had not shown up. Perhaps they would not, and that was a relief. But unity was still considered a desirable goal, in and of itself; and it was clear that the planet was still too disorganized, too fragmented. There needed to be a consolidation of resources, peoples, and polities. Peacefully, of course. As much as possible. Realistically possible.
And if not? Well. There were plenty of weapons.

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