Monday, March 18, 2013

My Dearest Enemy

I promise I will move on to more personally relevant things tomorrow, but the recent changes in how New Haven--sorry, just Haven now (hopefully the last name change, it's getting hard to remember them)--have been taken up by the Union as a whole. The votes were not overwhelming but the majorities were solid. As a...nation? I don't know what to call us, really, but at any rate as a large group of communities we have made it policy to take in those UAS members who wish to avoid war. It may seem like bad policy to allow people into our homes that want to remain neutral, but in good conscience we cannot ask them to fight their brothers and sisters if they aren't even willing to fight us. That shows moral fiber, I think.

Because of these changes, I have been asked to write another message directly to the UAS, and today is the day. Back to our regularly scheduled program tomorrow (the one where I talk about dead people and cheeseburgers and the giant, fussy black guy who keeps doing more than his fair share of the work here in the office.)

To the UAS:

I will not attempt to appeal to the better angels of your nature through flowery prose or even lies. I am not speaking to the leadership of your community with this message, though I am sure they will read and distort it. It is clear to us now that much like the previous decade when leaders got themselves embroiled in conflicts they thought they understood but clearly didn't--think other wars that turned out to be totally unnecessary and so costly it makes you sick--the people in charge there have managed to sink in over their heads. Many of them were elected officials, cabinet appointees, even a few governors and a bunch of state lawmakers. I know that trying to convince a politician that his or her decision was the wrong one is akin to herding cats; a nearly impossible time-waster.

This message is for the rest of you. I hope that the bilingual among you will read it to your new friends from south of the border who may not read or speak English so that they too can understand it.

I believe you are good people. I think that many of you are frightened and maladjusted to the strange world you were exposed to when the supplies in your bunkers ran so low you had to leave them. Many of us have said negative things in the past about that, but the truth is that I don't know a single survivor out here who would have turned down the offer of safety, regular meals, medical care, and all the other guarantees you folks had in those bunkers.

It's not just me I'm speaking for, here. We as a small nation of people understand how difficult this is for you. We understand the struggle, the fear, the pain of loss. We know that these feelings are real and powerful, and that your leadership is doing what all politicians since the dawn of time have done: using them to manipulate you.

Oh, you might say, interrupting me. Are you trying to say our leaders are lying about the terrible acts committed by the Union?

No, I'm not. We have made mistakes, gone too far. One of the most haunting memories I have, one that I've written about and referenced many times, is from very early in The Fall. Patrick and I burned a group of marauders alive in their sleep because they were killing small groups of travelers to steal their supplies, and because they were keeping the women as sex slaves. Morally what we did was right, as far as I'm concerned, but that doesn't mean the act doesn't keep me awake some nights even now.

We have been vicious and brutal and murderous when we felt it was necessary. We killed a lot of innocent people along with the Hunters last year. We now believe fully that they were a part of your group, and even though what we did was the only way we knew of to prevent them from destroying more communities, we recognize that realistically our action against them--their total destruction--was what started the conflict between our two groups.

I believe you are good people in a bad situation. I'm sure that much of what is said about my side of this conflict is factually true, but context is also important. We do not kill people because we enjoy it, though if any of you read this blog you know sometimes even the best people can slip into that madness. All we desire is a peaceful life. The appeal I want to make to you isn't that you defect to our side, though you are welcome. It is that you refuse to fight a war that is utterly without purpose.

You don't need our land, you have more of your own than you can even patrol. You don't need our infrastructure. Yours is better than ours. We have no desire to take what is yours, and no need to travel across the land you've made your own. The borders we have are sufficient for us. Leave us in peace and enjoy peace yourselves.

You know what is happening out west. You see how hard people are willing to fight to protect what they've built and the people they love. I make this plea to you not out of cowardice or unwillingness to do my duty, but because I genuinely want to avoid the body count on both sides that will inevitably follow. Do your own thing, let us do ours, and let the politicians wallow in their own ineffectual policies. They can't and won't fight this war without you. You are their army, and you can choose peace. You can walk away safe and live a life unburdened by fear of me and mine.

We have a common enemy in the undead. That should be more than sufficient reason to turn your attention to your own people. All the Union wants is to be left alone and allowed to travel to our western allies, who also just want peace. Give us that, stay out of further conflict with us, and everyone walks away happy.

We will fight. We will be vicious and brutal and without mercy. If our homes and loved ones are threatened, there are no tactics we will not undertake to stop you. This is not a threat, please understand me. I am telling you this precisely because the majority of us want to avoid that. These are not actions we want to perform.

But we will if we have to. We won't fire the first shot, but we will do whatever it takes to win the fight. Please, please, don't make that necessary.

Think about it. Spread the word.

6 comments:

  1. I am sorry Joshua. They will not listen to reason. They are coming. God be with you.

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  2. We have met the enemy, and they are ours.

    Or in gamer we roflstomped the n00bs

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  3. Whoa... What makes you believe that some of the UAS were involved with the hunters last year? Is this conflict/war a retaliation for that event? Has there been no word of any type from any of the UAS?

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    1. Anon;

      We were in a battle with the UAS recently, and while we took casualties, we have also captured quite a few of their regular army, and conscripts, that's not counting the high numbers of defectors that came to us. The battle isn't over just yet but we are gaining more and more converts among the UAS army.

      http://ketillsdragoons.blogspot.com/

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  4. for all in the UAS from south of the border,

    La UAS:

    Yo no intentará atraer a los mejores Ángeles de su naturaleza a través de la prosa Florida o incluso miente. No estoy hablando del liderazgo de su comunidad con este mensaje, aunque estoy seguro que se leen y se distorsionan. Es claro ahora que al igual que la década anterior, cuando líderes se vio envuelto en conflictos pensaron que entienden pero claramente no--que otras guerras consiguieron que resultó para ser totalmente innecesaria y tan costosa te hace enfermo--cargar allí las personas han podido hundir sobre sus cabezas. Muchos de ellos fueron elegidos funcionarios, gabinete designados, incluso algunos gobernadores y un montón de los legisladores del estado. Sé que tratar de convencer a un político que su decisión era el mal uno es similar a la manada de gatos; un desperdicio de tiempo casi imposible.

    Este mensaje es para el resto de ustedes. Espero que el bilingüe entre ustedes va a leer a tus nuevos amigos del sur de la frontera que no pueden leer o hablar a Inglés para que ellos también pueden entenderlo.

    Creo que es buenas personas. Creo que muchos de ustedes se asustan e inadaptado al mundo extraño fueron expuestos a cuando los suministros en sus bunkers funcionaron tan bajos, tienes que dejarlos. Muchos de nosotros han dicho cosas negativas en el pasado sobre eso, pero la verdad es que no conozco a un solo sobreviviente aquí que habría rechazado la oferta de seguridad, las comidas regulares, atención médica y todas las otras garantías que la gente tenía en los bunkers.

    No es solo yo que estoy hablando, aquí. Como una pequeña nación de gente entendemos cuán difícil es para ti. Entendemos la lucha, el miedo, el dolor de la pérdida. Sabemos que estos sentimientos son reales y poderosos, y que su liderazgo está haciendo lo que han hecho todos los políticos desde los albores del tiempo: usarlos para manipularte.

    Oh, usted podría decir: me interrumpe. ¿Estás tratando de decir a que nuestros líderes están mintiendo sobre los terribles actos cometidos por la Unión?

    No, no soy. Hemos cometido errores, ido demasiado lejos. Uno de los más inquietantes recuerdos que tengo, que he escrito sobre y se hace referencia muchas veces, es desde muy temprano en el otoño. Patrick y me quemaron un grupo de merodeadores vivos en su sueño porque estaban matando a pequeños grupos de viajeros para robar sus suministros, y porque mantenían a las mujeres como esclavas sexuales. Moralmente lo que hicimos fue correcta, en cuanto que a mí respecta, pero eso no significa que la ley no mantenerme despierto algunas noches hasta ahora.

    Hemos sido cruel y brutal y asesina cuando sentimos que era necesario. Matamos a mucha gente inocente junto con los cazadores el año pasado. Ahora creemos plenamente que eran parte de su grupo, y a pesar de lo que hicimos fue lo único que sabíamos de para evitar que destruyan más comunidades, reconocemos que realista nuestra acción contra ellos--su destrucción total--fue lo que comenzó el conflicto entre los dos grupos.

    Creo que es gente buena en una mala situación. Estoy seguro que mucho de lo que se dice de mi parte de este conflicto es objetivamente cierto, contexto también es importante. No matamos gente porque lo disfrutamos, aunque si alguno de ustedes leen este blog sé que a veces ni siquiera la gente mejor puede resbalarse por esa locura. Lo único que deseamos es una vida pacífica. La apelación que quiero hacer a usted no es que usted desertar a nuestro lado, aunque eres Bienvenido. Es que se niega a luchar en una guerra que está totalmente sin propósito.




















































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  5. and the rest-

    No necesita nuestra tierra, más de los tuyos que tú tienes puede incluso patrulla. No necesita nuestra infraestructura. Tuyo es mejor que el nuestro. No tenemos ningún deseo de tomar lo que es tuyo, y no necesita viajar a través de la tierra que ha hecho su propio. Las fronteras que tenemos son suficientes para nosotros. Déjennos en paz y disfrutar paz.

    Sabe usted lo que está ocurriendo hacia el oeste. Ves gente cuánto están dispuestos a la lucha para proteger lo que ellos han construido y las personas que se aman. Hago esta declaración que no por cobardía o falta de voluntad para cumplir con mi deber, sino porque realmente quiero evitar el número en ambos lados que inevitablemente siga. Hacer tus propias cosas, déjenos hacer nuestro y dejar que los políticos se revuelcan en sus propias políticas ineficaces. No pueden y no luchan en esta guerra sin ti. Eres su ejército, y usted puede elegir la paz. Se puede caminar seguro y vivo una vida despojada por miedo de mí y la mía.

    Tenemos un enemigo común de los no-muertos. Debe ser más que suficiente razón para volver su atención a tu propia gente. Todo quiere que la Unión debe quedar solos y permitido viajar a nuestros aliados occidentales, que también quieren la paz. Nos dan eso, estancia de otro conflicto con nosotros, y todo el mundo se aleja feliz.

    Vamos a luchar. Seremos feroces y brutales y sin piedad. Si nuestros hogares y seres queridos están amenazados, no hay ninguna táctica que no emprenderemos detenerte. Esto no es una amenaza, por favor me entiende. Les digo esto precisamente porque la mayoría de nosotros quiere evitar. No son acciones que queremos realizar.

    Pero lo haremos si tenemos que. No fi

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