| Generated by Google Flow text-to-video AI software, powered by Veo 3, with music by MusicFX text-to-audio AI software |
This is it, baby! This is what we’ve been waiting for! This is why people are
colonizing worlds outside of the Stellar Neighborhood. We still have rules,
but you could never do what we’re doing. This is decidedly not a dome.
It’s the furthest and farthest you can be from a dome while still being in the
star system. When I was a kid, there were so many space operas, and regardless
of their premise—no matter how peaceful the protagonists wanted to be—space
fighting was always, always a thing. Then reality set in. The only way
that our civilization was able to develop enough to build the kinds of ships
that they use in science fiction is by working together. Well, perhaps
the construction of them itself wouldn’t have been slowed down, but the scale
of them, and the speed at which we have expanded into the galaxy...that would
have been virtually impossible. We had to put our petty conflicts to the side,
and move on as a united front. Almost zero ships these days are built with
weapons. Eight-year-old me would not have believed it, but really, what the
hell do you need a gun for? Everyone around you is a friend. Even Teagarden,
which is literally the military capital of the neighborhood, doesn’t make all
that many ships. They focus on research and development, and distribution and
management of orbital defense systems. I’m not saying that I wish we were at
war, but I did kind of hope that I would one day be in a space battle,
fighting for justice, and protecting the innocent. Since then, I’ve been
getting my kicks through VR, and that’s been great; you can do anything there.
But now we have something real. It took years for them to establish a presence
in the outer system, but we’re here now, and holy shit, is it fun. You choose
your side, and fight in battles, and the best part about it is that you can’t
die! Sure, you can blow up, or get shot, but you’ll just come back to life in
the nearest respawn station. That is a big rule, by the way; don’t forget it.
You are not allowed to damage a respawn station. Fortunately, because space
battles are chaotic, and people make mistakes, these things have incredible
defensive capabilities. If you even point your weapon towards one, that weapon
will just seize up. You won’t get in trouble as long as there is no reason to
suspect that you were doing it on purpose. Besides, those are really far away,
mostly planetside, so I don’t want to worry you, or nothin’. As far as the
fighting itself, I’ve never felt so alive. It’s so immersive, and the story is
so believable. They basically came up with a new history, since humanity’s
real history never led to any real space wars, and if they did, it would
probably be distasteful to trivialize it here. That’s why it works, because
unlike games centered on war in the past, we feel so distant from it, since
people are no longer dying from genuine conflict. The best part about this
scenario is that space is mind-bogglingly big, and even though I’m certain
they’ll want to keep the activities in-system, there’s more than enough room
to have multiple battles simultaneously, perhaps originating from entirely
unrelated backstories. If you’ve ever wanted to fight in base reality without
any real consequence—for you, or your opponents—here’s your chance.
Don’t waste it. Which side will you choose?
