October the first, 2230
Finally, my time has come.
This is the personal account of Alexseyev Miroslava, aged 71, and I have just been elected Commissary-General. Yes, the names are reversed because the idiot recruiter mixed up the forms. No matter.
As I entered the office of the Commissar, an aide handed me a brief containing a summary of my predecessor’s ‘presidency’ and the current state of the nation. We appear to be at war with the Thimoid. Why? What possible gain could be had from this war?
Oh, I see the former Commissar wished to forcibly annex three worlds from the hive. Does no one read my reports? I was assigned to the initial biological assessment of this species. They are a hive mind. They cannot exist in our society. If we were to annex these worlds then the Thimoid population would simply cease to live. Cut off from the hive, they will wither and die. And the people supported this war?
I suppose I have little choice but to execute it effectively, but this is appalling. It is nothing short of mass genocide. In fact, it is worse. It would have been more kind to nuke them than to let them die slowly.
In any case, let me see how our scientific staff is doing. I have appointed our former Commissar to the crystal plating project I had been working. Ortega is developing new communications methodology for our colonies and Cruz is working on ‘cold fusion’. I believe the proper term for the project is “low-energy nuclear reactions” but you know the media. LENR power plants are far more efficient per volume and will be a great boon to our sciences and military when certain design challenges are met.
The war notwithstanding, I was elected on the promise of expanding our scientific frontier and I intend to do just that. The construction ship Musk is completing work on a mining station but after that I have ordered the construction of a new outpost in the Thradd system to study the pulsar there.
Now, the war. This stupid senseless war. What must I do?
My first act is to address the serious issue of our corvette design. We have several new technologies which have not been applied to our fighting ships. Better sensors, longer ranged drives, railguns, combat computers and armor have been added and the power systems rebalanced. I have dubbed this new class the Alexis and de-funded the old Cutlass and Sitting Bull lines. The Pilum class I have similarly upgraded. The Washington class destroyer has been redesigned to carry a compliment of two missile batteries and three railgun batteries.
General Saletta will lead our ground forces in this pointless endeavor. He has been trained specifically for planetary invasion and has been given adequate funding to marshal 8 fully armed divisions. I hope that will prove sufficient. My hope is that he can force a swift end to this war. I have no real choice but to follow through, if I were to call it off now it would be seen by the people as a defeat.
October the 11th, 2230
What in the world was my predecessor doing during her tenure? Did she have no respect for the sciences? Earth, the cradle of humanity, sits like a backwater. Its facilities are at least a generation behind the cutting edge. Private companies have better equipment than our state-run infrastructure. I have released funds to upgrade the mining infrastructure and industrial sectors of Earth.
August the eighth, 2231
Alpha leader reported that they have sighted a Thimoid fleet and are moving to engage.
The engagement was a success but we took some casualties, I have notified the families of those lost that their sons and daughters died to protect our way of life. A bitter lie, but a necessity. I have also ordered the construction of a new Washington class destroyer, the first of its kind. Building it requires we upgrade the shipyard facilities in Earth orbit.
July the sixteenth, 2232
The invasion force has arrived. Two years they have been crossing the void to get here. Two. Years. If only my predecessor had been more proactive in putting the upgraded drives to use.
The invasion, once it began, ended quite quickly. The ground teams noted several 'psychic nodes' which extended the hive mind's reach over the local population. They began systematically destroying these which caused confusion and ultimately destroyed any resistance. The local population became quiescent and apathetic once the final link was removed.
Between the rapid dismantling of what amounts to part of the being's brain and the handy defeat of it's fleet, the hive mind acceded to our -ahem- peace demands.
Our troops moved through the abandoned planets and reported, much as I predicted, that in the absence of a psionic mind to control and guide them that the local population has grown lethargic. They are no longer caring for themselves and large scale starvation and disease have broken out. According to one sergeant, it 'smells like low tide' across the whole planet. Charming.
I hope we're all happy with ourselves, we've essentially murdered millions but I suppose it was them or us. The captured planets are far too inhospitable for humans to live on, so overall this has been an exercise in futility.
By my calculations, the captured population will have died off within a decade.
June twenty-fifth, 2233
I am feeling unwell lately. The doctors say nothing is wrong medically but I feel ill at ease.
In the wake of the war, I have authorize a general upgrade of military hardware to bring our fleets up to spec. I have also set forth a colonization initiative for Alpha Centauri II, hereafter called Dis because it is a bleak and unforgiving place but will bring in some resources and presents some scientific opportunities.
February the thirteenth, 2234
I am dying. The doctors deny it but I have seen the charts. They think to spare my feelings and hope to find some remedy, but exposure to one of the crystal samples from my crystal plating project has turned out to be poisonous over the long term. Three research assistants who worked with me have also died of exposure, it is only a matter of time. I spend each day attached to machines to keep me alive. I almost wish to end it. Still I continue.
During a review of our scientific projects I note that yet again my predecessor has neglected the sciences. I have authorized blanket expenditures for the project backlog. We must move forward.
2234.10.02
The commissar has fallen into a deep coma. We are unsure if she will recover. This is the chair of the department of sciences making an entry into her log on the 2nd of October. Today the final orbital science station Alexseyev promised in her campaign has come online. I thought it important to note, as she has little time left.
2234.10.18
The Commissar has expired in the night. Arrangements are being made to elect a new leader after a short mourning period.