How We Fell

By John Nichols

Damn the Treaty of Valles Marineris.

It stripped us of everything:  Our Lunar

colonies, our Lagrange cities, our ships,

our spaceports, most of all, our pride.

We were made to take full blame for

the war of the worlds because we stood

with Europa against Titan.  Never mind

that it was our genius and sacrifice that

made these worlds possible; all the guilt

was laid at out feet.  We were banished,

made to pay tribute of our best as penance

for our crimes.  Heaven was closed to us.

Then he came.  He had fought in the

Battle of Tranquility.  He played on

our grief, our anger.  He lashed out

at the weak among us, in every nation

blaming them for our fall.  Ever strident,

soon he was all we heard.  The Treaty was

unjust, the colonies were filled with nothing

but mongrel degenerates who had forgotten

our greatness.  They were not fit to be heirs

of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and beyond.  We

were great once, we would be great again

under him.  We made him our leader

stood silent as he used slaves to rebuild

our fleet and make new weapons.  We

cheered when he retook Clavius and

Tranquility.  Soon the Lagrange worlds

fell back into our hands.  We were great

again!  When Mars and the Galilean moons

stood by we took this as proof of their

degeneracy.  On every continent, in every

land we cheered.  The System would belong

to us again.  The Treaty’s stain would be

washed away.  We were the once and

future master world.  We moved on

Mars certain of our ultimate victory.

Then the bombs came.  The lasers

cut us down from Deimos.  We

were pushed back.  The Lagrange worlds

blasted from the sky, Tranquility and

Clavius made more desolate than the

Moon had ever been before Armstrong

stepped upon it.  Every city, every town

leveled.  We turned on our leader, stripped

him and hung him as our women savaged him.

Once again we have lost, all lies in dust as

our conquerors have divided us, one continent

to each of them.  We have traded our shame

for greater shame and new masters.  How

we have fallen.