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Issue Number 5
Whoever May Fall, by Corina Ling-Raleigh
This issue is dedicated to my people. I cannot stifle it because that would be lying to my people, to all the peoples of Regina who have suffered and who suffer under the merciless domination of imperialisms. It is time to tell the truth, whatever the cost and whoever may fall.
In the universe there are empires that exploit and there are worlds that are exploited. I wouldn't say anything if it were just about nations or worlds...but the thing is that behind every nation that imperialism oppresses, there is a people of slaves and exploited men and women. And still the same imperialist nations always hide behind their grandeur and their tinsel the bitter and harsh reality of an oppressed people.
As Regina has been the crossroads of trade, it has also been the trampled path of empires; time and again all the things that Reginans have paid and sweated for have been destroyed, not because of what we have done, but because of where we are. During the Sixth Frontier War, Reginans fought proudly with the Imperium, as their planet was laid waste. The people could fight, could sacrifice and die for the cause, but can they live with the moment that they were deserted, abandoned and cast aside? Imperialisms have been and are the cause of our greatest misfortunes. Crushed between two contending giants, our ships have been shouldered, our trade infringed - not for our crimes, but to "send a message" to the other side. And we have fared no better at the hands of the Zhodani. Pretending to be our friends, they fixed our pipes, and the water that ran within. They sought to "keep order" not only in our markets, but also in our hearts.
I, too, served the Imperium in my youth, until they had drained me of everything they considered useful and cast me aside. From those days on, I distrusted upper-class friends and "men of honor'. And I clung blindly to the humble men and women of my command who, without so much "honor" and without so many "titles" or "privileges", know how to risk their lives for a woman, for a leader, for a cause, for an ideal...or even a simple feeling from the heart. Those first great disappointments made me see my path clearly.
But more abominable than imperialism are the men of national oligarchies who give up, selling or sometimes giving away the happiness of their people for coins or for smiles. I have seen them up close, too. Before imperialism, I have felt nothing but hateful indignation, but before those who sell out their people, to hateful indignation I have added the boundless indignation of my disdain. I have heard them make excuses before my sarcasm. "There is nothing we can do." I've heard that often, in every version of the lie. A lie. Yes! A thousand lies! There is only one invincible thing on earth: the will of then people. There are no people on Regina that cannot be just, free, and sovereign.
Fanaticism is the only force that the higher power has given the heart to win its battles. It is the great strength of the people: the only one that its enemies do not have, because they have abolished from the world everything that smacks of the heart. That is why we will defeat them. They have money, privilege, hierarchy, power, and wealth ..., but they can never be fanatics...because they have no heart. We do. They cannot be idealists because ideas have their roots in intelligence, but ideals have their foundation in the heart. They cannot be fanatics because shadows cannot see themselves in the mirror of the sun. We must convince ourselves once and for all. The world will belong to the people if the people decide to ignite the sacred fire of our fanaticism, but igniting ourselves means burning, ignoring the siren of the mediocre, ignoring imbeciles who speak to us of prudence.
This is the people's time! Which is to say, this is Regina's time. The hours are numbered for every enemy of the people, as they are for imperialisms. In the people's time, the only thing compatible with the happiness of men will be the existence of just, sovereign and free worlds. And that will come to pass in this century. And even if at this point it sounds like a litany of my fanaticism, it will come to pass, "whoever may fall and whatever the cost".