User blog:Thewolvesden/Did It My Way - SSC

Did It My Way

By Andreas Martonosy





My name is Andrew McGuire. General Andrew McGuire. I am a general in the British army, and a proud Scotsman, and aged 79. But now, the end, my death, is near. Now I face the final curtain, the final breaths of my life. And my friend, I say it clear, I will state my case. I am very certain of it.

I have lived a full life. Full of squashing rebellions, a crisis, and now this war. My life has always revolved around keeping the peace. I have sailed on each and every ship of the UN. Aye, that I did.

I planned each charted course, each decision, each tiny little step in my life. How to defeat rebels, troublemakers and the sort of humans who destroy humanity’s peace. I planned even each step along the ships’ byways.

Aye, there were times when I bit off more than I could chew. I was too confident, especially as a young colonel. I’m sure you knew, my friend. But I managed to pass through it all, as evidenced by me dying now. When there was doubt, I ate the wrongs up and spat them out. I crushed the rebellious, the unjust, fighting against the troublemakers of this world. I faced it all, and I stood tall.

I have loved, yes. But I never founded a family, and you, my friend, are the only one who will inherit anything. I have nothing to leave behind except a story of a man devoted to his country, to his planet. Yet, I have laughed and cried as well. I am not inhuman after all. I’ve had my fill and my shares of losing.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.666666666666664px;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Regrets, I have a few. The execution of many Belters on Mathilda during their support of the independent factions beyond the Belt. The brutal Martian campaign. And many others. But then again, my friend, these are too few regrets to even mention. I did what I had to do for my country, and I did it without exemption. And now, as battle approaches, I find it all so amusing. To think that I did all that, and may I say, not in a shy way, my friend. Oh no, not me.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.666666666666664px;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">I’ve been criticized, called a monster, for what I did. But what is man? What has he got if not himself. If he has not himself, then he has nothing. Nothing, I say! He has the right to say the things he feels! I did that! And yet I am criticized. I didn’t, and won’t now, say the words of one who kneels! I fought for my country, my King and, most of all, my planet. Earth. And now, I stand here, aboard HMSV Thistle, and I prepare for battle, to take Elysium. The last rebel stronghold on Mars. It’s hopeless now. The Belt has been lost, and the enemy will reinforce. I only hope I die in honourable battle, my friend. I hope I can enter your realm, your paradise.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.666666666666664px;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">For I am Andrew McGuire, proud Scotsman, and I am facing the final curtain, the black emptiness of death.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.666666666666664px;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';color:#000000;font-weight:400;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">***

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"TimesNewRoman";font-size:16.6667px;font-weight:400;white-space:pre-wrap;text-align:justify;">This recording was found on the body of General Andrew McGuire, leader of the Martian Front. He was arrested following the surrender of the Martian forces and was the main target of the Willemstad Trials For Crimes Against the Human Subspecies (often shortened to the Willemstad Trials). He was tried to a life sentence in the Oranje Prison For Special Criminals, where he died not only one year after his imprisonment to old age. The original of the recording is kept in the Great Archive of Magnus Chrystostomos on Callisto.