$W 17th $W February $W 2368
$W 32 $W days $W since $W the $W Great $W Exodus

$W Personal $W Log $W of $W Rear $W Admiral $W Victor $W Leibniz
$W Entry $W #01
$W EFD $W Redemption, $W Syndicate $W Exodus $W Fleet
$W Formerly $W of $W EFN $W Taskforce $W 33, $W 1st $W Gaian $W Fleet

My name is Victor Leibniz. I was born in Hamburg on January 23, 2312. My family pledged their loyalty to the authority ruling Earth –- humanity's homeworld...and mine. Earth gave me everything and I repaid her for her gifts as best as I could. For years, I have served as an officer of the Galactic Terran Alliance and the Earth Federated Nations. I remained loyal to the ideals of Earth through a lifetime of peril and triumph. 

When my superior officers died in the tragic Eighteen Days Bombardment of Mars, I accepted a promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral and took command of the EFD Redemption -- one of the first Talos-class destroyers. I became a member of the elite and prestigious 1st Gaian Fleet. I accomplished what thousands of skilled officers could only dream of. And now to this long list of titles and achievements, fate has added yet another. 

The Exiled Admiral. 

The crew of the Redemption believe this new moniker is the most honorable title I carry.

I was born in a noble family with a long military history. Every single Leibniz for the past four generations has dedicated themselves to public service, from administrative elected officials serving in Earth's government to soldiers in the famous Federate Galactic Terran Marine Corps to pilots and officers of the EFN Fleet Galactic Terran Navy. 

I inherited the twin virtues of honor and loyalty. They have cost me dearly, but never more than their worth. I lived by a code: serve well, command wisely, plan carefully, strike ruthlessly, cherish your victories, learn from your defeats...and most importantly, always move on.

To Admiral Walker and the other Federate officers, our role has always been simple. Here we stand, true sons of Earth, defenders of mankind, descendants of the united human authority that collapsed soon after we lost contact with our colonies. And there, beyond the Asteroid Belt, are Them. Rebels. Traitors. Terrorists. Outsiders. An infamous Syndicate whose leaders divided our beloved Solar System and sentenced it to decades of hostility and a cold war interrupted only by devastating conflicts. I have never doubted that their propaganda teaches them the exact opposite. 

I have long known that the truth, ever elusive, lies somewhere in the middle. 

I have spent countless hours studying humanity's military history. I have consumed hundreds of battle journals, political speeches, intelligence reports...and I couldn't help asking myself again and again: 

Why?

Why were we humans so divided? 

Lack of common leadership? The economic crisis? Political grandstanding? The primacy of corporate interests? Personal pettiness? All of these reasons have always existed. They are, perhaps, byproducts of the human condition. So many people have died, every day of our existence, for those reasons. Those are normal things. 

No one could have predicted that a colonial war, a conflict between a homeworld and its colonies would result in mankind, once united by a determination to reach the stars, being split into two different civilizations, both best defined by their hatred for each other. This was not a normal thing. 

We needed an apocalypse to remind us that we are all humans. This is what it took. 

The EFN was teetering on the brink of collapse when the Sathanas juggernauts appeared in Earth orbit. EFN Command was relocated to Luna and the remnants of our fleets were recalled in order to accomplish our only objective: defend Earth until the bitter end. The evacuation had barely started at all, thanks to the way we had trained ourselves to think. You must understand that to people of my generation, Earth was more than our home. She was our mother. We could not even conceive of a future without her. EFN Command, with all of their wisdom, couldn't imagine losing Earth until she was completely surrounded by the Shivan armada. 

My orders were simple: Alongside the EFD Augustus, jump in behind the SJ Mephistopheles. Distract it so our remaining bomber squadrons could take out as many of its beam cannons as possible. We were expendable. We were to delay Earth's bombardment by any means necessary and kill as many Shivans as possible. This was nothing like my father's definition of a careful and well-prepared attack. For the first time in my life, I received an order I could not follow. Rear Admiral Cantastroga of the EFD Augustus jumped with her battlegroup first, but she never saw the Redemption on the right flank of the Mephistopheles. 

I couldn't ignore the offer I received a few days earlier via unofficial channels. An offer made to me and many other Federate officers by Fleetmaster Caliphtys himself. By the enemy. By the infamous Butcher of Earth who betrayed us in the Secession War, which led to millions of deaths and the collapse of the old GTA. Whatever he was in the past, now he was a man who just gave us a chance to survive the apocalypse. 

I sent two sets of coordinates to our fleet. The first was near the Mephistopheles's flank. The second was to Jupiter orbit, where I took the Redemption as well as the Midwinter and the Carya, the frigates under my command. I gave every Federate commander a choice. Die in vain valiantly or live to fight another day. Two minutes later, Admiral Shiraz stripped me and all of my crew of our ranks and declared us traitors. Surprisingly, a few warships, such as the Iliaster, the Clannad and the Evanescence followed the Redemption, but not to destroy us. They chose to follow our path. 

Perhaps I did break all of the ideals that I believe in. That generations of my family have fought and died to preserve. But what if I am the first of them to encounter a rule that is against...I don't know. A will to live? Common sense? Reason?

The ideals of Earth and her armies are not a suicide pact. 

Why exactly did my comrades consider me a traitor? Because I wanted to give the people of the Redemption, the Midwinter and the Carya a chance to survive? Because I wanted to protect refugees from Earth and Mars? Our sacrifice might have given Earth a few hours at most. That's a few thousand, maybe tens of thousands more evacuated...but to where? I couldn't answer that question. No one from EFN Command ever managed to answer it. 

The Shivans are tireless and ruthless. They are not like my father told me. He described a species of monsters with one purpose -- to slaughter us all with rage and determination. But my old man was wrong. The Shivans are even worse than he said. They feel nothing when they act. They just...act with no remorse, no pity, and no mercy. 

The Shivans just move on. And we were just a pebble in a river, completely helpless to even slow its inevitable course.

Seasons change, the rain turns to snow, the winds blow east then west, the fish climb upstream and swim back downstream. But we are still just a pebble, and the river is always mighty. 

Now I'm here. Leading a bunch of Federate survivors. Stuck with people I long considered my worst enemies. I do not trust their insane Magistrates. I do not trust Fleetmaster Caliphtys, who hates dissent even more than he fears it. I do not trust Fleetmaster Raji, who speaks only of destiny, a higher purpose, and the “will of the Universe,” whatever that is. I do not trust anyone in the Syndicate...but I also admire their determination. I admire the unique community they created. And yes, I admire their virtues, so different than those of the Federation I devoted my life to, but the ones that keep them going. Our way of thinking brought doom to Earth and her people. Their way of thinking turned out to be superior. It allowed them to rescue so many. And now, like the Shivans, they move on. 

When I asked my fleet to make the jump to Jupiter, I had only that phrase on my mind. If we want to survive, we must become like them. We have to move on...and we have to do it sooner than later.

This concludes my personal log. I never expected to record one. I don't know whether there will be another entry. But in case I do not witness the end of our odyssey, I wish for the Fleet to find this. I wish for them to know my reasons. I wish for them to understand. I wish, most of all, that they are still wishing...that you are still wishing. 

This is Victor Leibniz, signing off. 
