Major Mercy
The fight back on Earth was long. And it was hard.

But we were fighting for our soul. To be something better than a vassal state for a pack of goddamn chickens.

Mercy recalls a hazy image of gunfire and war back home.

We were outgunned. We were outnumbered. But you know what? We were humanity.
They hadn't seen nothing like us in the whole galaxy. We're wily. We adapt. Used their shit against them. We weren't going down without a fight.

Bit by bit, we clawed back every inch they took from us. Beat them down and drove them out, every eye they took we took two, and then...

Avean ships blasted off once and for all and left Earth's atmosphere. Humanity stood triumphant.

One day they left. Packed their shit and got out. Gone. For good.

  Cliff Mason
Wha-- WHAT!? You--

  Major Mercy
Oh, yes, Cliff. The war's over.
You were in hyperspace transit when it happened. On your way out here. News never got to you, did it?

  Major Mercy
Let me be the first to tell you.
We did it, Cliff.
We proved to them, once and for all, we're way more trouble than we're worth.
We WON.


Mercy grits her teeth. Her claw clenches into a fist around the bottle.

  Major Mercy
And then.

They sent us

a parting gift.

A streak of light travelled through the vast expanse of space. The light reached Earth, blasting it apart like a bullet shot through an apple. Earth is gone. Earth has been gone for a long, long time.