[Rich is sitting on Obs Deck, his feet dangling over the edge of the platform, his expression thoughtful.]
I've been thinking about that myself. It's not like I've kept certain things a secret from anyone, but out of context, there's a lot I did during the war that'd look terrible.
And a lot from before where I looked like an idiot obsessed with making myself look good. [He shrugs and looks sheepish.] Which I was.
But I grew out of that, and it's the war that'll look the worst.
[He bites the inside of his cheek]
The long and short of it was I became a superhero when I was seventeen. Like a lot of heroes, I did a lot of good, but also screwed up a lot. That's just how it works. I definitely wasn't the worst out there, but I wasn't really anything special, either. [He rolls his eyes slightly, and grins.] There are three of you that I know will probably try to argue that, so let's not and just say we did.
[He loves his friends but they just do not let him wallow in his perceived mediocrity as much as he wants.]
A few years back, the intergalactic police force I was a part of got wiped out during a really terrible intergalactic war. This omnicidal maniac named Annihilus was trying to destroy all life in my home universe. I inherited the power of all the Novas that had died, and somehow -- to this day I'm not even sure how it happened -- I wound up the head general of the resistance against him.
It was a no holds barred, Starship Troopers kinda thing. Billions died. Whole planets were wiped out. And it wasn't exactly the kind of war you could win by following the Geneva conventions. Our side never hurt innocent civilians -- we tried to protect as many worlds as we could -- but when it came to fighting the enemy we did what we had to do.
We didn't take prisoners, and I authorized things that, on Earth, would get a military leader tried for war crimes. But after I saw entire worlds filled with innocent people cut down, I'll be damned if I let anyone tell me it wasn't the right thing to do. You can't win a war like that by following rules of engagement your enemy has no respect for.
So, that's everything, I guess. I'm sure the people of the UP will twist that up, but I checked up on the history here: the UP's never faced a threat quite like that.
And I hope they never do.
The closest they had was the Roboticans, while they were being controlled, and that was still smaller scale.
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I've been thinking about that myself. It's not like I've kept certain things a secret from anyone, but out of context, there's a lot I did during the war that'd look terrible.
And a lot from before where I looked like an idiot obsessed with making myself look good. [He shrugs and looks sheepish.] Which I was.
But I grew out of that, and it's the war that'll look the worst.
[He bites the inside of his cheek]
The long and short of it was I became a superhero when I was seventeen. Like a lot of heroes, I did a lot of good, but also screwed up a lot. That's just how it works. I definitely wasn't the worst out there, but I wasn't really anything special, either. [He rolls his eyes slightly, and grins.] There are three of you that I know will probably try to argue that, so let's not and just say we did.
[He loves his friends but they just do not let him wallow in his perceived mediocrity as much as he wants.]
A few years back, the intergalactic police force I was a part of got wiped out during a really terrible intergalactic war. This omnicidal maniac named Annihilus was trying to destroy all life in my home universe. I inherited the power of all the Novas that had died, and somehow -- to this day I'm not even sure how it happened -- I wound up the head general of the resistance against him.
It was a no holds barred, Starship Troopers kinda thing. Billions died. Whole planets were wiped out. And it wasn't exactly the kind of war you could win by following the Geneva conventions. Our side never hurt innocent civilians -- we tried to protect as many worlds as we could -- but when it came to fighting the enemy we did what we had to do.
We didn't take prisoners, and I authorized things that, on Earth, would get a military leader tried for war crimes. But after I saw entire worlds filled with innocent people cut down, I'll be damned if I let anyone tell me it wasn't the right thing to do. You can't win a war like that by following rules of engagement your enemy has no respect for.
So, that's everything, I guess. I'm sure the people of the UP will twist that up, but I checked up on the history here: the UP's never faced a threat quite like that.
And I hope they never do.
The closest they had was the Roboticans, while they were being controlled, and that was still smaller scale.