“Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free”.
President John A. Armitage’s words resonated around the silent House of Congress, his bespectacled countenance fiercely sweeping across the chamber. It had been six years of bloody conflict for the United States, with little to show for it than over two million casualties, and the assembled representatives were coming under increasing pressure from their constituents to obtain a peace with honour from what seemed a hopeless conflict with their unholy antagonists. Armitage himself had ascended to the Presidency on the back of his pledge to confront the League threat; now, as League armies stood poised in South America, the task before him was nothing less than desperate. Armitage gripped the lectern until his knuckles showed white; his grip on the podium was far stronger than his hold on power, which ever since those days of promise in late 1942 had been gradually eroded as the costs of a conflict an isolationist America had been forced into continued to rise. Armitage needed to rally them once more to the banner- some said he was consumed by the task of defeating the League- and he knew his failure would lead only to greater humiliation and bloodshed for the nation he cherished.
“Our nation has suffered grievously since the onset of war six long years ago. The sacrifices we have made in this bloody struggle are ones no nation should have to bear yet we have persevered, our resolve unshaken. We have shaken off countless blows, including the unleashing of a barbaric weapon against the capital of our nation and countless innocent inhabitants. My fellow Americans, I have seen the conflict we are engaged in, I have seen its cost, and I abhor it. Yet what is the alternative? Subjugation to an autocratic empire that has launched a relentless, unprovoked war of aggression against countless peaceful nations? We stand almost alone, accompanied by only a few steadfast allies, yet we are the last beacon of hope and liberty in a world growing dim in the twilight.
A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honours, the men it remembers. Let us remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation and now lie in foreign fields or waters; let us never forget. Let us honour them, the greatest generation of all, by taking up their banner and continuing their cause, making it our own. Let us persevere until we have avenged them, and defeated the same tyranny they gave everything to oppose. Our aim is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terrors, victory no matter how long and arduous the road; and we shall not fail or falter until we attain it.”
The House rose to its feet once more, thunderous applause unifying the normally bitterly divided and partisan group. Armitage stood before them, basking in their adoration for a few brief moments, before abruptly turning on his heel and striding back into the anteroom of the House chamber and heading to his temporary office in the bowels of the building. There he sank back into his chair, deep in thought, until a nameless staffer stuck his head round the door. “Sir? The Cabinet is here for the emergency meeting”. “Very well”, Armitage tiredly responded. “Show them in”.
President John A. Armitage’s words resonated around the silent House of Congress, his bespectacled countenance fiercely sweeping across the chamber. It had been six years of bloody conflict for the United States, with little to show for it than over two million casualties, and the assembled representatives were coming under increasing pressure from their constituents to obtain a peace with honour from what seemed a hopeless conflict with their unholy antagonists. Armitage himself had ascended to the Presidency on the back of his pledge to confront the League threat; now, as League armies stood poised in South America, the task before him was nothing less than desperate. Armitage gripped the lectern until his knuckles showed white; his grip on the podium was far stronger than his hold on power, which ever since those days of promise in late 1942 had been gradually eroded as the costs of a conflict an isolationist America had been forced into continued to rise. Armitage needed to rally them once more to the banner- some said he was consumed by the task of defeating the League- and he knew his failure would lead only to greater humiliation and bloodshed for the nation he cherished.
“Our nation has suffered grievously since the onset of war six long years ago. The sacrifices we have made in this bloody struggle are ones no nation should have to bear yet we have persevered, our resolve unshaken. We have shaken off countless blows, including the unleashing of a barbaric weapon against the capital of our nation and countless innocent inhabitants. My fellow Americans, I have seen the conflict we are engaged in, I have seen its cost, and I abhor it. Yet what is the alternative? Subjugation to an autocratic empire that has launched a relentless, unprovoked war of aggression against countless peaceful nations? We stand almost alone, accompanied by only a few steadfast allies, yet we are the last beacon of hope and liberty in a world growing dim in the twilight.
A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honours, the men it remembers. Let us remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation and now lie in foreign fields or waters; let us never forget. Let us honour them, the greatest generation of all, by taking up their banner and continuing their cause, making it our own. Let us persevere until we have avenged them, and defeated the same tyranny they gave everything to oppose. Our aim is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terrors, victory no matter how long and arduous the road; and we shall not fail or falter until we attain it.”
The House rose to its feet once more, thunderous applause unifying the normally bitterly divided and partisan group. Armitage stood before them, basking in their adoration for a few brief moments, before abruptly turning on his heel and striding back into the anteroom of the House chamber and heading to his temporary office in the bowels of the building. There he sank back into his chair, deep in thought, until a nameless staffer stuck his head round the door. “Sir? The Cabinet is here for the emergency meeting”. “Very well”, Armitage tiredly responded. “Show them in”.
