Alex scoffed, shaking his head.
"Yeah well, I don't trust some aliens in shiny robes to fix our problems. We'll win this war on our own. I'm not going to sell my future just because they wave some magic cure to all of our problems in front of us."
His words hung in the air, stubborn despite finding out the consequences of his refusal.
Major General Lyndal stepped forward, and spoke in a low and strained voice.
"You think you're so righteous, don't you? You think you can just walk away from this without a second thought? You've doomed us all, Alex. You don't realise how badly this war is going for us!"
It was obvious she couldn't contain her anger.
Alex didn't flinch.
"Yeah well, we've been 'doomed' countless times before in our history. And look at us now, does it look like we're any worse off than we were back then?"
In the past, Alex would have hesitated in front of all these lofty figures.