Oliver's Army

Captain Oliver Chen stood at the helm of the starship "Attractions," his eyes fixed on the holographic display showing the countless colonial recruitment centers spanning the Outer Rim. The song that shared his name – an ancient melody from Earth's troubled past – played softly in his quarters, its cheerful tune masking its darker meaning just as it had nearly two centuries ago.

The military-industrial complex hadn't died; it had simply expanded to the stars. Instead of Northern Ireland, they now had the Proxima Colonies. Instead of checkpoint duty, they had orbital security stations. The faces changed, the uniforms evolved, but Oliver's Army marched on, now across the cosmic void.

"Career Information," flashed the neural feed in his cortical implant. Another batch of recruits, barely old enough to remember Earth, lined up for their chance to "see the galaxy." They called it opportunity; Oliver called it history repeating itself.

As he watched the endless stream of young faces flow through the processing centers, that centuries-old chorus echoed in his mind: "Oliver's Army is here to stay, Oliver's Army are on their way..." The irony wasn't lost on him – he had become part of the very system the song had once criticized, all while carrying the name that had become synonymous with military expansion.