If the person who told you what happened omitted the fact that we'd been at war for over thirty years, I don't know what to tell you. That was the point. Project Freelancer was a last-ditch attempt at finding a way to bring the war to a victorious close. And yes, things were close—I didn't know how close until after I had started the Project and was then allowed to see some of the intelligence coming from the front lines. And yes, it was that bad.