spacedragonblue
Feb 25, 2005, 04:06 PM
*Note- although not based on a real game, I have included elements of some of my games in this story. Thank you. :)
THE ALLIANCE WAR
CH.1- New Allies, New Enemies
Prime Minister Xerxes sat, furious, with a man who seemed very uninterested in diplomacy considering his position as the ruler of a world power. He was, in fact, meeting the cold, hard gaze of the malicious, cold hearted dictator of the Arabian Empire. Xerxes shuddered just thinking about how times had changed for this part of the world. He sincerely hoped today’s meeting would help to ease the mounting diplomatic tensions.
Up until a few years ago the men who represented Arabia were the Caliphs, a deeply religious, generally placid benevolent line of rulers. Like any dynasty, they did have a few upstart brigands who engaged the country in minor wars, but they were quickly deposed, and Arabia never really had a sizable army anyway. All of that changed rapidly, however, about five years ago. It was then that, in a vicious coup, the ruling line was killed by a young general named Ali Bakara, assisted by rouge elements of the military. Every single religious person was killed on the basis that citizens must only owe allegiance to their government, and having a strong belief in any religion could conflict with that. And so, within a year of taking power, the new authoritarian government had the blood of thousands on their hands.
Those who escaped the killings fled to the more liberal republics of Greece, Persia, Korea and Iroquois in the west, while the equally brutal regime to the north of Arabia, Sumeria, not only closed their border but possibly assisted in the killings. This was the first indication of a widening rift between the smaller, richer, more advanced nations of the western lands with the larger, more productive and much more highly militarized nations of the east.
The sole exception to this, however, was the United Islands of the Byzantine Archipelago. Although originally a peaceful nation, the Byzantines had become aggressive when they ran out of islands to colonize. They then led several failed attempts to invade Korea, Iroquois and the Persian coast, but were beat back due to the lack of scientific knowledge that comes with being an isolationist country. These decisive military defeats left them a bitter state without nearby friends
The world situation, however, really approached crisis mode about two months ago when Arabia, Sumeria and the Byzantine Archipelago signed the Facist alliance treaty. The treaty not only acted as a mutual protection pact, but included trade agreements that effectively cut off all trade between this new alliance and the rest of the world. The effects were felt from the Persian capital of Susa’s famous stock exchange all the way down to the agoras in rural Greece. Cut off from the resources that they had depended on, Russia and Greece had to drastically raise their budgets to buy Persian aluminum, Korean rubber and Iroquois oil, while in those countries the economy slumped without the profitable trade they had in delivering continental products to the Byzantines in return for exotic gems and silks.
Xerxes brushed the mental recap out of his head and tried to concentrate on the task at had. Choosing his words carefully, he cleared his throat and began to speak.
“Well, Mr. Bakara, as you must know, I asked to speak with you in regards to the “Facist Aliiance” you have recently formed. Although you know my county’s stand on such modes of government, I doubt you care. However, we do wish to negotiate the trade sanctions you are enforcing. They alone are almost considered an act of war. Therefore, we are willing to make certain concessions if you lift them. Most notably, Persia will grant semi-autonomy to some of the Sumerian dominated provinces in the north. Also, Greece will help crackdown on the Lake Corinth smuggling rings, Russia is willing to grant mining rights for parts of the Trans-Russian mountains and,” (here Xerxes sighed heavily, because it took two weeks of meetings in Salamanca to arrange this last item, but it was the thing the Byzantines wanted the most), “The Iroquois are willing to relinquish their holdings on the isle of Sardica to Byzantium.”
Ali Bakara spoke in the thick, harsh brogue that indicated that he grew up in one the infamously wretched slums of Damascus, the largest city in northern Arabia and one of the poorest areas of the East. He kept his eyes locked on Xerxes, as if he was looking straight into the man’s soul.
“That sounds not even mildly intriguing, Xerxes. I have to wonder how nations as weak as the ones you are representing can be so cheap. We will stop only if you give us everything listed on this paper” Xerxes was handed the document by one of the Arabian aids.
“Lets see. We the undersigned, mmm, yes, um...,” As he read on, Xerxes eventually became quiet, then opened his mouth in shock, and when he finally started to speak he found himself struggling to contain his voice “WHAT SORT OF FOOL DO YOU TAKE ME FOR, BAKARA? DO YOU REALLY THINK ANY SANE NATION WOULD RELINQUISH ALL RESOURCES, ONE THIRD OF THEIR TERRITORY AND AGREE TO CUT THEIR MILITARY STRENGHTH BY 25%? I REFUSE ALL POINTS OF THIS TREATY!!!”
“Really? Well then, there is nothing left to discuss. I’m afraid will just settle this conflict militarily. Consider yourself, and every other non-allied country, at war with the Facist alliance. I would kill you, but I also will find it infinitely more pleasurable to know that you will witness your country fall to ruin. Don’t worry, you won’t have long to wait. Good day."
And so within the space of ten minutes, the one continent left in the world that had remained relatively stable descended into what would surely be a conflict for the history books.
-The following map was a quick job on Paint, that i stupidly started as a bitmap and then converted to jpeg, but I felt you needed SOMETHING! The lines into others' territory indicate (future) incursions. Sorry for the mess. :crazyeye:
THE ALLIANCE WAR
CH.1- New Allies, New Enemies
Prime Minister Xerxes sat, furious, with a man who seemed very uninterested in diplomacy considering his position as the ruler of a world power. He was, in fact, meeting the cold, hard gaze of the malicious, cold hearted dictator of the Arabian Empire. Xerxes shuddered just thinking about how times had changed for this part of the world. He sincerely hoped today’s meeting would help to ease the mounting diplomatic tensions.
Up until a few years ago the men who represented Arabia were the Caliphs, a deeply religious, generally placid benevolent line of rulers. Like any dynasty, they did have a few upstart brigands who engaged the country in minor wars, but they were quickly deposed, and Arabia never really had a sizable army anyway. All of that changed rapidly, however, about five years ago. It was then that, in a vicious coup, the ruling line was killed by a young general named Ali Bakara, assisted by rouge elements of the military. Every single religious person was killed on the basis that citizens must only owe allegiance to their government, and having a strong belief in any religion could conflict with that. And so, within a year of taking power, the new authoritarian government had the blood of thousands on their hands.
Those who escaped the killings fled to the more liberal republics of Greece, Persia, Korea and Iroquois in the west, while the equally brutal regime to the north of Arabia, Sumeria, not only closed their border but possibly assisted in the killings. This was the first indication of a widening rift between the smaller, richer, more advanced nations of the western lands with the larger, more productive and much more highly militarized nations of the east.
The sole exception to this, however, was the United Islands of the Byzantine Archipelago. Although originally a peaceful nation, the Byzantines had become aggressive when they ran out of islands to colonize. They then led several failed attempts to invade Korea, Iroquois and the Persian coast, but were beat back due to the lack of scientific knowledge that comes with being an isolationist country. These decisive military defeats left them a bitter state without nearby friends
The world situation, however, really approached crisis mode about two months ago when Arabia, Sumeria and the Byzantine Archipelago signed the Facist alliance treaty. The treaty not only acted as a mutual protection pact, but included trade agreements that effectively cut off all trade between this new alliance and the rest of the world. The effects were felt from the Persian capital of Susa’s famous stock exchange all the way down to the agoras in rural Greece. Cut off from the resources that they had depended on, Russia and Greece had to drastically raise their budgets to buy Persian aluminum, Korean rubber and Iroquois oil, while in those countries the economy slumped without the profitable trade they had in delivering continental products to the Byzantines in return for exotic gems and silks.
Xerxes brushed the mental recap out of his head and tried to concentrate on the task at had. Choosing his words carefully, he cleared his throat and began to speak.
“Well, Mr. Bakara, as you must know, I asked to speak with you in regards to the “Facist Aliiance” you have recently formed. Although you know my county’s stand on such modes of government, I doubt you care. However, we do wish to negotiate the trade sanctions you are enforcing. They alone are almost considered an act of war. Therefore, we are willing to make certain concessions if you lift them. Most notably, Persia will grant semi-autonomy to some of the Sumerian dominated provinces in the north. Also, Greece will help crackdown on the Lake Corinth smuggling rings, Russia is willing to grant mining rights for parts of the Trans-Russian mountains and,” (here Xerxes sighed heavily, because it took two weeks of meetings in Salamanca to arrange this last item, but it was the thing the Byzantines wanted the most), “The Iroquois are willing to relinquish their holdings on the isle of Sardica to Byzantium.”
Ali Bakara spoke in the thick, harsh brogue that indicated that he grew up in one the infamously wretched slums of Damascus, the largest city in northern Arabia and one of the poorest areas of the East. He kept his eyes locked on Xerxes, as if he was looking straight into the man’s soul.
“That sounds not even mildly intriguing, Xerxes. I have to wonder how nations as weak as the ones you are representing can be so cheap. We will stop only if you give us everything listed on this paper” Xerxes was handed the document by one of the Arabian aids.
“Lets see. We the undersigned, mmm, yes, um...,” As he read on, Xerxes eventually became quiet, then opened his mouth in shock, and when he finally started to speak he found himself struggling to contain his voice “WHAT SORT OF FOOL DO YOU TAKE ME FOR, BAKARA? DO YOU REALLY THINK ANY SANE NATION WOULD RELINQUISH ALL RESOURCES, ONE THIRD OF THEIR TERRITORY AND AGREE TO CUT THEIR MILITARY STRENGHTH BY 25%? I REFUSE ALL POINTS OF THIS TREATY!!!”
“Really? Well then, there is nothing left to discuss. I’m afraid will just settle this conflict militarily. Consider yourself, and every other non-allied country, at war with the Facist alliance. I would kill you, but I also will find it infinitely more pleasurable to know that you will witness your country fall to ruin. Don’t worry, you won’t have long to wait. Good day."
And so within the space of ten minutes, the one continent left in the world that had remained relatively stable descended into what would surely be a conflict for the history books.
-The following map was a quick job on Paint, that i stupidly started as a bitmap and then converted to jpeg, but I felt you needed SOMETHING! The lines into others' territory indicate (future) incursions. Sorry for the mess. :crazyeye: