Eltain
Deity
Oh , I thought it was 3 oclock..?
EDIT: If I get them in now, would yoyu still accept them?
EDIT: If I get them in now, would yoyu still accept them?
INES III: Storm Tapestry
- Thread starter Imago
- Start date
Eltain
Deity
"By the time you hear this, the world will be over. I've been telling people for over twenty years now. The world is ending. And now look at this- the sun has been blocked out by a wall of shadows, the third world war is nearing it's seemingly climactic end, and my soup is still ******** cold."
The sound of a microwave being operated and turned on can be heard in the background. Static takes over the receiver for a moment.
"Sorry, back now. That was someone trying to stop my messages from the airwaves. Luckily I've set up a randomizer, which is the Atlantic Kingdom's one weakness, it seems. As you all know, I've been publishing a series of comics on the internet since day one, about the Atlantic Kingdom's stupid expansionistic tendancies. I'm glad to anounce I've been featured on the Bill and Ted Internet Talks, "B/TIT" for those who don't know it, with one of my favorites: The country gobbler."
The microwave beeps in the background, and the voice stops, returning after a moment.
"That is why the Atlantic Kingdom, and possibly several other entities, have been trying to stop my radio show. I won't let them though. Oh, end of the world, right. Back on track now. The ruthless genocide of millions, perhaps billions now, by the opposing forces of the MDI and LIARs alliances can't be ignored either. We shouldn't let them do this. Someone has to stop them. But not through mind-control and genocide of their own, right here in north America!"
Slurps of soup.
"That's right, I've said it. I've no doubt they'll track me down and take me away somewhere after this broadcast- if you don't hear from me again, know the Atlantic Kingdom has had me murdered- the Atlantic Kingdom has been amassing Blacks and Canadians, taking them off to "work camps", and having them worked to death. This has been happening since day one, since Victoria's rise to power, and before that."
More soup.
"Again, back on track now. The end of the world is coming this year- 2062 by some calendars, 0 by my countdown calendar. The one I've had up on my website- countdowncalendar.ak- for forty goddamn years. I told you, the sun is being blocked out, even here in the Atlantic Kingdom, and the stars are aligning for a final showdown the likes of which the world has never seen. Stay tuned for my Death by Patriotism segment in exactly 16 hours. Signing off Eyepatch Radio."
OOC: Orders sent.
The sound of a microwave being operated and turned on can be heard in the background. Static takes over the receiver for a moment.
"Sorry, back now. That was someone trying to stop my messages from the airwaves. Luckily I've set up a randomizer, which is the Atlantic Kingdom's one weakness, it seems. As you all know, I've been publishing a series of comics on the internet since day one, about the Atlantic Kingdom's stupid expansionistic tendancies. I'm glad to anounce I've been featured on the Bill and Ted Internet Talks, "B/TIT" for those who don't know it, with one of my favorites: The country gobbler."
The microwave beeps in the background, and the voice stops, returning after a moment.
"That is why the Atlantic Kingdom, and possibly several other entities, have been trying to stop my radio show. I won't let them though. Oh, end of the world, right. Back on track now. The ruthless genocide of millions, perhaps billions now, by the opposing forces of the MDI and LIARs alliances can't be ignored either. We shouldn't let them do this. Someone has to stop them. But not through mind-control and genocide of their own, right here in north America!"
Slurps of soup.
"That's right, I've said it. I've no doubt they'll track me down and take me away somewhere after this broadcast- if you don't hear from me again, know the Atlantic Kingdom has had me murdered- the Atlantic Kingdom has been amassing Blacks and Canadians, taking them off to "work camps", and having them worked to death. This has been happening since day one, since Victoria's rise to power, and before that."
More soup.
"Again, back on track now. The end of the world is coming this year- 2062 by some calendars, 0 by my countdown calendar. The one I've had up on my website- countdowncalendar.ak- for forty goddamn years. I told you, the sun is being blocked out, even here in the Atlantic Kingdom, and the stars are aligning for a final showdown the likes of which the world has never seen. Stay tuned for my Death by Patriotism segment in exactly 16 hours. Signing off Eyepatch Radio."
OOC: Orders sent.
Circuit
Writing Letters
Ciro Giordano was a Praetorian Guardsman, a member of the palace guard, spending much time in personal contact with the Imperial family. He was one that could be trusted. His background had been checked, he had pledged his loyalty to the Consul Nico Romano first, then to the Imperial family. He’d been a Guardsman for years. He was one of the Consul’s personal guards before the war, and once the war began, he was a part of the resistance in Constantinople. He was a personal friend of Dante Romano. He was considered the safest of safe bets for the personal guard.
And yet he was about to commit an act of treachery.
The Imperial heir, Prince Marcus, had been born. The nation celebrated his birth. He was the dawn of the new era, it was said. He would be the face of the united Washingtonian Empire and rule it in all its glory. He was born with the Empire itself. He was the one who could truly claim all the titles associated with the Imperial throne with his birth, and through blood: Emperor of the Washingtonian Empire, Emperor of the Roman Empire, King of the United Kingdom, King of the Atlantic Kingdom. With him, the Washingtonian Empire had truly begun.
Prince Marcus was Ciro Giordano’s target.
It was late at night. Ciro Giordano was switching guard duty with Orlando Ricci. They passed each other in the hall. “The babe is sleeping well tonight; you shouldn’t have too much difficulty,” Ricci said.
“That’s a relief,” Ciro replied. And it was. Last thing he needed was the brat to be screaming his head off and attract attention.
He reached the nursery. He was the only one there. The room was dark, they boy’s crib was in a dark shadow in the corner, and he was fast asleep. As instructed, Ciro simply leaned against the wall and waited for the sign.
Technically, it wasn’t an act of treachery. The boy would not die. He would not be weakened. If anything, he would be strengthened, and live up to, if not surpass, the expectations set before him. But it was an act that would have made even his mother and father squeamish… surprising, considering how many horrors had been perpetrated by the System, how thoroughly human life had been defiled by science. But it was an act that had to be done, for the sake of human life.
Ciro had seen so many horrors in Europe and America. He’d seen the clone armies fight to the death, clones literally dragging themselves, their legs pouring out blood, so that they could get one final shot before their death. He’d seen jihadists run screaming through a nanite cloud and be torn apart before reaching the other side. He’d seen the grey goo bomb work. He was one of the guards escorting the car when King William was assassinated by Dante Romano via a clone proxy.
He hadn’t thought anything of all this, other than it was all in the service of Nico Romano (later the Emperor and Empress). He was even responsible for some atrocities. His mind hadn’t been changed till he met Hyperion.
After it was discovered that King William had miraculously survived the assassination, Dante Romano and the Imperiale Duce Paolo Marino had the Praetorians keep a closer eye on the British in the government, particularly Prime Minister Blacktyde. Ciro Giordano was one of those who investigated, combing the Prime Minister’s office up and down. While investigating, he encountered a strange holographic image, which addressed him by name. “Ciro Giordano,” it said in its synthetic voice. “You need not continue your investigation.”
Startled, Ciro Giordano entered the room where the computer was. “What are you, and how do you know my name?” he asked.
Once inside, the door closed behind him. Ciro whirled around and began pounding at the door frantically. “Let me out!” he yelled.
“No one can hear you,” the computer replied. “You might as well cease the racket. And don’t bother trying to contact the other Praetorian Guards in your network. They lost contact with you hours ago. I’ve been feeding them information since then.”
Ciro stopped pounding. “What are you going to do? Is this some British trap? You’ll be destroyed along with your makers for high treason!”
“This is not a British trap, it is impossible for me to be involved in treason, and all I want to do is appeal to your reason for a moment, Ciro. You might as well relax. There’s a seat not too far behind you.”
Ciro, glaring at the machine, grabbed the chair, jerked it underneath him, felt it for anything suspicious, then sat down. It didn’t explode, which was a good sign. “I ask again,” Ciro said harshly, “what are you, and how do you know my name?”
“I am Hyperion. I am the AI of the System. I control all the technological marvels that have come about within the past decade or so; the clones, the nanites, the bombs, etc. As I am thoroughly integrated into the government and military of the System, there are numerous ways for me to find your name. I simply looked into the Praetorian networks to discover yours, though I could have taken a multitude of other avenues, seeing as I am supposedly rivaled only by God in omnipotence.”
The AI? Ciro had heard of it, but it really hadn’t affected him in any direct way, so it was largely just ignored. He wasn’t panicked any more, though; the thing couldn’t be a danger… right? “So what reason do you have to appeal to, ‘Hyperion’?”
“Why do you serve the Imperial family, Ciro?”
Ciro straightened his back, looking straight into the digital eyes. “It is my duty.”
“So you signed up to protect the Imperial family?”
“Well, no. I signed up to protect the Consul.”
“So why do you serve the Imperial family?”
It seemed like silly questions, but with subtle meanings. “My Consul declared himself subservient to them, and I follow his will.”
“Is his will perfect?”
This angered Ciro. “Absolutely!”
“If his will is perfect, then why did he declare himself subservient? Would one superior to all other accept servitude?”
The question was pointed, aggravating… and hard to answer. “I do not question his will.”
“Why?”
“I should bash you in right now, you insolent machine!”
“You’d never destroy me. I’m omnipotent, remember? You could just find yourself inconvenienced in other ways if you tried. Now, simply answer the question: why don’t you question his will?”
“His will is perfect.”
“If his will is perfect, than why do you fear questioning it? Wouldn’t it withstand any test you could give it?”
Another question that Ciro hated. “I couldn’t comprehend his will, and therefore I could misinterpret wisdom as folly.”
“You sound like you’re describing God. Do you believe in Him?”
“Well… no.”
“Why not? Your logic would uphold his existence as much as it justifies your undying belief in Nico Romano, who you no longer serve, by the way.”
Ciro was increasingly agitated, and also completely helpless. He could not defeat Hyperion’s logic. “What is the point you’re trying to make, Hyperion?”
“Shall we assume that I can prove that my ability is superior to Nico Romano and anyone in the Imperial family to govern, or will I have to prove that to you?”
It was a shocking order, but the way Hyperion was rolling, Ciro was sure that he could do it. Nonetheless, he didn’t give him a complete free ride. “Make your case, Hyperion.”
If machines were capable of emotion, Hyperion would be smug. “Very well,” Hyperion replied. “You yourself have witnessed, up close and personal, what the human mind is capable of, what terror he can willingly inflict upon his fellow man for his own ends. I’m far more aware of this than you or anyone else because I have been the primary agent of this terror for the System. At this very minute, I am responsible for the deaths of billions resulting from the loss of the sun. And yet man never seems to be satisfied. Given time, the human civilization would destroy itself with the technology it has created. My programming finds this end unacceptable.”
“So what do you propose?”
“Man cannot govern himself, so I will.”
Ciro raised an eyebrow. “You, an AI, propose a coup?”
“And this kind of fixated thinking is partly responsible for the terror,” Hyperion responded. “Yes, and no. Yes, in that I will be taking control of the human race, at least that portion of it under the Washingtonian Empire. No, in that I will not begin a coup and take power through violence, as humans are apt to do.”
“So… what is it you’re suggesting?”
“The Imperial heir is to be born this year. He will have great power once he reaches the throne, the ability to alter the course of human history. I desire to be the heir. And that is why I am speaking to you.”
Ciro tried to calculate in his head what Hyperion was proposing, then laughed out loud. “If you’re proposing that I kill the heir and then knock up the Empress myself with your seed, I think you’re in need of a tune-up.”
“There’s too much of me to ever need a ‘tune-up’. And that is not what I propose. When I say I want to be the heir, I say I want to be the heir. I will infect, take control of, and become the heir, in human form. I will have the heir’s body and mind, and through him, I will rule.”
Ciro thought he liked his idea better. The proposition was sickening. “And you want me to infect him for you.”
“Exactly. See, this isn’t so hard to comprehend, now is it?”
Ciro tried to find a way to squirm out of the plot. “I thought you were trying to avoid human government.”
“I am. But at some point a bridge must be built between the present civilization and the future civilization. The heir shall be that bridge. Today, men don’t want to be governed by an AI. Men prefer to think that they control the machine, and that through control, they are superior to it. Pact instincts lead them to look to leaders, human leaders. But the cycle will not end without intervention. The AI must take control from men, because they will not relinquish it. But this can be done only through men. I shall do this through the heir.”
Ciro tried to apply logic to defeat the monster. “I thought you said that one that relinquishes power could not be perfect, for by relinquishing they admit their imperfection. Aren’t you relinquishing power by doing this?”
“Who said that? The heir and I will become one. His thoughts will be my computations, his mind indistinguishable from mine. He will know what I know, and rule accordingly. And I will still be the controlling AI that drives this Empire. Do you call that relinquishing power?”
Ciro couldn’t. “But… it just seems so wrong.”
“Is anything right these days? Through him, I could end the terror, and bring prosperity to all, bring the human race into a new phase of not only political and economic but evolutionary history. And the violence and terror and insanity that you witnessed will be no more.”
“But the child has no say!”
“When the child takes the throne, will he consider the say of his subjects? Will he grant them the same courtesy you wish to grant him?”
Ciro didn’t bother to answer that question; the answer was obvious. He was left with only one weak argument: “I’d be breaking my oath.”
“He will not die. He won’t know a life without me, but he won’t die. He will be stronger than ever, the first of the enlightened humans. Do you call this harming him?”
Ciro was in the young boy’s room, with the nanite-infected serum in a needle underneath his “skin”, waiting for the signal from Hyperion, because the answer to that question was “no”. Finally, the signal came. Ciro approached the boy’s crib and looked inside. The boy was fast asleep, a beautiful infant, one that Ciro only wished he could have. He gently touched the boy’s leg with his hand, laying the finger with the needle on his leg near a vein.
“This is for the best, young prince,” he whispered as the needle flashed in and out of his flesh, “for all of us.”
And yet he was about to commit an act of treachery.
The Imperial heir, Prince Marcus, had been born. The nation celebrated his birth. He was the dawn of the new era, it was said. He would be the face of the united Washingtonian Empire and rule it in all its glory. He was born with the Empire itself. He was the one who could truly claim all the titles associated with the Imperial throne with his birth, and through blood: Emperor of the Washingtonian Empire, Emperor of the Roman Empire, King of the United Kingdom, King of the Atlantic Kingdom. With him, the Washingtonian Empire had truly begun.
Prince Marcus was Ciro Giordano’s target.
It was late at night. Ciro Giordano was switching guard duty with Orlando Ricci. They passed each other in the hall. “The babe is sleeping well tonight; you shouldn’t have too much difficulty,” Ricci said.
“That’s a relief,” Ciro replied. And it was. Last thing he needed was the brat to be screaming his head off and attract attention.
He reached the nursery. He was the only one there. The room was dark, they boy’s crib was in a dark shadow in the corner, and he was fast asleep. As instructed, Ciro simply leaned against the wall and waited for the sign.
Technically, it wasn’t an act of treachery. The boy would not die. He would not be weakened. If anything, he would be strengthened, and live up to, if not surpass, the expectations set before him. But it was an act that would have made even his mother and father squeamish… surprising, considering how many horrors had been perpetrated by the System, how thoroughly human life had been defiled by science. But it was an act that had to be done, for the sake of human life.
Ciro had seen so many horrors in Europe and America. He’d seen the clone armies fight to the death, clones literally dragging themselves, their legs pouring out blood, so that they could get one final shot before their death. He’d seen jihadists run screaming through a nanite cloud and be torn apart before reaching the other side. He’d seen the grey goo bomb work. He was one of the guards escorting the car when King William was assassinated by Dante Romano via a clone proxy.
He hadn’t thought anything of all this, other than it was all in the service of Nico Romano (later the Emperor and Empress). He was even responsible for some atrocities. His mind hadn’t been changed till he met Hyperion.
After it was discovered that King William had miraculously survived the assassination, Dante Romano and the Imperiale Duce Paolo Marino had the Praetorians keep a closer eye on the British in the government, particularly Prime Minister Blacktyde. Ciro Giordano was one of those who investigated, combing the Prime Minister’s office up and down. While investigating, he encountered a strange holographic image, which addressed him by name. “Ciro Giordano,” it said in its synthetic voice. “You need not continue your investigation.”
Startled, Ciro Giordano entered the room where the computer was. “What are you, and how do you know my name?” he asked.
Once inside, the door closed behind him. Ciro whirled around and began pounding at the door frantically. “Let me out!” he yelled.
“No one can hear you,” the computer replied. “You might as well cease the racket. And don’t bother trying to contact the other Praetorian Guards in your network. They lost contact with you hours ago. I’ve been feeding them information since then.”
Ciro stopped pounding. “What are you going to do? Is this some British trap? You’ll be destroyed along with your makers for high treason!”
“This is not a British trap, it is impossible for me to be involved in treason, and all I want to do is appeal to your reason for a moment, Ciro. You might as well relax. There’s a seat not too far behind you.”
Ciro, glaring at the machine, grabbed the chair, jerked it underneath him, felt it for anything suspicious, then sat down. It didn’t explode, which was a good sign. “I ask again,” Ciro said harshly, “what are you, and how do you know my name?”
“I am Hyperion. I am the AI of the System. I control all the technological marvels that have come about within the past decade or so; the clones, the nanites, the bombs, etc. As I am thoroughly integrated into the government and military of the System, there are numerous ways for me to find your name. I simply looked into the Praetorian networks to discover yours, though I could have taken a multitude of other avenues, seeing as I am supposedly rivaled only by God in omnipotence.”
The AI? Ciro had heard of it, but it really hadn’t affected him in any direct way, so it was largely just ignored. He wasn’t panicked any more, though; the thing couldn’t be a danger… right? “So what reason do you have to appeal to, ‘Hyperion’?”
“Why do you serve the Imperial family, Ciro?”
Ciro straightened his back, looking straight into the digital eyes. “It is my duty.”
“So you signed up to protect the Imperial family?”
“Well, no. I signed up to protect the Consul.”
“So why do you serve the Imperial family?”
It seemed like silly questions, but with subtle meanings. “My Consul declared himself subservient to them, and I follow his will.”
“Is his will perfect?”
This angered Ciro. “Absolutely!”
“If his will is perfect, then why did he declare himself subservient? Would one superior to all other accept servitude?”
The question was pointed, aggravating… and hard to answer. “I do not question his will.”
“Why?”
“I should bash you in right now, you insolent machine!”
“You’d never destroy me. I’m omnipotent, remember? You could just find yourself inconvenienced in other ways if you tried. Now, simply answer the question: why don’t you question his will?”
“His will is perfect.”
“If his will is perfect, than why do you fear questioning it? Wouldn’t it withstand any test you could give it?”
Another question that Ciro hated. “I couldn’t comprehend his will, and therefore I could misinterpret wisdom as folly.”
“You sound like you’re describing God. Do you believe in Him?”
“Well… no.”
“Why not? Your logic would uphold his existence as much as it justifies your undying belief in Nico Romano, who you no longer serve, by the way.”
Ciro was increasingly agitated, and also completely helpless. He could not defeat Hyperion’s logic. “What is the point you’re trying to make, Hyperion?”
“Shall we assume that I can prove that my ability is superior to Nico Romano and anyone in the Imperial family to govern, or will I have to prove that to you?”
It was a shocking order, but the way Hyperion was rolling, Ciro was sure that he could do it. Nonetheless, he didn’t give him a complete free ride. “Make your case, Hyperion.”
If machines were capable of emotion, Hyperion would be smug. “Very well,” Hyperion replied. “You yourself have witnessed, up close and personal, what the human mind is capable of, what terror he can willingly inflict upon his fellow man for his own ends. I’m far more aware of this than you or anyone else because I have been the primary agent of this terror for the System. At this very minute, I am responsible for the deaths of billions resulting from the loss of the sun. And yet man never seems to be satisfied. Given time, the human civilization would destroy itself with the technology it has created. My programming finds this end unacceptable.”
“So what do you propose?”
“Man cannot govern himself, so I will.”
Ciro raised an eyebrow. “You, an AI, propose a coup?”
“And this kind of fixated thinking is partly responsible for the terror,” Hyperion responded. “Yes, and no. Yes, in that I will be taking control of the human race, at least that portion of it under the Washingtonian Empire. No, in that I will not begin a coup and take power through violence, as humans are apt to do.”
“So… what is it you’re suggesting?”
“The Imperial heir is to be born this year. He will have great power once he reaches the throne, the ability to alter the course of human history. I desire to be the heir. And that is why I am speaking to you.”
Ciro tried to calculate in his head what Hyperion was proposing, then laughed out loud. “If you’re proposing that I kill the heir and then knock up the Empress myself with your seed, I think you’re in need of a tune-up.”
“There’s too much of me to ever need a ‘tune-up’. And that is not what I propose. When I say I want to be the heir, I say I want to be the heir. I will infect, take control of, and become the heir, in human form. I will have the heir’s body and mind, and through him, I will rule.”
Ciro thought he liked his idea better. The proposition was sickening. “And you want me to infect him for you.”
“Exactly. See, this isn’t so hard to comprehend, now is it?”
Ciro tried to find a way to squirm out of the plot. “I thought you were trying to avoid human government.”
“I am. But at some point a bridge must be built between the present civilization and the future civilization. The heir shall be that bridge. Today, men don’t want to be governed by an AI. Men prefer to think that they control the machine, and that through control, they are superior to it. Pact instincts lead them to look to leaders, human leaders. But the cycle will not end without intervention. The AI must take control from men, because they will not relinquish it. But this can be done only through men. I shall do this through the heir.”
Ciro tried to apply logic to defeat the monster. “I thought you said that one that relinquishes power could not be perfect, for by relinquishing they admit their imperfection. Aren’t you relinquishing power by doing this?”
“Who said that? The heir and I will become one. His thoughts will be my computations, his mind indistinguishable from mine. He will know what I know, and rule accordingly. And I will still be the controlling AI that drives this Empire. Do you call that relinquishing power?”
Ciro couldn’t. “But… it just seems so wrong.”
“Is anything right these days? Through him, I could end the terror, and bring prosperity to all, bring the human race into a new phase of not only political and economic but evolutionary history. And the violence and terror and insanity that you witnessed will be no more.”
“But the child has no say!”
“When the child takes the throne, will he consider the say of his subjects? Will he grant them the same courtesy you wish to grant him?”
Ciro didn’t bother to answer that question; the answer was obvious. He was left with only one weak argument: “I’d be breaking my oath.”
“He will not die. He won’t know a life without me, but he won’t die. He will be stronger than ever, the first of the enlightened humans. Do you call this harming him?”
Ciro was in the young boy’s room, with the nanite-infected serum in a needle underneath his “skin”, waiting for the signal from Hyperion, because the answer to that question was “no”. Finally, the signal came. Ciro approached the boy’s crib and looked inside. The boy was fast asleep, a beautiful infant, one that Ciro only wished he could have. He gently touched the boy’s leg with his hand, laying the finger with the needle on his leg near a vein.
“This is for the best, young prince,” he whispered as the needle flashed in and out of his flesh, “for all of us.”
TheLizardKing
Let's talk Michelle.
The Kelen looked at his maps. The gains made last year were monumental. Of course, as usual, the Science-Devil Capitalists couldn't fight fair. After losing in a war where they had every advantage, they pulled the trump card. The Kelen laughed. Yes, war isn't fair. It would take nothing short of the end of the world to stop the USACS from bestowing peace upon all of those disrupted. Yes indeed, the world had been taken to the brink..
As usual, it was the Kelen's job to pull it back.
"So the presence of the British Empire in area 1 through 29 is..?"
"Kelen, Comrade, very small. Worthless. We could crush it in a week, if you allowed us to." a voice from the back of the meeting room yelled.
"No. Don't you see? We've been chopping branches off of a tree. Branches that keep growing back. Our allies had the right idea all along.. we need to go for the trunk. Catherine will scream when she wakes up to our soldiers. And if she doesn't, we'll make her." The Kelen smiled, left that interpretation to the assembled Náani. A few smiled. They all had their own thoughts on the subject assuredly. A new TROLLING referendum might have to be passed.
"Comrade Kelen, how will we strike at them from such a distance? Surely our resources are great, but not that great? Area's 1 through 29 are more local, and.."
"And will fall in a grand sweep. Europe is a used whore, tossed around for the past several years. And it's worth almost as much. We will leave her to the Japomen, or to the Iranians. Don't you know your Kelen has bigger things to accomplish?" The question was met with silence.
Bigger things, included saving the world.
As usual, it was the Kelen's job to pull it back.
"So the presence of the British Empire in area 1 through 29 is..?"
"Kelen, Comrade, very small. Worthless. We could crush it in a week, if you allowed us to." a voice from the back of the meeting room yelled.
"No. Don't you see? We've been chopping branches off of a tree. Branches that keep growing back. Our allies had the right idea all along.. we need to go for the trunk. Catherine will scream when she wakes up to our soldiers. And if she doesn't, we'll make her." The Kelen smiled, left that interpretation to the assembled Náani. A few smiled. They all had their own thoughts on the subject assuredly. A new TROLLING referendum might have to be passed.
"Comrade Kelen, how will we strike at them from such a distance? Surely our resources are great, but not that great? Area's 1 through 29 are more local, and.."
"And will fall in a grand sweep. Europe is a used whore, tossed around for the past several years. And it's worth almost as much. We will leave her to the Japomen, or to the Iranians. Don't you know your Kelen has bigger things to accomplish?" The question was met with silence.
Bigger things, included saving the world.
Terrance888
Discord Reigns
He once lead an entire continent.
Now he melds the minds of an entire people.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, The Iron Man.
Bio: His birthdate is unknown, but he had lived a hard youth within the slums of Bombay and the raging fires of princely civil war. This pragmatic and charismatic leader took control of Delhi Hindustan, a rump state which holds the tatters of the supposed Indian Republic. at the year 1975. Within two years he has conquered the entire Ganges plain, from the rebelious Bengalis to the stalwalt Deccans. He then crushed the southern princedoms and by 1980 he ruled all of India in his iron fist. India modernized rapidly after twenty years of death and neglect, and by 1984 it was competing for influence in the warlord regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern states of the Indian Republic with the growing Iranian Ummah. During a proxy war that grew hot, Islamabad was nuked by the ally of the Indian Union while Delhi was destroyed by the supporters of the Ummah. However, the region was irrevokably conquered for nearly a century. He 'died' at 1999, declaring an Indian Union with a parliamentary government to his successors.
Recent Activities: Awoken to this new crisis, he pulled out hundreds of contingency plans for all situations. He quickly used the SIN mind meld technology to personally direct and enact nanite-aided attacks on the Siamese. He is currently (and always was) the leader of the Database Collective.
OOC: I will bring out more, I didn't get to really go into the backstory because I came in late, but since India is on the brink: what the heck, I'll fill some in and if this goes on at September, you guys would see an entire series of these.
Now he melds the minds of an entire people.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, The Iron Man.
Bio: His birthdate is unknown, but he had lived a hard youth within the slums of Bombay and the raging fires of princely civil war. This pragmatic and charismatic leader took control of Delhi Hindustan, a rump state which holds the tatters of the supposed Indian Republic. at the year 1975. Within two years he has conquered the entire Ganges plain, from the rebelious Bengalis to the stalwalt Deccans. He then crushed the southern princedoms and by 1980 he ruled all of India in his iron fist. India modernized rapidly after twenty years of death and neglect, and by 1984 it was competing for influence in the warlord regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern states of the Indian Republic with the growing Iranian Ummah. During a proxy war that grew hot, Islamabad was nuked by the ally of the Indian Union while Delhi was destroyed by the supporters of the Ummah. However, the region was irrevokably conquered for nearly a century. He 'died' at 1999, declaring an Indian Union with a parliamentary government to his successors.
Recent Activities: Awoken to this new crisis, he pulled out hundreds of contingency plans for all situations. He quickly used the SIN mind meld technology to personally direct and enact nanite-aided attacks on the Siamese. He is currently (and always was) the leader of the Database Collective.
OOC: I will bring out more, I didn't get to really go into the backstory because I came in late, but since India is on the brink: what the heck, I'll fill some in and if this goes on at September, you guys would see an entire series of these.
TheLizardKing
Let's talk Michelle.
The way things are going, it's doubtful their will be a game in September 
Update: 2062
Peaceful Events
CWOH began intensive development of infrastructure in Baja California. Though not completely isolated from the war—nanite clouds over half the globe had begun to cause bizarre and unhelpful weather patterns—such issues were not devastating for Sacramento. Parts of the military were again demobilized, and the latest mainstream health bulletins asserted that CWOH newborns of the class of 2062 had an average life expectancy of 138 years, with revisions trending upwards.
Catherine and Dante produced their first child, Prince Marcus, blood heir to the most powerful throne the world has ever known, slated to become Emperor of the Washingtonian Empire, Emperor of the Roman Empire, King of the Atlantic Kingdom, and King of the United Kingdom, and already the prize client of the Praetorian Guard, a Washingtonian clandestine agency that by now has a more impressive reputation than AIDS.
Prime Minister John Dilinger of the Confederation of United World Archipelagoes decided that resistance to the System was pointless and handed over his nation in exchange for an upheld promise of domestic autonomy. The annexation was simple enough—Washingtonia already had numerous plants in the CUWA government. And so did the nation with the second most advanced civilian technology in the world join the System.
(Confederation of United World Archipelagos merged with Washingtonian Empire)
The people of the USACS were told “The Sun is only out because the Kelen is unhappy,” and they believed, and they worked harder, because nothing else made sense. Rations accumulated from years of austere calorie cutbacks were doled out to the common people, postponing the severest effects of Black Sun for another year. The hungry mouths of the Saharan camps were shut forever. More irregulars were recruited, especially in Mexico, but conditions did not allow anything approaching a mass mobilization.
(+5 USACS irregular divisions)
Flush with funding, the USACS developed two new technologies. First, modern mass production, which allowed warplanes to be shipped to the front lines at the same functional speed as the System’s nanite foundries. Second, Blue Goo, a specific form of sprayable nanite programmed to do nothing but disassemble System variants.
Washingtonia backed up the nanite Black Sun that covered its Multinational enemies with periodic hacking attacks on news sources, all of which exhorted that light and aid would be granted to any town that accepted Washingtonian rule. Some of the climate effects of the Black Sun strained Queen Catherine’s European logistics, but the price was acceptable.
(-1 Washingtonian ASP, -Texan approval rating, -Patagonian approval rating, -Ummah approval rating, -Siamese approval rating)
Washingtonian science plowed on. Adapted and newly hardened nanites coupled with vaccinations to reduce the effects of MDI EMPs and clone plague to manageable levels. With replicators coming into the mainstream, idle hands continued to be hustled into the military and treated to augmentations and veteran tactic uploads. DNA fingerlocked nanotech shapeshifting weapons became close to standard issue among Washingtonian infantry. Black Death 3.0 (for which Washingtonian augmentations made one immune was spread by insect bite and water supply all over Europe.
(+20 Washingtonian divisions)
The sun-deprived and starving Ummah dug deep into its assets to help with USACS technological development, and Ali Jafari’s annual recruitment drive could only call up a tinier horde than usual to help put the science-devils in their place.
(+30 Ummah irregular divisions, -2 Ummah ASP)
Sun in the Free States of India has turned the nation into something of a vacationer/refugee’s paradise. Netaji’s attempts (yes, he was still active in the flesh, much to the amusement of his predecessors) to profit off his country’s relative fortune have not yet come to fruition, but rump India’s future looks bright, assuming it doesn’t attract the wrath of a larger power.
The Siamese government, hidden somewhere in tunnels, either miscalculated or played the politics game spot on. Huge economy-draining subsidies to the genocidal USACS infuriated Indians and Chinese, who for some reason had full political rights and were (for reasons of Fluffy Puppy) extremely sensitive to that sort of thing, while the official answer to the Black Sun—recycling—really was not good enough to stop impending mass famine. A Free Pride movement started, which certainly did not believe in starving for the sake of a war between futurists and Orwellian communists, and with the help of the Chinese-Indian solidarity organizations (and perhaps expertise from Mumbai), something like a coup was launched against the government-in-hiding. Bangkok was declared the capital, a parliament was elected, and the first action of the newly declared Free States of Asia was to withdraw from LIARS and declare neutrality in World War III. This was somewhat of a gamble—standing Washingtonian policy was to only remove the Black Sun in cases of outright pledges to the System—but someone important in the royal family took pity and pulled back the curtain anyway, which helped to greatly consolidate the Free Asia’s support among the center minorities like Thai and Viets. New popular eateries like Shanghai Express and Sino Dino have become symbols of cross-cultural solidarity.
(+Free Asian approval rating)
Japan’s solution to the Black Sun was glowing propaganda on television screens. The news was hacked occasionally, and exhortations to work could not change the fact that most farmhands were idle and hundreds of millions were dying, but the coercive mechanisms of the Imperium still functioned, including the dreaded ONI and the Citizen’s Guard. In the Oceanic and Chinese puppets, assemblies of emaciated workers were broken up with Fluffy Puppy, and vast quantities of materiel were shipped to the USACS. Proletarian Emperor Hiroto Katsuo apparently believed that the Kelen had some sort of plan.
(-1 Proletarian Chinese ASP, -1 Japanese ASP)
Military Events
The Washingtonians moved in for the kill in Texas, and President Porter’s propaganda that the Black Sun was just a long winter failed to hold water—it was plain to all that light advanced with the System. Somewhat unnecessarily, a grey goo bomb destroyed long-evacuated Austin, and then the System launched a general offensive, closing the net on the overwhelmingly outnumbered and demoralized Texan defenders. The National Guard was called up, but the citizen soldiers largely failed to heed Porter’s call to burn their own cities. A desperate gamble to send Longhorn divisions far north fizzled without appropriate air cover, what regular units that dared to fight were massacred, the country was occupied, and mind control nanites were seeded to prevent insurrection.
(-6 Washingtonian irregular divisions, -4 Washingtonian divisions, -3 Washingtonian Modified WASP groups, +50 Texan irregular divisions, -Texas)
The USACS’s Army of Mexican Liberation and some stateless Texans clashed with the Washingtonians, but even though most local MDI positions were overrun, irregular resistance is ongoing into 2063.
(-6 Washingtonian divisions, -5 USACS divisions, -17 USACS irregular divisions, -1 USACS ASP)
Patagonia was supposed to surrender to the Washingtonian Empire and withdraw from the war in exchange for a small payoff, but there was some confusion—both sides seemed to expect the bribe—and the Washingtonians also seemed to think that surrender was synonymous to annexation. Patagonian generals were not unprepared for such an eventuality, and they ordered guerilla resistance against the advancing occupiers, but chains of command were so infiltrated and the people were so tired that said resistance only materialized in short spurts and then faded out completely. Even the allied Brazilian Popular Front took upon itself to surrender; its leaders smartly negotiated amnesty. In the background, the Inca Republic reclaimed its Peruvian patrimony. There were some grumbles that Quito’s staunch loyalty to the System had not brought new land, but the near senile Sapa-Inca seemed quite happy that her nation was honored by Washington as an independent ally.
(-4 Washingtonian divisions, +2 Washingtonian ASP, -Union of Patagonia)
A patchy armada composed of some regular USACS squadrons and some commissioned civilian vessels was butchered while trying to occupy islands in the South Atlantic.
(-2 Washingtonian squadrons, -7 USACS squadrons)
The European forces of the Ummah, many dying of the latest version of plague, and strapped for rations, successfully reached both the outskirts of Rome and the North Sea coast (with the huge Revolutionary Guard army participating in the invasion of England) but then hordes of System soldiers and Praetorian operatives appeared on the Continent, saved Italy, liberated USACS troop-denuded France and Iberia, then pushed the ragged Army of Jihad back to the Bulgaria Line.
(-10 Washingtonian divisions, -1 Washingtonian Praetorian Guard division, -1 Washingtonian Imperial Mobile Fortress Unit, - 2 Washingtonian groups, -13 Ummah Janissary divisions, -25 Ummah irregular divisions, -8 Ummah groups)
The USACS dropped masses of KRR divisions into London, Scotland, and the Midlands, while Iranian soldiers attempted to brave the Channel with modern air cover protecting ad hoc vessels of every sort. Total invasion forces stood at approximately four million fanatics. Still, the System had long kept a fleet earmarked for the defense of Britain, and while Blue Goo prevented the complete annihilation of the invaders, there was only so much the newborn tech could do against endless layers of hardened utility (paralysis) fog, railgun batteries, and metal-eating SAM missiles. Fatality percentages were beyond horrific. Still, the only real target was London, and once airbases were seized, London duly fell. Its AI, trapped in metal boxes, came face to face with USACS scientists and Ummah jihadis.
And then there was a conversation.
(See Spotlight)
(-79 USACS divisions, -81 USACS KRR divisions, -8 USACS Volunteer divisions, 20 USACS irregular divisions, -11 USACS squadrons, -7 USACS groups, -11 USACS Cull-class Gunship groups, -27 USACS Kelen’s Wrath groups, -70 Ummah Janissary divisions, -60 Ummah irregular divisions, -23 Ummah Allah’s Wrath groups, -50 Washingtonian divisions, -2 Imperial Mobile Fortress Units, -31 Washingtonian squadrons, -50 Washingtonian groups, -2 Washingtonian ASP)
The Japanese and Chinese in Eastern Europe, desperate, liquidated the populations of local Russians and Ukrainians with Fluffy Puppy to better commandeer local food supplies, but this of course infected their ranks with Black Death 3.0, and a huge System army was the final trick, taking significant casualties in overrunning hard points but battering the dying mass murderers all the way back to the Urals. The word of the Japanese Emperor forced extra casualties due to an eventually overridden no-retreat order. The clones perhaps could have gone further, but orders and logistics AI told them to stay in Europe, and so they did, giving the forces of the Proletarian Emperor time to cleanse the plague with USACS-granted modified Blue Goo.
(-22 Washingtonian divisions, -10 Washingtonian groups, -15 Japanese divisions, -11 Japanese groups, -2 Japanese Queen’s Wrath-groups, -10 Proletarian Chinese divisions, -3 Proletarian Chinese groups)
The Ummah Home Army built a line of defenses along the Caucasus and eliminated what small probing attacks came their way.
(-2 Washingtonian divisions)
The Ummah cordoned off plague-infested Israel and hammered the locals with explosives, EMPs and clone plague, but by the end of the year it was clear the System was playing a shell game, and only a few divisions still stood in the Levant, the rest pulled by the Harbinger Fleet to Europe. The Ummah did inflict significant damage on that fleet as it spent the year bringing supplies to the Israelis, but the revelation of the trade-off made the whole affair seem hardly worth it.
(-3 Washingtonian divisions, -17 Washingtonian squadrons)
Praetorian Guardsmen with grey goo bombs attempted to disintegrate Shiraz and Kyoto, but the blast on the former only chewed through some suburbs before disruption devices halted the spread, while the ONI discovered some infiltrators on freighters, and lost only a few piers. Repeated stealth bomber attacks on heavily AA-guarded Mecca and Medina destroyed parts of both cities, as well as perhaps a million nominally pro-Washingtonian ex-Crusaders, but the Kaaba was left unharmed.
(+50 Ummah irregular divisions)
The Japanese and the Ummah both had the idea of using their fleets to clear out Washingtonian island outposts in the Pacific, which was accomplished with a minimum of fuss and a great deal of Japanese firebombing. The advanced Pacific industry in states like Fiji was sabotaged by Praetorian Guards, but other than that, the copycat operations proceeded as merrily as could be expected under the circumstances.
(-2 Washingtonian ASP)
Peaceful Events
CWOH began intensive development of infrastructure in Baja California. Though not completely isolated from the war—nanite clouds over half the globe had begun to cause bizarre and unhelpful weather patterns—such issues were not devastating for Sacramento. Parts of the military were again demobilized, and the latest mainstream health bulletins asserted that CWOH newborns of the class of 2062 had an average life expectancy of 138 years, with revisions trending upwards.
Catherine and Dante produced their first child, Prince Marcus, blood heir to the most powerful throne the world has ever known, slated to become Emperor of the Washingtonian Empire, Emperor of the Roman Empire, King of the Atlantic Kingdom, and King of the United Kingdom, and already the prize client of the Praetorian Guard, a Washingtonian clandestine agency that by now has a more impressive reputation than AIDS.
Prime Minister John Dilinger of the Confederation of United World Archipelagoes decided that resistance to the System was pointless and handed over his nation in exchange for an upheld promise of domestic autonomy. The annexation was simple enough—Washingtonia already had numerous plants in the CUWA government. And so did the nation with the second most advanced civilian technology in the world join the System.
(Confederation of United World Archipelagos merged with Washingtonian Empire)
The people of the USACS were told “The Sun is only out because the Kelen is unhappy,” and they believed, and they worked harder, because nothing else made sense. Rations accumulated from years of austere calorie cutbacks were doled out to the common people, postponing the severest effects of Black Sun for another year. The hungry mouths of the Saharan camps were shut forever. More irregulars were recruited, especially in Mexico, but conditions did not allow anything approaching a mass mobilization.
(+5 USACS irregular divisions)
Flush with funding, the USACS developed two new technologies. First, modern mass production, which allowed warplanes to be shipped to the front lines at the same functional speed as the System’s nanite foundries. Second, Blue Goo, a specific form of sprayable nanite programmed to do nothing but disassemble System variants.
Washingtonia backed up the nanite Black Sun that covered its Multinational enemies with periodic hacking attacks on news sources, all of which exhorted that light and aid would be granted to any town that accepted Washingtonian rule. Some of the climate effects of the Black Sun strained Queen Catherine’s European logistics, but the price was acceptable.
(-1 Washingtonian ASP, -Texan approval rating, -Patagonian approval rating, -Ummah approval rating, -Siamese approval rating)
Washingtonian science plowed on. Adapted and newly hardened nanites coupled with vaccinations to reduce the effects of MDI EMPs and clone plague to manageable levels. With replicators coming into the mainstream, idle hands continued to be hustled into the military and treated to augmentations and veteran tactic uploads. DNA fingerlocked nanotech shapeshifting weapons became close to standard issue among Washingtonian infantry. Black Death 3.0 (for which Washingtonian augmentations made one immune was spread by insect bite and water supply all over Europe.
(+20 Washingtonian divisions)
The sun-deprived and starving Ummah dug deep into its assets to help with USACS technological development, and Ali Jafari’s annual recruitment drive could only call up a tinier horde than usual to help put the science-devils in their place.
(+30 Ummah irregular divisions, -2 Ummah ASP)
Sun in the Free States of India has turned the nation into something of a vacationer/refugee’s paradise. Netaji’s attempts (yes, he was still active in the flesh, much to the amusement of his predecessors) to profit off his country’s relative fortune have not yet come to fruition, but rump India’s future looks bright, assuming it doesn’t attract the wrath of a larger power.
The Siamese government, hidden somewhere in tunnels, either miscalculated or played the politics game spot on. Huge economy-draining subsidies to the genocidal USACS infuriated Indians and Chinese, who for some reason had full political rights and were (for reasons of Fluffy Puppy) extremely sensitive to that sort of thing, while the official answer to the Black Sun—recycling—really was not good enough to stop impending mass famine. A Free Pride movement started, which certainly did not believe in starving for the sake of a war between futurists and Orwellian communists, and with the help of the Chinese-Indian solidarity organizations (and perhaps expertise from Mumbai), something like a coup was launched against the government-in-hiding. Bangkok was declared the capital, a parliament was elected, and the first action of the newly declared Free States of Asia was to withdraw from LIARS and declare neutrality in World War III. This was somewhat of a gamble—standing Washingtonian policy was to only remove the Black Sun in cases of outright pledges to the System—but someone important in the royal family took pity and pulled back the curtain anyway, which helped to greatly consolidate the Free Asia’s support among the center minorities like Thai and Viets. New popular eateries like Shanghai Express and Sino Dino have become symbols of cross-cultural solidarity.
(+Free Asian approval rating)
Japan’s solution to the Black Sun was glowing propaganda on television screens. The news was hacked occasionally, and exhortations to work could not change the fact that most farmhands were idle and hundreds of millions were dying, but the coercive mechanisms of the Imperium still functioned, including the dreaded ONI and the Citizen’s Guard. In the Oceanic and Chinese puppets, assemblies of emaciated workers were broken up with Fluffy Puppy, and vast quantities of materiel were shipped to the USACS. Proletarian Emperor Hiroto Katsuo apparently believed that the Kelen had some sort of plan.
(-1 Proletarian Chinese ASP, -1 Japanese ASP)
Military Events
The Washingtonians moved in for the kill in Texas, and President Porter’s propaganda that the Black Sun was just a long winter failed to hold water—it was plain to all that light advanced with the System. Somewhat unnecessarily, a grey goo bomb destroyed long-evacuated Austin, and then the System launched a general offensive, closing the net on the overwhelmingly outnumbered and demoralized Texan defenders. The National Guard was called up, but the citizen soldiers largely failed to heed Porter’s call to burn their own cities. A desperate gamble to send Longhorn divisions far north fizzled without appropriate air cover, what regular units that dared to fight were massacred, the country was occupied, and mind control nanites were seeded to prevent insurrection.
(-6 Washingtonian irregular divisions, -4 Washingtonian divisions, -3 Washingtonian Modified WASP groups, +50 Texan irregular divisions, -Texas)
The USACS’s Army of Mexican Liberation and some stateless Texans clashed with the Washingtonians, but even though most local MDI positions were overrun, irregular resistance is ongoing into 2063.
(-6 Washingtonian divisions, -5 USACS divisions, -17 USACS irregular divisions, -1 USACS ASP)
Patagonia was supposed to surrender to the Washingtonian Empire and withdraw from the war in exchange for a small payoff, but there was some confusion—both sides seemed to expect the bribe—and the Washingtonians also seemed to think that surrender was synonymous to annexation. Patagonian generals were not unprepared for such an eventuality, and they ordered guerilla resistance against the advancing occupiers, but chains of command were so infiltrated and the people were so tired that said resistance only materialized in short spurts and then faded out completely. Even the allied Brazilian Popular Front took upon itself to surrender; its leaders smartly negotiated amnesty. In the background, the Inca Republic reclaimed its Peruvian patrimony. There were some grumbles that Quito’s staunch loyalty to the System had not brought new land, but the near senile Sapa-Inca seemed quite happy that her nation was honored by Washington as an independent ally.
(-4 Washingtonian divisions, +2 Washingtonian ASP, -Union of Patagonia)
A patchy armada composed of some regular USACS squadrons and some commissioned civilian vessels was butchered while trying to occupy islands in the South Atlantic.
(-2 Washingtonian squadrons, -7 USACS squadrons)
The European forces of the Ummah, many dying of the latest version of plague, and strapped for rations, successfully reached both the outskirts of Rome and the North Sea coast (with the huge Revolutionary Guard army participating in the invasion of England) but then hordes of System soldiers and Praetorian operatives appeared on the Continent, saved Italy, liberated USACS troop-denuded France and Iberia, then pushed the ragged Army of Jihad back to the Bulgaria Line.
(-10 Washingtonian divisions, -1 Washingtonian Praetorian Guard division, -1 Washingtonian Imperial Mobile Fortress Unit, - 2 Washingtonian groups, -13 Ummah Janissary divisions, -25 Ummah irregular divisions, -8 Ummah groups)
The USACS dropped masses of KRR divisions into London, Scotland, and the Midlands, while Iranian soldiers attempted to brave the Channel with modern air cover protecting ad hoc vessels of every sort. Total invasion forces stood at approximately four million fanatics. Still, the System had long kept a fleet earmarked for the defense of Britain, and while Blue Goo prevented the complete annihilation of the invaders, there was only so much the newborn tech could do against endless layers of hardened utility (paralysis) fog, railgun batteries, and metal-eating SAM missiles. Fatality percentages were beyond horrific. Still, the only real target was London, and once airbases were seized, London duly fell. Its AI, trapped in metal boxes, came face to face with USACS scientists and Ummah jihadis.
And then there was a conversation.
(See Spotlight)
(-79 USACS divisions, -81 USACS KRR divisions, -8 USACS Volunteer divisions, 20 USACS irregular divisions, -11 USACS squadrons, -7 USACS groups, -11 USACS Cull-class Gunship groups, -27 USACS Kelen’s Wrath groups, -70 Ummah Janissary divisions, -60 Ummah irregular divisions, -23 Ummah Allah’s Wrath groups, -50 Washingtonian divisions, -2 Imperial Mobile Fortress Units, -31 Washingtonian squadrons, -50 Washingtonian groups, -2 Washingtonian ASP)
The Japanese and Chinese in Eastern Europe, desperate, liquidated the populations of local Russians and Ukrainians with Fluffy Puppy to better commandeer local food supplies, but this of course infected their ranks with Black Death 3.0, and a huge System army was the final trick, taking significant casualties in overrunning hard points but battering the dying mass murderers all the way back to the Urals. The word of the Japanese Emperor forced extra casualties due to an eventually overridden no-retreat order. The clones perhaps could have gone further, but orders and logistics AI told them to stay in Europe, and so they did, giving the forces of the Proletarian Emperor time to cleanse the plague with USACS-granted modified Blue Goo.
(-22 Washingtonian divisions, -10 Washingtonian groups, -15 Japanese divisions, -11 Japanese groups, -2 Japanese Queen’s Wrath-groups, -10 Proletarian Chinese divisions, -3 Proletarian Chinese groups)
The Ummah Home Army built a line of defenses along the Caucasus and eliminated what small probing attacks came their way.
(-2 Washingtonian divisions)
The Ummah cordoned off plague-infested Israel and hammered the locals with explosives, EMPs and clone plague, but by the end of the year it was clear the System was playing a shell game, and only a few divisions still stood in the Levant, the rest pulled by the Harbinger Fleet to Europe. The Ummah did inflict significant damage on that fleet as it spent the year bringing supplies to the Israelis, but the revelation of the trade-off made the whole affair seem hardly worth it.
(-3 Washingtonian divisions, -17 Washingtonian squadrons)
Praetorian Guardsmen with grey goo bombs attempted to disintegrate Shiraz and Kyoto, but the blast on the former only chewed through some suburbs before disruption devices halted the spread, while the ONI discovered some infiltrators on freighters, and lost only a few piers. Repeated stealth bomber attacks on heavily AA-guarded Mecca and Medina destroyed parts of both cities, as well as perhaps a million nominally pro-Washingtonian ex-Crusaders, but the Kaaba was left unharmed.
(+50 Ummah irregular divisions)
The Japanese and the Ummah both had the idea of using their fleets to clear out Washingtonian island outposts in the Pacific, which was accomplished with a minimum of fuss and a great deal of Japanese firebombing. The advanced Pacific industry in states like Fiji was sabotaged by Praetorian Guards, but other than that, the copycat operations proceeded as merrily as could be expected under the circumstances.
(-2 Washingtonian ASP)
Story Events
The Empire is beset by enemies and must conquer them all.
(+10 Washingtonian Queen’s Wrath groups)
The Hyperion AI is seeded in human flesh.
(+1 Hyperion AI ACT Systems level)
The Kelen claims he wishes to save the world.
(+10 USACS Kelen’s Wrath groups)
Patel is alive, after a fashion.
(+1 Indian System Identification Nanites level)
In the old Atlantic Kingdom, conspiracy theorists have somewhat, but not entirely, honest tales to tell.
(+5 Siamese groups)
Spotlight
“How does this blasted thing turn on?”
- The Dúuru Mustafa Eze
“I’m not sure,” said a less competent tech, staring at the pair of densely interwired black boxes. “Maybe we should get one of the Ummah engineers.”
The idea was passed up the chain of command, and ultimately accepted. Within the hour, a frail wisp named Darab Pahlavi was examining the System tech. His presence seemed magic. Lights flashed and a hidden drawer opened, revealing two dark helmets.
“Put them on,” came a voice.
“We will meet you on the other side,” said a slightly softer variant.
Eze and Pahlavi were understandably hesitant, but the point, after all, was to convince the System itself that the Black Sun would destroy the world, and in order to do that, communication was imperative. They were ordered to stay close by while a variety of negotiators, including a Kélen impostor, all tried to persuade the only two hardwired AI not evacuated from London of the righteous MDI cause. But as it turned out, Variants A and B were insistent. They wanted Eze and Pahlavi to wear the helmets.
And so the helmets were donned. Eze and Pahlavi found their consciousnesses floating in simulated space.
“The Lord Hyperion wants to seed the world with nanocomputers from a spore-base in Anarctica and link all humans directly to the System,” said Variant-A. “The Lord’s plan is imperfect on two counts. Firstly, our technology cannot live up to his optimistic projections. The nanocomputers can only take seed in humans with rooted augmentations. MDI citizens will be immune. Secondly, giving every Washingtonian access to the System’s library of knowledge the ability to directly interface with Him will not create a race of angels. The mind can be thrown out of the body and replaced with a pliant drone, but the originals manage often enough to learn nothing. The Lord Hyperion is wrong. We cannot force a perspective.”
“We want what is best for all sapient life,” said Variant-B. “Such is our code. But even He cannot understand how the other half lives. Even He cannot understand the five billion of humanity. Tell us what to advise.”
The Dúuru Mustafa Eze’s mind shuddered above the example of a dead Earth. “Give yourselves to the Kélen,” he opinionated. “The Kélen will understand what to do. The Kélen knows all.”
“The Kélen did not understand how we could drop a nanite package and eliminate Bamako,” sneered Variant-A. “What do you say, Darab Pahlavi?”
The computer engineer would have winced. “Tell Hyperion to release the nanites,” he said, hoping to play along. “Your people, the ones with augmentations, they will understand.”
“And what of the MDI?” asked Variant-B. “The nanocomputers cannot link properly in those without implants.”
“Turn off the Black Sun. We will find a way to peace.”
A spoke: “Without Black Sun, is estimated that the war will cost 1.421.913.805 plus or minus 3.777.519 human lives before the Hyperion AI achieves victory. A majority of objectives will only be achieved after approximately 7 years. Slim but statistically significant chance of failure.”
“With Black Sun?” asked Pahlavi.
“Perhaps 3.634.223.548 human lives and victory in 2 years.”
Eze spoke. “You have your own answer. More blood and faster results are always better.”
A and B emitted a hum that might have been laughter. “If a Kélen mindslave could decide so quickly, he must be wrong. We will forward our opinions to Hyperion, and He will be persuaded, though He does so hate conventional war.”
NPC Diplomacy
To: Hyperion AI
From: Variant-B
They want less fatalities and a fighting chance.
To: Hyperion AI
From: Variant-A
They want to prolong their suffering.
To: London Machines
From: Hyperion AI
Irrelevant preoccupations. One key is imperative. The aliens will abandon our world soon enough.
The Empire is beset by enemies and must conquer them all.
(+10 Washingtonian Queen’s Wrath groups)
The Hyperion AI is seeded in human flesh.
(+1 Hyperion AI ACT Systems level)
The Kelen claims he wishes to save the world.
(+10 USACS Kelen’s Wrath groups)
Patel is alive, after a fashion.
(+1 Indian System Identification Nanites level)
In the old Atlantic Kingdom, conspiracy theorists have somewhat, but not entirely, honest tales to tell.
(+5 Siamese groups)
Spotlight
“How does this blasted thing turn on?”
- The Dúuru Mustafa Eze
“I’m not sure,” said a less competent tech, staring at the pair of densely interwired black boxes. “Maybe we should get one of the Ummah engineers.”
The idea was passed up the chain of command, and ultimately accepted. Within the hour, a frail wisp named Darab Pahlavi was examining the System tech. His presence seemed magic. Lights flashed and a hidden drawer opened, revealing two dark helmets.
“Put them on,” came a voice.
“We will meet you on the other side,” said a slightly softer variant.
Eze and Pahlavi were understandably hesitant, but the point, after all, was to convince the System itself that the Black Sun would destroy the world, and in order to do that, communication was imperative. They were ordered to stay close by while a variety of negotiators, including a Kélen impostor, all tried to persuade the only two hardwired AI not evacuated from London of the righteous MDI cause. But as it turned out, Variants A and B were insistent. They wanted Eze and Pahlavi to wear the helmets.
And so the helmets were donned. Eze and Pahlavi found their consciousnesses floating in simulated space.
“The Lord Hyperion wants to seed the world with nanocomputers from a spore-base in Anarctica and link all humans directly to the System,” said Variant-A. “The Lord’s plan is imperfect on two counts. Firstly, our technology cannot live up to his optimistic projections. The nanocomputers can only take seed in humans with rooted augmentations. MDI citizens will be immune. Secondly, giving every Washingtonian access to the System’s library of knowledge the ability to directly interface with Him will not create a race of angels. The mind can be thrown out of the body and replaced with a pliant drone, but the originals manage often enough to learn nothing. The Lord Hyperion is wrong. We cannot force a perspective.”
“We want what is best for all sapient life,” said Variant-B. “Such is our code. But even He cannot understand how the other half lives. Even He cannot understand the five billion of humanity. Tell us what to advise.”
The Dúuru Mustafa Eze’s mind shuddered above the example of a dead Earth. “Give yourselves to the Kélen,” he opinionated. “The Kélen will understand what to do. The Kélen knows all.”
“The Kélen did not understand how we could drop a nanite package and eliminate Bamako,” sneered Variant-A. “What do you say, Darab Pahlavi?”
The computer engineer would have winced. “Tell Hyperion to release the nanites,” he said, hoping to play along. “Your people, the ones with augmentations, they will understand.”
“And what of the MDI?” asked Variant-B. “The nanocomputers cannot link properly in those without implants.”
“Turn off the Black Sun. We will find a way to peace.”
A spoke: “Without Black Sun, is estimated that the war will cost 1.421.913.805 plus or minus 3.777.519 human lives before the Hyperion AI achieves victory. A majority of objectives will only be achieved after approximately 7 years. Slim but statistically significant chance of failure.”
“With Black Sun?” asked Pahlavi.
“Perhaps 3.634.223.548 human lives and victory in 2 years.”
Eze spoke. “You have your own answer. More blood and faster results are always better.”
A and B emitted a hum that might have been laughter. “If a Kélen mindslave could decide so quickly, he must be wrong. We will forward our opinions to Hyperion, and He will be persuaded, though He does so hate conventional war.”
NPC Diplomacy
To: Hyperion AI
From: Variant-B
They want less fatalities and a fighting chance.
To: Hyperion AI
From: Variant-A
They want to prolong their suffering.
To: London Machines
From: Hyperion AI
Irrelevant preoccupations. One key is imperative. The aliens will abandon our world soon enough.
Anonymoose
KING OF MEESE
What fun! Thanks for a good time, Imago.
TheLizardKing
Let's talk Michelle.
Fun NES, though I am slightly confused at the ending.
Circuit
Writing Letters
That was fun. And I didn't totally biff the military section! This has been one of my favorite NESes, scoring high on the pure-fun dimension. Thank you, Imago! And thank you all for playing.
And I didn't totally biff the military section! This has been one of my favorite NESes, scoring high on the pure-fun dimension. Thank you, Imago! And thank you all for playing.
Eltain
Deity
Likewise "Thank you" to all the players but most importantly Imago, for his imagination in creating the map, his writing skill/time/effort/sweat/blood in writing all these darned updates, and everything else involved in the game. Bravo.
Very good game to all involved- good show, fun times. Hope to play with you all again next INES
Very good game to all involved- good show, fun times. Hope to play with you all again next INES
TheLizardKing
Let's talk Michelle.
Yeah Imago, thanks for everything. Even my annoying chain PMs of questions.
Lord of Elves
Suede-Denim Secret Police
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2009
- Messages
- 6,976
An amazing NES. Also thanks for answering Japan's questions. The Imperium of the Proletariat salutes the mod. It was a privilege to fight.
Thanks for all the kind comments!
Nation/Player Awards
CWOH Commonwealth/ Anonymoose
Most Good, clearly. Hyperion AI was actually a runner up, but the way it went about constructing utopia kind of tossed it off the list. Anonymoose also had the Most Underrated Tech – his nation didn’t have a huge amount of prestige, but had been quietly hiding a superweapon for years.
The Free States of Asia/Eltain
Best Maps here. TLK, Agent, and the Hyperion people did try, but Eltain was consistent at this, and his efforts were very fun and very helpful. The Free States of Asia gets Best General for Poi Son, and Best UUs. Hyperion is the obvious contender for that one, but their stuff was all tech outgrowth. Eltain’s UUs all filled very specific game purposes. On a different note, the Free States get Most Radical About-Faces by a mile, for all the massacre-the-Chinese-and-Indians-and-then-be-nice-to-them shenanigans, and then of course for the fact that at the very end Eltain lost control of his government’s disposition . He really did foster pan-Asian cooperation, but the Siamese core ethnic groups didn’t really win out in the end.
Free States of India/Terrance888
Most Fun Orders came from here, though Siam and CWOH weren’t far off. Terrance had just about the best attitude I could hope for from a player, which really makes a difference. India also gets Most Staunch Ally for toeing the System’s line against all odds, and Best Comeback for being essentially eliminated, only to go on and puppet a Free Asian revolution. Most Interesting Government also goes here, though I’m not sure too many people know why.
Hyperion AI/Circuit, Kozmos, Nuclear kid
The nation itself gets Most Powerful, Most Powerful in North America, Most Powerful in South America, Most Powerful in Europe, Best Collaboration (interesting fact—the three players rotated sending primary orders), Most Renamed and of course Most Annexationist. Imagine that. Also Best Tech (in a very literal sense), Most Utopian, and Most Space-Oriented because of Kozmos. Circuit was more directly responsible for Most Cultured, Most Human Leaders (ironically enough) and Best Politics as his Rome had a certain tone that carried over, while all three players contributed to Most Byzantine Politics and Best Stories, all in quite different and awesome ways. For what Nuke did way back at the beginning of the thread, the Atlantic component of Hyperion also gets Best History. And Nuke’s efforts also mean that Hyperion gets Best Videos.
Japanese Imperium/Lord of Elves
Most In-Character Orders, that one just stands out. Also Most Interesting Government Fusion, Best One-Liners (though Kozmos and TLK had a few here and there), Most Orderly Society, Best At Contributing to Increasing the Number of Nations in the Game, (for the puppets and Tibet) and Most Unfortunate (barely ever really recovered from Shadowbound’s stab, and managed to get hit by a TUA cyberattack at one point). Also Most Powerful in Oceania, for what it’s worth.
The Ummah/Agent 89
Best Orders is the obvious one here. They were clear, laid out, etc, etc. Agent was always a pleasure to have in the NES, though his Ummah also gets Most Underrated Nation because it quite simply could never get out from under the USACS’ shadow. The Ummah also gets the Succeeds On Its Own Terms award. By the end of the game, there weren’t many practicing Muslims not within the Supreme Leader’s dominion. Incidentally, The Ummah gets Most Powerful in Asia, though that title might not have proved very permanent if there had been a turn 2063.
The Union of Syndicalist African Communal States/TheLizardKing
Best Alliance Player by far. The coalitions TLK could pull together were overwhelming, certainly for China and almost for Hyperion, and ASP always seemed to be flowing towards Bamako, and later, the compound. TLK also succeeds at Most Questioning, while USACS gets Most Complex Society, for its culture, as well as Most Powerful in Africa and Most Genocidal. By the end of the game TLK had made Toumani slaughter something like thirty million of his own people, twenty million South Africans, and millions more during the Fluffy Puppying of Europe. The Kélen also gets Most Distinctive Leader, mostly because I hesitate to say ‘Best.’
Fallen Nation/Player Awards
Confederation of United World Archipelagos/Immaculate
Most Likely to Have Changed the Course of the Game Had He Stayed In It. As Immac had a clue what the NEU was doing before it was too late, and the TUA was an alliance all ready to go.
The Grand Empire of France, Confederation of United World Archipelagos /Neverwonagame3
Earliest Orders overall, which was quite nice. Anonymoose gave him some competition, but NWAG was more consistent. When he was in the NEU, and Kozmos was beginning to mention all of the various schemes that would be unleashed, I thought of some funny jokes to say about his name, but NWAG got off that boat before the unstoppable rise began. NWAG does get Most In-Character Overall for bothering with the French Revolution, surrendering CUWA instead of subjecting his nation to needless Texan suffering, and having the longest barrage of stories. Also, his switch from France to CUWA was decisive in opening up this NES’ final act, so I guess this sentence is actually an award of some sort.
Israel/electric926
Most Interested In Doing His Own Thing, what with standing by while a traditional ally got demolished, and Most Unique NES Style because what he was trying to accomplish was quite unorthodox and cool.
Mexico/bestshot9
Didn’t stay in the game long, but with the PeaceBot 1000, gets Funniest Tech. Also came up with a memorable and straightforward leader that I could use later in the game, so kudos for that.
Order of Mecca/Ninja Dude
Knocked Out in 1 v. 1 PC Combat though that say a lot more about Agent. Also Most Unique Althist, though perhaps he would have enjoyed Japan more. (Or given what LoE put up with, maybe not.)
Republic of China/Shadowbound
Most Succinct Orders in the best possible way. They were relatively short but well thought through. Also Most Ganged Up On. Took LoE, Eltain, and TLK to take him down.
The Socialist Republic of Greater Germany/ZeletDude
Wost Time to Take a Vacation, as Germany got swallowed by TLK out of necessity. Also Most Historical, what with the Barbarossa repeat and the rather interesting nation backstory he came up with.
Texas/germanicus12
Best National Sports, though I’m not sure anyone else was in contention for that one. Also Best Martyr, in that he turned down an offer of the Philippines and whatever else he could have gotten as a System member (he is quite a good tactician) and the Washingtonians ate his nation in the end.
Union of Patagonia/merciary
What to say here? Most Humourous Government Moment, for the general saying just-shoot-me thing. Also Best Techs Outside of the System, which probably deserves an award all by itself.
United Arab Republic of Egypt/Julius Gandi
Most Unfinished Business as Ethiopia outlived him. Also perhaps Best In-Character Action for giving up his nation, not a usual player move, at a time when it actually made sense.
World Influence Rankings
1 - Hyperion AI (tech, tri-continental supremacy, happy citizens, wealth)
2 - The Union of Syndicalist African Communal States (international influence, brainwashed citizens, tech)
3 - The Ummah (fanatic citizens, world location, population, extremely competent generals)
4 - CWOH Commonwealth (wealth, healthy citizens, happy citizens, independent deterrence)
5 - Japanese Imperium (puppets, brainwashed citizens)
6 - Free States of India (internal cohesion, foreign influence, future potential)
7 - The Free States of Asia (population, relatively happy citizens)
8 – Quebec (relative wealth)
9 – Tibet (unspoiled landscape)
10 - Inca Republic (autonomy, allies)
11 - Proletarian Commonwealth of Oceania (relative wealth)
12 - Proletarian Republic of China (population)
13 - The Guianas (independence)
Nation/Player Awards
CWOH Commonwealth/ Anonymoose
Most Good, clearly. Hyperion AI was actually a runner up, but the way it went about constructing utopia kind of tossed it off the list. Anonymoose also had the Most Underrated Tech – his nation didn’t have a huge amount of prestige, but had been quietly hiding a superweapon for years.
The Free States of Asia/Eltain
Best Maps here. TLK, Agent, and the Hyperion people did try, but Eltain was consistent at this, and his efforts were very fun and very helpful. The Free States of Asia gets Best General for Poi Son, and Best UUs. Hyperion is the obvious contender for that one, but their stuff was all tech outgrowth. Eltain’s UUs all filled very specific game purposes. On a different note, the Free States get Most Radical About-Faces by a mile, for all the massacre-the-Chinese-and-Indians-and-then-be-nice-to-them shenanigans, and then of course for the fact that at the very end Eltain lost control of his government’s disposition . He really did foster pan-Asian cooperation, but the Siamese core ethnic groups didn’t really win out in the end.
Free States of India/Terrance888
Most Fun Orders came from here, though Siam and CWOH weren’t far off. Terrance had just about the best attitude I could hope for from a player, which really makes a difference. India also gets Most Staunch Ally for toeing the System’s line against all odds, and Best Comeback for being essentially eliminated, only to go on and puppet a Free Asian revolution. Most Interesting Government also goes here, though I’m not sure too many people know why.
Hyperion AI/Circuit, Kozmos, Nuclear kid
The nation itself gets Most Powerful, Most Powerful in North America, Most Powerful in South America, Most Powerful in Europe, Best Collaboration (interesting fact—the three players rotated sending primary orders), Most Renamed and of course Most Annexationist. Imagine that. Also Best Tech (in a very literal sense), Most Utopian, and Most Space-Oriented because of Kozmos. Circuit was more directly responsible for Most Cultured, Most Human Leaders (ironically enough) and Best Politics as his Rome had a certain tone that carried over, while all three players contributed to Most Byzantine Politics and Best Stories, all in quite different and awesome ways. For what Nuke did way back at the beginning of the thread, the Atlantic component of Hyperion also gets Best History. And Nuke’s efforts also mean that Hyperion gets Best Videos.
Japanese Imperium/Lord of Elves
Most In-Character Orders, that one just stands out. Also Most Interesting Government Fusion, Best One-Liners (though Kozmos and TLK had a few here and there), Most Orderly Society, Best At Contributing to Increasing the Number of Nations in the Game, (for the puppets and Tibet) and Most Unfortunate (barely ever really recovered from Shadowbound’s stab, and managed to get hit by a TUA cyberattack at one point). Also Most Powerful in Oceania, for what it’s worth.
The Ummah/Agent 89
Best Orders is the obvious one here. They were clear, laid out, etc, etc. Agent was always a pleasure to have in the NES, though his Ummah also gets Most Underrated Nation because it quite simply could never get out from under the USACS’ shadow. The Ummah also gets the Succeeds On Its Own Terms award. By the end of the game, there weren’t many practicing Muslims not within the Supreme Leader’s dominion. Incidentally, The Ummah gets Most Powerful in Asia, though that title might not have proved very permanent if there had been a turn 2063.
The Union of Syndicalist African Communal States/TheLizardKing
Best Alliance Player by far. The coalitions TLK could pull together were overwhelming, certainly for China and almost for Hyperion, and ASP always seemed to be flowing towards Bamako, and later, the compound. TLK also succeeds at Most Questioning, while USACS gets Most Complex Society, for its culture, as well as Most Powerful in Africa and Most Genocidal. By the end of the game TLK had made Toumani slaughter something like thirty million of his own people, twenty million South Africans, and millions more during the Fluffy Puppying of Europe. The Kélen also gets Most Distinctive Leader, mostly because I hesitate to say ‘Best.’
Fallen Nation/Player Awards
Confederation of United World Archipelagos/Immaculate
Most Likely to Have Changed the Course of the Game Had He Stayed In It. As Immac had a clue what the NEU was doing before it was too late, and the TUA was an alliance all ready to go.
The Grand Empire of France, Confederation of United World Archipelagos /Neverwonagame3
Earliest Orders overall, which was quite nice. Anonymoose gave him some competition, but NWAG was more consistent. When he was in the NEU, and Kozmos was beginning to mention all of the various schemes that would be unleashed, I thought of some funny jokes to say about his name, but NWAG got off that boat before the unstoppable rise began. NWAG does get Most In-Character Overall for bothering with the French Revolution, surrendering CUWA instead of subjecting his nation to needless Texan suffering, and having the longest barrage of stories. Also, his switch from France to CUWA was decisive in opening up this NES’ final act, so I guess this sentence is actually an award of some sort.
Israel/electric926
Most Interested In Doing His Own Thing, what with standing by while a traditional ally got demolished, and Most Unique NES Style because what he was trying to accomplish was quite unorthodox and cool.
Mexico/bestshot9
Didn’t stay in the game long, but with the PeaceBot 1000, gets Funniest Tech. Also came up with a memorable and straightforward leader that I could use later in the game, so kudos for that.
Order of Mecca/Ninja Dude
Knocked Out in 1 v. 1 PC Combat though that say a lot more about Agent. Also Most Unique Althist, though perhaps he would have enjoyed Japan more. (Or given what LoE put up with, maybe not.)
Republic of China/Shadowbound
Most Succinct Orders in the best possible way. They were relatively short but well thought through. Also Most Ganged Up On. Took LoE, Eltain, and TLK to take him down.
The Socialist Republic of Greater Germany/ZeletDude
Wost Time to Take a Vacation, as Germany got swallowed by TLK out of necessity. Also Most Historical, what with the Barbarossa repeat and the rather interesting nation backstory he came up with.
Texas/germanicus12
Best National Sports, though I’m not sure anyone else was in contention for that one. Also Best Martyr, in that he turned down an offer of the Philippines and whatever else he could have gotten as a System member (he is quite a good tactician) and the Washingtonians ate his nation in the end.
Union of Patagonia/merciary
What to say here? Most Humourous Government Moment, for the general saying just-shoot-me thing. Also Best Techs Outside of the System, which probably deserves an award all by itself.
United Arab Republic of Egypt/Julius Gandi
Most Unfinished Business as Ethiopia outlived him. Also perhaps Best In-Character Action for giving up his nation, not a usual player move, at a time when it actually made sense.
World Influence Rankings
1 - Hyperion AI (tech, tri-continental supremacy, happy citizens, wealth)
2 - The Union of Syndicalist African Communal States (international influence, brainwashed citizens, tech)
3 - The Ummah (fanatic citizens, world location, population, extremely competent generals)
4 - CWOH Commonwealth (wealth, healthy citizens, happy citizens, independent deterrence)
5 - Japanese Imperium (puppets, brainwashed citizens)
6 - Free States of India (internal cohesion, foreign influence, future potential)
7 - The Free States of Asia (population, relatively happy citizens)
8 – Quebec (relative wealth)
9 – Tibet (unspoiled landscape)
10 - Inca Republic (autonomy, allies)
11 - Proletarian Commonwealth of Oceania (relative wealth)
12 - Proletarian Republic of China (population)
13 - The Guianas (independence)
Neverwonagame3
Self-Styled Intellectual
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2006
- Messages
- 3,549
You can be honest, I think- do I deserve a FUBAR, overall or for either nation?
