Choices and Chances

Rumor has it that the Basilea Konstantina is planning to send a diplomatic delegation to the Magi Empire despite their previous statements of neutrality. Perhaps it is because of the Magi planning to conquer western Spain, despite their justification for such an act being based on "humor" alone. The Emperor's harsh statements on this feeble justification make the rumor hard to believe, but in this brave new world, anything can happen.

 

The Empress is... surprised she is being told about western Spain when she has set plans to conquer Portugal. Either way we will welcome the diplomats.

OOC: note that chat stuff should be taken with caution; a player is likely to be reasoning in OOC terms that IC terms.

 

GM's note on Army recruitment:

You can specify where the armies are placed, provided you controlled it at the start of the turn you're giving the orders.

If you do not specify where troops are recruited, I will spread them evenly across the territory you controlled at the start of the turn, with emphasis on your cities due to their importance.

 

The Great Cult Claims dominion over the Entirety of the Former Middle East, Sans Anatolia. It also condemns the hostility of the Neo-Byzantine state towards those it calls "Heathens".

To Magi Empire of Pavett@Ailedhoo
From: The Great Cult
Greetings. I see that we have some common ground. Both being interested in the magical arts. Because of this shared interest, and....other factors, I offer a Non-Agression-Pact towards your esteemed nation.

From the Great Cult
Hello, mighty sorcerer. We pay tribute to your Mythical strength. The Cult has an immense and never-ending supply of...... Tentacled Abominations, and we shall grant them to you. We hope this is a tribute fit for a legendary magi such as yourself!

 

We are pleased muchly. This is good tribute

 

Year 0
Vancouver, BC
Reconstructed Capital Building

"So, besides this council thing, Spectres don't answer to any law except their own, right?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much how it works."

"And...people are just okay with that?"

"Well, mostly they are," Heretia Surnus mused. "I suspect criminals don't like it, but it's worked pretty well for our governments back home."

"Sometimes I really envy how stuff works where you guys came from," Kira Shepard admitted, brushing a strand of black hair out of her eyes. "I mean, besides that whole thing with the Reapers, of course..."

"Well if there's anything in this fun house timeline of a planet has that can defeat them they will no longer be a problem," the Turian spectre concluded. Frowning slightly. she punched up a few commands on the console haphazardly welded into the wall, pulling up a holographic map of the Earth, complete with indicators signifying the other groups that had crash landed here.

"Not bad considering we don't exactly have a satellite feed," Kira complimented the Turian. "Least we can see who the neighbors are." The pair of them glossed over the map before heavy footfalls echoed up the hallway, followed by a door roughly slamming open.

"Surnus..." came a rough gravelly voice. "Shepard..."

"Briskar, welcome to the party. Any luck on assessing the military?"

"Pretty generous calling what we got a military," Briksar Stranak grumbled as he lumbered up next to Heretia, Kira Shepard giving the battle-scarred Krogan a wide berth. "But as far as an armed mob goes, we should be serviceable. Still, I like what we got for a navy. The humans kept a lot of ports intact so we have plenty of ships to use. Taniretia seems to think we could smash anyone we come across with those guns."

"Yeah, about that," Shepard interjected. "The Hierarchy council wants to know what your plan is regarding the neighbors. Chicago and Colorado kind of have them spooked, to say nothing of the robot armies that seem to be cropping up in the Confederacy."

"Plus all those weird messages I'm getting from those Paveterra people," Briksar grumbled.

"We're not going to attack anyone if that's what they're worried about," Heretia said. "Right now I think our best option is to build our base quietly and not make too many waves until we're ready to flex our muscles. Once the base in Nome opens up and we contact the other settlements in the east Laan says we can reliably begin reproducing our own tech and build up...oh, huh..."

"What is it?"

"We have an incoming message," the Specter remarked. "I was talking to Attila yada yada, implement similar policy...If you give me tribute I will be more inclined to delay your inevitable destruction?"

"Huh, someone's trying a shakedown on us? That's bold..."

"I got this," Kira Shepard said, elbowing the Turian aside and entering an official response. "There we go, how does that work for you?"

"Uh...wow..."

"I didn't know it was physically possible for a human to put that there."

 

To: Magi Empire of Pavetterra
From: Transcendent Domain of the Oracular Council

The Oracles graciously welcomes your ambassador. While the divine gifts may have taken a different form in your lands, we are pleased to welcome another nation that has seen fit to place its trust in the guidance of those endowed by higher powers.


To: Gudako
From: Transcendent Domain of the Oracular Council

We wish to pay tribute to you, a magus of awesome power, in the form of a Resplendent Harvest of only the most choice produce. With these superlative fruits, vegetables, and grains, a skilled chef could surely create a lavish banquet truly worthy for one so great as you.

 

To: "Gudako"
From: Basilea Konstantina

Paying tribute to you would be ridi-

The Emperor has stepped in and decided to give you give you proper tribute to protect his empire and his people. We shall send some good Constantina coin to you as tribute.

send 1EP to Chaldea

 

Mmm, sounds fun. I'll return the favour when I get there.

Sounds great! Means we can cut down on food costs and put more towards the gatcha!

Yeah, but you didn't survive the Turks. And I mean I'm sure they'll put Suleiman in the game eventually. Then you can all have a fun reunion party in Constantinople! Won't that be great?

 

Pardon me, a member of the Bureau got... overzealous. We will pay you tribute for now in the form of coin.

 

The Empress is pleased to declare we are to enter NAPs with both Basilea Konstantina and the Great Cult.

 

It has been more than a decade since Equestria and the Crystal Empire were suddenly hurled in this world. During this time, life, in spite of the many sleepless nights some ponies have been living through, things have been surprisingly peaceful. The Harmonic Union has, at least, not been swallowed by some massive abomination from outer space, a belief some people in Ponyville have not been too reserved about, and the pegasi, while bitter about never being able to live on the clouds again, have long since gotten used to living among earth ponies and unicorns alike.

There are some differences with the Equestria from twelve years ago though. For one thing, the army has been completely reformed and it is as ready as it was hundreds of years ago, just in case the peace was all an illusion. Many families, like the Rich [sic] family, which had once upon a time been prosperous from trade, have fallen on hard times while others, like the ever-growing Apple family, have become more powerful than ever before thanks to the seeming autarchy. In addition, a plan to fertilize the land in the Crystal Empire is well on schedule, hopefully this will mean breaking free from the dependency of the Equestrian mainland, and many people in the Empire and Equestria are eagerly awaiting for the possible coronation of the growing Princess Flurry Heart *.

But now, it is time to wake up from the prolonged slumber. It is time for Equestria to become great once again, because this peace won't last forever on its own.

Even though Celestia absolutely despises the idea of going to war, at the same time, she also realizes that the best deterrent for war is having a large territory, and large populations. Knowing a bit of human history as explained to her by Twilight, she fears that, if left alone, the humans may start posing a threat to the Harmonic Union.

Initially, the princesses drafted plans to continue expanding south into the region the natives to this world know as the "British Isles", but scouts report that the British Isles are broken up into nations of varying size, which are cautious with the alien newcomers. After continued observations, the princesses deemed that, while the British were divided and would not pose anything more than a border threat to Equestria anytime soon, the locals were too strong and too well organized to effectively colonize, for the time being. Twilight Sparkle managed to broker a four-year long non-aggression pact with the Northumbrian Republic and the Kingdom of Ulster, which dominate Equestrian borders.

The same cannot be said, however, for the lands of “Scandinavia” to the east of the North Sea. Here, the humans have fallen to tribal rule and there is plenty of land ripe for the taking. Even the city-states of Stockholm and Helinski have failed to secure their territories from maraunding tribes.

Both Celestia and Luna want as little bloodshed as possible in their expansion. Therefore, the campaign will consist of offering protection to the local tribes, guaranteeing them that the Harmonic Union means no harm, and offering generous economic concessions and guaranteeing their autonomy, for the time being. In case this fails, however, Luna is authorized to encourage the locals to "renegotiate terms" while Equestrian colonists start pouring into the land and the resurgent army takes clearly visible positions. In this case this fails yet again, Luna is authorized to offer battle, but any occupations must be done with as little collateral damage as possible.

*Hope you don't mind this relatively minor change from my app, but she is 12 years old now.

(I know that being Equestria and all, this is a bit OOC, but I tried to keep it as in-character as possible, and simply being forced to expand peacefully is just going to weaken me in the long run, plus, possibly half my princess will get killed in the process of getting a decent size).

From: Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship
To: The CSO

We have received your envoys asking for tribute. In addition, somehow we managed to pry the fact from the diplomat that you have a thing for your "Saber".

Don't worry then, we have the perfect gift for her! A 30-something royal guard currently serving in the Crystal Empire. He is very good with other mares, and has practically no flaws. We hope you enjoy our little gift!

okay if neither saber or anyone else want him give him back to us ok were cool

Spoiler saber's new husbando :

 

PACIFIC PATHE PRESENTS
THE PRESENT STATE OF THE EMPIRE
​

Yesterday the Emperor inspected the Imperial Fleet in Jervis Bay. Our battleships and cruisers, freshly polished and painted, presented a formidable sight to any would-be invaders that would dare test the mettle of our stout-hearted ships and stout-hearted tars.

​

And today the fleet sails for the first time, crossing the Tasman to return law and order to the islands of New Zealand. HMS Warspite led a squadron from Jervis Bay, readied for battle with whomever may contest our control of the South Pacific. Behind her, a line of cruisers, both heavy and light, and all screened by nimble destroyers and submarines. This squadron will land a corps of infantry and marines ashore in New Zealand - but of course, where they shall land is a heavily guarded secret.

To the north, the Emperor himself rides to lead an army into the untamed and savage wastes of Queensland, to do battle with the Bogan Republics. These beer-swilling hordes of white nationalists and conservative politicians hold the peace-loving peoples of Queensland under an iron thumb, and it is only by the might of our grand army that they may be brought to heel!

​

Not that the south is to be left free of activity! With the island occupied by the cannibalistic convicts of Alexander Pierce, an intervention in Tasmania is a high priority. General Pearl has therefore embarked across the Bass Straight, bound for that rugged island to restore order and civilisation.

​

Meanwhile in Canberra, the government is hard at work restoring infrastructure to the land, and the process of reincorporating the city of Melbourne has already begun. Work has begun in clearing the ruins of New Parliament House for the construction of a grand Imperial Palace, a new centerpiece of a new empire. And rail construction has been increased far and wide, tethering the east coast of the continent with iron rails.

Be prepared, brave sons and daughters of Empire, for the future will be built on the sweat of our people - but that future is bright.

​

THE END

---------------​

To: Sabre
From: The Emperor

We have dispatched a VHS copy of All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 that I found behind the sofa as tribute.

 

You’re asking for a gift in exchange for you *not* coming over? Is that right? Why would we wish to delay our union? We will welcome Gudako; she will be Understood.

 

Overview of the army of the Harmonic Union

For hundreds of years, Equestria never had to experience any armed conflict. This made the army incredibly complacent and underfunded, and its weakness was proven by how quickly Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Tirek and the Storm King were able to take over Equestria, when all Equestria could muster were the royal guard, whose arsenal of weapons was laughable in comparison to the weapons of old, and especially, the weapons of this new world. In fact, the only thing that made their reigns last merely between a few hours to a week in those five occasions was the intervention of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends conveniently finding the right magical artifact(s) to deal with the situation.

But now that Equestria is in a whole different world, which before and after its cataclysm was embroiled in a state of almost constant warfare, the rules have changed drastically. While Equestria would hate to be embroiled in a global scale conflict that would only bring destruction, it must still prepare itself against any foreign threat, especially since the magic of friendship is no longer as powerful as it once was.

This article will be devoted to explaining the war capabilities of Equestria.

General

In general, ponies tend to travel much faster and get tired much slower than humans, but with the exception of unicorns, ponies can't grasp, which provides major challenges.

The main weapon of the army are magical orbs, preferably fire orbs. Magical orbs are designed by unicorns, but can be used by any other pony (humans can't use them though, as they don't have the innate magic ponies have). Orbs the size of a boulder are hurled at enemy troops, and once they hit, they create a large fire which quickly spreads across the landscape, and when orbs are thrown in big numbers, they can turn enemy lines into a blazing inferno in a matter of minutes (it's also worth mentioning that these fires cannot be put out by water). Another popular type of orb are the ice orbs, which once they hit, they release large amounts of water, which a few seconds later turns into ice. This isn't very effective against normal troops, because it has a smaller area of effect than fire, but if water can get into sensitive parts of machinery, they can cause some real havoc, and a few well-placed ice orbs can render the greatest machines unusable. And while this kind of orb wasn't commonly used back in Equus due to the monopoly Equestria held on magic users, there are also orbs designed specifically for weakening shields. There are other orbs with different magic, but they aren't as commonly used because they aren't as effective, or their cost makes them not worth mass producing, in comparison to fire and ice orbs.

The major flaw of the orb, however, is that delivering the magical orbs to enemy lines still depends on sheer throwing/bucking power of the pony wielding the orb, so once thrown, the enemy still has a few seconds to take cover or put up a shield. They can also be stopped mid-air and deliver their payload before reaching enemy lines, if they receive too many bullets for instance. Recent experiments have also proven that orbs don't work with cannons, as the initial gunpowder explosion also delivers the payload too early, but historically they have worked with airsoft types of propulsion.

Orbs the size of pebbles are also used, when collateral damage might be an issue. They aren't as exciting as the big orbs used to destroy enemy lines, but they can at least be used for less destructive conflicts, and combined with a battle saddle, are the only ways an earth pony can prove himself useful in the battlefield.

Battle saddles* are used by earth ponies and pegasi to make up for their inability to use magic. Weapons are placed at the sides of the saddle, and they are fired with varying mechanisms. Developments have begun in battle saddle technology, which in time will allow a battle saddle to carry human firearms. Not only will this give earth ponies a chance to better prove themselves in the battlefield, but being both non-magical and commonplace in this world, human firearms are very easy and cheap to manufacture, but this doesn't mean that the larger orbs will be gone anytime soon.

There are also many technologies that are still in use that have long been deemed outdated in this world. Catapults and ballistas are still used to deliver orbs into enemy lines, lamellar armor and iron helmets are still used as the uniform (they can be enchanted to resist certain weapons and be more lightweight, and they usually are, but fancier enchantments, like breathing underwater, resisting fire and camouflage/invisibility (you didn't hear this from here!) are expensive and are only used on special cases), and spears and swords are still deemed as effective melee weapons for unicorns. Arena combat, which remained dead for centuries, is also seeing a comeback in these times for training and entertainment purposes. But not everything relies on outdated technologies, as demostrated by the advanced (in comparison to normal humans) prosethics, that are almost as capable as biological limbs.

Unicorn-specific

Being able to manipulate magic directly, unicorns have a major advantage over both pegasi and earth ponies in that unicorns can use telekinesis to utilize human weaponry, and can even wrestle out weapons from humans much easily.

The unicorns can shoot magical beams, which unlike magical orbs, go in a straight line, are very fast and can create major burns (if not outright kill the enemy). Beams can vary between simply being anti-personnel, to blowing up tanks and other machinery. Of course, the beams that explode require large amounts of magic, and it takes years of training to do even a significant amount of damage to your typical tank (many unicorns join in at the "bombers" branch of the army, expecting to be able to blow stuff up with ease, but they tend to quit due to the rigurous training and long waiting time in comparison to the easier "shooter" branch). And unlike orbs, beams are fairly simple and don't cause any major fires, or freeze anything, or do anything impressive, really.

Pegasi-specific

The capability of flight is easily the most valuable asset of the pegasi. In the days of Equus, they used their capabilities to their full extent, sneaking in clouds and dropping orbs from above enemy lines, wiping out armies without the need for a battle, but now that they can't fly as high, they can still prove useful, as they can still travel much faster than a main battle tank, allowing them to wreak havoc on enemy lines. Pegasi can also be equipped with wing blades, which slows them down a bit, but they can create even more chaos in enemy lines.

The main disadvantage of pegasi, however, is that they are much more flimsy than other races. This flimsiness once were one of the requirements that allowed them to walk on clouds, but now that they can’t do that, they have to pray that they aren’t hit by a bullet when trying to deliver chaos into enemy lines, even if it hits the ear the searing pain will make any pegasi except for the most trained ones to come crashing down.

Earth pony-specific

While earth ponies can't grasp, unlike unicorns and to a small extent pegasi, they have one major advantage that is their endurance. Thanks to their innate magic, earth ponies are much harder to get tired, they can resist multiple injuries (although this largely depends where the injury strikes) and can recover much faster than other races. In addition, a human getting bucked by an earth pony is a death sentence, and even if the initial blow somehow doesn't kill a human right away, most bones tend to get shattered.

*Credits to Fallout: Equestria for the idea

 

Rules clarification:

Navies have global reach. A catch to this is Armies using them can only attack coastlines and can make no further moves that turn, regardless of how mobile they are. In addition, you have the amphibious penalty.

You can also use your navies to hinder rival fleets' movements, whether by blocking coasts from outward colonization, or by blocking bodies of water. Blocking bodies of water obviously is more successful with more ships and a smaller route, so is ideal for choking straits. It also helps if you control some of the land around the blockade zone.

So yes. The British Empire's "larger than the next two fleets combined" rule is decent to aim for long-term.

 

I'd say orders lock Wednesday night!

 

A little over 24 hours until orders lock.

For those short on time, be aware generic orders (e.g. "emphasize naval superiority" or "emphasize grabbing as many provinces as possible" or "emphasize economic growth," as examples) are also acceptable.

 

The Republic has the following Plans for the new turn:

1. The construction of a new city on our magnificent river.
2. The expansion of our nation to elsewhere in the world.
3. Other things related to rivers
4. Even more things that are river based?

1. The River has many cities along its banks and one such of those is the place known as Moab this place will now be considered an important city of the Republic for it is a city that lies on the Colorado and as a Republic which is on the Colorado it only makes sense for the Republic to recognised its common ground with this city

2. Harry Colorado, the Hero of the Republic and his friend Marie-Charlotte, the Butcher of Grand Junction shall lead a single Army on the boats downriver. From there they shall cross the great sea which all rivers flow into (including the Colorado, which is a river) and disembark on the coast of SOUTHAMERICA specifically PERU SOUTH. Hopefully the two of them will be more than a match for any SOUTHAMERICAns they encounter.

3. Sailing on the River that is the Colorado (a river) requires Boats and what better a thing to do than build more of them. To this end the Republic will commission the construction of 2 more boats! With its remaining money it will invest in things other than this such as ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY?

4. This might be secret, or it might just not exist - whooooo knows?

 

To: The native nations of this world
From: The Confederacy of Independent Systems

Hail and well met!

We are the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a government formed from of dissenters from the oppressive and failed Galactic Republic. Our goals and asipirations do not involve your planet; we can tell from your... media, that you tend to have the image of alien vistors having hostile intent. We can assure you, we dont want to be on the planet as much as we don't want us. We are working day in and day out on reconnecting ourselves back to the cosmos above, so that we may continue the fight against the Republic.

Because of this, we offer a pledge of Non-interference. If you stay out of our way, we will stay out of yours. Eventually, we will eventually leave this rock, and we may discuss then the incoperation of Earth into the Confederacy. But if thats something you Earthlings aren't interested in, that's fine as well. Unlike the Republic, we respect the sovereign rights of planets to freely associate with us or not.

To: Chaldea
From: The Confederacy of Independent Systems

The first signs of hostile natives on this planet?

While we are more than willing to leave alone those who leave us to our own devices, and do not intend on intervening in native-on-native conflicts unless it directly affects us, do not take that as passive meekness.

Our nation numbers in the tens of thousands of star systems. You know not the fight you intend to pick by threatening the sovereign and independent Confederacy. Even if you can strike us down, we will strike back, stronger than ever before.

We will give you time to reconsider your intent towards us.

To: The Force Alliance
From: the Confederacy of Independent Systems

The Exile? Darth Revan? Looking at your nation is like seeing the past in person.

We have no quarrel with you, but we should discuss our experiences with the Force, and how we were brought to this "Earth". We unfortunately not garuntee that you can go back to your own time, but perhaps there will be a place for you to retire away from the civil war once all things are said and done

To: The Hierarchy
From: The Confederacy of Independent Systems

We assume you are the local represenatives of whatever government exists around these systems. Our star charts unfortunately have never heard of an "Earth" or other stars or planets found on these frankly primitive star charts. We would suggest the benefits of mutual cooperation in ending the interference around Earth, so that we may return to our prospective nations and continue our ambitions across the cosmos.

Pray tell, we are even willing to offer the incoperation of your Heirarchy's worlds into the Confederacy. Although your weapons and technology appear to be primitive to galactic standards (slugthrowers? really?), we would more than willing to help develop your systems to a more modern standard.