INES III: Storm Tapestry

[Neverwonagame3]

My mistake there- I can easily reclaim it this turn, though.

 

[Neverwonagame3]

Russia would be in the running, and NWAG's France would be at the top of the list too, as they both went from possible great powers to ruin

Actually, NWAG's CUWA could be classified as that too...

Edit: Imago, we need a new banner

In my defence, whilst France as a whole could be a FUBAR if I had stayed on I had plans to deal with it. If things went roughly as they did, I would have jumped ship from UKA and signed a negotiated peace (or if I couldn't get good terms, been a puppet like Rome is at the moment)- either I'd be propped up by UKA as they tried to do, or I wouldn't have LIARS on my back and would thus be in a strong posistion.

As for CUWA, I'll turn that around in time...

 

[Nuka-sama]

In my defence, whilst France as a whole could be a FUBAR if I had stayed on I had plans to deal with it. If things went roughly as they did, I would have jumped ship from UKA and signed a negotiated peace (or if I couldn't get good terms, been a puppet like Rome is at the moment)- either I'd be propped up by UKA as they tried to do, or I wouldn't have LIARS on my back and would thus be in a strong posistion.

As for CUWA, I'll turn that around in time...

It's a FUBAR because you decided to plunge your nation into a Civil War when you have a long solidified tradition currently holding power and then you have a powerful ideological enemy to your south. Sure, you might have turned it around and played it to your advantage, but now, France is a solidified realm of Her Royal Majesty, Queen Catherine. Going from a strong independent power that had global power projection to a realm of an empire means something went wrong. Not saying that you couldn't have avoided it, but you decided to leave right after you did it. A turn or two after you left France, there's no more France on the map.

And for the CUWA, perhaps, though with a doomed force on my Eastern Sea Board and the loss of your home island, I'd be more concerned about either signing a peace treaty to recontrol your lands, or training your populace for their future employment serving at one of Queen Catherine's many, many beach palaces

Which, in retrospect, would be a very good job

 

[Neverwonagame3]

In case you don't remember or didn't notice, my approval rating was plummeting- I was going to have a Revolution either way. Whether the situation deserves a FUBAR depends on the criterion:

-If the FUBAR is for a nation, not a player, then France deserves a FUBAR. A major part of that, however, is being voluntarily annexed.

-If the FUBAR is for a player, I don't deserve a FUBAR. I didn't start the Guineas war, I managed to boost my economy considerably (and would have had acess to at least some of the UK's techs), had no way of knowing techs were going to be so powerful (if they should be depends on scientific accuracy, so I'm not going to judge as it's not my area), and I had means to deal with the problem.

I'm not going to bother defending my current nation as I have plans which should sufficently salvage the situation that a FUBAR is clearly not an option.

 

[Nuka-sama]

I can't speak for CUWA since the NES isn't over, so who knows, one turn left, but personally, I'd like to get that palace job

And your France was a FUBAR more than anything because you left, you wouldn't be voluntarily annexed if you were playing still

Not anything against you or anything.

Edit: Out of curiosity, if you had to choose a nation to live in this Nes, where would you want to live? (Try not to choose your own nation )

The only place that seems like it'd be an alright place to live would be Quebec, followed by Siam, and then the CUWA. If you live anywhere else, you're either oppressed, dying in a war getting hurled at clone troopers, or in a labor camp.

Thoughts?

 

[Neverwonagame3]

And your France was a FUBAR more than anything because you left, you wouldn't be voluntarily annexed if you were playing still

A FUBAR implies a screw-up. I didn't screw up- I had a good idea of what was going to happen to France if I left, but left anyway. This may seem to breach some implicit codes of NESing honor, but that doesn't make it a screwup.

 

[Eltain]

Oh, Siam knows how to deal with tunnel warfare.. Nice update, Imago I can't wait for the climax of this story.

 

[Kozmos]

I remember bumping into the ‘urban sprawl is way too fragile’ problem in another game I was working on, and the idea I came up with was automated point defense built long ago that’s taken for granted by everybody. So maybe this Earth just dealt with one of those ol’ doomsday scenarios some years ago and then mostly forgot about it. With the nonchalance people seem to be taking the grey goo bombs, seems almost likely.

That kind of PD tech would work yes (if you blanketed the Earth with sick amounts of orbital and ground defenses) but only for missiles and such, it is difficult to counter accelerated kinetic objects with such countermeasures otherwise asteroids and other such junk would become trivial concerns. If you had possessed that kind of immensely high-powered and high precision lasers (or missiles but that would just be harder, nobody sane counters kinetic weapons with missiles) plus the detection equipment that detect shells in orbit without discernible trajectories because of lack a computable starting point and with the added unknown variable that the shells can change target in-flight that would theoretically mean we could equip all of our troops with miniaturized versions of such tech and render projectile weapons completely ineffective. We would have to back to killing each other with swords and pointy sticks

 

[Anonymoose]

To: CWOH Confederacy
From: Baja California Governors and Mayors

Please let us join your umbrella of peace before the southern chaos reaches our homelands!

From the Commonwealth to the peoples of Baja:
Prepare all municipal facilities for bureaucratic reinforcement as CWOH IDs and immunizations are prepared. All citizens in Baja California will be given the opportunity of peace in neutrality.

Also, OOC:Edit:

Out of curiosity, if you had to choose a nation to live in this Nes, where would you want to live? (Try not to choose your own nation )

The only place that seems like it'd be an alright place to live would be Quebec, followed by Siam, and then the CUWA. If you live anywhere else, you're either oppressed, dying in a war getting hurled at clone troopers, or in a labor camp.

Roflmao. The CWOH is the best place to live, bar none. Health, wealth, and security make it the logical choice.

 

[Imago]

And your France was a FUBAR more than anything because you left, you wouldn't be voluntarily annexed if you were playing still

Possibly the biggest turning point of the NES.

Edit: Out of curiosity, if you had to choose a nation to live in this Nes, where would you want to live? (Try not to choose your own nation )

CWOH would be quite nice. Or Tibet, really. Quebec is having too much trouble with atmosphere nanites for my taste. There are some places in the belligerents that would be okay to live, but telling is probably akin to writing a hit list, so I'll stay quiet about that.

Edit: Imago, we need a new banner

Well, the opening post kind of tells a story right now. You can see what the map looked like in the early game, and then you can check out the videos and see that something went much more horribly wrong than just an Iranian invasion of the Order. Though I might change the banner if I get an idea and a decent block of time.

That kind of PD tech would work yes (if you blanketed the Earth with sick amounts of orbital and ground defenses) but only for missiles and such, it is difficult to counter accelerated kinetic objects with such countermeasures otherwise asteroids and other such junk would become trivial concerns. If you had possessed that kind of immensely high-powered and high precision lasers (or missiles but that would just be harder, nobody sane counters kinetic weapons with missiles) plus the detection equipment that detect shells in orbit without discernible trajectories because of lack a computable starting point and with the added unknown variable that the shells can change target in-flight that would theoretically mean we could equip all of our troops with miniaturized versions of such tech and render projectile weapons completely ineffective. We would have to back to killing each other with swords and pointy sticks

Sounds like a interesting idea for a NES.

And NWAG, I was going by the current state of the game. Of course you can flip it. The Ummah's eight front war might have gotten them title a turn ago.

EDIT:

From the Commonwealth to the peoples of Baja:
Prepare all municipal facilities for bureaucratic reinforcement as CWOH IDs and immunizations are prepared. All citizens in Baja California will be given the opportunity of peace in neutrality.

To: CWOH Comonwealth
From: Baja

Thank you!

 

[Nuka-sama]

Anonymoose, I don't like recycling

 

[Anonymoose]

You would if you lived in the CWOH. You would love it or be recycled.

 

[Terrance888]

Oh, Siam knows how to deal with tunnel warfare.. Nice update, Imago I can't wait for the climax of this story.

Don't worry. We will have lots of fun in the underdark.

 

[Neverwonagame3]

Just going to jot something down quickly for my story bonus. I may extend it later, although I don't think I can even match my sports stories in quality.

Elections
"Come on, John! We're in the middle of a war here- we are under no obligation to be campaigning right now!"
"I'm not an elected leader. We are a democracy- we need a government that the people actually want, or we're just hypocrites."
"I know you, John! You'll just be fighting the war instead of campaigning- it's not fair on you to hold an election right now!"
"None the less..."

 

[Anonymoose]

The CWOH bureaucrats came into Ensenada in mid-February. They carted in freshly minted CWOH identification cards and loads of equipment to ready the virgin cards for a photo of the CWOH citizens-to-be. Lines were forming in Ensenada and every other city in Baja to receive their papers, and most of them were elated to be out from under the ambiguous rule of El Jefe, or the clone of El Jefe, or whatever specter was looming behind his corrupt seat of power. Across the dusty street from the ID center that had been erected, a tent with a red cross on top was giving good old-fashioned vaccinations. The enthusiasm in this line was diminished, but in order to get an ID they had to get immunized. Within a couple of weeks, practically every individual, from the oldest to the youngest, was vaccinated and listed. The reports were sent to Sacramento, and celebrations were arranged. One of the many representatives from the CWOH legislature traveled to Baja to get the new citizens used to the idea of real, meaningful representation in a benevolent nation. The announcement was short and sweet, and it was televised all over Baja. Everyone wanted to forget the woes of the past (and present) for one night and celebrate the joining of a hard-working region to a nation that would not take it for granted, and would not forsake it as the foolish leaders of the past had done.

Spoiler Party Hardy :

 

[TheLizardKing]

"So. We lost Europe.. because one of you decided it would be a poor idea to redirect our air support from our successes in North Africa, to a more pressing location?" The sentence came from the shadows, an unidentified figure. The boundless arrogance that game with it made the speaker unmistakable. The Kelen went on, "You are aware that your idiocracy has cost us large amounts of manpower, money, and to an extent, life." The assembled Náani looked at each other, each attempting to figure out if the Kelen meant for someone to speak, or if the silence they seemed sworn to was the 'correct' option. The incorrect option could, after all, lead to an untimely death somewhere in the wastes.

"You have been given a rank to do a duty. And your duty is to run the military aspect of our infallible Revolutionary Union. A duty that you preform, because I allow it. So when I ask for one of you to admit that you have indeed made a mistake, do you view that as too great of a request? Does your Kelen not deserve to know?" These were of course questions that didn't require a verbal answer. The Náani Kapere stepped forward, as the other Náani stepped back. He stared at the Kelens feet, or, at least where he thought they were, and continued to not speak. "Ahh, Náani Kapere. So you, are, as they say, the culprit." The Kelen stood, however, the shadows from the bright white ceiling light continued to enshroud half his face.

He walked around the Náani, who stood rigid, staring at the ground. "Well," the Kelen said slowly "You have served with distinction, to say the least. Off the top of my head, you were assigned to direct several squadrons in Russia. You led soldiers assure at Ceylon in 53', were injured twice, and then promoted. You became a Náani in 58' after your Náani was killed by a clone. This, I know. What I don't know, Náani Kapere is how you lacked the forsight to redirect even 10 of your alloted squadrons to protect Europe." The Kelen looked to the other Náani, "You may leave, while me and your Comrade discuss his failures." Without another word, the other Náani filed out of the room. The door slammed shut, it's clank echoeing through the dark halls of the compound, almost as if giving the Náani Kapere permission to speak.

Tears filled his eyes, as he continued to stare at the ground. "My Kelen, my beautiful, glorious Kelen. Your questions are so wise, and well formed. And I offer no excuse, only my thoughts." Náani Kapere was no idiot. He knew where the conversation was leading. Talking to the Kelen was a minefield one had to traverse carefully. "Kelen, my great Kelen, I was told that Egypt was where land and air army should focus its efforts. And so, I followed those orders. I was in no pos-" The Kelen interrupted; not with words, but by pulling out a gleaming, golden plated pistol. He checked it's chambered. The clank of the rounds were soon met with the murmers of the Náani Kapere.

"So you'll tell me, that you're failure was a direct result of faulty leadership on the part of your higher ups." The Náani began talking, though whatever he said was lost to the compunds grey walls. "You do realize, that you have insulted the leadership of our glorious Workers Union. That leadership, ultimately being me. An accusation that obviously proves that you have found yourself affected by the mind warping technology of the Atlantics."

"Do you think this to be true, my Kelen?" Náani Kapere didn't argue. It was probably true.

"Yes, Náani Kapere. I do. You've have the ability to be exposed. You were on the fronts." Whispered the Kelen, walking behind the Náani, holding his shoulder. "You saw their faces. They saw yours."

"Yes.. I did. They.. they looked the same. They were all the same." He quivered.

"They got you. In fact, I don't think you're really Náani Kapere. You're a clone they made. That is upsetting."

"No.." Náani Kapere said, "No, I hope you're not right Kelen. But I know you are. The Kelen doesn't lie."

The Kelen slowly raised his gun to the back of the Náani's head. "I am right Náani. You know, I can fix all of this? I can make you better. Would you like that Náani? Do you love your Union"

"Kelen, please, fix me. Fix me. I love my Union. I love my Union. And I love my Kelen. Make me have purpose." Náani Kapere begged.

"Just close your eyes Náani Kapere. This is a common re-education procedure. Think of the thing you love most." The Kelen paused. "Do you have that though, Náani Kapere?"

"Yes Kelen." He smiled.

"What is that?" The Kelen said, cocking his gun.

"You, my Kelen." Náani Kapere "Only you."

**********************************

The thunder of the gunshot was heard by the Náani waiting outside of the Kelen's office. Yet no one worried, and no one spoke. Justice delivered by the Kelen, after all, is a compliment.

 

[TheLizardKing]

Artillery shook the compound, and was immediatley picked up by the Kelen's sensitive ears. No, they weren't under attack. Far from it. He had his Revolutionary Guard fire live rounds towards the compound to give everyone in it a sense of urgency. The Kelen always viewed urgency as a way to increase effeciency. In the dark compound, one lost a sense of time, and many of his Kɔnɔntɔn, Wɔɔrɔ and Náani indeed lost those ever so key senses of reality. It is, after all, the little things that makes one feel like they are alive. No, The Compound was an oasis. It was safe, dark, and most ostensibly, it's where the Kelen would be making the rest of his descisions until the Nanite crisis was gone.

One of the few people aside from the Kelen, of course, allowed to leave The Compound, was the Kɔnɔntɔn Kagame. He was the Kelen's top aid, and arguably the cloest thing to a friend the Glorious Leader would allow. He was taller then most, and his lanky features quickly distinguished him from the hurrying Wɔɔrɔ running around the halls of The Compound. He entered the Kelen's office, without so much as a knock, a minor benefit of being so close to the Hero of the Revolution. "Kelen, Comrade."

"Come in Kɔnɔntɔn Kagame. I assume you come baring news from Somaliland." The Kelen stared intently at the man.

"Yes," he grimaced, almost instantly giving away how the negotiations went. "They speak of you, as nothing more then a villanous knave. An imperialist, almost. They want nothing more to do with your Glory, after you took away so many of their people for re-education."

"Bah!" Toumani said, leaning back in his chair. He cocked his head to one side. "Comrade, allow for me to ask you a question."

"By all means, you're the Kelen, Comrade. How can I say no?"

"Why are these barbarians refusing to accept the civilization I can bestow upon them? If I was in their shoes, praying to whatever false Gods my village's religion alloted me to, I'd be asking for some sort of deliverence to be made. Are we simply above their intellegence level?"

"In a word, yes." Kɔnɔntɔn Kagame said. "If I had the displeasure of not living in our Union, I would of course do everything in my power to get in to it. Do they even understand what happens at these re-education camps? No need to waste your breath answering that Kelen. The answer is assuredly no. They obviously don't understand the fact that they need mental liberation. Something 285 million of your people have."

"And these cowards are obviously hostile towards us, am I correct in my thinking, Kɔnɔntɔn Kagame?" The Kelen said bitterly.

"Sir, almost as hostile as the Congoalese were. That was before the LULZ were at hand."

"I see. Well you listen to me Kɔnɔntɔn Kagame. You send your aides back to those ungrateful representatives from that ad hoc nation, and I don't care who they kill, or what they do. But they need to pull these bastards down from their high horse, and understand that the Kelen does not wish to to once again deal with their insolence. Make sure that if they want to be 'free, and independent', that not a single one of our soldiers will aid them if they are brought to their knees. In fact, we may be the ones doing it."

"I'll do my best Comrade. I don't know if these barbarians will be as receptive this time, as they were last time" Kagame said.

"You'd better give them a try, that's all I've got to tell you. Iran might have Egypt, but I am sure as hell not allowing a few tribals to rule that land in opposition to me." Kɔnɔntɔn Kagame nodded. He'd seen the Kelen angry before- the Kelen ran on anger like their tanks ran on Nigerian Oil. He'd seen it enough to know that displeasing the Kelen in such a state was an immediate state-approved issue of "Re-education Procedures" and a train ticket to the Camps. So Kɔnɔntɔn Kagame turned towards the doors without another word. Before he could go, however, the Kelen spoke again.

"Comrade Kɔnɔntɔn. What is today?"

"Day 27,853 day of the revolution, Kelen."

"Today is the day that USACS strikes a new path in the annals of history." the Kelen said, almost to himself.

"Yes Kelen. Yes it is." Kɔnɔntɔn Kagame, finally, walking away, towards the elevators that led out of The Compound.

It always was.

 

[Kozmos]

Liking them, but why is Kelen so evil?

 

[Nuka-sama]

The good guys never win

 

[Nuka-sama]

Checkmate
Part I

An appropriate hat for the event

The arena was well situated for the day’s entertainment. The only thing that could be said was that maybe the day was too hot. Of course, when you’re the ruler of three continents, you can change that. Catherine had the best seat in the house of course, her fine throne being carried in by Her loyal subjects. The heat was gone, as two servants fanned her. Of course, air conditioning would have worked, but as Queen, Catherine felt She had some privileges to go along with it. The Communists would call it the enslavement of the proletariat. She called it “I’m the Queen, I get whatever I want”.

And what she might want right now was one of the guards accompanying her. Dante Romano. War hero, fit, and most importantly, the nephew of the former Roman Consul. He was a force now, and would be even more so soon. There was the obvious advantage of having him under control would ensure She would forever sit on the throne of Rome. But then of course, he did have other assets…

Nico Romano stood near the edge of her pavilion. I know your game, Minister. And I’m telling you, it won’t work.. It really wasn’t fair. She won. He submitted to HER, to recognize HER as his sovereign. But no, She had to spend her day playing court, while Blacktyde and Romano had all the fun. True, there were some fun moments at court, and She knew She ruled the nation, but still.

I wonder where Will is…haven’t seen him for a while…oh well. Something was bothering Her though. She thought for a moment and then it hit her. I’m a Queen! A mere Queen? That woman before me was a “Queen”. How have I put up with me being considered her equal in rank?. Now true, Queen offered her a sense of privilege and respectability. As much as Supreme Ruler Catherine may sound powerful, it was too tacky for Her tastes.

Goddess? Too soon. Hmm. Empress? Yes. But I do like being called Queen. Ooh, why not just make a really long title? I can be Empress of one thing, Queen of another! Brilliant!

It seemed the opening ceremonies were over and the action would begin. The first was an old style Roman gladiator fight. Two German prisoners would be in the arena, and one knife was in the middle. They would have to fight for it, and eventually one would take control. Blacktyde had no time for such frivolities, but sometimes it was just fun to watch people clobber each other. When the fight finally ended, the victorious gladiator looked up into the stands for direction. She started to raise Her thumb, that would give this man a day longer of life. She saw the hope in his eyes…and then saw it die as Her thumb went down firmly.

The next one would be even more fun. Texan prisoners, each in a car, trying to mash into one another. Some in what looked like tanks, others in tractors. It was quite a sight, and the audience loved it. No other event held her attention like that, save for the two Iranians with chainsaws. The Minister especially enjoyed that one. Still, it had been a good day’s entertainment, and when the warriors that spilled blood in Her name could not entertain Her, She found other ways to pass the time…

Hmm, it’s too bad that I might be married to Will. Unless maybe I’d make Polygamy legal. No, that’d be foolish. Maybe just me. Yes, I can have as many husbands as I want. I’d realllly like to see someone say that I can’t. I have some excellent new ideas for gladiator events.

Snapping Her fingers, Her throne lifted. These were enemies who had disobeyed the divine laws of the universe. She had no sympathy for the burden they carried. After all, She did need to go back to the Palace…

As soon as they were back, Dante Romano bowed and took his leave. Without even thinking, Catherine said to Dante “You know, there’s this art show…”