Crabs in a Bucket: an Invasion Timeline

[spanishspy]

Preface: The idea for this timeline comes from an unorthodox alien invasion idea I had, not seen in any book or movie to my knowledge. What that is, well, you'll see.

Without further ado:
CRABS IN A BUCKET
AN INVASION TIMELINE

Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask you, is not an alien force already among us? What could be more alien to the universal aspirations of our peoples than war and the threat of war?
- Ronald Reagan addressing the United Nations General Assembly, September 21st, 1987

STATUS?: Indigenous species found to be heavily fragmented politically. Economic integration underway. Large disparities in wealth. Large disparities in conflict proliferation. Heavy small scale fighting in certain areas. High concentration of power in certain areas. High potential civic disturbance in major, minor states.

DISTRIBUTION?: Three continents hold majority of wealth, power. Two continents impoverished, displeased with rule of global plutocracy. One subcontinent heavily involved in combat.

CAPABILITY?: Large disparity in military technology focused among three continents offset by insurgent warfare elsewhere.

POLITICS?: Four large oligarchies using democratic means to satisfy population, enact social control, pursue national security, suppress dissent. Some more democratic than others. Rest is assortment of oligarchies of varying democratic tendency.

UNITY?: Almost none beyond immediate interest. All states can be destabilized with sufficient intervention.

INTERVENTION?: OPTIMAL.

[lordroel]

Feb 14, 2016 21:24:55 GMT spanishspy said:

Preface: The idea for this timeline comes from an unorthodox alien invasion idea I had, not seen in any book or movie to my knowledge. What that is, well, you'll see.

You mean these crabs.

[spanishspy]

Feb 14, 2016 21:32:04 GMT lordroel said:

Feb 14, 2016 21:24:55 GMT spanishspy said:

Preface: The idea for this timeline comes from an unorthodox alien invasion idea I had, not seen in any book or movie to my knowledge. What that is, well, you'll see.

You mean these crabs.

It's an expression in English that is a good description of forthcoming events.

[spanishspy]

LAGUARDIA AIRPORT, NEW YORK CITY

"Come on, Bobby, put your head up."

"Okay," said the child, raising his chin upwards. His mother took out the afrin and squirted it into both of her child's nostrils.

"I know you don't like it but you won't get a headache when we're landing in Miami. That way you're fine when you see grandma and grandpa."

"Yay!" exclaimed Bobby. His mother knew he loved her parents very much.

Kara, the mother reclined in the chair. She was tired, setting up everything back home to make sure that her life in New York would not fall apart. Arranging shifts at work, paying off the rent, and all that. Her parents were kind enough to pay for the tickets. Her husband would stay home and continue to bring in money.

"Mommy?" asked her son. "Can I have the iPad?"

"No, not yet. Look! We're taking off!"

Bobby looked out of the plane and gazed upon the ground, houses and cars become smaller and smaller as the plane took up. He was mesmerized.

After the spectacle ended, she gave her son the iPad as the plane stabilized. He began playing whatever game he wanted to this time around.

She relaxed and attempted to fall asleep. It was quiet for a long time.

She woke up to the plane being jolted by what she thought to be turbulence. The announcement from the cabin said as much.

"Mommy?" asked Bobby. "What is happening?"

"It's turbulence. It's when the plane starts shaking because of all of the wind." Hopefully that comforted him.

"But what is that thing on the wing?"

She looked out the window, and beheld a large mechanical .. thing. Somewhat buglike, but with a hexagonal center and multiple large tendrils with what appeared to be tools at the ends.

"I don't know."

The plane shook further, rocking the insides. Bobby's head was rammed against the side of the plane. "Mommy! My head hurts!"

The plane shook further. She caressed her son, keeping him close, rubbing his head to assuage the pain.

There was a piercing cutting noise from the front. She looked up, and in the middle of the aisle the roof had been cut off. A small, cubic body descended into the plane, connected to the apparatus on the wings via another tendril. From the cube, three robotic tentacles emerged, one grasping the floor and the others the walls.

There was a commotion on the plane; people screamed and panicked. One man from behind Kara got up and threw something, maybe a book, maybe a kindle, at the central apparatus. From one of its corners jutted another tentacle which whipped at this aspiring hero. The tentacle forced itself into his mouth. From his body emerged several spikes, ripping him into flayed innards from the inside. The tentacle receded into the cube.

"Just keep looking outside," counseled Kara to her son. "Everything is going to be okay."

"Mommy?" asked Bobby.

"Yes?" she responded.

"Why are we going back to New York?"

. . .

Excerpt from the New York Times

U.S. ATTACKED AGAIN
HIJACKED JET DESTROYS FREEDOM TOWER IN NEW DAY OF TERROR

LOWER MANHATTAN - In an act of barbarity that no doubt calls back to the attacks of September 11th, 2001, a hijacked airplane, of unknown allegiance, rammed into the One World Trade Center, otherwise known as the Freedom Tower, destroying the building. The death toll is currently estimated at 2,500.

The plane crashed yesterday at 1:32 PM, causing the tower to lose internal stability, collapsing within twenty minutes. Debris from the tower collided with other buildings in the complex, causing them, too, to collapse.

[...]

Emergency crews immediately arrived on scene to help with search and rescue, as well as putting out the blaze. From here, several hundred people survived, with emergency teams evacuating the area.

[...]

President Obama has announced a state of emergency, as have Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio. "This day is a tragedy on an unprecedented scale, and by all means the worst terror attack since 9/11," said the President at a press conference in Washington. "The perpetrators of such a heinous action will be dealt with in due course."

[...]

Presidential candidates have already responded. Speaking at a rally in St. Louis, Missouri, Donald Trump proclaimed that "ISIS must now be destroyed once and for all," and reiterated his previous statements for a registry of Muslim citizens and a total ban on immigration from the Middle East.

Likewise, Ted Cruz has called for the impeachment of the President. "This attack is a failure of the current administration's constitutional responsibility to defend this country. This failure means he is no longer fit to govern."

[stevep]

Feb 14, 2016 21:46:53 GMT spanishspy said:

Feb 14, 2016 21:32:04 GMT lordroel said:

You mean these crabs.

It's an expression in English that is a good description of forthcoming events.

  I'm familiar with "fish in a bucket", as in a target that can't defend itself.  Is that what you mean?  Had a nasty feeling when I read this on the other site that's what you meant.

  Steve

[spanishspy]

Feb 15, 2016 16:09:52 GMT stevep said:

Feb 14, 2016 21:46:53 GMT spanishspy said:

It's an expression in English that is a good description of forthcoming events.

  I'm familiar with "fish in a bucket", as in a target that can't defend itself.  Is that what you mean?  Had a nasty feeling when I read this on the other site that's what you meant.

  Steve

Not quite; 'crabs in a bucket' has its own special meaning, which ties into the events here.

[owen]

Crabs in a Bucket: Definition
“Crabs in a bucket” is a metaphor that refers to behavior of actual crabs in a bucket. On their own, a crab could easily escape a bucket, but when together they continually grab at each other to prevent any one crab from leaving the bucket, ensuring that none of them escape.

This phrase is often used as an analogy to describe behavior in humans, where members of a group will, out of their own envy, pull each other down to prevent any single member of the group from succeeding.

[lordroel]

Feb 24, 2016 16:04:40 GMT owen said:

Welcome to the forum owen but i do not see the two videos you have posted.

[owen]

I can't even open them now? Try the sight I copied them off.

www.crabsinabucket.info/

[lordroel]

Feb 24, 2016 16:44:45 GMT owen said:

I can't even open them now? Try the sight I copied them off.

www.crabsinabucket.info/

Thanks will do it.

[spanishspy]

ROSTOV ON DON, RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The port of that great city on the grand river Don laid quiet in the twilight hours. Even so, the city was awake. Dockworkers were loading containers onto the black sea port. This was a merchant city, a seaport.

Not far from the city lay the border with Ukraine. This border was less than thirty years old, at least as an international border. the war that had enveloped that land was ignored by the world, but it was still raging on.

And yet Rostov on Don continued business as usual.

Ships came and went. Some docked in the port, the work crews going to unload these titanic vessels.

And then, as if by magic, the ships burst into fire, incinerating the harbor, and swathes of the city.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"What?" screamed Vladimir Putin. "What? What in God's name do you mean, they snuck into Rostov?"

"The city is in flames. I cannot imagine it is anyone other than the Ukrainians," replied Defense Minister Shoygu.

"Where do you think they shipped off from?" asked the president.

"We are guessing either Odessa or one of the cities on the Dnieper. We are going though whatever records survived the blasts."

"I trust, Sergei Kuzhugetovich, that our forces are on high alert?"

"They are, and are awaiting your orders."

"Give them. This is beyond mere frozen conflict."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Excerpt from the BBC

RUSSIA LAUNCHES FULL SCALE INVASION OF UKRAINE

KYIV - After a series of devastating bomb blasts in the southwestern city of Rostov on Don killed thousands, the Russian Federation has launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine. The bomb blasts are believed to have been undertaken by Ukrainian nationalists demanding a withdrawal from the secessionist eastern provinces calling themselves Novorossiya.

[...]

Using his lackey, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, as additional forces, the Russians have launched a three pronged invasion of Ukraine. In the East, Russian forces have began their march on the Dnieper River, beginning with the fall of Sieverodonetsk to the Russians and their secessionist puppets. In the north, Belarusian forces have marched into metropolitan Kyiv with the intent of taking the city; more Russian forces from regions such as Belgorod and Kursk have supplemented them, moving on Sumy and Chernihiv. In the South, Russian naval forces have began bombarding the ports of Kherson, Odessa, and Melitopol. Through the Crimean peninsula, the port of Kherson appears to be the primary target of the southern division.

[...]

President Vladimir Putin has said that "Russia can no longer tolerate being prodded by such an insolent border state such as Ukraine" in a speech to the Duma in which he asked for, and received, a declaration of war. "No other option is feasible."

[...]

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for the nation to "have steadfast resolve" in fighting the Russians; however, he has moved all essential government operations, but not himself, to the western city of Lviv, far from the Russian attack.

[...]

Western leaders have been condemnatory but have not offered military aid to Ukraine, in light of the ISIS-backed terrorist attack on the Freedom Tower in New York City. Prime Minister Cameron has denounced "blatant aggression" in Russia's part, while President Obama has similarly called for "rational dialogue" between parties.

[spanishspy]

FREIBURG IM BREISGAU, GERMANY

This city was a bustling one, but one with a simmering discontent beneath its tranquil exterior. Germany was the great giver and the greatest taker. both, for those seeking refuge from the ravages of war in Syria and Iraq.

The Americans, perhaps true to form, had sought to avenge the destruction of the Freedom Tower in cold emulation of the September 11th attacks, and began pounding the region with their planes and launched a ground invasion shortly thereafter. This was open war between the Islamic State and the United States. As rationality would have it, those that were not fighting, those that merely wanted to live in peace, fled to Europe.

But Europe was being overwhelmed. Its charity could only be so accommodating.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zahira just sat there, on that train, dejected, her head resting on her friend Olivia's shoulder. "Just why?" she bawled. "Why are people so cruel!"

"It's not your fault there are xenophobes in this country," replied Olivia, sighing. With the refugees flooding Freiburg, indeed all of Europe, those who were less charitable found the newcomers to be distasteful. They had jeered at Zahira, screamed the most vile screeds at her, all because she was from Aleppo rather than Augsburg.

"You are still in pain?" Zahira asked Olivia.

"My arm hurts, yes, but it was worth it." They had not merely assaulted Zahira with words.

As if in some kind of moralistic story, Olivia's arm began to hurt again. She clenched it, and found it to have been stabbed with glass. The hoodlums had used a knife. She did not know where the glass had come from.

The entire train car was now covered in glass, and in the middle of the panicking crowd stood some sort of automata, insectlike with its legs and tendrils.

It became very hot in the car, and very bright. Perhaps anxiety?

There was no more time to think.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Excerpt from the Chicago Tribune

BOMBINGS THROUGHOUT EUROPE SPUR ANTI-REFUGEE RIOTS

FREIBURG IM BREISGAU, GERMANY - Freiburg was the first of many European cities to be subject to a series of brutal bombings on public transportation that would send the entire European continent into a riotous frenzy.

Five passenger rail trains were obliterated when bombs detonated onboard, killing several hundred and grinding the city to a halt. Within the hour, similar bombs went off in several German cities, as well as cities in Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

[...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for 'sanity' after the deadly bombings, which have killed over ten thousand throughout the continent. "We cannot allow this to cause Europe to descend into civil war."

[...]

Still, citizens are beyond angry. Throughout Europe, riots have broken out, explicitly targeting refugees and their encampments. Several hundred thousand are expected to die in the coming months, and many cities have already declared martial law.

[...]

Perhaps most appalling is the fate of the Calais jungle. Rioters, mostly French but some from nearby Belgium, arrived in trucks with lighter fluid, matches, some firearms, knives, and blunt objects. The angry mob began lighting the jungle on fire, and brutally murdering any refugee they could find, as well as the occasional aid worker.

Smartphone footage from the migrants shows savage brutality; nobody, not even children, were spared from the atrocity. One, which has become emblematic of the crisis facing Europe, shows a child being bashed to death with a baseball bat as her mother watches; the phone is subsequently dropped to the floor, obscuring visual recording, but gunshots are heard in the background.

[spanishspy]

THULE AIR BASE, GREENLAND

The assembled security analysts from both sides of the Atlantic gathered around the darkened room, sitting in chairs arranged around an oval table. On one end was a screen.

They did not know each others' names; they suspected that somebody, the Russians or the Chinese, was monitoring them. They only had each other's codenames. On one side, the Americans, the other side, the Europeans.

"Are you certain," asked one of them, German-accented English readily apparent, "that these attacks were undertaken by ISIS?"

"Were the videos from them proclaiming their culpability not enough? Was not the flurry of activity among ISIS cells throughout Iraq and Syria sufficient to prove that they did this? The security establishment knows this."

"Your security establishment also thought there were chemical weapons in Iraq over a decade ago," responded the German.

"Then what causes your doubt?" asked another American.

"This comes so shortly before the Russians in Ukraine and the bombings in my home country," the German retorted. A Frenchman nodded his assent.

"Are you alleging some kind of conspiracy?"

The German looked to an Italian seated at the end of the table. "Show them the footage."

On the screen blared camera footage of one of the trains that had been destroyed in the bombings. As it zoomed forwards, some thing, some metallic creature, leapt onto the train, embedded itself in the car, and exploded, derailing the whole caravan of passengers.

"These things, as you can see," remarked the German, "have been sighted throughout Europe, most, if not all, near these bombings."

There was silence.

"What do you suppose these things are doing, and where they are from?" asked another American.

"I do not know, and Europe does not know," responded the German. "But, given recent events, cannot we be skeptical? The Ukrainian transmissions that Putin has cited so many times that Kyiv denies? Our own people embedded all throughout the Ukrainian security bureaucracy can find absolutely no evidence of those transmissions being made - but lo and behold, Putin has recordings of what appears to be Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk and the lot of them talking about the attack on Rostov. It's beyond suspicious."

"So," muttered the American, "what do you think these things are? Aliens?"
"Who is to say?" asked the German.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SOUTH HWANGHAE PROVINCE, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Ok Kyung-jae patrolled that small, cloistered room inside the military base that held some of the Great Leader's most precious secrets: ballistic missiles.

Ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, at that.

He had his rifle at the ready in case anyone came. He could hear the discussions inside the room, where the base commanders were discussing the recent events.

Explosions among the parallel. The Americans were looking to overthrow the First Secretary, and that could not be allowed. Would they invade, liberating the peninsula? That is what appeared to be under discussion.

Footsteps?" Ok looked behind him. Bugs, he imagined.

Except that bug was far too big, and far too shiny, to be an actual bug.

He followed it, rifle at the ready. Its 'head,' if he could call it that, peered towards him, and then scurried off, ducking into a ventilation shaft before he could get too close.

It scared him. What was going on?

The higher ups' conversation escalated substantially. "Who gave the order to fire? Who gave the order to attack?"

"I don't know!"

"Clearly somebody gave it! Who? The Supreme Leader?"

He heard more scurrying. Glancing at the ground, there was another one of those 'bugs,' still unsure if that was entirely appropriate.

It darted down the hallway. Ok followed it around a corner, clutching his gun.

The route this thing took led to a window overlooking the base. As it turned a corner, there was a scream and a falling noise.

Another guard had been killed, by whatever that thing was. His remains were splattered on the window.

As if on cue, a siren wailed. Ok dropped his rifle and covered his ears.

The siren was followed by a tremendous rumble, and the facility began to shake.

He heard a roar from outside. A missile had been launched towards the south.

Towards Seoul.

[lordroel]

Mar 8, 2016 4:04:28 GMT spanishspy said:

He heard a roar from outside. A missile had been launched towards the south.

Towards Seoul.

This is not going to be good.

[spanishspy]

Sirens blared. Through the window, Ok Kyung-jae saw fighters and bombers blasting towards what would rapidly cease to be a demilitarized zone. The facility was awash with a flurry of men, all holding weapons or tools, preparing for what would be a war of survival or conquest.

But that couldn't be. It was impossible. He had seen the bugs skitting around, things that clearly were not of human make.

This war would be a disaster. He knew that what the Dear Leader would think would be the result, and what would actually be the result, were different things. Even if they somehow won this war, and if they somehow beat back the Americans, the Democratic People's Republic would be damaged, perhaps beyond all repair. This was going to be downright miserable.

He had to tell the Americans. This was not something that the Leader had done. It was not out of aggression, it was nonhuman interference.

He knew what he had to do. He snuck through the crowds running towards wherever they were going and made his way to another place he had guarded: a vehicle bay, which held various trucks and planes and other things he had guarded. He could, incidentally, also drive; he had friends in fairly high places.

There was only one truck; the rest had scurried off to do whatever needed to be done. There was but one driver in it, preparing to leave.

"I need this truck!" called out Ok.

"What the hell do you need it for? I need to get to one of the airbases as soon as I can!"

"You wouldn't believe me."

"Then fuck off!" spat the driver.

Ok was a soldier. "I'm sorry," he said dejectedly.

He pulled out his gun, shot the driver dead, and zoomed towards the south.