stevep
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Post by stevep on Jan 5, 2020 13:01:19 GMT
Re: the Borg reference -- there was a Star Trek in this universe. Roddenberry escaped to Canada (as did so many in Hollywood -- he was part of the second wave of refugees during the late '80s). Next Generation never got made. They continued the adventures of the Enterprise-A: Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) First Officer Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) Science Officer Data (Brent Spiner( Security Officer Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) Communications Officer Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) Helmsman Lieutenant Geordi La Forge (Levar Burton) Star Trek: The New Generation lasted five seasons (1987-92) on NBC and was cancelled soon after reaching its 100th episode, the minimum number considered to be necessary for syndication. McFadden left the series in 1988 and was replaced by Doctor Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) for the remainder of the series. La Forge was moved to the chief engineer position from Season 2 on; other regulars included Lieutenant Laurel Ro (Michelle Forbes), Klingon captain Worf (Michael Dorn) and Doctor Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton, assistant to Dr. Pulaski). Yeoman Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney) returned in Season Three, taking over Uhura's spot without comment nor explanation (in reality, Nicholls fled to Canada to protest the Thurmond Bill in safety, and in exile). The primary enemies were pulled from the Original Series, the Animated Series and from Rodddenberry's unmade Phase Two series: the Klingons, the Romulans, the Tzitzi, among others. The Borg -- stolen from Roddenberry's notes discovered by series producer Bob Justman in 1988 -- were introduced in Season Three, which gave Trek its first cliff-hanger: will Sulu survive assimilation? (Yes.) Midway through Season Five, Sulu was assassinated, putting Riker in the captain's chair; in-series, the Romulan Tal Shiar were behind the assassination, as they were behind the deaths of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty (as revealed in the third-to-last episode of the series); in reality, Takei's sexual orientation was found out and he was sent to an ex-gay camp operated by Exodus w/federal funding (part of the Thurmond Bill). Takei escaped and eventually wound up in Canada, as did so many people, in 1994. He wrote two books about it, one comparing it to his family's experience during World War II, the second focusing on the more unpleasant parts of his stay. Takei's book was supressed, although Americans along the border got the truth via Canadian and Mexican TV/radio, and the series went to syndication. Thanks in part to a dearth of quality sci-fi and quality TV in general -- New Generation outshone almost everything on TV -- the show endured in popularity even as things got worse. Takei was said to have died in the camp, having repented of his sins (thereby assuring the mirage of Sulu/Takei as a straight whiteish-American hero and ensuring the show stayed on air). If you want to know what American TV looks like now, imagine a mix of PureFlix; Christian shows on Netflix; the Christian fiction shelves at your local bookstore; and Russian-made action shows. Colonial, Canadian, British and Australian TV are WAY better for English-speakers.
Interesting highlight of the differences compared to OTL, thanks. I'm, guessing that the 'deaths' of those four characters were due to the fact that the actors made it out to Canada - where at least a couple of them came from.
Steve
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Jan 5, 2020 13:14:27 GMT
Day One
Part Five
25 days ago
Naval Air Station Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A.
10:02 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
U.S. Air Force 1st Lieutenant Jaclyn “Converse” Brown walked along the revetment where the F-15C Eagle fighter jets assigned to the 1st Fighter Squadron were currently parked. The 1st Fighter Squadron was deactivated a few years back by President Sarah Palin, and then reactivated after Lindsey Graham took office and given a new mission: being part of America’s first-line defense against “international aggression” which in practice meant Canadians, Colonials, British and anyone else on the current regime’s enemy list. Brown was one of 117 female pilots in the USAF, an accomplishment she owed as much to the women’s movement as to her own skill. Brown grew up in Clearwater, Florida, a town long-taken over by the west coast-based Calvary Chapel, to the point where it was nicknamed Costa Mesa East. Her family was working-class, and gave their daughter a work ethic that — along with her natural charm — got her to the front door of where she wanted to be. But as she entered college, Brown’s America was mostly white, still ruled mostly by men and almost completely Christian. There was still sizable African-American, Hispanic and Asian minorities throughout the country — again, almost exclusively Christian — and several prominent Christian women had fought to restore, and even grow, the work done by their heathen sisters in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Brown was one of the beneficiaries of these particular women’s work. She wanted more than anything to be a pilot, and the Air Force opened up an opportunity just in time for her to apply for flight training. She sent an e-mail to President Palin that the chief executive saw and answered and before Brown knew it, the University of Florida freshman was on a plane for Colorado Springs — not to work as a secretary at Focus on the Family, but to attend the Air Force Academy. She overcame every obstacle put in her way and graduated with honors. Palin brought Brown and the other 26 women in her graduating class to the White House Rose Garden for a photo-op, and Brown immediately went back west for Initial Flight Training in Pueblo, Colorado. Passing IFT with flying colors, Brown then went to Oklahoma for Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training, and afterwards was assigned to Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi….as a Weapons Systems Officer, known informally as a rear pilot or ‘guy/girl in back’. The geniuses around her thought the ‘girl in back’ jokes wrote themselves, but she had the last laugh. Brown’s value showed when she was called upon during US military actions in northern Mexico, Haiti and Guyana; when the veteran pilot she had been the GIB suddenly retired to care for his sick wife, Brown was a certainty to become the USAF’s fifth female lead pilot. Instead, Graham won the Presidential race and, politics being what they are, she was put into the GIB seat for a cocky, white, heterosexual, straight male pilot who became famous on the news channels for killing four Brazilian fighters in support of Venezuelan forces. And that’s how Captain Paul “Kodak” O’Leary got stuck with Jaclyn Brown. O’Leary — named Kodak for a picture of him wearing an ugly yellowish shirt with the Kodak corporate logo at a campus ministry retreat — was one of the youngest captains in USAF history, and enjoyed the confidence of the men who ran the Air Force. A devout evangelical Christian, O’Leary was married to Taylor, who like Brown had gone through the Academy, but on a different track: she was a MMMO, seeing it as a way to serve next to her husband and as a venue for ministry and evangelism. Brown spied O’Leary in the distance, looking over their ‘bird’: an Eagle 15-C, as was his custom around this time of day six days a week (except for Sundays). They got along well enough, but there was some tension in their working relationship — she was single, perfectionistic and opinionated, and O’Leary felt pressure from his wife on account of Brown being around him more than she herself was. Then, there was the tension in the air from something else, that affected everybody: the prospect of war. Not the one-sided attacks on smaller Central and South American countries, but full-on war with nations that could go punch-for-punch with the U.S., and if things spiraled out of control, nuke it out of existence. “Penny for your thoughts?”, Brown said, dressed in her flight duty uniform and wearing her unsanctioned Converse sneakers. “I’m worried,” said O’Leary, also wearing his flight duty uniform, and officially sanctioned footwear. “The Colonies?” “Yeah. The morale officers, they…they downplay everything, tell us this’ll be another Sinaloa or Qatar or Ghana…Taylor says the same thing.” “Except it’s not.” “Except it’s not,” he said. “You know Guru’s really concerned. If he’s concerned, the big brass have to be, too. You hear the scuttlebutt?” “You mean like they strip naked and have orgies in front of every single one of their gods, on pay-per-view?” O’Leary chuckled. “Don’t let Taylor hear you say that,” he said. “She thinks it’ll be like the Patriots lining up against some bad Conference USA team.” “Sorry, not a sports ball person,” Brown said, with a smile. “I’d call you a heathen for saying that, but they’re just as crazy about pyramid as we are about football…no, I meant that if there is a war, we might get deployed to one of the Carrier Groups.” Brown pondered that for a moment. “We’re in the mix.” “We are, and Guru says we’d likely get sent right in the line of fire. Caprica City, Picon, maybe that big naval base on Virgon where they could attack the east coast….you been praying about all this, right?” Brown wasn’t the praying type, at all, and very much kept that inclination to herself. “ You pray about this?” “Yeah. I feel a little better, but not much….you didn’t hear me say this, but I’d rather the U.N. get both sides to settle up. We go to war, Jac…I’m pretty sure we’ll meet the Lord sooner than we expect. How are you doing with all this, Converse? What impression do you get when you pray?” She was glad he phrased his question in that particular way. “I get the impression I…expect to get when I pray,” she said. “I’m good. We’re pilots, professionals. We do our duty. We go to war with the Colonials, we fly, we fight, and we go out there to win.” “Yeah…you’re right,” he said, turning his head to look at their bird. “She looks good.” “She does.” Far away, but close enough to see them with binoculars, Taylor looked at them while listening in on their conversation, via the bug placed on the nose of the fighter jet. Whether out of concern for her husband, her marriage or her country, Taylor O’Leary was willing to do things few Morale Monitors would do. God help whomever got in her way.
Well that sounds potentially explosive. Taylor sounds like the obcessed fanatic, both in terms of religion and her personal uncertainties about her relationship with her husband to cause serious problems for them both, which might actually save their lives if it keeps them out of combat! O'Leary a supporter of the regime but not a total idiot and I like the way Brown has got used to answering questions about her praying although she's probably safer off simply lying as to anyone with any sense she's definitely fudging the issue which in this environment is likely to put her at risk of transfer to one of those re-education camps.
Given that a period of hard line religious fundamentalism, with strong doses of racial and sexual bigotry will have screwed up so much of American industrial and technological capacity, as well as the social problems caused, probably even worse than the Nazis did for 1930's Germany, the US is going to go down, probably fairly hard. Hopefully it won't end up with a serious outbreak of nukes.
With Europe distracted by the disaster that is TTL US, even aided by the Colonials, how is the rest of the world doing? Is China still emerging as a major player who could well be pushing for No. 1 stop even earlier here? Is Russia still stricken with an idiot like Putin? A Muslim extremism problem probably made worse by reacting to the US?
Steve
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Brky2020
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Post by Brky2020 on Jan 6, 2020 0:33:34 GMT
Day One
Part Five
25 days ago
Naval Air Station Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A.
10:02 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
U.S. Air Force 1st Lieutenant Jaclyn “Converse” Brown walked along the revetment where the F-15C Eagle fighter jets assigned to the 1st Fighter Squadron were currently parked. The 1st Fighter Squadron was deactivated a few years back by President Sarah Palin, and then reactivated after Lindsey Graham took office and given a new mission: being part of America’s first-line defense against “international aggression” which in practice meant Canadians, Colonials, British and anyone else on the current regime’s enemy list. Brown was one of 117 female pilots in the USAF, an accomplishment she owed as much to the women’s movement as to her own skill. Brown grew up in Clearwater, Florida, a town long-taken over by the west coast-based Calvary Chapel, to the point where it was nicknamed Costa Mesa East. Her family was working-class, and gave their daughter a work ethic that — along with her natural charm — got her to the front door of where she wanted to be. But as she entered college, Brown’s America was mostly white, still ruled mostly by men and almost completely Christian. There was still sizable African-American, Hispanic and Asian minorities throughout the country — again, almost exclusively Christian — and several prominent Christian women had fought to restore, and even grow, the work done by their heathen sisters in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Brown was one of the beneficiaries of these particular women’s work. She wanted more than anything to be a pilot, and the Air Force opened up an opportunity just in time for her to apply for flight training. She sent an e-mail to President Palin that the chief executive saw and answered and before Brown knew it, the University of Florida freshman was on a plane for Colorado Springs — not to work as a secretary at Focus on the Family, but to attend the Air Force Academy. She overcame every obstacle put in her way and graduated with honors. Palin brought Brown and the other 26 women in her graduating class to the White House Rose Garden for a photo-op, and Brown immediately went back west for Initial Flight Training in Pueblo, Colorado. Passing IFT with flying colors, Brown then went to Oklahoma for Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training, and afterwards was assigned to Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi….as a Weapons Systems Officer, known informally as a rear pilot or ‘guy/girl in back’. The geniuses around her thought the ‘girl in back’ jokes wrote themselves, but she had the last laugh. Brown’s value showed when she was called upon during US military actions in northern Mexico, Haiti and Guyana; when the veteran pilot she had been the GIB suddenly retired to care for his sick wife, Brown was a certainty to become the USAF’s fifth female lead pilot. Instead, Graham won the Presidential race and, politics being what they are, she was put into the GIB seat for a cocky, white, heterosexual, straight male pilot who became famous on the news channels for killing four Brazilian fighters in support of Venezuelan forces. And that’s how Captain Paul “Kodak” O’Leary got stuck with Jaclyn Brown. O’Leary — named Kodak for a picture of him wearing an ugly yellowish shirt with the Kodak corporate logo at a campus ministry retreat — was one of the youngest captains in USAF history, and enjoyed the confidence of the men who ran the Air Force. A devout evangelical Christian, O’Leary was married to Taylor, who like Brown had gone through the Academy, but on a different track: she was a MMMO, seeing it as a way to serve next to her husband and as a venue for ministry and evangelism. Brown spied O’Leary in the distance, looking over their ‘bird’: an Eagle 15-C, as was his custom around this time of day six days a week (except for Sundays). They got along well enough, but there was some tension in their working relationship — she was single, perfectionistic and opinionated, and O’Leary felt pressure from his wife on account of Brown being around him more than she herself was. Then, there was the tension in the air from something else, that affected everybody: the prospect of war. Not the one-sided attacks on smaller Central and South American countries, but full-on war with nations that could go punch-for-punch with the U.S., and if things spiraled out of control, nuke it out of existence. “Penny for your thoughts?”, Brown said, dressed in her flight duty uniform and wearing her unsanctioned Converse sneakers. “I’m worried,” said O’Leary, also wearing his flight duty uniform, and officially sanctioned footwear. “The Colonies?” “Yeah. The morale officers, they…they downplay everything, tell us this’ll be another Sinaloa or Qatar or Ghana…Taylor says the same thing.” “Except it’s not.” “Except it’s not,” he said. “You know Guru’s really concerned. If he’s concerned, the big brass have to be, too. You hear the scuttlebutt?” “You mean like they strip naked and have orgies in front of every single one of their gods, on pay-per-view?” O’Leary chuckled. “Don’t let Taylor hear you say that,” he said. “She thinks it’ll be like the Patriots lining up against some bad Conference USA team.” “Sorry, not a sports ball person,” Brown said, with a smile. “I’d call you a heathen for saying that, but they’re just as crazy about pyramid as we are about football…no, I meant that if there is a war, we might get deployed to one of the Carrier Groups.” Brown pondered that for a moment. “We’re in the mix.” “We are, and Guru says we’d likely get sent right in the line of fire. Caprica City, Picon, maybe that big naval base on Virgon where they could attack the east coast….you been praying about all this, right?” Brown wasn’t the praying type, at all, and very much kept that inclination to herself. “ You pray about this?” “Yeah. I feel a little better, but not much….you didn’t hear me say this, but I’d rather the U.N. get both sides to settle up. We go to war, Jac…I’m pretty sure we’ll meet the Lord sooner than we expect. How are you doing with all this, Converse? What impression do you get when you pray?” She was glad he phrased his question in that particular way. “I get the impression I…expect to get when I pray,” she said. “I’m good. We’re pilots, professionals. We do our duty. We go to war with the Colonials, we fly, we fight, and we go out there to win.” “Yeah…you’re right,” he said, turning his head to look at their bird. “She looks good.” “She does.” Far away, but close enough to see them with binoculars, Taylor looked at them while listening in on their conversation, via the bug placed on the nose of the fighter jet. Whether out of concern for her husband, her marriage or her country, Taylor O’Leary was willing to do things few Morale Monitors would do. God help whomever got in her way.
Well that sounds potentially explosive. Taylor sounds like the obcessed fanatic, both in terms of religion and her personal uncertainties about her relationship with her husband to cause serious problems for them both, which might actually save their lives if it keeps them out of combat! O'Leary a supporter of the regime but not a total idiot and I like the way Brown has got used to answering questions about her praying although she's probably safer off simply lying as to anyone with any sense she's definitely fudging the issue which in this environment is likely to put her at risk of transfer to one of those re-education camps.
Given that a period of hard line religious fundamentalism, with strong doses of racial and sexual bigotry will have screwed up so much of American industrial and technological capacity, as well as the social problems caused, probably even worse than the Nazis did for 1930's Germany, the US is going to go down, probably fairly hard. Hopefully it won't end up with a serious outbreak of nukes.
With Europe distracted by the disaster that is TTL US, even aided by the Colonials, how is the rest of the world doing? Is China still emerging as a major player who could well be pushing for No. 1 stop even earlier here? Is Russia still stricken with an idiot like Putin? A Muslim extremism problem probably made worse by reacting to the US?
Steve
Take into account everything you know about how the Soviet political officers operated and you’ll know why the US military ITTL wants no part of it. The military can’t make the MMMOs go away completely, but the trade-off is they’re...held in check, generally. Exceptions do slip into the rotation. The most common method is knowing the right people — that’s how Taylor got into the program. She is very devoted to her particular theological views, ones that are shared by enough Americans ITTL to not place her out of the mainstream. (There of course are people like that in real life, too) Under the right circumstances, she’s relatively harmless, and really a threat only to her hubby’s sanity.  Under the wrong circumstances, she could cause problems, and Guru — the veteran CO of the 1st Squadron whose own wife also is still active and his own WSO/GIB — is watching her closely. Unless she runs to the networks and cries persecution, or gets the more fanatical members of the administration and/or Congress to help her, Guru can have Taylor thrown out of the program. But because Kodak is a real asset as a pilot, she’d still be around as his wife. So Guru’s stuck with her no matter what: now if she causes Kodak to screw up... * You’d be surprised how America has kept up with the rest of the world. Making sure America wasn’t falling behind (too far) was a top priority of the Robertson and Buchanan administrations, and even Bauer didn’t screw around with that priority. Just tell them the Colonials are racing ahead and someone will move heaven and earth and raise hell to get MURICA ahead (or level). Apple, Boeing, Microsoft, et al still exist. Officially, God has blessed America by making it the world leader in technological and industrial innovation, blah blah blah. Unofficially, at least a big chunk of that information has come via espionage. THE COLONIAL GUIDE TO EARTH NORTH AMERICA Canada has benefited tremendously in almost every area from American refugees, though it’s more of a cultural leader than anything else ITTL. The Canadian Navy is not to be underestimated, and can punch far above its weight. Mexico is a hot mess, thanks to CIA intervention that went FUBAR and put the cartels in control. Because the southern border is sealed tight and illegals (just about everybody) crossing the border into America are shot on sight, you have a tiny handful of people who dare to cross the border into the US. If they make it and don’t get shot, they get put on a plane and dumped in allied Yucatán. The Caribbean is solidly anti-American, and China is now the benefactor of the People’s Republic of Cuba. Puerto Rico is independent, and dependent on Colonial, Latin AMerican, European and African trade. SOUTH AMERICA Venezuela and Colombia are American allies and God’s bastions of freedom and holiness in this part of the world according to American propaganda: in reality, they’re American puppets, and the rest of South America is firmly united against them and especially against their benefactor (CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying is always REAL interesting when the Yankee bitches play anyone else). They’re also where America gets its cocaine (yes, underneath all the sanctimony there are Christians, real and otherwise, who party and drink and shoot up and snort and all manner of things in the States). Brazil and Argentina are second-tier economic and military powers, with strong ties to other ‘neutral’ bloc nations like India and Nigeria...and are growing closer to China. KOBOL The home of the 12 United Colonies of Kobol. The UCK has taken on many of the U.S.’s old NATO obligations, including the military bases in Germany. They are strongly allied with Canada, the U.K., the European members of NATO (not so much Turkey — the religion thing), Japan, South Korea and Australia, are friendly with most other nations (including China) and polite to almost every Muslim nation. Their main enemies, it has been said, are America and themselves. EUROPE This timeline’s Britain has had its own version of Brexit, but the American threat has kept it a little more tied to the rest of NATO, and the American threat has tied it more closely to Canada and the Colonials. Western Europe — namely France, Germany, Italy and Spain — has become tight with the Canadians and Colonials and is firmly against the regime ruling America. Central Europe is split between west and east — the Czech Republic is firmly in the western orbit, the rest of the region allied with Russia. Eastern Europe and the Balkans are firmly in the Russian orbit, and Turkey is headed there. RUSSIA The Russian Bear is one of America’s only friends, and does business with America and anyone else who’s willing (Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Turkey, North Korea, the Balkans, Egypt, China, et al). Putin is firmly in control and has been for years: he switches titles when he needs to or when it suits him. Because they have a lot of nukes, the world takes them seriously. They love doing business in America and love how much influence they have there. THE MIDDLE EAST Israel is another one of America’s Only Friends, and it will always be, because of the belief that when America turns her back on Israel, God Will Destroy MURICA And Then Some. The Sauds who run Arabia also are friendly with America, although they’re much tighter with Russia. In fact, the Middle East is virtually Russian (a fact the Bible prophecy wonks keep hammering away on), and China has its fingers in the Arabian oil as well. That’s forced the western Allies by the way towards tylium-based and alternate energy sources. AFRICA The Sleeping Giant, if someone can unite the continent. The main factions are Muslim (North Africa-based), a western/central faction led by Nigeria, and the Colonial-aligned Republic of South Africa. Nigeria has allied itself with the likes of Brazil and India, is hostile towards America (thank the ‘80s for that), and is a major overseas market for China. Russia has some influence in the Muslim-majority nations, who also are hostile towards America (mainly b/c of Israel and b/c of America’s own hostility towards Islam). The RSA was a Colonial rebuilding project from the time the old Union of South Africa split in 1992. America has influence in two countries: Liberia (considered an American puppet) and the white-majority New Boer Republic. ASIA India is another second-tier economic power and also considered a sleeping economic and military giant, and a leading country among the Non-Aligned Bloc. Pakistan allied itself with Russia, while Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia aligned themselves with the western ALlies. New Zealand is officially neutral, but culturally aligned with Australia, the rest of Oceania and Britain. Oceanic nations like Samoa (including the former American Samoa), Fiji and Tonga are culturally and military aligned with Australia, Japan and the Colonials —speaking of the Colonials, they also took on America’s responsibilities in the old ANZUS alliance and took over AMerican bases in South Korea. North Korea is the same as ITTL, and the lunatics who run the asylum are making threats at Adar and the Colonials instead of Graham and the Americans. Japan is more independent than ITTL, and has a strong military to boot. The real giant in the region, though, is China. China has stayed neutral in the American/Allied “dispute”, but does business with anybody and everybody while slowly building itself into a military, technological and economic mega power. China firmly controls Hong Kong, Macau, Guam and Taiwan and strongly influences affairs in South Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. |
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Brky2020
Sub-lieutenant
Posts: 406
Likes: 406
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Post by Brky2020 on Jan 6, 2020 0:38:45 GMT
China also acts as broker for the minerals that make this world’s smartphones, flatscreen TVs, and other tech toys possible, acting in effect as a humongous Switzerland (albeit one with its own agenda).
Of course, if the Colonials can get their Cybernetic Life Form Asteroid Belt MIning Program going, then the Colonies will be the world broker in those materials plus tylium, which would give them a huge advantage in exploring the rest of the solar system,
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stevep
Fleet admiral
Posts: 24,835
Likes: 13,224
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Post by stevep on Jan 6, 2020 18:30:26 GMT
Well that sounds potentially explosive. Taylor sounds like the obcessed fanatic, both in terms of religion and her personal uncertainties about her relationship with her husband to cause serious problems for them both, which might actually save their lives if it keeps them out of combat! O'Leary a supporter of the regime but not a total idiot and I like the way Brown has got used to answering questions about her praying although she's probably safer off simply lying as to anyone with any sense she's definitely fudging the issue which in this environment is likely to put her at risk of transfer to one of those re-education camps.
Given that a period of hard line religious fundamentalism, with strong doses of racial and sexual bigotry will have screwed up so much of American industrial and technological capacity, as well as the social problems caused, probably even worse than the Nazis did for 1930's Germany, the US is going to go down, probably fairly hard. Hopefully it won't end up with a serious outbreak of nukes.
With Europe distracted by the disaster that is TTL US, even aided by the Colonials, how is the rest of the world doing? Is China still emerging as a major player who could well be pushing for No. 1 stop even earlier here? Is Russia still stricken with an idiot like Putin? A Muslim extremism problem probably made worse by reacting to the US?
Steve
Take into account everything you know about how the Soviet political officers operated and you’ll know why the US military ITTL wants no part of it. The military can’t make the MMMOs go away completely, but the trade-off is they’re...held in check, generally. Exceptions do slip into the rotation. The most common method is knowing the right people — that’s how Taylor got into the program. She is very devoted to her particular theological views, ones that are shared by enough Americans ITTL to not place her out of the mainstream. (There of course are people like that in real life, too) Under the right circumstances, she’s relatively harmless, and really a threat only to her hubby’s sanity. Under the wrong circumstances, she could cause problems, and Guru — the veteran CO of the 1st Squadron whose own wife also is still active and his own WSO/GIB — is watching her closely. Unless she runs to the networks and cries persecution, or gets the more fanatical members of the administration and/or Congress to help her, Guru can have Taylor thrown out of the program. But because Kodak is a real asset as a pilot, she’d still be around as his wife. So Guru’s stuck with her no matter what: now if she causes Kodak to screw up... * You’d be surprised how America has kept up with the rest of the world. Making sure America wasn’t falling behind (too far) was a top priority of the Robertson and Buchanan administrations, and even Bauer didn’t screw around with that priority. Just tell them the Colonials are racing ahead and someone will move heaven and earth and raise hell to get MURICA ahead (or level). Apple, Boeing, Microsoft, et al still exist. Officially, God has blessed America by making it the world leader in technological and industrial innovation, blah blah blah. Unofficially, at least a big chunk of that information has come via espionage. THE COLONIAL GUIDE TO EARTH NORTH AMERICA Canada has benefited tremendously in almost every area from American refugees, though it’s more of a cultural leader than anything else ITTL. The Canadian Navy is not to be underestimated, and can punch far above its weight. Mexico is a hot mess, thanks to CIA intervention that went FUBAR and put the cartels in control. Because the southern border is sealed tight and illegals (just about everybody) crossing the border into America are shot on sight, you have a tiny handful of people who dare to cross the border into the US. If they make it and don’t get shot, they get put on a plane and dumped in allied Yucatán. The Caribbean is solidly anti-American, and China is now the benefactor of the People’s Republic of Cuba. Puerto Rico is independent, and dependent on Colonial, Latin AMerican, European and African trade. SOUTH AMERICA Venezuela and Colombia are American allies and God’s bastions of freedom and holiness in this part of the world according to American propaganda: in reality, they’re American puppets, and the rest of South America is firmly united against them and especially against their benefactor (CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying is always REAL interesting when the Yankee bitches play anyone else). Brazil and Argentina are second-tier economic and military powers, with strong ties to other ‘neutral’ bloc nations like India and Nigeria...and are growing closer to China. KOBOL The home of the 12 United Colonies of Kobol. The UCK has taken on many of the U.S.’s old NATO obligations, including the military bases in Germany. They are strongly allied with Canada, the U.K., the European members of NATO (not so much Turkey — the religion thing), Japan, South Korea and Australia, are friendly with most other nations (including China) and polite to almost every Muslim nation. Their main enemies, it has been said, are America and themselves. EUROPE This timeline’s Britain has had its own version of Brexit, but the American threat has kept it a little more tied to the rest of NATO, and the American threat has tied it more closely to Canada and the Colonials. Western Europe — namely France, Germany, Italy and Spain — has become tight with the Canadians and Colonials and is firmly against the regime ruling America. Central Europe is split between west and east — the Czech Republic is firmly in the western orbit, the rest of the region allied with Russia. Eastern Europe and the Balkans are firmly in the Russian orbit, and Turkey is headed there. RUSSIA The Russian Bear is one of America’s only friends, and does business with America and anyone else who’s willing (Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Turkey, North Korea, the Balkans, Egypt, China, et al). Putin is firmly in control and has been for years: he switches titles when he needs to or when it suits him. Because they have a lot of nukes, the world takes them seriously. They love doing business in America and love how much influence they have there. THE MIDDLE EAST Israel is another one of America’s Only Friends, and it will always be, because of the belief that when America turns her back on Israel, God Will Destroy MURICA And Then Some. The Sauds who run Arabia also are friendly with America, although they’re much tighter with Russia. In fact, the Middle East is virtually Russian (a fact the Bible prophecy wonks keep hammering away on), and China has its fingers in the Arabian oil as well. That’s forced the western Allies by the way towards tylium-based and alternate energy sources. AFRICA The Sleeping Giant, if someone can unite the continent. The main factions are Muslim (North Africa-based), a western/central faction led by Nigeria, and the Colonial-aligned Republic of South Africa. Nigeria has allied itself with the likes of Brazil and India, is hostile towards America (thank the ‘80s for that), and is a major overseas market for China. Russia has some influence in the Muslim-majority nations, who also are hostile towards America (mainly b/c of Israel and b/c of America’s own hostility towards Islam). The RSA was a Colonial rebuilding project from the time the old Union of South Africa split in 1992. America has influence in two countries: Liberia (considered an American puppet) and the white-majority New Boer Republic. ASIA India is another second-tier economic power and also considered a sleeping economic and military giant, and a leading country among the Non-Aligned Bloc. Pakistan allied itself with Russia, while Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia aligned themselves with the western ALlies. New Zealand is officially neutral, but culturally aligned with Australia, the rest of Oceania and Britain. Oceanic nations like Samoa (including the former American Samoa), Fiji and Tonga are culturally and military aligned with Australia, Japan and the Colonials —speaking of the Colonials, they also took on America’s responsibilities in the old ANZUS alliance and took over AMerican bases in South Korea. North Korea is the same as ITTL, and the lunatics who run the asylum are making threats at Adar and the Colonials instead of Graham and the Americans. Japan is more independent than ITTL, and has a strong military to boot. The real giant in the region, though, is China. China has stayed neutral in the American/Allied “dispute”, but does business with anybody and everybody while slowly building itself into a military, technological and economic mega power. China firmly controls Hong Kong, Macau, Guam and Taiwan and strongly influences affairs in South Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Bree
Many thanks for the background details. Gives a lot more knowledge on the wider world which is very useful.
Steve
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Jan 6, 2020 19:23:17 GMT
Take into account everything you know about how the Soviet political officers operated and you’ll know why the US military ITTL wants no part of it. The military can’t make the MMMOs go away completely, but the trade-off is they’re...held in check, generally. Exceptions do slip into the rotation. The most common method is knowing the right people — that’s how Taylor got into the program. She is very devoted to her particular theological views, ones that are shared by enough Americans ITTL to not place her out of the mainstream. (There of course are people like that in real life, too) Under the right circumstances, she’s relatively harmless, and really a threat only to her hubby’s sanity. Under the wrong circumstances, she could cause problems, and Guru — the veteran CO of the 1st Squadron whose own wife also is still active and his own WSO/GIB — is watching her closely. Unless she runs to the networks and cries persecution, or gets the more fanatical members of the administration and/or Congress to help her, Guru can have Taylor thrown out of the program. But because Kodak is a real asset as a pilot, she’d still be around as his wife. So Guru’s stuck with her no matter what: now if she causes Kodak to screw up... * You’d be surprised how America has kept up with the rest of the world. Making sure America wasn’t falling behind (too far) was a top priority of the Robertson and Buchanan administrations, and even Bauer didn’t screw around with that priority. Just tell them the Colonials are racing ahead and someone will move heaven and earth and raise hell to get MURICA ahead (or level). Apple, Boeing, Microsoft, et al still exist. Officially, God has blessed America by making it the world leader in technological and industrial innovation, blah blah blah. Unofficially, at least a big chunk of that information has come via espionage. THE COLONIAL GUIDE TO EARTH NORTH AMERICA Canada has benefited tremendously in almost every area from American refugees, though it’s more of a cultural leader than anything else ITTL. The Canadian Navy is not to be underestimated, and can punch far above its weight. Mexico is a hot mess, thanks to CIA intervention that went FUBAR and put the cartels in control. Because the southern border is sealed tight and illegals (just about everybody) crossing the border into America are shot on sight, you have a tiny handful of people who dare to cross the border into the US. If they make it and don’t get shot, they get put on a plane and dumped in allied Yucatán. The Caribbean is solidly anti-American, and China is now the benefactor of the People’s Republic of Cuba. Puerto Rico is independent, and dependent on Colonial, Latin AMerican, European and African trade. SOUTH AMERICA Venezuela and Colombia are American allies and God’s bastions of freedom and holiness in this part of the world according to American propaganda: in reality, they’re American puppets, and the rest of South America is firmly united against them and especially against their benefactor (CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying is always REAL interesting when the Yankee bitches play anyone else). Brazil and Argentina are second-tier economic and military powers, with strong ties to other ‘neutral’ bloc nations like India and Nigeria...and are growing closer to China. KOBOL The home of the 12 United Colonies of Kobol. The UCK has taken on many of the U.S.’s old NATO obligations, including the military bases in Germany. They are strongly allied with Canada, the U.K., the European members of NATO (not so much Turkey — the religion thing), Japan, South Korea and Australia, are friendly with most other nations (including China) and polite to almost every Muslim nation. Their main enemies, it has been said, are America and themselves. EUROPE This timeline’s Britain has had its own version of Brexit, but the American threat has kept it a little more tied to the rest of NATO, and the American threat has tied it more closely to Canada and the Colonials. Western Europe — namely France, Germany, Italy and Spain — has become tight with the Canadians and Colonials and is firmly against the regime ruling America. Central Europe is split between west and east — the Czech Republic is firmly in the western orbit, the rest of the region allied with Russia. Eastern Europe and the Balkans are firmly in the Russian orbit, and Turkey is headed there. RUSSIA The Russian Bear is one of America’s only friends, and does business with America and anyone else who’s willing (Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Turkey, North Korea, the Balkans, Egypt, China, et al). Putin is firmly in control and has been for years: he switches titles when he needs to or when it suits him. Because they have a lot of nukes, the world takes them seriously. They love doing business in America and love how much influence they have there. THE MIDDLE EAST Israel is another one of America’s Only Friends, and it will always be, because of the belief that when America turns her back on Israel, God Will Destroy MURICA And Then Some. The Sauds who run Arabia also are friendly with America, although they’re much tighter with Russia. In fact, the Middle East is virtually Russian (a fact the Bible prophecy wonks keep hammering away on), and China has its fingers in the Arabian oil as well. That’s forced the western Allies by the way towards tylium-based and alternate energy sources. AFRICA The Sleeping Giant, if someone can unite the continent. The main factions are Muslim (North Africa-based), a western/central faction led by Nigeria, and the Colonial-aligned Republic of South Africa. Nigeria has allied itself with the likes of Brazil and India, is hostile towards America (thank the ‘80s for that), and is a major overseas market for China. Russia has some influence in the Muslim-majority nations, who also are hostile towards America (mainly b/c of Israel and b/c of America’s own hostility towards Islam). The RSA was a Colonial rebuilding project from the time the old Union of South Africa split in 1992. America has influence in two countries: Liberia (considered an American puppet) and the white-majority New Boer Republic. ASIA India is another second-tier economic power and also considered a sleeping economic and military giant, and a leading country among the Non-Aligned Bloc. Pakistan allied itself with Russia, while Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia aligned themselves with the western ALlies. New Zealand is officially neutral, but culturally aligned with Australia, the rest of Oceania and Britain. Oceanic nations like Samoa (including the former American Samoa), Fiji and Tonga are culturally and military aligned with Australia, Japan and the Colonials —speaking of the Colonials, they also took on America’s responsibilities in the old ANZUS alliance and took over AMerican bases in South Korea. North Korea is the same as ITTL, and the lunatics who run the asylum are making threats at Adar and the Colonials instead of Graham and the Americans. Japan is more independent than ITTL, and has a strong military to boot. The real giant in the region, though, is China. China has stayed neutral in the American/Allied “dispute”, but does business with anybody and everybody while slowly building itself into a military, technological and economic mega power. China firmly controls Hong Kong, Macau, Guam and Taiwan and strongly influences affairs in South Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. Bree Many thanks for the background details. Gives a lot more knowledge on the wider world which is very useful. Steve
Second that, why do you not put these post into their own thread Brky2020. |
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Brky2020
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Post by Brky2020 on Jan 6, 2020 19:38:27 GMT
I can do that lordroel , later on tonight. This series has obviously outgrown this thread. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I don’t know how much farther I’ll go — I’ve thought about stopping at Day One of the invasion — but a separate thread is definitely due. |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Jan 6, 2020 19:40:59 GMT
I can do that lordroel , later on tonight. This series has obviously outgrown this thread. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I don’t know how much farther I’ll go — I’ve thought about stopping at Day One of the invasion — but a separate thread is definitely due. Well even if you do not post more updates, we still can question and debate the universe you have created in its own thread. |
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Brky2020
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Post by Brky2020 on Jan 7, 2020 2:14:07 GMT
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forcon
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Post by forcon on Jan 9, 2020 18:53:16 GMT
Playing For Time
Warrant Office First Class Daniel McKnight, US Army, swung the control stick of his Apache gunship to the right. The aircraft, following in tandem behind three other Apaches, followed his directions as the ground rushed past. Th gunships, in an effort to avoid enemy radar systems, were flying so low that McKnight and his weapons systems officer, or ‘Wizzo’ feared that they would collide with tree or power line at any moment almost as much as they feared the wrath of Russian surface-to-air missiles. By the time the choppers reached Bialystok, the sight of a vicious engagement between soldiers of the US Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment and their Russian counterparts with the 6th Separate Guards Tank Brigade, McKnight’s nerves were frayed almost beyond belief. He’d seen combat before in Iraq, but the Daesh fundamentalists he’d been engaging back then had lacked the sophisticated weaponry utilised by first-class Russian formations. Existence was shrouded by the green haze of his night vision monocle. Terrain features such as roads appeared as endless black lines etched out across the countryside, while buildings were nothing more than rectangular obstacles lurking in wait for a pilot who was too slow, unobservant, or just plain unlucky to see them in time.
“Dagger Two-One to all Dagger Two Elements, engage targets beyond the ridge,” the voice of the flight leader crackled through McKnight’s headset. “Two-Two, cover the left side with me; Two-Three, Two-Four, engage targets to the right.”
He pulled back on the stick and brought the Apache into a hover behind the western slope of the low hilltop, which was pockmarked with trees, and prepared to engage the enemy, as instructed by his flight leader. The site that greeted McKnight and his fellow crewman was monstrous even by the standards of war. To the east, the buildings of a settlement stood aflame, burning so bright that the glow of fires threatened to white-out his night vision. The ground rocked and distant, muffled ‘boom’ sounds could be heard as Russian artillery units continued to pummel the American forces defending the town. Explosions lit up the darkness with momentary flashes. McKnight’s eyes struggled for focus.
“Identify targets on the horizon, Danny,” informed the Wizzo. “I got tanks and IFVs, no anti-air that I can see.” Edging his aircraft forwards with tense caution, he brought the Apache to hover once again, mere metres above the top of the hill. Smatterings of trees to both the left and right threatened to connect with his rotor blades at the slightest error.
“I see them, engage with Hellfires. Tanks first, but take out any SAMs or triple-A that shows up.”
“Got it.” The Wizzo was focused intently on the task at hand, so much so that he barely acknowledged the instructions of his pilot. “Firing!” The first AGM-114 Hellfire missile streaked away from the pylon mounted to the side of the chopper. It homed in on the target, a T-90 that had just emerged from a gap between two wooded areas. The tank was presumably driven by the commander of the force emerging from the trees. With almost unbreakable focus, the Weapons Systems Officer watched until the Hellfire slammed into the front of the tank’s turret, exploding with a fireball that further added to the carnage below. “Hit! Got the bastard!”
Minutes ticked by as the Apaches fired another wave of Hellfires into the oncoming enemy force, barely denting the number of tanks coming through the trees. Soon enough, infantrymen began to dismount from their BMPs as they closed with the American cavalrymen to their west. More infantry troops, perhaps a company in strength, emerged from the forest that lay south of Bialystok, further worsening the situation. Even utilising the .50 calibre machine guns, TOW missile launchers, and 105mm guns on their Stryker fighting vehicles, the American infantrymen were on the cusp of being overrun.
“This is Dagger Two-One, ground commander’s calling in FPF on the southern side of the village!” FPF, or Final Protective Fire, was the commander’s last hope for preventing his men from being overrun and killed or captured. “Infantry force approximately two companies in strength is coming out of the treeline to the south, Dagger Two-Three and Two-Four, shift south and engage and cover the Cav’s withdrawal.”
McKnight obeyed, raising his aircraft above the hill. He followed the slope in its descent, avoiding trees and another set of power cables by harrowingly tight margins. Switching to the Apache’s 30mm gun, he began to search for targets amidst the sea of fire than had once been a peaceful European settlement. Both Apache crews unleashed their chain guns at the enemy soldiers, who swarmed from the treeline like rats from a sinking ship. They exchanged fire with the American soldiers, dug into foxholes and burning buildings. They fell in clumps of a dozen or half dozen with each burst of the Apache’s guns. Death rained from above, until a shrill warning sound blared through McKnight’s headset. A puff of smoke was visible in the woodlands despite the general haziness of his night vision equipment.
“Shit! SAM launch, SAM launch, eleven-o’clock!” Forcing down his terror, McKnight swung the aircraft to the left with a kick of the rudder pedal, dispensing flares while the shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile approached. It missed, but another rose almost immediately after. This time, the American pilots were not nearly so lucky. The SA-14, a man-portable air defence system or MANPAD, careened into the engine block of Dagger Two-Four, McKnight’s wingman’s aircraft. The explosion destroyed both of the helicopter’s engines and peppered the rest of the aircraft with shrapnel. It began to tumble to the ground as its pilot gave a desperate Mayday call and fought with his aircraft for control. Their journey to the ground was a long and inevitable one.
Any comments are appreciated!
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Jan 9, 2020 19:14:23 GMT
forcon, Tense and leaves me at least wanting more. However not sure about the last sentence. Given the height their presumably operating at while the 'journey to the ground' was inevitable I wouldn't think of it as a long one. Other than possibly in the minds of the crew? Steve
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James G
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Post by James G on Jan 9, 2020 19:48:20 GMT
I like it. It was a US-Russia fight but that wasn't important.
What the focus was on was those fighting it and what they were doing.
Good approach to take!
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forcon
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Post by forcon on Jan 10, 2020 16:52:54 GMT
forcon, Tense and leaves me at least wanting more. However not sure about the last sentence. Given the height their presumably operating at while the 'journey to the ground' was inevitable I wouldn't think of it as a long one. Other than possibly in the minds of the crew? Steve Thank you! Your right about that last part, I didn't think it through and will come up with something else. I wanted to capture the hopelessness and futility of any efforts by the crew to reverse their fate. |
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forcon
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Post by forcon on Jan 10, 2020 16:53:49 GMT
I like it. It was a US-Russia fight but that wasn't important. What the focus was on was those fighting it and what they were doing. Good approach to take! Thanks. I wanted to go along those lines with the setting being a secondary issue; I could have written the same thing set in Korea for example. |
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forcon
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Post by forcon on Jan 22, 2020 21:12:09 GMT
Macabre
Watching the woods through the commander’s turret of his Warrior, Lieutenant Jack Bishop retrieved a cigarette from his trouser pocket and fumbled to light it, breaking countless rules about smoking inside military vehicles in the process. His fatigues were filthy, stained with dirt, grime, and three days’ worth of sweat. In front of the Warrior, troops were sheltering in their ‘sangers’ – shallow holes dug with entrenching tools, protected by mounds of sandbags. Some cleaned their weapons while others passed a brew between themselves; a few stood manning their mounted machineguns, eyeing the horizon with nervous eyes. Three days of war – of World War III – had seen the number of soldiers under Lieutenant Bishop’s command fall from thirty-five to twenty-eight. Over the course of the past three days they had fought and run, fought and run, moving from one pre-planned defensive position to another, all part of the grand plan to buy time for the Americans to arrive at the northern ports of the European coastline, depositing reinforcements by the tens of thousands.
The soldiers began to laugh hysterically at some joke shared between themselves. The laughter devolved into tears. What could possibly be so funny? Curiously, they seemed to begin to dance. It reminded Lieutenant Bishop of a Wiccan ritual he'd seen in a film as a child, in which the robed figures paraded around a fire in the woods on a moonless autumn night. Something about the soldier’s mannerisms was different though. It was involuntary, forced. Their limbs jerked spasmodically in all directions as they began to collapse to the ground in hysterics. In training, Bishop had been taught that such otherwise inexplicable behaviours were the first symptoms of poisoning by nerve agents; they were the tell-tale signs that death lingered unseen in the misty morning air. Despite knowing better, he had imagined that the effects of chemical weapons would be the vomiting of blood and the blistering of skin, amongst other horrifying physical symptoms. Such external abominations were absent. What he was witnessing now was, in its own way, far more disturbing. Wide-eyed in the midst of the peculiar agony of death by nerve gas, the soldiers continued to act out their macabre ritual as though they were stage actors in a great Elizabethan tragedy. Some were crying uncontrollably, tears and snot and saliva pouring down their faces. Men began to roll on their backs, kicking wildly at the air - lashing out at their invisible, unconquerable slayer - like crippled insects. Bishop's throat began to tighten with panic as his hands fumbled wildly for his respirator.
"Gas! Gas! Gas!"
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Under the wrong circumstances, she could cause problems, and Guru — the veteran CO of the 1st Squadron whose own wife also is still active and his own WSO/GIB — is watching her closely. Unless she runs to the networks and cries persecution, or gets the more fanatical members of the administration and/or Congress to help her, Guru can have Taylor thrown out of the program. 
