In the Shadow of the Old Pueblo-Tucson ISOTed to the Bronze Age

[Teen Spirit]

The War with Athens
The news coming out of Athens was alarming for Prince Electryon and the nobles of the city. An army of men clad in leather and chains, many of them covered in tattoos, had taken over Athens and was pushing towards the city. The few that escaped their grasp told wild tales of the horrors these men inflicted. Even compared to the Spartans, this New America seemed untamed and cruel beyond measure.

If the nobles were alarmed, Fredrick Chard was terrified. images of a horde of Neo-Nazi bikers haunted his dreams for days. The Spartans had seemed like a bad joke to him, but he had heard stories of what some Neo-Nazi biker gangs had done during the days after the Event. Massacring entire groups, enslaving women and children, dragging men behind the bikes as the drove across the rocky ground. And that was just the tamer stuff. If this 'New America' took Mycenae, it be a massacre and he would probably suffer greatly before they killed him. Chard spent the next few days working from sun up to sun down trying to get as many crossbows and bolts made as he could before the bikers arrived. At one point even collapsing at the forge from exhaustion.

New America came to Mycenae with an army that was barely more than an organized mob. With various warbands of both Uptimers and native Athenians assaulting the walls with little coordination. This made repealing the early attacks easy. But then the attacks slowed down, the enemy retreating to hide behind a nearby mountain.

Then, almost a week later they pushed the attack, a mob of hundreds approaching the city. At the center of the mob was a wagon. The wagon was pulled by four oxen, covered in scrap armor and was bristling with guns.

The Bikers and Athenians hurled crude explosives made of glass or clay at the walls while the wagon parked itself in front of the walls, firing upon the wall's defenders while sharpshooters hidden in the woods took aim at anyone armed with a gun.

Panicked, Chard ordered the cannon to open fire. The first shot missed it's target, though it's cannon ball killed and injured several of the bikers. The next shot hit it's target dead on. Smashing through one of the portholes on the wagon, killing everyone inside. Unknown to Mycenae at the time, one of the men inside was the leader of this attack force. The destruction of the wagon, combined with the loss of their main general and a dangerously low amount of ammo and explosives send the Nazis into a panic, causing a mass retreat. They had inflicted a blood toll on Myceane, killing hundreds through explosives and small arms fire in a very short amount of time, but the city remained out of their hands.

Chard was said to have collapsed at the sight of the retreating bikers. It was only then he noticed the large bulge near the front of his cannon. The weapon had been improperly made and one more shot would have caused it explode. But it didn't matter now. They had won.

Diana and Fredrick Chard were paraded around the city as heroes, honored by the Anax and his son as saviors of the city twice over.

Chard and the Three Principles
With New America in full retreat and Spartans, dealing with local revolts and a full scale civil war. Myceane went to work security the loyalty (through either promises of protection or force) of as many villages as they could. The Spartans proved hard to press back but Mycenae was able to push New America back all the way past the holy village of Isthmia. Using the narrow land bridge of Corinth as bottleneck to keep the Neo-Nazis contained. Mycenae found itself surrounded but it had proven it was strong enough to deal with it's neighbors.

With things beginning to normalize, The Anax went to work fullfilling his end of the deal made with the Chard siblings. Ordering the construction of two large manors built not far from the city. This would prove to be the last act of the aging Anex. Dying the day after ground was broken. the new Anax, Electryon promised both of them he would honor the agreement made by his father.

For Diana, this was basically the limit of her ambitions. She had gotten everything she wanted. While she didn't withdraw from public life, taking an active role in the construction of both her and her brother's new manors, and making repeated efforts to teach the local children baseball. She did take a far less active role in politics, only coming to court when summoned by the Anax. She had gotten all she wanted and saw no need to press for more. After a year she even took a husband, one of the laborers who helped build her manor. She even adopted his young son as her own.

Fredrick however wasn't content to spend the rest of his days simply enjoying the relative luxury of his new home. He had grown ambitious, and all the praise he had earned in the days following the battles of Myceane had given him a great deal of confidence. He had saved the city, but he was now convinced he could do so much more for it.

At first he started with simple suggestions. Like founding various schools to help teach the next generation everything from English to how to run the forge so he had someone who could take over after he was gone. Or improved dock designs to improve trade with the outside world.

At first, the Anax welcomed these suggestions. Electryon realized Fredrick was a vain egotistical man who was grabbing for power but he had proven his usefulness and his ideas seemed sound. For a time he even enjoyed his presence at court. The two talking for hours on everything from military reforms to novels Fredrick had introduced to the royal court.

This friendship only lasted a few years as Fredrick's ambition and pride began to grow. In his eyes he was singled handedly responsible for saving the city. And to make matters worse for the Anax, people believed him.

While many did give credit to the Anax, his warriors, and the gods for their victory. Many of the elite within the city gave credit to Fredrick's weapons for turning back the hordes. While he wasn't a warrior, to many he had a warrior's spirit. While many of the more traditionally minded nobles within the city hated how cowardly his weapons where, it was hard for even them to deny their effectiveness.

As Fredrick's ambition and influence grew. He began to suggest bigger reforms. Such as a complete shake up of the military and a set tax code. Electryon took what he thought worked and did what he could to ignore the rest while keeping Fredrick. But it wasn't enough

Fredrick began planning for a grand overhaul. A reformation that would turn the kingdom of Mycenae into a proper nation state. At the center of this overhaul was what he called the Three Principles of the Mycenaean People, Based (loosely) on the reforms of Sun Yat-sen, one of the major leaders of uptime China, the Three Principles (Or the Chard Doctrine as some of his supporters called it) were Civic Nationalism, Governance and Welfare.

Fredrick wanted to use these principles to do away with the quasi-feudal structure of Mycenae's rule over the surrounding towns and villages and permanently tie them all to one state. use new schools to give the next generation loyalty to not just their families and homes, but to an actual nation.

The real sticking point was his proposed government reforms. Chard had no intention of any sort of coup (The Anax was aware of this, the main reason he had not risked killing Fredrick) or creating a democratic state but he did want a more robust government that had an illusion of involved from the people. To accomplish this he proposed a formal council be appointed to lead the towns instead of just the town elders or whatever headman or under-king ruled there. He also proposed a full time advisory council to the Anax to help run affairs in Mycenae.

The Anax saw these councils as a threat to his power. Fredrick had a considerable amount of influence but he had bitten off more than he could chew, as his lacked the strength to force the Anax to even consider turning the Three Principles into policy. But Fredrick had just enough power that the Anax couldn't completely ignore them. The Three principles controversy would haunt the court for years as the Anax and his supporters waged political war with Fredrick and his supporters.

Finally the Anax saw a way to end the debate. But it was risky. Victory would get Fredrick out of his hair but defeat might leave him a virtual puppet of the man. It came down to a matter of trade.

Trade and Reunions
Mycenae had a problem since the Minoans failed invasion of Sparta, trade. The Minoans had been doing their best to strangle trade with Greece in an effort to weaken it for future invasions. To further complicate things, since their failed invasion, the Bikers in New America had taken to piracy and smuggling to strengthen their economy. With Mycenaean ships being a common target for slave raids. This largely limited Myceane's to trade with Arcadia, the People's Union and to a limited extent, tribes in Italy. There was some limited trade with the Minoans but these were most independent, small time traders with limited (and expensive) goods.

Myceane's economy was export based and while Fredrick's reforms had done much to limit the damage, they were still hurting. They needed trade with the east restored to normal levels. They lacked the trees to make a navy strong enough to content with Athens, which left them with one real option. Restore trade with Crete.

Electryon gave Fredrick Chard a task. Go to Knossos and restore trade. If he was able to manage that, the Anax would agree to the bulk of his reforms. He failed, he would have to drop the Three Principles.

Despite his sister urging him to turn down the challenge, Fredrick accepted eagerly. Believing this would be his crowning achievement.

He set sail in the summer of 15 A.E. Arriving in Knossos a week later. After some negotiations at the docks he was able to negotiate a chance to meet with Anax Rachel, his old student.

A few of those gathered at the time would describe the meeting between the two as symbolic of the era. As Fredrick had stubbornly maintained his old attire. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a polio shirt, faded and patched in places but otherwise looking like he had just arrived from 2019. Meanwhile Rachel Wilson was dressed in her modified version of Minoan royal attire. Her legs hidden by a massive dress, strings of pearls decorating her hair.

Fredrick had hoped his past tensions with his former students wouldn't overshadow the negotiations, and to his surprise, they didn't. While Wilson was no fan of Chard still, in truth she barely even remembered that they had departed on bad terms. That changed little though. While some in Knossos wanted to expand trade with Mycenae. The profit wouldn't be big enough to risk disrupting the Anax's plans. Rachel refused his terms, as did every trader and noble he talked to.

Fredrick left Knossos in utter defeat. His rise to power and glory had ended in a single week of desperate negotiations. His ego was shattered and broken. When he returned to Mycenae he gave his report to Electryon and retreated to his Manor, becoming a recluse for months.

This was actually a problem for the Anax. He had come to dislike Fredrick and was glad to see him humbled, but he was still useful. After letting him sulk for a few months, the Anax invited him back to the court, on the condition he remember his place. Fredrick accepted. His pride recovering somewhat after a while. He was still incredibly rich after all

Electryon would end up implementing a small number of Fredrick's proposed reforms. Particularly those focused on schools. The idea of Mycenaean nation identity did have it's appeal after all.

Mycenae in 20 A.E
Mycenae today is a nation of walls. Both those it built and those imposed by it's situation. almost every town of note, particularly those near the borders, are heavily fortified, their guards equipped with the bulk of the Kingdom's limited supply of guns and cannons. The Anax has taken numerous steps to ensure no more invasions will reach the walls of his city. No one will conquer Mycenae as long as he lives.

The reverse is also true. Due to the limited access to Tucson and trade in general, Mycenae doesn't have the economic strength or technology to consider any serious military efforts against it's neighbors. It's stockpile of firearms and cannons remains limited, though the crossbow has in many ways become the main weapon of their army. Though traditions still balk at it and it's ability to let the common people kill great warriors.

Efforts have been made to combat the pirates and slavers of New America but this efforts have been of only limited success. To trade with Mycenae these days means either a long trip to their Northern shores or a risky journey to their southern ports. Few consider it worth the effort, largely forcing the city to depend on overland trade for the time being

The Chard Siblings aren't the only Americans in the city, they are by far the richest. Their combined wealth eclipsing that of the Anax. While they don't hold the same amount of power and influence they did in their early days, they do still enjoy a fair degree of popularity among the people of Mycenae. Diana in particular has become a beloved figure, particularly among the children and laborers.

Mycenae hasn't prospered since the Event like the Hyksos in Egypt, but they haven't suffered like the Hittites either. For better or worse, they have simply endured the chaos of the past twenty years. And for their Anax, that is enough.

 

[ScottishMongol]

Glad to see this update. I like the character studies, they inject another touch of realism. Sometimes history is driven by the personalities and egos of the people in power.

 

[EBR]

I second the above. This TL is founded on its characters.

 

[ExNihilo]

As a critique, this chapter had sentences that were a little... choppy, perhaps? Readable, sure, but not particularly flowing. For example:

After letting him sulk for a few months. The Anax invited him back to the court, on the condition he remember his place.

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It feels like these are meant to be the same sentence, just with a comma in the place of the period. It happens a bunch throughout the chapter, to be clear.

 

[Yla]

Their combined with eclipsing that of the king.

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Typo, and what @ExNihilo said.

 

[Teen Spirit]

Glad to see this update. I like the character studies, they inject another touch of realism. Sometimes history is driven by the personalities and egos of the people in power.

Click to shrink...

I second the above. This TL is founded on its characters.

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Thanks. I'm trying to avoid Great man history but this is a time period where individuals can have a massive impact effect. Like what Rachel Wilson achieved could have been achieved by a lot of other people with similar prep and luck.

As a critique, this chapter had sentences that were a little... choppy, perhaps? Readable, sure, but not particularly flowing. For example:



It feels like these are meant to be the same sentence, just with a comma in the place of the period. It happens a bunch throughout the chapter, to be clear.

Click to shrink...

Thanks. I'll fix it later.

 

[Teen Spirit]

"Survival in those days required many things, luck, preparation, allies, knowledge, but above all else, adaptation. For many it was not defeat that killed them, but their failure to learn from said defeat."
- Elicia Baxter, 'The World Since the Event'

"Athenian Nazis. I hate Athenian Nazis."
-Overheard on the streets of Troy.

New America (Athens) began as a state determined to conquer Greece and forge a nation based on white nationalist ideas of an American state. However a series of defeat quickly saw them surrounded on all sides by enemies. Realizing it's desperate situation, the leadership adapted. Turning Athens and the surrounding countryside into a giant smuggler's den, ferrying cargo between Mycenean Greece and Anatolia despite the Minoan embargo. Giving them a complex relationship with the rest of the Mediterranean as they are both loathed and used by numerous states and statelets.

Brutal Beginnings.
The core of New America (Athens) was formed from numerous biker gangs that had been within Tucson at the time of the Event. Elements of groups such as the Hell's Angels, Sadistic Souls, Sons of Silence, and others with names too crude to repeat. These Outlaw motorcycle gangs were often dominated by Neo-Nazis and other far right elements.

In the days following the Event, many gangs and other hate groups took advantage of the chaos to settle old grudges, or finally enact their long held plans for racial violence. Raiding, terrorizing and murdering across Tucson and the surrounding countryside. Scenes of leather clad men flying the Nazi banner from the back of their motorcycle while they chased down defenseless families were not uncommon. They were thankfully short lived as most of the gangs had become too overconfident for their own good and quickly ran through their supplies of ammo and gas. And as those who remained in Tucson itself became more and more heavily armed, these various gangs were forced to retreat into Anatolia. Their motorcycles abandoned, stripped for parts or simply left to rust.

For a time they were able to live well, raiding other survivor groups for food, weapons and even slaves. But as the less armed survivor groups began to either be wiped out or merge with more heavily armed groups, these biker gangs and other Neo-Nazi groups quickly found their fortunes rapidly reversing as they found themselves a common victim of raids and other attacks as other survivors found this more palatable then simply raiding a group of desperate families.

Realizing how desperate their situation was become, a number of biker gangs, neo nazi groups, and escape prison gangs got together and formed one united group, The Chosen Few. Despite the name the group had no relationship with the one-percenter pre-Event gang of the same name.

The group quickly became dominated by four men. Dariel Patrick, Iker Burks, John Saunders, and Kendall Patel. The four had known each other before the event. Patel having spend time in prison with Saunders and Burks, while being life long friends with Patrick. The Four quickly came to believe that the Event was there chance create a new nation, one based on their own strange combination of neo-paganism, Nazi ideology and American values.

For time this amounted to little more than words and proclamations. After enslaving and taken over a village along the Aegean coast, The Chosen Few didn't do much for years. Shunned and hated by most other survivor communities, only those who where desperate or had no where else to ever joined or traded with them. Even still there good fishing and reputation as a haven for criminals did allow their ranks to swell by the dozens. Despite those numbers, the ruling Tetrarchy found themselves unsure of their long term plans as they realized it would be impossible to expand where they were now without survivors attacking them.

After years of simply surviving on the coast, things finally changed when word reached the village of the invasion of Crete and various plans for the invasion of Greece. At first the ruling Tetrarchy was divided, as Patel and Patrick were skeptical of the idea. As they were unsure of the Mycenaean ethnicity and didn't think they had the resources required for any 'needed' ethnic cleansing and enslavement. Eventually though the other two convinced them this was the best chance of enacting their dream.

Using a combination of downtime, homemade, and stolen boats; the Chosen Few set off for Athens in Early 4 A.E

The Arrival in Athens
Bronze Age Athens was largely lost to Uptime history, it's ruins buried beneath those of the Classical period. Thus even the most informed uptime conqueror would have had little knowledge of what to except.

Athens (Not what the locals called the city before the Event but by 20 A.E, Athens had replaced it's pre-Event name for most even among the locals) was a minor power in 1600 BCE. The Acropolis was the fortified residence of it's King and warrior nobility. Though even by the standards of early Mycenean Greece the walls and Megaron were primitive and unimpressive. Athens main strength was that of it's nearby ports in what would have become Piraeus. These ports allowed for easy trade with the various city-states of Crete, Anatolia, and even Egypt.

The Chosen Few's arrival upon Athen's shores was almost expected by it's Anax . In contrast to most of his contemporaries, he did nothing to resist them when their boats were spotted. Even having a honor guard greet them. The Anax knew from the tales of what happened to Knossos and other cities. The Anax hoped that if he cooperated his people would be spared and he would be allowed to stay in power.

The people who arrived were not what the Anax had expected, with many of them were still clad in leather and covered in tattoos. Some covered in so many that to the Mycenaeans they seemed more mythical monsters then men.

The Chosen Few were surprised but overjoyed to find their arrival meet with supplication instead of defiance. The group quickly took control of the Acropolis, forcing the Anax to surrender to them formally but largely leaving the people to their own devices for the moment. The four rulers, particularly Patel and Burks, Quickly become enthralled by the Mycenean's warrior culture. Viewing it as a 'pure' culture, uncorrupted by what they saw as classical Greece's weakness (Philosophy and Democracy mainly). The four leaders became convinced that the Myceneans could help them usher in a new, 'pure' America.

The four convinced the Anax that they could create an empire that span the entire Mycenaean world and put him, his nobles and the priests to work getting the people of Athens prepared for a glorious conquest.

The issue the four had was keeping their own people in line until then. The four had come to power through brutal displays of power mixed with backroom deals and bargains. Their hold on The Chosen Few was not absolute. And the group of former bikers, convicts and gang members was becoming increasingly rowdy. Assaults, thefts and murders, particularly towards the native Mycenaeans became more and more common common. The four knew that if the people of Athens turned hostile towards them, any dreams of a New America would die. After a few particularly violent nights of partying. The four managed to beat enough heads in to keep control. The four reached an understanding with the Anax. If they kept the peace, the Myceneans would look the other way if a few daughters were assaulted, and a few sons simply never returned.

On July 4th, 4 A.E, New America was declared in a joint ceremony by the four leaders and the Anax. An American flag flown over the Acropolis, the stars replaced by a swastika. This declaration in truth changed very little. The day to day running of Athens remained the same and few outside of the city have ever acknowledged it's name. Most referring to simply as Athens or some insulting nickname like the Bronze Reich.

New America lacked much in the way of firearms knowledge so their weaponry was largely limited to Pre-Event guns and a few crossbows. But they were able to create a number of explosives and arm and armor a wagon, The Oxen-Panzer as they called it.

After months of filling the Myceaneans and their own men up with visions of conquest and glory, Patel set off at the head of his vast but wild army, heading towards Mycenae with a smile upon his lips, convinced this was the beginning of his glorious destiny.

He would never return.

Defeat, Encirclement, and Adaptation.
The attack on Myceane was a disaster. Killing Patel, many of their more experienced warriors (Both American and Athenian) and perhaps most damaging of all, consuming a great deal of their remaining stockpile of weapons and ammo.

A follow up push to the north proved equally disastrous as they ran into the still forming People's Union. Despite the Union's population having their own struggles with the native population and less experience with firearms, New America found itself frequently running out of ammo, allowing the Union's militias to make quick work of them. John Saunders would be killed by a sniper's bullet during the retreat back south.

The two remaining members of the original four, Burks and Patrick, quickly entered into a Triumvirate power sharing agreement with the Anax of Athens, largely to avoid a possible coup by the Mycenaeans of the city. still the situation was bleak. With Mycenae to the west and the People's Union to the north, New America was completely boxed in.

Their ammo was near gone, forcing Burks to make the painful and risky decision to confiscate the weapons of all except his most trusted lieutenants. Only exhaustion and support from the Anax preventing his actions from sparking a full riot.

While a small, crude forge had been set up, New America was completely lacking in black powder and general knowledge of gunmaking. They could make crossbows, but little else.

Burks, Patrick and the Anax feared an attack from their neighbors and begin looking into a return expedition to gather supplies and information, but they quickly ran into another problem, the Minoans.

Anax Rachel had originally envisioned her conquest of Crete being a stepping stone to a much grander conquest of Mycenaean Greece, but struggles with the Spartans had quickly put a stop to that, though she and the Minoan leadership were slow to give up on the idea. And the idea of any of the factions on the mainland of Greece becoming powerful was concerning. So Minoans enacted a de-facto blockade over much of the mainland. Ensuring the only trade that could happen was controlled by them, refusing or sinking any ship from a faction they didn't like.

While the primitive nature of ships at the time did limit the effectiveness, the Minoans already standing Thalassocracy made it pretty easy to implement. Minoan trade was hampered some, but they made it for with new trade routes to the survivor states along the coast of Anatolia.

After the first few ships they sent out where turned away. Burks hit upon idea. If they were struggling, so was everyone else in Greece. And while Greece wanted a great deal from Tucson, surely there was plenty Greece could offer those who stayed in Anatolia. Things like crops, metal, livestock, and as Burks later discovered, slaves.

Slavery since the Event
Slavery began very quickly after the Event, with armed groups of survivors forcing other, less armed, groups of survivors to do work for them in the days following the Event. This quickly became eclipsed by the far more common act of uptime Tucsonians enslaving downtime natives.

Early slavery often amounted to starved and desperate survivors ordering locals to collect the harvest at gun point. Abuses were rampant during the early days, with many of the uptimers taking advantage of their newfound power over people they considered to be little more than savages. Many others were simply shot after the first harvest, as the uptimers couldn't or simply didn't want to share their food.

Over time, most states as they were taking shape quickly outlawed slavery as disgust with the practice began to grow. For some this was an honest attempt at integration, for others this amounted to little more to a change of paint with their situation remaining functional identical. Even in those states and organizations that were honest in their intention to free the natives of Anatolia, many individuals and organizations kept many natives in chains.

There were a number of reasons for this but the two biggest were farming and mining. While much of the knowledge for those two vital occupations had survived, the tech had not. There were no combine harvesters, there were no industrial mines, there were just sickles and shovels. Farming in particular had become a grueling, backbreaking affair that wrecked havoc on the bodies of farmers. For the people of 1600 BCE this was nothing new but for most Americans it was one of the most drastic changes caused by the Event. For many the prospect seemed like little more than working one's self to death just for a bit of bread. People were desperate to get away from farming, entire expedition's (Such as Rachel Wilson's) had been sparked by people's fear of the idea of being a farmer for the rest of their life. For many people the solution seemed obvious, get the locals to do the job for them, after all they were used to it. Slave farms appeared in almost every country formed since the event, from a couple of enslaved farm hands to massive farms worked by hundreds of slaves in places like Hattusa, Globe and Troy. These farms would frequently see slave revolts and mass escapes due to harsh conditions, with the various factions unable to chase after these slaves without sparking all out war with their neighbors.

This need for slaves created a market that Athens was all to happy to supply.

Athens: The Smuggler's Den
Smuggling operations began small. Athenian boats with mixed crews running a route between Sparta and the Arizona National Guard. Supplying Sparta with scrap and weapons while sending food back to the starving national guard. Taking a small cut of scrap and black powder. Food shortages along the Anatolian gave them a larger market as desperation made people willing to overlook who was bringing them their food and livestock. Slavery began entering the mix when a few Spartans asked an Athenian smuggling ship to help them deal with a group of particularly unruly helots. The Spartans just wanted them dead. The Athenians had other ideas, selling the helots to a struggling farming venture near new Washington. In exchange the venture agreed to help them build a cannon and some small arms. Afterwards, Burks ordered the smugglers to begin making slaves a regular part of their operations. Most smugglers simply kidnapped people from other countries such as Arcadia and the People's Union. A few others have established regular deals with the Spartans to help them 'offload' helots, while a few simply take them from the local population of Athens, either kidnapping them or simply buying them off their (often desperate) families.

News of Athen's involvement in the slave trade became well known around the Mediterranean and most governments were quick to condemn them in public, but that did little to slow operations. In truth slaves made up only part of their operations. Their most common source of revenue was scrap from Tucson. Though the other nations of occupying Greece would never admit it, sometimes Athens was the best way to get anything more advanced then iron and black powder.

Profits from smuggling would allow Athens to build itself up, in particular it gave New America the means to begin rearming themselves. While black powder muskets and bronze cannons were a step down from the firearms of the old world, they did allow New America to properly defend itself, ensuring that Mycenae or the People's Union would have a tough time trying to conquer them.

Once the extent of smuggling became clear the Minoans stepped up their operations. Creating an undeclared war between the Minoan Kingdom and Athenian Smugglers. This war sparked an arms race in naval design as the two powers built stronger and faster boats, trying to outrun and overpower each other.

Smuggler's life became one of of high risks and high reward. Life on board vessels was brutal, particularly for those who focused on slaves. Even regular trips run the risk of being sunk by Minoan vessels or hung as pirates by less friendly Anatolian nations.

While smuggling had made the men and women of The Chosen Few wealthy by post Event standards, it had also pretty much dashed any dreams of New America forging any sort of empire, as almost all of Athen's limited military strength is focused on the smugglers and defense of Athens itself. The smugglers themselves are staunchly against any aggressive wars in Greece itself as that would disrupt establish routes. Burks in particular has made efforts to reign in the Smugglers but the early laxity shown them combined with the vital part they play in the Athenian economy has made it all but impossible for any of the three ruling leaders of Athens to properly control them.

The aging Burks and Patrick have come to terms with the fact that unless something drastic changes, Athens and the land surrounding it is all their New America will ever be.

A Realm Divided
For the average Mycenaean, Athens of 20 A.E is not all that different from what it was a generation earlier. The Roads are better, the the walls are higher, the priests preach a bit differently and the warrior caste is a bit more violent than before. But for most Athenians, as long as they don't cross paths with an Americans; their lives, for better or worse, are much the same as they had been in the city for generations.

Most Americans and those of American descent have involved themselves in the smuggling business or the military. Making themselves rich or shaping the warriors of the city to their brutal ways. Both basically free to do what they want provide they don't cross certain lines, in which case they're dealt with, sometimes privately, sometimes incredibly publicly.

There is a growing sense of frustration among the non-smugglers, who have grown bored with brutalizing peasants and fighting of border raids. Many call for renewed conquest if only so they can have one last good fight, only to be overruled time and again.

Burks, Patrick and the Anax keep the peace, but they're getting older and weaker. Many wonder if they have the strength to fight off a challenge to their authority, and what will happen if they don't.
/
Author's Note: Apologies for taking so long between updates, again. I'm back at school now and that seems like when I'm most motivated to write this so hopefully more updates will come quicker.

 

[King Washington]

Nice to see this back

 

[ScottishMongol]

Nazis. I hate these guys.

 

[Taut_Templar]

Huh, this reminds me of the Brittany Fascists in TNO, a bunch of alleged national socialists who get somewhat sidetracked by the incredibly lucrative business of smuggling weapons and contraband through the 'iron curtain.'

 

[Yla]

It's weird, reading a people fall so low.

Anax Rachel had originally envisioned her conquest of Crete being a stepping stone to a much grander conquest of Mycenaean Greece, but struggles with the Spartans had quickly put a stop to that but she and the Minoan leadership were slow to give up on the idea.

Click to shrink...

 

[Teen Spirit]

Huh, this reminds me of the Brittany Fascists in TNO, a bunch of alleged national socialists who get somewhat sidetracked by the incredibly lucrative business of smuggling weapons and contraband through the 'iron curtain.'

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I get that. Though admittedly most of the Bikers in Athens are far more thuggish than anything Brittany has.

It's weird, reading a people fall so low.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for pointing that out.

And yeah. Keep in mind everyone's had a miserably time of it. Even the best off are doing pretty bad in terms of what they had before the event. The presidents and Kings of this world may have more power than they had before the Event have had to deal with years of society just being completely broken down and have struggled to survive in some capacity. That takes it's toll on anyone. And well, outlaw bikers are the type to fall harder than most.

 

[Taut_Templar]

I get that. Though admittedly most of the Bikers in Athens are far more thuggish than anything Brittany has.

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To be fair, *everyone* is more thuggish than anything actual modern countries provide, even greedy lapsed fascist regimes.

A good part of the dramatic irony behind the story is the contrast between how the up-timers are perceived by the locals and by the readers. It's probably because all the normal people either died in Tucson or are trying to make things do in Anatolia (admittedly with slavery, but there's a reason practically every pre-industrial civilization on earth also used the gruesome practice to one extent or another) and the focus of the story is on all the wacky filibusters convinced that they're isekai protagonists.