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Update is basically done. Pretty late, but hey, better right than on time. This vote is complicated. I'm going to review it after I get off of work tomorrow and post it then.
That's one problem with a secret nuke-preserving project like the one the NCR has. The enemy cannot be deterred by a weapon if they don't know it exists.
Yes, but the... whole point of the doomsday machine... is lost... if you keep it a secret! Why didn't you tell the world, eh?
DeSadeski:
It was to be announced at the Party Congress on Monday. As you know, the Premier loves surprises.
That said, well, I'm sure there's gonna be some backdoor conversations informing Nicky that pushing the NCR leads to them breaking out the Final Defense.
Heck, maybe Nicky knew, or someone who assigned all the Spetznas there knew, and planned on them being a counter to any nuclear attack?
If they've been so complacent in Cali, that rather raises the chances that they have been storing valuable intel and operational data off diplomatic grounds. Which would certainly be a significant windfall for Cali's natsec apparatus.
Worse, what if they've also been storing data from the Oligarchs there? After all, lotta mixing between the government and the corps, and that might also be damaging....
When you consider the second-order effects on Cascadia and the Arctic Conservatiate, there's a good chance that this is going to tip Imperial Russia, the Russosphere and the Japanese Empire into an economic recession.
Imperial Russia's economy and budget is going to feel this.
They should. Refuelling is one of the priorities when you put into port, and ships designed to operate in the Pacific have long legs.
Either that or theyll get met by an underway replenishment tanker out of Pearl.
[X][STRATEGY] Plan North American Union
-[X] Movement Structure. One of your basic objectives here is to promote a framework for gradually greater levels of reunification in a manner that should prevent the race for advantage in the reunification process from ruining the Country. It is worth noting that, given your regional prominence, you will assuredly have significant influence over any Revivalist agenda regardless of structure. Notes on how much influence you will have are entirely relative.
--[X] Federal Coordination. You will call for the establishment of a regulatory body to head the Revivalist movement, with representatives from all the powers here and the mandate to organize the movement and formally begin to designate responsible authorities for the task of reunifying. First in terms of recognizing who is the legitimate government of contested areas, and then how to manage the job of organizing larger and larger unifications of territory. While this will theoretically invest everybody in the movement, prevent abuses if the body's enforcement power is maintained, and lead to a tradition of strong and motivated participation in the central government, it will mean ceding much control of the process and risk the whole thing breaking down if disputes grow too energetic and cannot be resolved. This is not a government. It is basically an always-in-session conference to arbitrate disputes between Revivalist chapters. This is not a government. Mutually exclusive with, "Revivalist Leadership," Local Leadership," and, "Regional Blocs."
-[X] Membership Limits. You have attracted attendees from far and wide, not restricted to the borders of the old United States.
--[X] Towards A Larger Union. Perhaps your dreams are extravagant; perhaps you simply long wistfully for a day when your nation is truly unassailable by all but the mightiest and most undistracted force. Either way, you are absolutely thrilled by the attendance of actors from beyond traditionally American borders. You will push to incorporate every attendee to the Conference into the Revivalist agenda. Mutually exclusive with, "Old Country, New Country," and, "New States."
[X][BURNS] Retirement and a cushy paycheck for your men. The Devils will escort Aubrey's men and equipment back to Chicago safely and as honored guests and employees. The CFC will receive four fully functional F-22s, four more that have had almost no maintenance done in nearly thirty years, and a collection of dwindling spare parts from nine others, cannibalized over the years. They will receive Aubrey's full staff of pilot aces and maintenance technicians, along with his younger crop of replacements. They will also receive his full equipment stockpile. The 388th Fighter Wing will up stakes and depart Utah forever, without a backward glance. I have made too many compromises already to stand on ideals now.
[X][JOHNSON] Reveal the Declaration. Rebelling against Russia will do much to improve California's popular standing as a Revivalist leader -- at least, east of the Rockies, where tales of their conquests are distant. Revealing the Declaration at the same time could undercut a lot of that.
The Nature of the Revival
-Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, United States of America-
-388th Fighter Wing-
-Tuesday, July 4, 2076, 7:16 AM-
-Corporal Sandra Park-
The General walks up to Aubrey. Aubrey steps up as well, his chair left behind him so he can instead lean on his aide, determined to at least fake strength for this. "Well, Ron?" he asks, shaking slightly on his feet even as a cocky smile crossed his face. "What's your President's offer? You have news?"
Oh, she wants to shoot him. She wants to fire every round of ammo in her gun into his twitching corpse of a body.
She keeps her gun up and away from the crowd, a neutral expression on her face.
The General stares up over Aubrey's head for a long moment. From this angle, Sandra can't see what's on his face. He plants his hands on his hips. He takes a deep breath. Looking at his shoulders, Sandra sees not a trace of tension in them. "I do, Jack," he says. "Orders came down yesterday, and I am here to execute them. I have your offer."
Aubrey nods cautiously. "And the details?"
The General's head comes down.
"Retirement," he says, the words sounding like they're wrenching themselves from him only with great effort. "Your men get positions in the CFC military, paid at grade plus two. They help us rebuild the Commonwealth Air Force. And you, Jack, get a cushy retirement in the Indiana Dunes."
Aubrey laughed slightly, a disbelieving huff bursting free of his chest. "Well, I'll be. You almost look like that doesn't hurt to say."
The General's face twitches. "None of your men will ever touch flag rank. And you will never utter a word in public. Are we clear on that?"
Aubrey's eyes narrow. "We've been over this, Ron. You don't have the right to judge me and my choices-"
"I out of everybody have every right to judge them!" snaps the General, taking a single step forward. "Do you remember what the agreement was, Jack? Because I do! Spread out, keep up the fight, and find somebody who we can rally behind! That was the plan! We were not supposed to be piggy banks, we were supposed to be seeds! Seeds for a new Country to be born from! Now, I could see people just going to ground and keeping hidden. Just dig a hole in the dirt and bury themselves in it. Come out once a year for news and otherwise never dare. God knows I thought about it more than once, but that wasn't your plan! You've stayed in touch with the wider world. You work the markets. You always have men out there and active. I know that you knew the second I sent my transmission, but I didn't hear from you until now that you've had the time to poke around and judge whether or not we were the sort of people to offer you a good enough price." He spits in the sand at his feet. "'Wrinkles always thinks ahead.' I remember. You always did have a way of keeping things back for yourself. If you thought you'd get a worse deal than you are, we would never have heard from you."
Aubrey visibly grinds his teeth, stepping away from his aide, limping heavily on his cane. "Oh, is big bad Hellfire too good for my deals, now? Only now?"
The General snorts. "When we made our deal, I thought better of you, and I was wrong. I should have shot you then."
Aubrey stops dead, and a tense silence drops. Sandra's fingers tighten on the gun, staring down the first of her targets, should the shooting start.
Then, the General sighs. "But I didn't. The world's filthy, and I have to deal with it. So yes, Jack, the President is going to give you a clean getaway to a cushy retirement as long as you don't speak in public, and your men are going to be paid well for reestablishing the Commonwealth Air Force as long as they can accept they'll never have their hands on the controls. And I'm not going to shoot you, even though I really want to. We're all making sacrifices today. Now shut up, get your men organized, and get in the trucks, Jack. Vacation's over. We have work to do."
Aubrey stared for a long moment, tension slowly bleeding out of his body. "...fine," he snarls, scowling at the General. "Fine."
He turns away and start getting his men together, snapping in a raspy voice at anybody who lingers.
Sandra spits on the ground next to her technical and rotates her gun well away from the crowd. Friendlies, she tells herself. Don't shoot.
Bandits, reply her instincts. Open fire.
She ignores that with great difficulty and stamps down on the gimbal lock at the base of her mount, securing her gun in place facing forward. Then, she stalks away, helping her squad mount up in the truck.
* * *
-Chicago, Illinois, United States of America-
-Commonwealth of Free Cities-
-Tuesday, July 4, 2076, 11:47 AM-
-President Sara Johnson-
The gathered delegates are in chaos.
Really, they always are. A hundred arguments have already played their way across the table, and the conference has only barely begun. There's always somebody shouting, and already it is clear that for this conference to give rise to something that can functionally manage the process of reunion, there are some cuts that will need to be made.
State actors only, you think to yourself, sighing. Anything but having to deal with the fucking cattlemen again.
That said, the chaos now has an entirely different tenor than the usual, because a few hours ago, everybody got screamed out of bed with the news that California was burning down their country to kill the Russians.
Give or take some exaggeration.
Representative Hicks signals for your attention, and you gesture for him to stand. As he does, you tap on the microphone in front of you and begin to speak. "Representatives, if you'll hold your questions for a moment, the Representative from the New California Republic has an announcement to make." There is no response from the crowd; your announcement just fades into the cacophony. "Representatives!" you try again, scowling. Still, people keep shouting. Hicks shrugs at you, and you sigh. You pull a pair of earplugs from your coat pocket and put them in. Ignoring Hick's sudden look of alarm, you then pull a small speaker from beneath your desk and hold it right up to your microphone. You lean in. "Ah-hem."
The clamor cuts off immediately in a ripple of pained cries as deafening feedback blasts from the speakers, sustaining for a few seconds before cutting off as the sound techs cut power to your mic for a moment. You pull out the ear plugs, put away the speaker, and wait for your microphone to come back online. "The Representative from the New California Republic has an announcement to make," you say again, a polite smile on your face. "I believe it may answer quite a few of your questions." You smile out at the variously outraged faces in the crowd before gesturing to Hicks. "Representative, if you would."
Rubbing at his ears, Hicks gives you a dirty look before turning back to his microphone. "Fellow Revivalists," he says. "At 3:00 AM last night, Californian military forces began operations against Russian-aligned interests within our country. Following a series of initial strikes, large-scale operations began in earnest, and Russian military forces were advised that they should depart Californian territory and not intervene with the situation. At that time, we sent word to the Russian embassy announcing our annulment of the Treaty of Los Angeles as signed at the end of the Pacific War. As of now, I am pleased to announce that major operations have concluded. For the first time in twenty-nine years, California is once again free to chart our own course, free of Russian domination." He glances down at his notes as the crowd begins to chatter back and forth, raising his voice. "Representatives from the European Union and the Republic of China have reached out already confirming their recognition of our right to annul the Treaty of Los Angeles, and we expect many more in the coming days."
Leaning on your hand, you take care to restrain a snort. Your own embassy from the RoC called you at 5:00 AM to ask frantically if you had any idea in advance of this situation, and trying to determine whether or not the Commonwealth was at any risk of also devolving into coups. You imagine they had a good deal more to say to the NCR than just, "Yes, we recognize your right to abrogate that treaty," or similar -- although, given their own diplomatic interests, you're sure that it was in there.
You don't state that outright, though, and so Hicks continues, raising his voice a bit to project over the noise of the crowd. "From this moment onwards, the New California Republic will no longer act as Russia's ally in the Americas. We take our own path -- starting with our participation in this conference." He straightens. "The New California Republic would like to be the first state in the Country to announce its full and unreserved support for the notion of a reunited America -- and pursue it as a priority of state."
Pandemonium erupts. From this audience, that announcement would, from almost anybody else, get cheers or shouts of affirmation. And there is plenty of that.
Hicks also gets jeers -- starting from the Native American delegations flanking him, who erupt to their feet to denounce the NCR in a flurry of noise that blends together, leaving only the general impression of outrage, with only the odd, "conquerors," "don't deserve," and, "more bloodshed," bleeding through.
You may have done Hicks slightly dirty, helping to set that up, but really, all you did was call those folks, once the news of the revolt came out, and let them know that this would probably be happening. The rest, they did on their own.
The display cuts enthusiasm for the announcement considerably, even with many people around the hall already less than sold by the NCR's sudden turn of face. Hicks, for his part, actually looks flabbergasted as he stares at the Native American representatives. You can see the first hints of furious crimson starting to creep onto his face, though.
Enough is enough, you think, leaning forward. "Order!" you scream into your microphone. After your previous display, noise starts dropping immediately, and you only need to repeat yourself a couple of times to get complete silence. You smile. "Well said, Representative Hicks," you say. "Well said, indeed. Sitting among company like this, I'm sure there are plenty of people here who would be more than happy to echo your words." Hicks looks slightly calmer at that, but you don't stop. "That being said, as the response proves, it is no simple matter of saying it and having done." Hicks's expression turns stormy, but you aren't stopping. Turning your head away from him and looking out around the hall, you continue. "We are all here to discuss the task of revival; of a return to organization and union from the chaos imposed by Victoria, Russia, and its clients. But that very chaos is the primary issue. These past decades have bred animosity and grudges. Some engineered by the monsters who created this situation; some because of the simple reality of the situation we all found ourselves in. There is nobody on this continent who can snap their fingers and make it so. We need to work together."
You glance around the room. Reactions are fairly mixed. Looking more closely, some people are still preoccupied with glaring at Hicks. Some are glaring at you, although not many of them, and most are delegations from California itself, Hicks among them. Sorry, Hicks, but we can't let the leader of Revival be somebody who gets jeers from their own people, you think.
More importantly than any of that, most people's eyes are fixed squarely on you, nodding along.
You take a breath and continue, saying, "This task is beyond any one of us, but it is not beyond all of us. The Commonwealth of Free Cities does support the cause of Revivalism, but there are many questions that we all need to answer in order to get there. It is the Commonwealth's opinion that these questions can only be answered by all of us. There needs to be a body responsible for solving the problem of Revival, one with the support and participation of all of the parties here. The establishment of this body -- one with the power and remit to decide the answers to the difficult questions facing us, and the buy-in of all the people who are involved in answering them -- is what I see as the ideal outcome of this Conference."
You let silence fall for a moment, shuffling your notes. Attention is squarely focused on you, now, and by and large it seems positive. Most of the people here would find a message of cooperation from one of the Revivalist front-runners comforting. Hicks is fuming, which doesn't completely surprise you. You will need to speak with him in private later. Representative Branson of the FCNY, on the other hand, looks contemplative. The Canadian and Mexican representatives look very guarded, although surprised at the tack you're taking. Well and so. The surprise should be all the greater when you push as hard as you can to include them.
You look around the room. "...I did have another announcement in mind, before this interruption," you said, affecting a measure of hesitancy. "It seemed appropriate, given what we're here for and...well, and the date." You glance over your shoulder and gesture to one of your aides, who swiftly ducks out. "...the Country has lost a lot, over the years. The entire continent has. We've lost our security. We've lost our wealth. We've lost priceless cultural artifacts. We've lost people. We can't bring those things back. Revivalism is about bringing back as much as we can, but we can't get back everything." Behind you, a group of workers walk into the chamber carrying a large, heavy box shrouded in fabric, another two following behind them carrying a stand. They start setting it up on the raised platform behind you as you speak. "But there are some things we can get back. The Commonwealth has restored security to the Great Lakes, following the Erie War. California has restored freedom to its people, following their revolt. The Free City of New York has restored prosperity to its people, over the decades. And there are more things besides that we can restore. Artifacts, the people of the Diaspora...and a legacy. For all three of the states whose inheritors are here today, that legacy is mixed. We all have the legacy of some very grave crimes weighing us down. But we would not be here at all if we didn't believe it was a legacy with something to offer." You glance behind you as the team finishes setting up. "Three hundred years ago, the men who would come to lead the most powerful state on the North American continent gathered in Philadelphia to declare their freedom from foreign powers. If there is nothing else that we all should agree on, that cause before anything should be it: our independence from the foreign powers that have conspired to keep us divided, brutalized, and weak." Behind you, you hear the rustle and thump of heavy fabric being pulled away, as for the first time in decades, the Declaration of Independence is displayed for a public audience. Eyes widen around the chamber. Some people stand up.
You rise, slowly, leaning on the podium before you. "So as we proceed with this conference, that is what I want us to remember: the die is now cast. We have gathered to discuss the return of a power whose return Russia has spent decades proving they cannot tolerate, and there is no turning back from that. As those men centuries ago did, so too have we. But now is the time for it. Russia's attention is split. Victoria is broken. Their grip has slipped, and they will need time to bring it back. If we act now, we can succeed. So let us act -- swiftly, decisively, properly. This conference is our declaration of independence, and we will do it right."
At last, there are cheers. Slowly, starting with a few ragged claps, then mounting with the force of a wave crashing down on the beach. Then, when the clapping has swelled to a roar, the first cheers come, and eventually, you stand at the center of a maelstrom of sound. For a moment, you let yourself simply experience that moment of catharsis as decades of suffering give way to a moment of hope.
There will be work, later. Negotiations over the form of things. Confirmations from FCNY's representative that the thing behind you with text almost entirely faded away is, actually, the Declaration, and that they have confirmed it with their own, respected experts. Horse-trading over the status of peoples from beyond the Old Country's borders. The question of how to address the people within the Old Country's borders who might not be as eager as you all to see it return. And, of course, the constant worry in the back of your head that you will repeat the mistakes of your own ancestors.
But for now, you let yourself be swept away in the hope.
The Revivalist Conference has begun in earnest, with the Commonwealth's cards mostly on the table. It is time to approach the question of how you will get what you have decided you want, at this conference as well as at follow-up meetings further down the road.
Your objective is to establish a pan-Revivalist regulatory body with the buy-in of (as great a slice as possible of) the entire movement, one with the assent of its various aligned state powers to administer the process of revival. You intend to actively incorporate Mexican and Canadian states and actors into this body with an aim to some form of greater American revival.
Please form a plan deciding how you want to sell this to the various factions present. Every faction involved in the conference has a basic willingness to participate in this regulatory body, represented by a numerical score. In order to get any given faction on board, you must get their score to 1 or higher. These scores will be tracked in future turns, and future developments may impact various powers' scores, thus potentially risking them falling out of the body. It is also worth noting that you will not get everybody. The higher a faction's score, they more on board they will be, but 100% approval is impossible. Factions like the Mexican Revivalists, FCNY, or the NCR are either in or out, but the other groups comprise many small actors. You can get more of them, but not all of them. By contrast, disunified factions will always have some people willing to buy in even if you fall short of their required score, but it will be well short of a decisive majority and it will experience attrition at any sign of difficulties.
It is also worth noting that, as scores change over time, you may get latecomers to this body who become interested later as the body demonstrates its worth (if things go well). Thus, if you don't get somebody aboard now, there is a chance you can get them aboard later, although they will be walking their own path in that time.
The FCNY (1): keeping their cards close to their chest, but has generally indicated an interest in the notion. You think they'll go along with it, but not how far they intend to go along with it.
The NCR (-1): Still kind of pissed off about how their big moment led to people calling them murderers and Russian collaborators, and generally is very badly off-balance. You know they don't dare to storm out, but they can definitely tell that they can't make a play for primacy the way they intended, and while they are Revivalist, they also have a very specific cultural victim complex built up over the years that the rest of their fellow Americans have absolutely negative sympathy for. Meanwhile, your play with the Declaration has definitely undercut their agenda. They aren't really an effective participant right now one way or the other, but if you want a lasting commitment, you need to offer them something to remind them of the merits of Revival.
Anglo-Canadian Factions (0): Somewhat concerned about being drowned out by American voices in this sort of arrangement. They were not expecting to be offered a place, and thus are interested, but their concerns remain.
French-Canadian Factions (-2): More hostile to the notion, being very specifically concerned with being silenced. As a reminder, a massive slice of them live under Victorian occupation. They will need to be appeased if you want their buy-in.
Northern Mexican Factions (2): Extraordinarily thrilled with this idea. They require no concessions at present.
Mexican Revivalists (-3): Struggling to hit the intersection between asserting their specifically Mexican nature meaning they don't need a place in this American body, trying to maintain their pretense of being a loose confederation that is very specifically not a Mexico so that they don't get any of the Russian heat that's coming from this, and still actually wanting that seat at the table they demanded so that their interests are considered. They will need serious concessions if you want them to come down on the side of that last point, and as a participant.
Western Minor American Factions (0): Almost universally want assurances in this arrangement that they will be protected from California and Japan. This is a significant part of the thing undercutting California's momentum, and actually giving a direct promise to defend people from California will make California ditch immediately, so you'll have to find something else or another way to say it.
Southern Minor American Factions (0): Concerned that non-American voices are being offered a place at the table. They've been a traditional ground zero for Victorian expeditions, and thus are on a hair trigger regarding non-American influence, not to mention their reluctance to expand this project to the point where reconstruction aid gets split away from them. They will need to be somehow appeased on that point without alienating the Canadian and Mexican factions, if you want their widespread involvement. This includes Miami, which is still apparently not yet coherent enough of a state to have just one representative, instead having sent seven who all claim to be the only legitimate one.
Interior American Factions (N/A): Largely in your sphere of influence, and on board already -- aside from the already-noted malcontents, for whom you have separate plans. Only included so that you know not to worry about them. You have already hitched their horse to yours. As you go, so, eventually, must they.
Form a plan from the following options. You must select one option from, "Goal," and, "Body Structure."
The overall goal of the regulatory body, which will impact various factions' willingness to participate. Specifics of any given step will be determined by the body itself as time goes on. CHOOSE ONE.
[ ] Direct Integration: The body will attempt to, over time, directly integrate members into a single, federal state. The resulting state will be functional faster and more capably. +0 with all minor American factions and FCNY; -1 with NCR, Northern Mexicans, and Canadians; -2 with Mexican Revivalists.
[ ] Steps On the Road: The body will accept a slower track to membership featuring escalating levels of involvement, with things like mutual defense agreements coming earlier and common diplomatic policies coming later. The resulting state will take much more time to be viable. +1 with all American factions, Anglo-Canadians, and Northern Mexicans; +0 with French-Canadians and Mexican Revivalists.
The overall structure of the body, impacting how attractive it is to various groups. CHOOSE ONE.
[ ] Council Alone: The body will be made up of a council featuring representatives of all involved state actors based on population and one extra per state, with no additional offices. Simplifies things tremendously and definitely reassures those of your participants who have non-state actors within their borders that they aren't fans of, but there are still vast swathes of the country that don't qualify and would have to be dealt with on an ad hoc basis. +1 with FCNY, NCR, and all Mexicans; -1 with Canadian factions and western and southern American factions.
[ ] Web of Association: While the decisions will be made by the above central council, non-state actors can seek association status and gain guaranteed audiences with said council and permanent representatives to deliver petitions for them. Adds a layer of complication, but this status is still up to the Council, so no states are going to be angry about it. +1 with Canadian factions, western and southern American factions, and northern Mexicans; +0 with NCR, FCNY, and Mexican Revivalists.
[ ] All-Inclusive: As above, but all non-state participants who agree to the formation of the body are granted association status automatically. As that includes some groups whom -- in particular -- the Mexican Revivalists and NCR would rather remain silent, they will disapprove, and this will definitely make things chug a fair bit. It will, however, be massively popular with those non-state actors. +2 with Canadian factions and western and southern American factions; +1 with northern Mexicans; +0 with FCNY; -1 with NCR and Mexican Revivalists.
As nice as it would be to have a single structure that satisfied everybody without any horse trading, you live in reality. Here are specific concessions you are prepared to offer to appease various parties' concerns. CHOOSE ANY.
[ ] Cloture: Nobody wants to enact the liberum veto, but you have several attending factions who are concerned with being swallowed up in the tide of voices. Filibustering and the legislative measures that enabled it are a dirty memory for Americans, but there are ways to guarantee that minority voices are heard and respected that avoid some of the pitfalls. Institutes a supermajority requirement to close debate and move to a vote, with that requirement declining with each attempt at doing so in a session until a simple majority is required. +1 with Canadian factions and the Mexican Revivalists.
[ ] Mexican Revivalist Special Status: Grant the Mexican Revivalists the right not to abide by any given resolution passed by the voting council of the body. Mexico automatically accepts, -1 with everybody else.
[ ] Multilingualism: The body would doubtlessly vote to set its own language of business, and by simple majority, that language would doubtlessly be English, but you have an opportunity to reach out and accommodate the more...skittish...of your participants, here -- at the cost of a tripled administrative workload and the dire need for a large mass of translators. +1 with all Mexicans and French-Canadians.
[ ] Southern Strategy: The Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico are becoming areas of increasing international interest in recent years, and the various people down there have virtually zero interest in any of that. Making a policy of not accepting the membership of any states found by the people in those regions to be inappropriately under foreign influence would be quite the draw to southern factions, but it would set a confrontational tone with Brazil and their bloc, given their newly-announced interest in the mouth of the Mississippi. +1 with southern American factions, the Mexican Revivalists, and the Northern Mexicans.
[ ] Financier: This body is going to need a lot of funding and the skills to manage it, and nobody on the continent is as wealthy as the Free City of New York. They are no longer the financial center of the world, but they know money, and have connections to get some. It'll mean handing quite a bit of power to them that cannot subsequently be taken back or controlled, but granting them the authority to handle the body's finances will invest them in it, freeing you up from having to manage them as closely as you're going to have to manage the other big players. +5 with FCNY.
[ ] Lifeline of the West: The NCR, despite presently being in the flush of victory, is also feeling uncomfortably exposed at the moment. It wants the body to commit to a project of reopening an infrastructure link across the Rockies so that aid can reach them overland. Fortunately, Burns has just cleared out the largest concentration of bandits along the I-70, so this simplifies the question tremendously. Still, this is a big project. Without the FCNY's assistance, finding the funding for this is probably going to be the body's first big hurdle to clear. +3 with NCR.
[ ] Truth and Reconciliation Commission: An idea lifted from pre-Collapse Canada intended to examine the impacts of their residential schools for First Nations children, you plan to adopt it on a far grander scale. Make, as part of this body's charter, a commission with the aim of documenting the history and lasting impacts of the Collapse in humanitarian terms, and then making recommendations to the body as to how it should inform their formal decisions -- such as whom to favor in terms of who is the legitimate controller of a given patch of land. Broadly popular, but the NCR is going to see this as a slight against them. +1 with all Canadian, minor American, and northern Mexican factions. -1 with NCR.
[ ] Independence Referendum: The Quebecois have always had an independent streak, and half of them living under Victorian occupation has not changed that. They want a guarantee that, once all of Quebec is free from Victorian control, the body shall grant and respect a referendum regarding the independence of Quebec, so they may choose for themselves what their future entails. Sets a fairly dangerous precedent for the integrity of any state formed from this body, but to speak frankly, the Quebecois are presently disorganized enough to make large-scale concessions other than this difficult. What they do have, courtesy of those same decades under Victoria, is a deep familiarity with the operation of insurgencies. +2 with the French-Canadians.
[ ] Military Exchange: Various minor factions are interested in building up their militaries, now that Victoria (and California) are no longer factors opposing that. The CFC, having just crushed Victoria in two consecutive force-on-force contests, has significant cachet in military matters. Announce that members of this body will have the opportunity to send officer candidates to CFC military schools. This will give them the insights they desire and expand your own influence, although every spot in your academies is precious, at the moment, and if you're handing them out to others, you'll need to push harder for access to foreign academies than you were already going to have to. +2 with all minor American factions, all Canadian factions, and the northern Mexicans.
MANUAL MORATORIUM. APPROVAL VOTING. WRITE-INS WECOME, WITH QM APPROVAL.
Not quite the monster of an update the last one was, but that vote was interesting to write!
Welcome back, folks! It's time to figure out how you're going to go about this! You may notice that the only explicit numbers in the options are the willingness scores, despite some very hefty concessions being involved. This is both unavoidable -- kinda hard to track numerically -- and deliberate -- because I am, as previously disclosed, Lawful Evil, and enjoy screwing with you in minor ways that you can still overcome.
Enjoy the update, folks! If you have a write-in idea, tag me with it, as always. I'll be accepting ideas up to the opening of the vote. Have fun chatting, and see you around the thread!
Welcome back, Poptart! Good to see this back on track!
Lots of compromises to make here. Someone needs to start crunching up those numbers for bonuses and maluses, but that someone definitely isn't me. Got my own spreadsheet to work on.
To be honest I really want to take the military exchange concession partly because that's a load of opinion bonuses and secondly because hearing about that and it's likely effects will make the Victorians have absolute fits.
In other news kind of surprised on the lack of reaction from Russia from the New California uprising.
What kind of opinion do we need to get people on board with this by the way?
To be honest I really want to take the military exchange concession partly because that's a load of opinion bonuses and secondly because hearing about that and it's likely effects will make the Victorians have absolute fits.
In other news kind of surprised on the lack of reaction from Russia from the New California uprising.
I think multi-linguism would be a head ache, just as long as we protect people rights and provide free translation for anything involving the government and free English class for all ,we would be better and without having to triple our paper work.
Interesting that most of the downsides of the concussions are narrative. I hope that plan makers carefully consider what future actions will be necessitated by the concussions they choose, and not just focus on what options make the numbers positive.
I think multi-linguism would be a head ache, just as long as we protect people rights and provide free translation for anything involving the government and free English class for all ,we would be better and without having to triple our paper work.
Well now this is something we all need to think over mostly because as Poptart said we can't get everyone on board with this nor should we try since that'll just spread us too far and cost us a lot of our influence in future talks over it. With that said I'm going to be strongly against any plan that involves a lot of concessions to people since again we can't pander to everyone here nor should we. I'm at most willing to take two three concessions I think but no more after that.
The Regional Interest and willingness score mechanics resembles the Yugoslavian ethnic group support mechanics in making Yugoslavia in the Kaiserreich mod in that both involve juggling the interests and concerns of the many groups that make up the new union. Some groups are more enthusiastic about the new union than others and actions that will please one group will anger others. It will be very tough juggling act to get everybody to live and work together in Brotherhood and Unity.
Well now this is something we all need to think over mostly because as Poptart said we can't get everyone on board with this nor should we try since that'll just spread us too far and cost us a lot of our influence in future talks over it. With that said I'm going to be strongly against any plan that involves a lot of concessions to people since again we can't pander to everyone here nor should we. I'm at most willing to take two three concessions I think but no more after that.
Uh, just to clarify, what I meant was not that it is impossible to get a score of at least one with every faction, but rather that doing so will not get every actor making up said faction to sign on. Getting at least one means you get a decisive majority of a faction, but there are still holdouts. You can absolutely get to that point with everybody...if you're willing to pay for it.
Uh, just to clarify, what I meant was not that it is impossible to get a score of at least one with every faction, but rather that doing so will not get every actor making up said faction to sign on. Getting at least one means you get a decisive majority of a faction, but there are still holdouts. You can absolutely get to that point with everybody...if you're willing to pay for it.
Oh ok whoops my bad, But yeah I'm not willingly to get everyone on board then because it's not a cost I think we can afford given how thinly spread out we are right now anyway. So yeah only 2-3 concessions max for me on this I don't think we should try to please everyone here nor should we.
The issue is that English has always been the de facto official language of the government, and the concession is specifically going to change that, with all the requisite and not inconsiderable headaches it implies.
I do like the idea of doing the officer exchange as well as the truth and reconciliation committee.
For one the Committee would be a very nice touch in future planning and would be a useful group that could step back and examine everything. Also the historian in me thinks that their deliberations would be a god send to the future.
The officer exchange would also be a good way to network the scattered officer Corps together and see how the military thinking has changed as well as lay the ground work for coordination between the various forces out there and the eventual reunified armed forces.
Edit: also what ever we do we need FCNY on side even if they are surrounded by the Vics they know money, they have connections everywhere and they habe their finger on the various American diaspora communities and companies out there.
The issue is that English has always been the de facto official language of the government, and the concession is specifically going to change that, with all the requisite and not inconsiderable headaches it implies.
The continent is multi-lingual and we should try to reflect that. The idea of "English Only" has a poor history, especially since it's the sort of thing Victoria loved.
I think getting FCNY as the financial capitol and using that to re-open I-70 is a great jump start on the strategic objective of easy overland travel from atlantic to pacific. It's hard to overstate how big of a deal it was getting the transcontinental railroad built affected america's access to capital
I think getting FCNY as the financial capitol and using that to re-open I-70 is a great jump start on the strategic objective of easy overland travel from atlantic to pacific. It's hard to overstate how big of a deal it was getting the transcontinental railroad built affected america's access to capital
[ ] Plan: Party Up & Down the Coast to Coast
-[ ][GOAL] Direct Integration: The body will attempt to, over time, directly integrate members into a single, federal state. The resulting state will be functional faster and more capably. +0 with all minor American factions and FCNY; -1 with NCR, Northern Mexicans, and Canadians; -2 with Mexican Revivalists.
-[ ][BODY STRUCTURE] Web of Association: While the decisions will be made by the above central council, non-state actors can seek association status and gain guaranteed audiences with said council and permanent representatives to deliver petitions for them. Adds a layer of complication, but this status is still up to the Council, so no states are going to be angry about it. +1 with Canadian factions, western and southern American factions, and northern Mexicans; +0 with NCR, FCNY, and Mexican Revivalists.
-[ ][CONCESSION] Cloture: Nobody wants to enact the liberum veto, but you have several attending factions who are concerned with being swallowed up in the tide of voices. Filibustering and the legislative measures that enabled it are a dirty memory for Americans, but there are ways to guarantee that minority voices are heard and respected that avoid some of the pitfalls. Institutes a supermajority requirement to close debate and move to a vote, with that requirement declining with each attempt at doing so in a session until a simple majority is required. +1 with Canadian factions and the Mexican Revivalists.
-[ ][CONCESSION] Southern Strategy: The Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico are becoming areas of increasing international interest in recent years, and the various people down there have virtually zero interest in any of that. Making a policy of not accepting the membership of any states found by the people in those regions to be inappropriately under foreign influence would be quite the draw to southern factions, but it would set a confrontational tone with Brazil and their bloc, given their newly-announced interest in the mouth of the Mississippi. +1 with southern American factions, the Mexican Revivalists, and the Northern Mexicans.
-[ ][CONCESSION] Lifeline of the West: The NCR, despite presently being in the flush of victory, is also feeling uncomfortably exposed, at the moment. It wants the body to commit to a project of reopening an infrastructure link across the Rockies, so that aid can reach them overland. Fortunately, Burns has just cleared out the largest concentration of bandits along the I-70, so this simplifies the question tremendously. Still, this is a big project. Without the FCNY's assistance, finding the funding for this is probably going to be the body's first big hurdle to clear. +3 with NCR.
-[ ][CONCESSION] Financier: This body is going to need a long of funding and the skills to manage it, and nobody on the continent is as wealthy as the Free City of New York. They are no longer the financial center of the world, but they know money, and have connections to get some. It'll mean handing quite a bit of power to them that cannot subsequently be taken back or controlled, but granting them the authority to handle the body's finances will invest them in it, freeing you up from having to manage them as closely as you're going to have to manage the other big players. +5 with FCNY.
-[ ][CONCESSION] Truth and Reconciliation Commission: An idea lifted from pre-Collapse Canada intended to examine the impacts of their residential schools for First Nations children, you plan to adopt it on a far grander scale. Make, as part of this body's charter, a commission with the aim of documenting the history and lasting impacts of the Collapse in humanitarian terms, and then making recommendations to the body as to how it should inform their formal decisions -- such as whom to favor in terms of who is the legitimate controller of a given patch of land. Broadly popular, but the NCR is going to see this as a slight against them. +1 with all Canadian, minor American, and northern Mexican factions. -1 with NCR.
-[ ][CONCESSION] Independence Referendum: The Quebecois have always had an independent streak, and half of them living under Victorian occupation has not changed that. They want a guarantee that, once all of Quebec is free from Victorian control, the body shall grant and respect a referendum regarding the independence of Quebec, so they may choose for themselves what their future entails. Sets a fairly dangerous precedent for the integrity of any state formed from this body, but to speak frankly, the Quebecois are not presently organized enough to make large-scale concessions other than this difficult. What they do have, courtesy of those same decades under Victoria, is a deep familiarity with the operation of insurgencies. +2 with the French-Canadians.
-[ ][CONCESSION] Military Exchange: Various minor factions are interested in building up their militaries, now that Victoria (and California) are no longer factors opposing that. The CFC, having just crushed Victoria in two consecutive force-on-force contests, has significant cachet in military matters. Announce that members of this body will have the opportunity to send officer candidates to CFC military schools. This will give them the insights they desire and expand your own influence, although every spot in your academies is precious, at the moment, and if you're handing them out to others, you'll need to push harder for access to foreign academies than you were already going to have to. +2 with all minor American factions, all Canadian factions, and the northern Mexicans.
Now, before anyone freaks out about the number of concessions listed for this plan; I'm not trying to game it so we get as many people on board as possible. Most of these are things I'd want us committed to doing regardless, like the infrastructure route to NCR and Military Exchange. Also, the Southern Strategy feels like it meshes well with our own declaration in this update, since the goal there is ensuring that sovereignty will be maintained in this restored USA.
EDIT: For how this plan will alter the relation scores.
FCNY: +6
NCR: +0
Anglo-Canadian: +4
French Canadian: +3
Northern Mexican: +6
Mexican Revivalists: -3
Western Minor Americans: +4
Southern Minor Americans: +5
This includes Miami, which is still apparently not yet coherent enough of a state to have just one representative, instead having sent seven who all claim to be the only legitimate one.
