Voting is open
I slept about fifteen hours last night. Wow.

Vote closed!

Raise Periscope takes the win.
Adhoc vote count started by PoptartProdigy on Jun 25, 2019 at 12:14 PM
This vote count is in an error state, please contact support

Adhoc vote count started by PoptartProdigy on Jun 25, 2019 at 12:15 PM, finished with 8224 posts and 53 votes.

  • [X] Plan Raise Periscope
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    -[X][NAVY] Enemy air supremacy and foul weather, in shallow-drafted boats with no deck armor? Yeah, no. Pull your gunships back, and await a better opportunity. Time plays to your advantage with both of these problems. The army can endure, but every ship you lose is precious.
    -[X] Write-in: You don't know what the other half of the Victorian army is doing. Make it a priority to get some reconnaissance information on the situation south of the defense lines on the south side of the city, by whatever means seem feasible and not needlessly dangerous. This may include naval action after the weather clears, but not air action with the handful of planes you have left.
    [X] Plan Force Preservation
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    -[X][NAVY] Enemy air supremacy and foul weather, in shallow-drafted boats with no deck armor? Yeah, no. Pull your gunships back, and await a better opportunity. Time plays to your advantage with both of these problems. The army can endure, but every ship you lose is precious.
    [X] Plan Burn The Land & Boil The Sea
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    [X] Plan Raise Periscope
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    -[X][NAVY] Enemy air supremacy and foul weather, in shallow-drafted boats with no deck armor? Yeah, no. Pull your gunships back, and await a better opportunity. Time plays to your advantage with both of these problems. The army can endure, but every ship you lose is precious.
    -[X] Write-in: You don't know what the other half of the Victorian army is doing. Make it a priority to get some reconnaissance information on the situation south of the defense lines on the south side of the city, by whatever means seem feasible and not needlessly dangerous. This may include naval action after the weather clears, but not air action with the handful of planes you have left.
    [X] Plan Burn The Land & Boil The Sea
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    [X] Plan Raise Periscope
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    -[X][NAVY] Enemy air supremacy and foul weather, in shallow-drafted boats with no deck armor? Yeah, no. Pull your gunships back, and await a better opportunity. Time plays to your advantage with both of these problems. The army can endure, but every ship you lose is precious.
    -[X] Write-in: You don't know what the other half of the Victorian army is doing. Make it a priority to get some reconnaissance information on the situation south of the defense lines on the south side of the city, by whatever means seem feasible and not needlessly dangerous. This may include naval action after the weather clears, but not air action with the handful of planes you have left.
    [X] Plan Raise Periscope
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    -[X][NAVY] Enemy air supremacy and foul weather, in shallow-drafted boats with no deck armor? Yeah, no. Pull your gunships back, and await a better opportunity. Time plays to your advantage with both of these problems. The army can endure, but every ship you lose is precious.
    -[X] Write-in: You don't know what the other half of the Victorian army is doing. Make it a priority to get some reconnaissance information on the situation south of the defense lines on the south side of the city, by whatever means seem feasible and not needlessly dangerous. This may include naval action after the weather clears, but not air action with the handful of planes you have left.
    [X] Plan Force Preservation
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    -[X][NAVY] Enemy air supremacy and foul weather, in shallow-drafted boats with no deck armor? Yeah, no. Pull your gunships back, and await a better opportunity. Time plays to your advantage with both of these problems. The army can endure, but every ship you lose is precious.
    [X] Plan Raise Periscope
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    -[X][NAVY] Enemy air supremacy and foul weather, in shallow-drafted boats with no deck armor? Yeah, no. Pull your gunships back, and await a better opportunity. Time plays to your advantage with both of these problems. The army can endure, but every ship you lose is precious.
    -[X] Write-in: You don't know what the other half of the Victorian army is doing. Make it a priority to get some reconnaissance information on the situation south of the defense lines on the south side of the city, by whatever means seem feasible and not needlessly dangerous. This may include naval action after the weather clears, but not air action with the handful of planes you have left.
    [X] Plan Burn The Land & Boil The Sea
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    [X][NAVY] Keep them out. The Vicks are already far fewer, they've burned some ammo, and they'll be strained by the dogfight. You have AA on the boats. The weather is more risky, but you think being able to keep artillery tubes hitting the onshore Victorians is more important than preservation at this stage.
    -[X] Write-in: You don't know what the other half of the Victorian army is doing. Make it a priority to get some reconnaissance information on the situation south of the defense lines on the south side of the city, by whatever means seem feasible and not needlessly dangerous. This may include naval action after the weather clears, but not air action with the handful of planes you have left.
    [X] Plan Raise Periscope
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    -[X][NAVY] Enemy air supremacy and foul weather, in shallow-drafted boats with no deck armor? Yeah, no. Pull your gunships back, and await a better opportunity. Time plays to your advantage with both of these problems. The army can endure, but every ship you lose is precious.
    -[X] Write-in: You don't know what the other half of the Victorian army is doing. Make it a priority to get some reconnaissance information on the situation south of the defense lines on the south side of the city, by whatever means seem feasible and not needlessly dangerous. This may include naval action after the weather clears, but not air action with the handful of planes you have left.
    [X] Plan Burn The Land & Boil The Sea
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    [X] Plan Raise Periscope
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
    -[X][NAVY] Enemy air supremacy and foul weather, in shallow-drafted boats with no deck armor? Yeah, no. Pull your gunships back, and await a better opportunity. Time plays to your advantage with both of these problems. The army can endure, but every ship you lose is precious.
    -[X] Write-in: You don't know what the other half of the Victorian army is doing. Make it a priority to get some reconnaissance information on the situation south of the defense lines on the south side of the city, by whatever means seem feasible and not needlessly dangerous. This may include naval action after the weather clears, but not air action with the handful of planes you have left.
    [X] Plan Burn The Land & Boil The Sea
    -[X][AIR] The air force is shattered, its pilots badly burnt out. Stand them down and give them a break. In the unlikely event that you need to piss away four planes at a later date, you can always call them back up again. It's not like their odds of making a dent will meaningfully improve by staying geared up.
 
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Negaverse 2: Garbage Birb
I cannot rightly take credit for this. This was a collaborative effort between myself, and basically half of the Discord. See if you can match the usernames below to the ones in this thread!

MEANWHILE IN THE NEGA-VERSE
=============================

Posted by C-Gun150:
So, been a while since the last update, thought I would take a trip down memory lane as it were, catch up on stuff I might have skimmed over during my archive binge. While I was doing that, I came across an interesting tidbit, from the initial intel regarding Chicago: While we good folks venerate the Eagle as is right and proper, the folks over there have quite a bit of respect for the Crow due to its cleverness and tenacity (and the fact that it can hold a grudge like nobody's business, maybe).

This got me thinking. And then my thinking petered out and I got frustrated. And then I scribbled something in MS paint to try and make myself feel better.


Behold! The roundel of Chicago's Catholic Communist Principality! Imagine comrade artist drawing up something sublimely beautiful, only to have it sent back to him with a note saying "make it simpler, so it can be recognized at a distance", then repeat this multiple times over the course of a few in-game weeks until comrade artist learns firsthand why Alcoholism is such a problem among his countrymen. Should have taken a vow of temperance like we did, lads!

Posted by Strudel_Savant:
I hate to break this to you, but Chicago prefers using old US markings for it's war material. But, I could easily see that being a regimental symbol, so… Semi-canon, I suppose.

Posted by H-951Z1:
Uhhhhhhh… hate to say it, but that actually doesn't look that bad. I've seen units with far stupider looking uhhhhh… designs? Yeah, designs. If you're trying to not make them seem cooler, it's not working, especially not when we're still stuck with that crappy 11 pointed star roundel you all somehow voted in (seriously, who the f*ck bought off enough questers to let that abomination win?)

Posted by C-Gun150:
@H-951Z1
Hey, don't look at me. THAT vote had already closed by the time I found this quest.
@Strudel_Savant
Woot! I'll take semi-canon!

Posted by /pol/verlord [Not Actually a 4channer][3-DAY THREADBAN]:
@H-951Z1
Go [DELETED] yourself and stop [DELETED] over the roundel. It's [DELETED] awesome - the starburst is the last thing those pinko commie snowflakes will see before we blast their [DELETED] to hell.

MOD NOTE: /pol/, while you may have rather strong opinions about your winning design, remember that the GM has specifically requested that you and others tone your language down in here. Take a 3 Day Break to learn to use something besides the Urban Dictionary for your vocabulary. Also, @H-951Z1, the censor stars are pushing the line. Reign it in.

Posted by Rrwin_eommel:
Ok what's with all the randos coming in and saying the starburst roundel looks bad? It literally signifies our rebirth from the decadent and corrupt United States, represents each one of our original territories, and has a classy color scheme! Seriously, just looking at it makes me wanna tighten up my jackboots and stomp on some bougies.

Posted by ROCing_th3_Boat:
@Rrwin_eommel are you forgetting going that your "glorious jackboot tightening" roundel just looks like the ROC one if it became slightly communist and stupidly pointy?

Posted by Draugr:
Looks to me like their artist actually failed. Like, background circles are simple, and this big black shape is good, but how they're supposed to position that little triangle without a lot of arcane manipulations?
At that point, it can't be written by typical orc.

They might have as well paid the artist to actually draw crows on their museum pieces. Then, at least, it would have had a modicum of taste.

Posted by Unamused_Ilumination:
Who rendered that? Ever heard of Anti-aliasing? There's shitty white splotches on the main triangle.

MOD NOTE: LANGUAGE! That's 15 points - next one is a temp threadban.

Posted by C-Gun150:
@Unamused_Ilumination
Long story short, I took a shape from an existing Roundel* and messed with it in MS paint because I was too lazy to figure out how to make that particular shape from scratch. Please keep in mind, this was something I whipped up in like 5 minutes to try and break a writer's block. Unsuccessfully, I might add...

*Afghanistan's, if anyone cares

Posted by Unamused_Illumination:
In all seriousness, it looks like someone put "Cool Shades" on an old Captain America shield. Not that I've read the comics or anything like that…
Edited: 2 minutes ago.

Posted by CORN_fed_fellow:
@Unamused_Illumination
I wasn't sure what you were talking about at first, but now that I see it, I can't UN-see it. Any commies start ranting to each other about believing in the me that believes in you or however that went, we may be in trouble.

Posted by H-951Z1:
This just in! Chicago finds out they have the power of GOD and Anime on their side - news at 11.
Edit: Communist Weeaboos. First Wehraboos, now Giga Drill commies. Now I've seen everything.
Edited: 1 minute ago

------------------------------------
<= Previous Negaverse *&*&*&*&* Next Negaverse =>
 
Last edited:
I cannot rightly take credit for this. This was a collaborative effort between myself, and basically half of the Discord. See if you can match the usernames below to the ones in this thread!

MEANWHILE IN THE NEGA-VERSE
=============================

Posted by C-Gun150:
So, been a while since the last update, thought I would take a trip down memory lane as it were, catch up on stuff I might have skimmed over during my archive binge. While I was doing that, I came across an interesting tidbit, from the initial intel regarding Chicago: While we good folks venerate the Eagle as is right and proper, the folks over there have quite a bit of respect for the Crow due to its cleverness and tenacity (and the fact that it can hold a grudge like nobody's business, maybe).

This got me thinking. And then my thinking petered out and I got frustrated. And then I scribbled something in MS paint to try and make myself feel better.


Behold! The roundel of Chicago's Catholic Communist Principality! Imagine comrade artist drawing up something sublimely beautiful, only to have it sent back to him with a note saying "make it simpler, so it can be recognized at a distance", then repeat this multiple times over the course of a few in-game weeks until comrade artist learns firsthand why Alcoholism is such a problem among his countrymen. Should have taken a vow of temperance like we did, lads!

Posted by Strudel_Savant:
I hate to break this to you, but Chicago prefers using old US markings for it's war material. But, I could easily see that being a regimental symbol, so… Semi-canon, I suppose.

Posted by H-951Z1:
Uhhhhhhh… hate to say it, but that actually doesn't look that bad. I've seen units with far stupider looking uhhhhh… designs? Yeah, designs. If you're trying to not make them seem cooler, it's not working, especially not when we're still stuck with that crappy 11 pointed star roundel you all somehow voted in (seriously, who the f*ck bought off enough questers to let that abomination win?)

Posted by C-Gun150
@H-951Z1
Hey, don't look at me. THAT vote had already closed by the time I found this quest.
@Strudel_Savant
Woot! I'll take semi-canon!

Posted by /pol/verlord [Not Actually a 4channer][3-DAY THREADBAN]:
@H-951Z1
Go [DELETED] yourself and stop [DELETED] over the roundel. It's [DELETED] awesome - the starburst is the last thing those pinko commie snowflakes will see before we blast their [DELETED] to hell.

MOD NOTE: /pol/, while you may have rather strong opinions about your winning design, remember that the GM has specifically requested that you and others tone your language down in here. Take a 3 Day Break to learn to use something besides the Urban Dictionary for your vocabulary. Also, @H-951Z1, the censor stars are pushing the line. Reign it in.

Posted by Rrwin_eommel:
Ok what's with all the randos coming in and saying the starburst roundel looks bad? It literally signifies our rebirth from the decadent and corrupt United States, represents each one of our original territories, and has a classy color scheme! Seriously, just looking at it makes me wanna tighten up my jackboots and stomp on some bougies.

Posted by ROCing_th3_Boat:
@Rrwin_eommel are you forgetting going that your "glorious jackboot tightening" roundel just looks like the ROC one if it became slightly communist and stupidly pointy?

Posted by Draugr:
Looks to me like their artist actually failed. Like, background circles are simple, and this big black shape is good, but how they're supposed to position that little triangle without a lot of arcane manipulations?
At that point, it can't be written by typical orc.

They might have as well paid the artist to actually draw crows on their museum pieces. Then, at least, it would have had a modicum of taste.

Posted by Unamused_Ilumination:
Who rendered that? Ever heard of Anti-aliasing? There's shitty white splotches on the main triangle.

MOD NOTE: LANGUAGE! That's 15 points - next one is a temp threadban.

Posted by C-Gun150:
@Unamused_Ilumination
Long story short, I took a shape from an existing Roundel* and messed with it in MS paint because I was too lazy to figure out how to make that particular shape from scratch. Please keep in mind, this was something I whipped up in like 5 minutes to try and break a writer's block. Unsuccessfully, I might add...

*Afghanistan's, if anyone cares

Posted by Unamused_Illumination:
In all seriousness, it looks like someone put "Cool Shades" on an old Captain America shield. Not that I've read the comics or anything like that…
Edited: 2 minutes ago.

Posted by CORN_fed_fellow:
@Unamused_Illumination
I wasn't sure what you were talking about at first, but now that I see it, I can't UN-see it. Any commies start ranting to each other about believing in the me that believes in you or however that went, we may be in trouble.

Posted by H-951Z1:
This just in! Chicago finds out they have the power of GOD and Anime on their side - news at 11.
Edit: Communist Weeaboos. First Wehraboos, now Giga Drill commies. Now I've seen everything.
Edited: 1 minute ago
Ah, although the perils of a crazy work schedule prevent me from updating, I can at least give this the negaverse credit it deserves. That's good shit. :D
 
I cannot rightly take credit for this. This was a collaborative effort between myself, and basically half of the Discord. See if you can match the usernames below to the ones in this thread!

MEANWHILE IN THE NEGA-VERSE
=============================

Posted by C-Gun150:
So, been a while since the last update, thought I would take a trip down memory lane as it were, catch up on stuff I might have skimmed over during my archive binge. While I was doing that, I came across an interesting tidbit, from the initial intel regarding Chicago: While we good folks venerate the Eagle as is right and proper, the folks over there have quite a bit of respect for the Crow due to its cleverness and tenacity (and the fact that it can hold a grudge like nobody's business, maybe).

This got me thinking. And then my thinking petered out and I got frustrated. And then I scribbled something in MS paint to try and make myself feel better.


Behold! The roundel of Chicago's Catholic Communist Principality! Imagine comrade artist drawing up something sublimely beautiful, only to have it sent back to him with a note saying "make it simpler, so it can be recognized at a distance", then repeat this multiple times over the course of a few in-game weeks until comrade artist learns firsthand why Alcoholism is such a problem among his countrymen. Should have taken a vow of temperance like we did, lads!

...

Posted by C-Gun150:
@Unamused_Ilumination
Long story short, I took a shape from an existing Roundel* and messed with it in MS paint because I was too lazy to figure out how to make that particular shape from scratch. Please keep in mind, this was something I whipped up in like 5 minutes to try and break a writer's block. Unsuccessfully, I might add...

*Afghanistan's, if anyone cares

Posted by Unamused_Illumination:
In all seriousness, it looks like someone put "Cool Shades" on an old Captain America shield. Not that I've read the comics or anything like that…
Edited: 2 minutes ago.

Posted by CORN_fed_fellow:
@Unamused_Illumination
I wasn't sure what you were talking about at first, but now that I see it, I can't UN-see it. Any commies start ranting to each other about believing in the me that believes in you or however that went, we may be in trouble.

Posted by H-951Z1:
This just in! Chicago finds out they have the power of GOD and Anime on their side - news at 11.
Edit: Communist Weeaboos. First Wehraboos, now Giga Drill commies. Now I've seen everything.
Edited: 1 minute ago
Sara Goldblum:

[looking at Sara Johnson, after the two share a pair of Fourth Wall Breaching Specs]

"You know, I think I've heard of that story they're talking about. A long time ago... but then which of us has to be the Kamina?"
 
Canon Omake: Meanwhile, In the FCNY...
First one of these I've ever written. Please recommend any necessary edits...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile in the Free City of New York…
=============================================================================

[Article from The New York Times]


Hell's Kitchen Raid Ends in Shootout, Five Arrested in Victorian Terror Plot

By Suzanne Dutton and Dean Gilmore
December 29, 2074​

The residents of Hell's Kitchen were rudely woken to the sound of gunfire on Saturday morning after a police counterterror operation ended in a violent shootout with militant Victorian sympathizers.

Three suspects were arrested following a pre-dawn apartment complex raid by NYPD Emergency Service Unit against a suspected Victorian terror cell located in Midtown Manhattan, with an additional two other suspects currently being treated for gunshot wounds after instigating a gunfight with NYPD officers.

The shootout lasted approximately five minutes, with bullets tearing through the walls into the adjoining rooms. Thankfully, despite the damage, no other civilians or officers were injured in the incident.

"It was chaos," said Doris Mosely, one of the apartment's tenants. "For a moment, I thought I was going to die in the crossfire."

At a City Hall news conference, Police Commissioner Bob Stark, appearing alongside Mayor Bruce Tomlinson, announced that the five men had been planning to launch a series of attacks on multiple government and religious centers, with St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Temple Emanu-El among the target list. "Plans found at the scene also included timetables and dates of mass public gatherings," said Mr. Stark, "with the intent of inflicting maximum casualties to the civilian populace."

In addition to several pistols and assorted assault rifles, multiple napalm firebombs and pipe bombs lined with nails for shrapnel were found in the apartment by NYPD bomb disposal teams, as well as three incomplete pressure cooker bombs, according to a law enforcement official.

The five suspects, who have not yet been named by NYPD at this time due to reasons of security, had been under surveillance for the past three years by NYPD Intelligence Bureau after their extremist behavior and public remarks supporting the Northern Confederation were reported by several of their co-workers. "The five suspects had been witnessed discussing the possibility of forcing New York City to accept Victorian superiority over the Eastern Seaboard by targeting religious and government areas in order to weaken the Free City's resolve." Mr. Stark said. "Additional papers uncovered at the scene detailed their intent to coincide their attacks around the same period the Confederation was to begin its military operations against the Commonwealth of Free Cities government in Chicago."

The suspects had begun preparing their plans over the course of the past year. NYPD officials reported that they had been frequent visitors to pro-Victorian blogs and Darknet web forums containing bomb-making discussions. NYPD later recorded the suspects making several trips to local hardware stores, kitchen appliance retailers, furniture stores and junkyards in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island six months prior to the arrests as they procured the necessary components for their explosive devices.

A spokesperson for the district attorney's office has stated that Acting Manhattan District Attorney Nikki Migliorini has no intention of backing down from her late predecessor's original campaign of "zero compromise" against pro-Victorian sympathizers and subversive elements. "New York must and will guard against all enemies that seek its subjugation, from within and without."

The three suspects currently remain under arrest on charges of criminal possession of weapons in the first degree as a crime of terrorism as well as numerous other charges, according to police officials, while the two injured suspects remained hospitalized. The district attorney's office has stated that the suspects' names will be released to the public later this week.

===
AN: Christ I need an editor...
 
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There's a certain irony in Victorian wannabe's being radicalized and educating themselves online.

Presumably the actual Victorians would have just shot them.
 
There's a certain irony in Victorian wannabe's being radicalized and educating themselves online.

Presumably the actual Victorians would have just shot them.
Oh yeah...retroculture

Well, outside online supporters are always a thing, and it is the easiest place to obtain copies of Anarchist Cookbook.

Granted, I'm going off the assumption that the Free City still has some semblance of Internet connection.
 
Oh yeah...retroculture

Well, outside online supporters are always a thing, and it is the easiest place to obtain copies of Anarchist Cookbook.

Granted, I'm going off the assumption that the Free City still has some semblance of Internet connection.

Reactionaries aren't exactly smart.

Presumably these guys were just racists looking for an excuse to do some murders.
 
Also, it's useful for Victoria to develop assets through the use of the remaining Internet - what they're looking for is external, deniable cadre to commit acts of terrorism, and find supporters/investors abroad to facilitate the modernization of their military. Some of the party elite likely have access to modern computers and Internet, even if it's more or less conformant to Russian internet censorship standards. Even North Korea's party elite have (very limited) access to the Internet.
 
Also, it's useful for Victoria to develop assets through the use of the remaining Internet - what they're looking for is external, deniable cadre to commit acts of terrorism, and find supporters/investors abroad to facilitate the modernization of their military. Some of the party elite likely have access to modern computers and Internet, even if it's more or less conformant to Russian internet censorship standards. Even North Korea's party elite have (very limited) access to the Internet.
To be fair, Victorian political ideology is fiercely convinced that the Internet should never have existed, that television shouldn't either, and that anything beyond broadcast radio and black and white film was a step too far.

I suspect that Internet access in Victoria is limited to some kind of military data and e-mail network* that doesn't connect to the outside world for a mix of ideological and practical reasons, plus specifically a similar network operated by the CMC to make being the secret police more efficient. Any efforts to recruit or develop assets online would be handled entirely through the CMC, and just about anyone you meet on the global Internet purporting to be a Victorian would necessarily be a CMC agent.
________________________

*(since they accept the use of post-1930 tech for the military, grudgingly)
 
To be fair, Victorian political ideology is fiercely convinced that the Internet should never have existed, that television shouldn't either, and that anything beyond broadcast radio and black and white film was a step too far.

I suspect that Internet access in Victoria is limited to some kind of military data and e-mail network* that doesn't connect to the outside world for a mix of ideological and practical reasons, plus specifically a similar network operated by the CMC to make being the secret police more efficient. Any efforts to recruit or develop assets online would be handled entirely through the CMC, and just about anyone you meet on the global Internet purporting to be a Victorian would necessarily be a CMC agent.
________________________

*(since they accept the use of post-1930 tech for the military, grudgingly)
HALLO YES I AM VICTORIAN CITIZEN WE ARE HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS DO NOT BELIVE THE LIES OF THE CULTURAL MARXISTS
 
To be fair, Victorian political ideology is fiercely convinced that the Internet should never have existed, that television shouldn't either, and that anything beyond broadcast radio and black and white film was a step too far.

I suspect that Internet access in Victoria is limited to some kind of military data and e-mail network* that doesn't connect to the outside world for a mix of ideological and practical reasons, plus specifically a similar network operated by the CMC to make being the secret police more efficient. Any efforts to recruit or develop assets online would be handled entirely through the CMC, and just about anyone you meet on the global Internet purporting to be a Victorian would necessarily be a CMC agent.
________________________

*(since they accept the use of post-1930 tech for the military, grudgingly)

That's true. In-character, we'd really need high-level defectors to really get any sort of intelligence on how Victorian intelligence and the CMC's role in it works. But that's largely what I was trying to get at; Victoria needs a presence on the Internet, if only for propaganda purposes, but no True Victorian would deign to actually use tech that's so obviously a vector for Cultural Marxist contamination. The North Korean analogy only goes so far, thinking about it - the North Korean leadership *does* want information technology, but entirely on their own terms, while the Victorian project is specifically technorejectionist and has made only tiny and grudging concessions to the ends of implementing their brand of social control and posturing to the outside world and their sympathizers.
 
I suspect that accusations of technophilia are also a vector through which members of the Victorian political class (and population at large) gain advantages over one another by selling one another out on suspicions of ideological impurity. So it'd be actively dangerous for a member of the political elite to, say, have a cell phone or use globally connected Internet, because it would give the CMC unlimited blackmail power over them.

[I say "CMC" because I just sort of assume they're the secret police and internal security organ within the Victorian government, by the way]

In any case, the only people who can possibly be safe using such technology in a totalitarian state that's ideologically hostile to the Internet... Are the CMC themselves, and only those who are trusted and using it for an authorized purpose that's subject to monitoring and oversight. The only people who have a license to transgress are those whose job is to hunt down transgressors.
 
First one of these I've ever written. Please recommend any necessary edits...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile in the Free City of New York…
=============================================================================

[Article from The New York Times]


Hell's Kitchen Raid Ends in Shootout, Five Arrested in Victorian Terror Plot

By Suzanne Dutton and Dean Gilmore
December 29, 2075​

The residents of Hell's Kitchen were rudely woken to the sound of gunfire on Saturday morning after a police counterterror operation ended in a violent shootout with militant Victorian sympathizers.

Three suspects were arrested following a pre-dawn apartment complex raid by NYPD Emergency Service Unit against a suspected Victorian terror cell located in Midtown Manhattan, with an additional two other suspects currently being treated for gunshot wounds after instigating a gunfight with the NYPD officers.

The shootout lasted approximately five minutes, with bullets tearing through the walls into the adjoining rooms. Thankfully, despite the damage, no other civilians or officers were injured in the incident.

"It was chaos," said Doris Mosely, one of the apartment's tenants. "For a moment, I thought I was going to die in the crossfire."

At a City Hall news conference, Police Commissioner Bob Stark, appearing alongside Mayor Bruce Tomlinson, announced that the five men arrested had been planning to launch a series of attacks on multiple government and religious centers, including them St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Temple Emanu-El. "Plans found at the scene included timetables and dates of mass public gatherings," said Mr. Stark, "with the intent of inflicting maximum casualties to the civilian populace."

In addition to several pistols and assorted assault rifles, multiple napalm firebombs and pipe bombs lined with nails for shrapnel were found in the apartment by NYPD bomb disposal teams, as well as three incomplete pressure cooker bombs, according to a law enforcement official.

The five suspects, who have not been named by NYPD at this time due to reasons of security, had been under for the past three years surveillance by NYPD Intelligence Bureau after their extremist behavior and public remarks supporting the Northern Confederation were reported by several of their co-workers. "The five suspects had been witnessed discussing the possibility of forcing New York City to accept Victorian superiority over the Eastern Seaboard by targeting religious and government areas in order to weaken the Free City's resolve." Mr. Stark said. "Additional papers uncovered at the scene detailed their intent to coincide their attacks around the same period the Confederation was to begin its military operations against the Commonwealth of Free Cities government in Chicago."

The suspects had begun preparing plans over the course of the past year. NYPD officials reported that they had become frequent visitors to pro-Victorian blogs and Darknet web forums containing bomb-making discussions. NYPD later recorded over the last six months has recorded the suspects making several trips to local hardware, kitchen appliance retailers, furniture stores and junkyards in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island to procure the necessary components for their explosive devices.

A spokesperson for the district attorney's office has stated that Acting Manhattan District Attorney Nikki Migliorini has no intention of backing down from her late predecessor's original campaign of "zero compromise" against pro-Victorian sympathizers and subversive elements. "New York must and will guard against all enemies that seek its subjugation, from within and without."

The three suspects have been are currently remain under arrest on charges of criminal possession of weapons in the first degree as a crime of terrorism as well as numerous other charges, according to police officials, while the two injured suspects remained hospitalized. The district attorney's office has stated that the suspects' names will be released to the public later this week.
Nice! No serious edits to suggest; I am not actually a newspaper editor. Anything I'd suggest would be from that perspective, and would not do anything to make this a more enjoyable omake. Canon!
[I say "CMC" because I just sort of assume they're the secret police and internal security organ within the Victorian government, by the way]
You would be correct, in that internal security and such is their primary function. They have extended beyond that quite significantly, though; for instance, among other things, they maintain an independent military formation in the form of Victoria's most modernized mechanized division, which you suspect to be in the Detroit theater.
 
You would be correct, in that internal security and such is their primary function. They have extended beyond that quite significantly, though; for instance, among other things, they maintain an independent military formation in the form of Victoria's most modernized mechanized division, which you suspect to be in the Detroit theater.
Are they a full SS-style "State within a State" or is the separate military unit their main independence?
 
Are they a full SS-style "State within a State" or is the separate military unit their main independence?
Very SS-style, but with even more influence. Like, imagine if Hitler got shot in 1936 and the SS wound up winning the scramble to replace him. Then add forty years to consolidate power. Like, the modern-day CMC is controlled by relative, "moderates," approved by the Tsar, but they are still, fundamentally, a secret police force that got the chance to put one of their most loyal supporters into the top slot. They have reacted with a depressingly typical amount of restraint to that opportunity.
 
Very SS-style, but with even more influence. Like, imagine if Hitler got shot in 1936 and the SS wound up winning the scramble to replace him. Then add forty years to consolidate power. Like, the modern-day CMC is controlled by relative, "moderates," approved by the Tsar, but they are still, fundamentally, a secret police force that got the chance to put one of their most loyal supporters into the top slot. They have reacted with a depressingly typical amount of restraint to that opportunity.
All the more reason to sick the Devil Brigade on them once we get the opportunity. That, or a stupid amount of artillery, whichever is more convenient.
 
Very SS-style, but with even more influence. Like, imagine if Hitler got shot in 1936 and the SS wound up winning the scramble to replace him. Then add forty years to consolidate power. Like, the modern-day CMC is controlled by relative, "moderates," approved by the Tsar, but they are still, fundamentally, a secret police force that got the chance to put one of their most loyal supporters into the top slot. They have reacted with a depressingly typical amount of restraint to that opportunity.
Given that Victoria fought a long round of wars against other powers on the continent before the Russians killed and replaced their leadership, I'd say it's a bit more like if Hitler had gotten shot and replaced in 1943 or so- at a point in time when the overall structures of Naziism were better established and there were fewer competing power blocs still viable within Germany.

Of course, you have to remove the external factor of "IRL the Allies would have crushed Germany," because there's been no outside power to crush Victoria for its evilness, until now.

All the more reason to sick the Devil Brigade on them once we get the opportunity. That, or a stupid amount of artillery, whichever is more convenient.
Yeah. Chewing up the 'Waffen' branch of the CMC is probably going to do a lot of damage to the CMC and its credibility as a whole.

On the other hand, it bears pointing out that the CMC is also the Victorian unit most likely to have semi-modern weapons, so the Devil Brigade's probably going to take some dents in the process of fighting them, especially given the numbers disparity they're likely to face.
 
Non-Canon Omake: Victorian Hero
Because even the enemy needs to present heroes to their public. I used several different Medal of Honor citations for templates and examples. Any recommendations for edits are appreciated...


VICTORIAN HERO

===

The Council of State of the Northern Confederation of Victoria is proud to award the GOLDEN CROSS OF VALOR posthumously to


CONRAD W. OGILVY
CORPORAL
VICTORIAN ARMY
COMPANY B, 3RD BATTALION, 172ND INFANTRY REGIMENT, 1ST LIGHT INFANTRY DIVISION
BORN CARRABASSETT VALLEY, MAINE


For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:


Corporal Conrad W. Ogilvy distinguished himself by acts of honor and courage at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in Leamington, Ontario, on March 11, 2075.


As a rifleman, Corporal Ogilvy landed in Leamington, Ontario, on the morning of L-Day with Company B, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Light Infantry Division. Upon landing, Corporal Ogilvy and his squad advanced on the beach before becoming pinned down by extremely heavy enemy machine gun fire. Disregarding his own personal safety, he left his unit and advanced alone, under fire, up the beach towards the enemy emplacements. Upon reaching the first machine gun bunker, he immediately silenced the enemy position with hand grenades and his rifle. Although knocked to the ground by an enemy grenade explosion and suffering shrapnel wounds to his forehead and face, Corporal Ogilvy quickly recovered and proceeded to the second machine gun emplacement. Under fire from enemy infantry and supporting bunker fire, he then rapidly silenced the second machine gun emplacement with hand grenades. Having put both enemy machine gun positions out of action, Corporal Ogilvy signaled his squad to advance to his position. He then led a charge along the enemy trench, personally attacking any enemy opposition. Upon reaching an enemy foxhole, Corporal Ogilvy was thrice wounded and his weapon became damaged by enemy fire. Despite his severe injuries, he singlehandedly attacked the enemy position with a combat knife and killed the three enemy fighters before ordering his men to continuing their attack. He was killed shortly after by enemy artillery fire. Despite suffering numerous wounds, Corporal Ogilvy successfully allowed his company to gain a foothold on the Leamington beaches and achieve their primary objectives.


Corporal Ogilvy's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service, and reflect great credit upon himself, Company B, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Light Infantry Division, and the Victorian Army.

===​


Conrad W. Ogilvy: A faceless soldier whose name was picked from a casualty list, glorified and on a pedestal for propaganda, or a legitimate example of enemy valor? A true believer in the retroculture cause, an everyman demonstrating uncommon valor for his fellow mates, or an unwilling conscript who fought for his life?

The choice is yours.
 
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Because even the enemy needs to present heroes to their public. I used several different Medal of Honor citations for templates and examples. Any recommendations for edits are appreciated...


VICTORIAN HERO

===

The Council of State of the Northern Confederation of Victoria is proud to award the GOLDEN CROSS OF VALOR posthumously to


CONRAD W. OGILVY
CORPORAL
VICTORIAN ARMY
COMPANY B, 3RD BATTALION, 172ND INFANTRY REGIMENT, 1ST LIGHT INFANTRY DIVISION
BORN CARRABASSETT VALLEY, MAINE


For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:


Corporal Conrad W. Ogilvy distinguished himself by acts of honor and courage at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in Leamington, Ontario, on March 11, 2075.


As a rifleman, Corporal Ogilvy landed in Leamington, Ontario, on the morning of L-Day with Company B, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Light Infantry Division. Upon landing, Corporal Ogilvy and his squad advanced on the beach before becoming pinned down by extremely heavy enemy machine gun fire. Disregarding his own personal safety, he left his unit and advanced alone, under fire, up the beach towards the enemy emplacements. Upon reaching the first machine gun bunker, he immediately silenced the enemy position with hand grenades and his rifle. Although knocked to the ground by an enemy grenade explosion and suffering shrapnel wounds to his forehead and face, Corporal Ogilvy quickly recovered and proceeded to the second machine gun emplacement. Under fire from enemy infantry and supporting bunker fire, he then rapidly silenced the second machine gun emplacement with hand grenades. Having put both enemy machine gun positions out of action, Corporal Ogilvy signaled his squad to advance to his position. He then led a charge along the enemy trench, personally attacking any enemy opposition. Upon reaching an enemy foxhole, Corporal Ogilvy was thrice wounded and his weapon became damaged by enemy fire. Despite his severe injuries, he singlehandedly attacked the enemy position with a combat knife and killed the three enemy fighters before ordering his men to continuing their attack. He was killed shortly after by enemy artillery fire. Despite suffering numerous wounds, Corporal Ogilvy successfully allowed his company to gain a foothold on the Leamington beaches and achieve their primary objectives.


Corporal Ogilvy's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service, and reflect great credit upon himself, Company B, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Light Infantry Division, and the Victorian Army.

===​


Conrad W. Ogilvy: A faceless soldier whose name was picked from a casualty list, glorified and on a pedestal for propaganda, or a legitimate example of enemy valor? A true believer in the retroculture cause, an everyman demonstrating uncommon valor for his fellow mates, or an unwilling conscript who fought for his life?

The choice is yours.
Wait, are you actually humanizing the Victorians? LE GASP!
 
Non-Canon Omake: Meet Steel With Steel
And now, time for something completely different.


Meet Steel with Steel

Internal Memo, For All Workers of the South Works Worker's Cooperative

I'll cut the usual niceties because I've got great news for all of you. As you all know, the Commonwealth has been at war with the god forsaken Victorians for the past few months. I know a lot of you have family either shipping out or already over on the other side of Michigan and I'm proud to say that we're being given an opportunity to help kick some teeth in.

This morning we received a tender from the Department of Defense and to make a long story short they've asked for some honest to god tanks. Now to rein ourselves in a bit before we get too giddy pulling out our pencils and blueprints, it's unlikely that we will be able to manufacture the whole thing by our lonesome. Hell, we probably won't even be able to match the old Abrams tanks in the Devil Brigade.

Regardless, I've called up some of my contacts that have more experience than us in some of the more esoteric stuff needed to produce a vehicle like this.

In addition, If you've got any kids you're welcome to bring them in tomorrow. To assist us in avoiding the pitfalls that poor bastards a century ago did for us already we will have the pleasure of hosting Warrant Officer Elizabeth Blithe on and off for the foreseeable future. I would suggest that all of you with anything to offer to the project get running down to the Public Archives and pick up whatever books you think will be of use.

The time frame hasn't been entirely finalized yet but we are to submit a preliminary design by the beginning of February and a working prototype by the end of the year. This will be an extremely tight project but by god will it be the most worthwhile we've ever had.


Jane took a swig of coffee with an unreasonable amount of cream in it and continued to examine the proposals. She'd been working herself ragged for 2 weeks, getting shuttled back and forth what seemed like every company in the whole city with an industrial lathe and a couple in Milwaukee. She and her peers had ranted and raved in a conference room that now bore many more recent scars as a result of said ranting and raving. Almost everyone had left for home at this point but she couldn't help but stay and continue grilling the proposals. She shuffled the stack of papers back in order and went back at it from the top.

Electro-Diesel Motive offered what was probably the most generic of the designs, even trying to pander a bit to the old Federal M system of classifications, having named its hunk of steel the "M9 Bunyan". It really didn't offer any elegant sort of solution towards the litany of problems that came with being a backwater in the middle of a broken continent, choosing instead the brute force approach of more tonnage. Yet it did do that remarkably well. Weighing in at an egregious 70 tons that was right at the upper limit of what the specifications requested. It was a very bulky thing compared to its brethren, just barely beating out the Abrams in width and beating it out considerably in height, what it did offer was a simple no nonsense design that while resource intensive, on account of sheer mass, should not actually be that difficult to produce. Of course the crapshoot with this as in all the designs was the gun. Everyone considered capable of possibly tackling the challenge of producing a high velocity high caliber gun was given detailed drawings of the M256A1 guns that General Burnside was happy to scrounge up for us and anything in the archives that could be found regarding the subject. Regardless, the fact was that basically no one in Chicago had experience working with the pressures that would be required to withstand a charge that could propel a 15 or 20 pound projectile at Mach 4 or more. At least 5 companies were taking their own cracks at producing an adequate copy of the Devil Brigade's bread and butter along with the state owned Norridge Arsenal, along with a smattering experimenting with other calibers in that general area. The Bunyan in particular was armed with the prospective xerox from Norridge. She took a moment to rub her temples before pulling out the report written by whatever tanker Burnside saw fit to throw at this particular company.

The frontal armor on the hull consists of a 12 inch Rolled Homogeneous Steel plate, face hardened, slanted back at 50 degrees from vertical but with the lower glacis plate only being around. Should be proof to anything short of an RPG-29, or any cannon short of 4 inches barring non slapdash ammunition. The turret's giving me real bad feelings though. There's this one shot trap because of the way they shaped the cheeks of the turret that they insisted couldn't be easily changed because of the specific way they're cramming the radio and battle management system into the turret. They've got space for an autoloader but in the spirit of compromise and having no idea what the Arsenal will produce if that doesn't work out it's also space for a fifth crew member to load the gun if needed. The internal ergonomics are respectable and the transmission looks like it should be able to take the 1000 hp engine they're cramming without too much issue but of course it's all down to the execution. Also if I'm not mistaken it does appear as if they've simple stolen a line drawing of the Commander's Cupola from a German Panther G, which is perhaps testament to the rush we've put on for this trial. The ground pressure will ultimately end up around 12 PSI but this will be a significantly slower vehicle than the Abrams and it'll guzzle gas like nobody's business. I recommend allowing this program to go forward with subsidy but it should be noted that at the moment it will be extremely difficult for the Commonwealth to produce these vehicles at a good speed on account of the need to produce armor plate of this thickness in one piece.

Jane sighed and closed the file up. At this point she could practically see the triangle of firepower, speed, and protection burned onto the inside of her eye lids. She took a moment to lay back into her chair and stare up at the ceiling wondering how the country could continue to use imperial units at a time like this before moving onto the next file.

Lake Michigan Fabritech had essentially gone the exact opposite direction as the M9 and Jane felt an incredible urge from deep within her soul to just throw the proposal in the garbage and then the garbage into an incinerator. She had spent the almost every hour of Tuesday trying to shoot down the proposal but she was always just barely short of the consensus that would be necessary to send a strongly worded letter back to the producers about how they should very strongly consider never touching any Armored Fighting Vehicle ever again. On paper, it was incredibly promising clocking in at just over 25 tons with 2 crew members thanks to an incredible amount of automation. That same automation made the tank, if one could be so generous to call it as such, a mechanical train wreck that would require an impossibly complex supply chain to maintain. It mounted a 105mm gun that Marcus and Sons were attempting to reverse engineer from an incomplete schematic of the Royal Ordnance L7 someone had managed to fish up from the depths of hell which was in and of itself actually promising were it not for the fact that the small size of the vehicle allowed for only 22 rounds to be stored in the entire tank. There was no space for any sort of ammunition lockers or blast doors so if anything got through the pitiful 4 inch armor plate(which at least had the good graces to be the same thickness all around) the crew could kiss their sorry asses goodbye. The commander and driver were packed into the fighting compartment like sardines and all they had for an escape hatch was an unwieldy door at the back of the vehicle that required the driver to either crawl through a space that at one particularly egregious spot was only a foot and a half wide or accept their fate and die. The engine compartment didn't seem properly ventilated, the tracks were definitely too thin for a vehicle of this size, and worst of all the amount of electronics required and the Commonwealth's limited ability to produce them didn't even make the choice particularly cheap, sitting middle of the pack despite being the lightest seriously considered option.

For the sake of not developing some sort of heart condition within the next several minutes presuming that the copious amounts of caffeine had already not caused some sort of valve problem, Jane did away with her ordered review of the proposals and tossed most of the proposals to the side until she got to the one that she had become the personal champion of. The South Works Worker's Cooperative Saber.

SWWC is the premier manufacturer of heavy vehicles, particularly tractors, in Chicago which already gave them a leg up on most of their competitors in that they had all the machinery necessary to begin production given a period of retooling. More importantly they had more institutional experience in heavyweight vehicular design than any other single organization in the country. Their design was a joint project between themselves and Walker Ceramics which brought a level of reassurance as to the generous use of composite armor throughout the design, though the exact details of the armor were not disclosed allegedly for the sake of trade secrets but probably because it simply wasn't ready yet. The turret contained an internally developed 130mm gun, with the explicit caveat that they were flexible with the armament, and an adequate amount of space for radios and other important technical equipment. The turret itself was vaguely hexagonal in the sense that there were 6 distinct sections of armor, with the frontal plates being sloped back at a nearly excessive 70 degrees, with it being toned back in increments of 15 as you went towards the rear of the turret. The plates terminated upon reaching about half of the diameter of the bottom of the turret. By comparison, the hull was fairly bland. It took an uncomfortably Soviet look in how low to the ground the hull was and just by the general look of the suspension but you couldn't argue with the results. The frontal armor thickness without accounting for angling was claimed to be equivalent to 350 millimeters of Rolled Homogeneous armor. Most other proposals that attempted to incorporate composite armor looked to be a wash and you thought that the SWWC had taken a huge step in the right direction by incorporating it into their vehicle. Weighing in at just short of 40 tons, it was not particularly resource intensive as far as tanks go, it offered almost incomparable survivability for its weight class and even the competition as a whole. Best of all its engine was a proven product already in widespread use throughout the Commonwealth for heavy vehicles, the 750 HP Whirlwind. Of course there was one very significant issue. Because of course there had to be. SWWC imported many of the components for its drive trains and engines from another cooperative in Milwaukee. The same Milwaukee that had recently been pressured into condemning the Commonwealth declaration of war on Victoria. While these were things that could be remedied with time, it did not change the fact that production of the Saber would hinge on whatever the neighbors decided on.

Unfortunately before Jane could groan more about the inherent unfairness of life while cursing the failure of the Constitutional Convention to convince Milwaukee to send a delegation, the amount of caffeine in her blood stream available to sustain such a tirade ceased to be. Thus Jane Brooks fell asleep in a government building for the 5th time in the past 2 weeks.
 
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