thread policyDiscussion of politics that does not directly relate to the Quest or to Quest votes are banned from hereon out. This thread policy will be enforced by the Moderation team. Do not ignore it.
Oi. There's a thread policy about this. And seriously, could we just generally stop with the blanket statements? They're not helpful for anything, least of all making your point sound credible.
I doubt Hollywood is dead. Diminished, but still kicking. And there's Chinese and Brazilian cinema.
Nollywood is probably still a thing as well. Whether you consider that a good or bad thing depends on how you feel about Nigerian movies
I doubt Hollywood is dead. Diminished, but still kicking. And there's Chinese and Brazilian cinema.
Nollywood is probably still a thing as well. Whether you consider that a good or bad thing depends on how you feel about Nigerian movies
I wonder if NY could have squirriled away military equipment like Tanks and similar equipment in places that the Vics would not look. Because I refuse to believe that someone didn't try to hide a tank somewhere on the island for just such a situation.
I submit that a fear of someone who's made a habit of showing up to kill you whenever you have too many weapons will absolutely make you disarm. What are you even gonna do with a gun, shoot one fanatic in the invincible army before three more leap over his corpse to kill you and your whole family? Safer to avoid the taboo actions that draw the bogeyman's attention.
''lets disarm because we will be killed anyway'' is not a natural human response,the natural human response is
''if im going to die,im gonna tak down as many as possible with me''
an armed militia is a MUST on the context of victoria america
I wonder if NY could have squirriled away military equipment like Tanks and similar equipment in places that the Vics would not look. Because I refuse to believe that someone didn't try to hide a tank somewhere on the island for just such a situation.
A modern US Abrams tank is a ten meter long, two and half meter high hulk that weighs almost seventy metric tons, costs almost ten million dollars each, tears up the roads along which it drives, and requires a bunch of expensive maintenance and regular training to boot in order to use it. The German Leopard 2 is not that much lighter. You dont hide that sort of stuff on an island 100 miles long and 23 miles wide.
As for military equipment, see the treaty brokered by Alexei that prevented them from arming even defensively.
What you are likely to see is a lot of dual-capability equipment that's totally civilian spec, honest guv, I swear on me mum.
Lots of milspec ballistic vests for law enforcement. Encrypted tactical radios for cops and firemen. No tanks, but unarmed military surplus MRAPs and IFVs configured for ambulance/counterterrorist work, but which can be quickly converted back like the ARTEC Boxer. No jet fighters, but lots of modern helicopters for law enforcement/naval SAR and medical emergencies, which can also be converted with modular equipment.
Lots of milspec radars in Long Island's three airports that are totally for guiding civilian aircraft, but which can guide SAMs.
Et cetera.
And then military stockpiles over in Europe that can be very rapidly moved by ship and transport aircraft in emergencies.
Both ones that FCNY pay for and maintain (a billion dollars will pay for a lot of stuff), and ones that the European Union maintains for more general military support of it's allies.
Of course, all Vic treaties are currently null and void.
FCNY can now rearm to the extent of their security needs and the depths of their pockets.
That's likely to have....interesting effects.
The FCNY has private firearms aplenty. It lacks a military, or proper military assets. Small arms, though, are in plentiful supply. That wouldn't have been enough to fend off an attack from the Victorian Army, even as anemic as it was, but if all you're concerned about is, "Private small arms, Y/N," the answer is Y.
The FCNY has private firearms aplenty. It lacks a military, or proper military assets. Small arms, though, are in plentiful supply. That wouldn't have been enough to fend off an attack from the Victorian Army, even as anemic as it was, but if all you're concerned about is, "Private small arms, Y/N," the answer is Y.
I'm not optimistic on their continued survival, or activity...@Mazeka...their all dead. You think Alexander would fight the entire world with rebels in his house.
They are all more then likely dead or impotent as a force...their time to stop him long passed.
Probably exists and is stronger than anyone realises.
The last Romanov had two revolutions despite being an absolutist monarchy and Russia was burned so bad on monarchy that a restoration is now an impossibility. In Victoria! it's almost certain that Alexander rules based on being a hyper-successful warlord first, having turned Russia into Earth's Capitalist Core second, and having a crown third. It might take until the time of his heir's heir to rearrainge that order to put loyalty to the Romanov brand first and foremost.
Though I expect that it would take major setbacks that affect the Russian Imperial/Capitalist Core for any of the opposition to actually appear in any strength. And there isn't a lot short of a major war that would garuntee such.
(Though removing all of North America from the capitalist sphere might do it. >: V)
...I find that as a matter of debate ma'am. I am under no illusion that a brand of Resistance exists in the Russian Empire as a whole but let us take a moment to look at all the facts first in foremost of how DIFFICULT it would be to have such a force in play.
Alexander brought a dying nation from the edge of collapse to a hyperpower...he brought on a pile of dead from across the globe, two of the promises of the Russian Revolution, Land, and Bread.
Land, he rebuilt the Russian Sphere of influence, he took Ukraine back, along with much of the Baltic states, and much of Central Asia along with Alaska and I don't need to say anymore there is a list on the politics page, the point is he did what Russia had a long time ago, make eastern Europe his backyard, and were it not for Poland it could have been MUCH worse for the EU.
He also killed several nuclear-armed Superpowers, killed the last HYPERPOWER through a combination of dumb luck and skilled planning, and the right patsy's to do it. If this world were more realistic his ambitions should have ended with Nukes flying over Moscow from the vengeful US Navy Remnants that we're acting in revenge or desperation from some commanding officer once NORAD died but I digress from that point? Point is he played the game well enough to avoid that and is working to deal with that in what remains of his close sphere of influence.
Now onto the second point, Bread, With the death of the US and the collapse of the US Dollar, the Russian's more then likely gladly used their new economic and trade leverage to buy a great deal of control over who's left of the global market, Russian goods, a Russian backed reserve currency being used as the reserve in several nations, including I assume FCNY and several other nations that have international trade.
He has given the Russian people those things, economic power over much of the word, the standards of living in Russia are the best in the world I assume by virtue of being the only one to keep it going for so long, the best of America in the 2020 OTL, I assume that is a reasonably well off family slowly becoming part of the new Russian Middle Class.
Why would the Average Russian, let alone Russians of influence go against the nation that for all intents and purposes won during the Collapse?
Asides from whatever India is having to pay them to consider it?
@AKuz while such a force of resistance exists in some form (You don't create a Hyperpower without a few boot stamps and enemies), why would the Russian Citizen, the ones this Anti-Romanov force are trying to pull to their side, support them when the Romanov's have all the cards needed to keep them loyal, and have the skills to keep the ball going?
I am glad I was able to give you a calm and well-thought answer I wait for your reply.
...I find that as a matter of debate ma'am. I am under no illusion that a brand of Resistance exists in the Russian Empire as a whole but let us take a moment to look at all the facts first in foremost of how DIFFICULT it would be to have such a force in play.
Alexander brought a dying nation from the edge of collapse to a hyperpower...he brought on a pile of dead from across the globe, two of the promises of the Russian Revolution, Land, and Bread.
Land, he rebuilt the Russian Sphere of influence, he took Ukraine back, along with much of the Baltic states, and much of Central Asia along with Alaska and I don't need to say anymore there is a list on the politics page, the point is he did what Russia had a long time ago, make eastern Europe his backyard, and were it not for Poland it could have been MUCH worse for the EU.
He also killed several nuclear-armed Superpowers, killed the last HYPERPOWER through a combination of dumb luck and skilled planning, and the right patsy's to do it. If this world were more realistic his ambitions should have ended with Nukes flying over Moscow from the vengeful US Navy Remnants that we're acting in revenge or desperation from some commanding officer once NORAD died but I digress from that point? Point is he played the game well enough to avoid that and is working to deal with that in what remains of his close sphere of influence.
Now onto the second point, Bread, With the death of the US and the collapse of the US Dollar, the Russian's more then likely gladly used their new economic and trade leverage to buy a great deal of control over who's left of the global market, Russian goods, a Russian backed reserve currency being used as the reserve in several nations, including I assume FCNY and several other nations that have international trade.
He has given the Russian people those things, economic power over much of the word, the standards of living in Russia are the best in the world I assume by virtue of being the only one to keep it going for so long, the best of America in the 2020 OTL, I assume that is a reasonably well off family slowly becoming part of the new Russian Middle Class.
Why would the Average Russian, let alone Russians of influence go against the nation that for all intents and purposes won during the Collapse?
Asides from whatever India is having to pay them to consider it?
@AKuz while such a force of resistance exists in some form (You don't create a Hyperpower without a few boot stamps and enemies), why would the Russian Citizen, the ones this Anti-Romanov force are trying to pull to their side, support them when the Romanov's have all the cards needed to keep them loyal, and have the skills to keep the ball going?
I am glad I was able to give you a calm and well-thought answer I wait for your reply.
I didn't say that it was strong, I said that I expected it was stronger than anyone realizes and that the Romanov regime probably wasn't as monolithically strong as people imagine and that it would still take major setbacks for the opposition to emerge.
I didn't say that it was strong, I said that I expected it was stronger than anyone realizes and that the Romanov regime probably wasn't as monolithically strong as people imagine and that it would still take major setbacks for the opposition to emerge.
[X] Remove Hostile Neighborhood. You have been the focus of low-grade hostility and resentment for too long. And...well, all right, you've not actually been very proactive about doing anything about that. But you are tired of it, and you will never get a chance to be surer than now that you'll have the ultimate opportunity to finally change people's perceptions of you. You can't make a second first impression, but you can kill that bastard first impression while you have the chance.
Local Conference
Objectives And Complications
-Chicago, Illinois, United States of America-
-Commonwealth of Free Cities-
-Monday, January 13, 2076, 8:00 AM-
-President Sara Johnson, Commonwealth of Free Cities-
You lean over your microphone and clear your throat, eyes flicking around the hall. "Everybody, please be seated," you say.
The sound of dozens of people milling around in a confine space stutter for a moment before picking back up and slowly starting to subside, as everybody filters back to their seats. You gaze across the room.
For this conference, you've repurposed a massive meeting space in the seemingly eternally-under-construction Capitol Building in Chicago. Dozens of people from polities all around the Midwest and the Great Lakes take their places around a ring table. The symbolism is fairly obvious, but it's still potent; everybody has a place, none higher than others. It's good that it's potent, because frankly, you need the leveling field. Of the attendees, some are leaders. Some are ambassadors. Some are aides. The variance is understandable; international diplomacy in America has been dead for a long time, only for you to bring it back. It's a heady feeling; it almost seems...unrealistic...that one nation could stand up, this rapidly, and bring an end to the oppressive weight Victoria has laid across everything.
Or, well.
You tried.
Suspicious glances and frenzies horse trading have been the order of the day, thus far, and of all the days leading up to today. You suppose it's remarkable enough that you've created a space where a significant chunk of the Old Countries could meet up and openly deal like this without Victorian reprisals, but there's hardly an atmosphere of trust and fellowship. There are a lot of grudges here, most externally-manufactured. You're still unraveling all of the lies Victoria's network of aid workers wove. Unfortunately, mixed in with the lies are enough truths to make this messy. You can't just wave your hands, say, "With the Victorians gone, none of us have to hate one another anymore," and be content. The grudges are real now, even if their foundations are fiction. Just taking away the center of gravity for all of the hate that has engulfed the continent isn't enough.
A new center needs to step forward, and if it's to really change things, it needs to start with a drastically different first impression.
As the talking finally dies down, you lean forward and clear your throat. "The Commonwealth welcomes you," you say. "This is a tumultuous time for us all, and I understand there are many things at home demanding your attention. This will be worth the time investment, though. We have much to discuss."
You glance down at your notes before continuing. "The Northern Confederation of Victoria, as many of you have certainly noticed, is not in attendance here today." You lift up a sheet of paper from your notes, smirking. "They actually did ask to attend, in what seems like very polite language, by their standards." People start laughing nervously; you let the titters chase one another around the room for a moment, still smirking, before letting your expression drop and saying, "We told them, 'no.'"
Dead silence. Every eye locks on you. Absently, you note that girl from the Garden, Mary, looking white as a sheet. You sit up a little straighter. "We told Victoria, 'no.' And nobody really does that, do they? We all know what happens to places that refuse Victoria. Places like Ashtabula. Like Defiance." You glance around the room one more time. "Detroit." If somebody were to drop their pen, you'd be able to count the bounces. "Oh, but Detroit didn't suffer the same, did it?" you ask, rhetorically; some people murmur in agreement anyway. You ignore that, continuing on. "No. The Commonwealth was there. And we stopped it. And now, in one year of spectacular, bloody fighting...Victoria's hand, which all of us have grown up knowing, is gone. And now we need to piece things back together again."
Down the table, a few seats displaced from Prince Young of the Shawnee Kingdom, one of the attendees leans forward to her own microphone, coughing. "Actually, about that?" she says, looking up at you with a skeptical look.
You glance over at her. Annabelle Van Suk, the Batty Old Crone of Cobourg, who has run her city as a woman under Victoria's nose for years. Under her leadership, Cobourg has...not prospered, exactly, but it's kept its feet -- a profitable island of stability in the chaos Victoria tends to leave in its borderlands. Of all people, you certainly understand that she would have questions. You nod to her.
She grunts, giving you an unimpressed expression. "Fancy words, Johnson, but we've all heard fancy talk before. Yes, you beat Victoria, we've heard and seen the broadcasts. We want know about that piecing-together bit you mentioned. You punched out the biggest kid in class. Watcha doing next? Where do we fit?" She leans back, arms folded, giving you the most jaded expression you've ever seen. Murmurs of agreement spring up around the table.
You eye her for a moment. It's fairly direct, as challenges go. If it weren't for her personal prestige, it wouldn't even need a response. But this is the Batty Old Crone, and she has quite the personal legend on and around the Lakes. You lean forward again. "The Commonwealth isn't really concerned with telling you where you fit," you say. "We're interested in letting the Lakes breathe again. We've been stifled. Kicked down. When we went to the Welland Canal, we did so for the sake of a peace that would change that. We all know that Victoria would never leave us alone unless forced to. So we forced them to." You lean back, gazing out across the room, reminding them again that you forced Victoria to terms. You let that sink in. Then you continue. "What the Commonwealth hopes to establish is some measure of peace across the Lakes and rivers. We want to maintain what we've won -- for all of us -- from Victoria. A long time ago, the United States Navy's mission was to keep the seas free for all nations to use. We can't do that. We hope, however, that we can help keep the peace here." You fold your arms. "That's what we want, in the end. It's what we've always wanted. We want our neighborhood to be free to develop and heal -- in peace."
You look out across the room at the assembled delegates. There's a variety of expressions on their faces, but primarily they're just digesting what you've said. You've given them as close to a manifesto as you will, in this setting. There's nothing to gain by harping on it. They wouldn't trust a longer speech; this is a group of people who've heard plenty of speeches, from men in flannel with a lot of armed backup. What these people respect and understand as being meaningful is action.
With that in mind, you pick up your notes, glance at them, and say into the microphone, "Towards that end, we have a few things we want to cover, just for the first day of proceedings. The first item we wished to discuss was the matter of travel on the Lakes..."
* * *
-Chicago, Illinois, United States of America-
-Commonwealth of Free Cities-
-Friday, January 17, 2076, 5:28 PM-
-President Sara Johnson, Commonwealth of Free Cities-
You're working in your office, signing off on pieces of the interminable flow of paperwork across your desk, when the door opens. "President Johnson?" says your secretary, a young man from Bronzeville.
You glance up, glad to leave the work behind a moment. "Yes, David?" you ask, pushing your glasses up your nose.
"Your 5:30 is here, ma'am," he says.
You nod. "Ah. Yes, send them in." You pick up the stack of papers in front of you, square them up, and are setting them off to the side when David pulls back, the door opens fully, and Secretary of Security Harold Ralson, along with the director of the Central Security Office, Marsha White, enter the room. You fold your hands in front of you, raising your eyebrows. "Please, have a seat."
Harry and his subordinate sit. "Thank you for agreeing to see us, President Johnson," says Harry. "We have some urgent news to share."
"Always happy to hear urgent news," you say.
"Really?" blurts out Director White.
You glance at her, raising an eyebrow. "Really," you say. "I find it infinitely preferable to not hearing it." You lean back in your chair. "So, with that being said? Let's hear it."
Harry clears his throat. "CSO has been keeping an eye on our distinguished guests, as instructed. A fair amount of them haven't been taking as much care as they should. I'm mostly here just to facilitate the meeting and comment on what we've found, today; Director White will give her report personally." He gestures to her.
CSO Snooping: 98.
White straightens in her chair. She's an older woman -- as in, older than you. Her skin has the tone and quality of aged parchment, and all the color has leached from her hair. Even so, there's no trace of weakness in her demeanor as she opens her mouth and begins to speak. "When I worked under Governor Johnson, ma'am, the Shawnee Kingdom was a favorite target for us. Never learned to practice communications safety. Seems like they haven't learned yet!" She barks out in laughter and opens a file tucked under her arm. She pulls out a sheaf of papers and hands it over. "That prince of theirs has been phoning home once a day, every day, to speak to his pa about how things are going here, and we managed to listen in. A few things stood out, and we ran down the leads with some of our other guests."
You glance down at the sheaf, skimming rapidly.
White continues as you read, saying, "Prince Young has been calling home regularly, saying that he's managed to make outreach to several other powers. It would seem that the monarchists aren't here in good faith; Prince Young is here to sabotage this conference as much as possible."
"Shocking," you murmur, flipping through the pages. "The Wolverines, St. Louis, Volk...what a charming lineup they have." You flip a page. "More of them?"
"Several of the polities who sent representatives are at least talking to the Kingdom, yes," sighs White. "That said, mostly it's just talk." She sits up, straightening her back. "As far as we can tell, the Prince is having the most success speaking to the Wolverines, Green Bay, and Thunder Bay, although St. Louis and Mackinac City are at least listening."
You grimace. "Mackinac City could be a problem. What's their objection to us, anyway? Still Mackinac Island?"
Ralson nods, leaning in. "Essentially, yes. They've been jockeying with the State of Superior at Sault Ste. Marie for years for control of the Mackinac Strait; getting the island in their sphere of influence would have been one way of doing that, if only we hadn't swooped in and essentially rented the island as a fleet base."
You flip a page, lips pursed. "Well, they'd damn well better not make an issue of it."
"They don't seem likely to yet," says White. "Again, it's much more Thunder Bay, Green Bay, the Wolverines, and the Kingdom that look likely to be issues."
You grunt, putting down the brief. "The Wolverines are an obvious problem. Most of our fleet basing in Michigan is under their guns, and I've never really been conciliatory to the Wolverines. Green Bay was squabbling with Milwaukee for years before Milwaukee joined the Commonwealth; same goes for Shawnee with Illinois. These are all inherited grudges or border disputes. Thunder Bay is the odd one out. They were a Victorian client, I know. I presume that's their major issue with us?"
"It's the four-way race for dominion over Lake Superior that's the problem," says Ralson, smirking. "Thunder Bay was very reliant on Victorian aid, and now they're struggling. Sault Ste. Marie already had a head start; now they look to benefit even more, Duluth and Marquette at least aren't hurting, and Thunder Bay's weapons supplier is eating itself. Thunder Bay might be distant, but our impact there is very real."
You sigh. "Well, wonderful. And St. Louis? I know things have never been rosy, but they've never made trouble..."
"We've listened in on a few angry phone calls about how the Dixons are tired of being a client city," says White, shrugging. "They're not saying anything binding to Young, though. They're right on our border. Their entire territory is in shelling range from our territory. They're not going to cause overt trouble, not with support for it this limited."
"Still an issue," you say. "Thank you, Director White. Harry. I'll bear this in mind." You lean forward. "Now, I wanted to discuss some things about the civil war..."
Your efforts at outreach are bearing fruit, and those who don't have concrete reason for hostility are starting to let go of grudges; those that do are started to crystallize into them. Happily, your intelligence services have caught wind, and you have forewarning. What do you do?
[ ] Ignore them. Your present efforts are working well enough, with the vast majority of the conference's attendees starting to loosen up to you. A small, dispersed bloc of naysayers could make a fine opponent against which to unify, while Victoria is otherwise too occupied to make trouble.
[ ] Focus your rhetoric on breaking up the forming bloc. Some of these conflicts, you can resolve before Young manages to harden their resentment, and that can help reduce the number of people he convinces.
[ ] Wait for Young to say something actionable where your spies can hear, and when he does, ban him and everybody who's committed to him from the Conference. This will firmly establish your relationship with them as openly hostile, but it will also send a clear statement that you don't intend to engage with those who come in poor faith.
[ ] Write-in. There are many things you can do, knowing what your opponent is trying to achieve...
MANUAL MORATORIUM. APPROVAL VOTING.
All right, here it is! The Conference continues, and I've got the thread back, now. The Shawnee Kingdom is establishing itself as something of a thorn in your side; how will you respond? Also, have an update to the conference spreadsheet.
Hope you enjoyed, folks; there's more to come! See you around the thread.
I desperately want to pick 3 but that goes against our main goal and what we said, likewise we barely know what the others want so lets go with number 2. safe gets us info and perhaps if we get enough neutrals or allies from this we may even get new signatories down the line.
[ ] Focus your rhetoric on breaking up the forming bloc. Some of these conflicts, you can resolve before Young manages to harden their resentment, and that can help reduce the number of people he convinces.
[ ] Wait for Young to say something actionable where your spies can hear, and when he does, ban him and everybody who's committed to him from the Conference. This will firmly establish your relationship with them as openly hostile, but it will also send a clear statement that you don't intend to engage with those who come in poor faith.
remember, we just smashed Victoria who is in the midst of a civil war right now.
Firm potential members of the block:
Shawnee Kingdom- Leader of the block, looking to sabotage the conference as much as possible. Probably (rightly) sees the Commonwealth as the greatest threat to its existence as a independent state.
Greenbay- Upset at Milwaukee, Commonwealth inherited the grudge. Upset at Commonwealth's coming dominance of the Lakes
Thunderbay- Victorian client, upset at its supplies and the like being disrupted by Victorian civil war, hostile to the Commonwealth
Wolverines- Militant authoritarian state north of Detroit, probably threatened by the existence of the Commonwealth and looking for any way to cut the Commonwealth's threat down.
Tentative potential members:
St. Louis- Upset at the existence of such a big and strong state at its borders?
Volk- ?
Makinac City- Upset at Makinac Island issue, potentially solveable.
