Anno 2054 (Reboot/Nation/PMT/IC/Dead)

[Imperialisium]

Москва (Moskva)
Moscow

The Tsarina sat in her office at the Kremlin. The old medieval fortress that wrapped around the central government offices in Moscow. It's bastions and towers standing tall. The characteristically red stone of the fortress is a symbol of the Motherland much the Bear. Her high backed, black, leather chair was spun away from her wide oak desk. A pile of paperwork neatly placed to the left. Notes scrawled in elegant Russian cursive lay off to the right. She had her right hand to her chin as she watched government officials, clerks, assistants, and guards move about the inner pavilions and courtyards of the Kremlin. The results of the referendum were good but not as good as she hoped, and there was the talk of possible formal secession coming from the Sakha Republic, Jewish Autonomous Oblast, and Chutkotka. This was something she could not abide personally. Despite having the best intentions of the people's wishes at heart. Russia needed to be united, strong, and without weakness in the years to come. Further, Russia needed allies and to be seen as a force of progress in the world. She swiveled her chair around to look at her paperwork.

Internally, Russia was progressing well now that the economy was growing, people felt secure, and the re-integration from the Asian economies across the Urals would do much to assist in this. Indeed, plans from the governors in Siberia and around Baikal requested that work be done to modernize the Trans-Siberian Railroad and extend existing networks. Further, the Mayor of Tobolsk wanted a Fusion reactor built to supply the city and surrounding regions with power as part of the already occurring Imperial plan to replace its aging Nuclear facilities with a much safer, cleaner, source of power. But it was expensive. A sizable portion of the energy budget was already allocated to the construction of reactors in the European territories of the Empire. Sure it could be done, but it may cause a deficit, and if anything she learned from studying the United States was that deficit spending did not lead to a good future down the road.

Leaning back in her chair she looked at the map of the globe on her wall. She had an ambassador sent to Cuba. Hong Kong was making moves in China. North America was divided as ever. But the Canadian successor states and the Pacific States seemed to be amicable. The Pacific States in particular in regards to the situation in Alaska. Perhaps it was time to establish formal embassies in those countries? Picking up the phone on her desk she made a few calls and within the hour encrypted messages would be sent out.

To: Pacific States of America
From: Office of the Tsarina, Imperial Foreign Office
Encryption Level: HIGH
Text Initializing//
By request of Her Imperial Majesty, the Russian people wish to formalize proceedings between our two countries, via the opening of a brand new embassy within your territory. At a location of your choosing. The mission of this embassy will promote further cooperation between our two nations. Additionally, the Tsarina is extending an invitation for a formal Pacific State Ambassador to reside in Moscow with a formal embassy to be established in Moscow.
/// Transmission Terminated

To: Yukocolumbia
From: Office of the Tsarina, Imperial Foreign Office
Encryption Level: HIGH
Text Initializing//
By request of Her Imperial Majesty, the Russian people wish to formalize proceedings between our two countries, via the opening of a brand new embassy within your territory. At a location of your choosing. The mission of this embassy will promote cooperation between our two nations. Additionally, the Tsarina is extending an invitation for a formal Yukocolumbia Ambassador to reside in Moscow with a formal embassy to be established in Moscow.
/// Transmission Terminated

>>>Times Global<<<

"This is Camille Eschevaux reporting from Paris. Reports from the Red Cross has come in from West Africa and it's grim. Another Ebola outbreak. Ronald St. Amour is on site with a Red Cross aid station in Sierra Leone. Ronald...

A man dressed in tropical clothing, mainly khaki pants and white shirt, spoke to his camera-wielding counterpart as numerous Red Cross personnel went back and forth in the background. Some wore hazmat suits when bearing bodies. Other's in white scrub overalls pushed equipment along dirt pathways into and from white tents bearing the characteristic Red Cross symbol.

"Camille the situation in West Africa is desperate. The outbreak was sudden but had been brewing since November of last year, yet now it's reached critical levels with the potential to spread as far North as Morocco and South-East into Cameroon. Over 15,000 cases this month alone. The body count is equally high but exact figures from the Red Cross has yet to be disclosed.

The camera feed would switch back to Camille, pink jacket wearing, and shoulder-length black hair. Shuffling her papers she began to speak again, "Any formal statements from West African governments in the area?" The voice of her infield counterpart would come over the audio. A lot of downplaying from local African authorities. But really all that has been done is isolation of afflicted villages at gunpoint. They are letting Red Cross workers into these villages but have been very strict with travel. However, the main problem is that West Africa is war-torn and while one local authority may let aid workers in another will not. The danger is that Ebola may find a vector into other countries and continents if this outbreak is not curtailed.

"That is very scary to hear Ronald. Thank you. Now moving to the Caribbean were open warfare may be brewing between Cuba and Texas.

Crisis in the Caribbean!<<<<

I am Camille Eschevauex with the Evening News. Reports have surfaced that Cuba and Texas may be in open conflict over the latter states slavery practices. Particularly it's disgusting to use of human trafficking from raids on Caribbean communities. The Cuban Government has declined to comment officially but seems to be the only country in the region taking a hard line to stop these incursions. However, images of a Russian jet landing at Havana Airport earlier this month does pose the question of Kremlin involvement. This, of course, comes on the heels of the recent Russian referendum in regards to former Federation territories. Here with me now is Mikhail Rybelko from Pravda with twenty years of experience covering the Kremlin. Mikhail how are you?

The Camera would pan out and to the right to reveal a man in a black suit and tie. Short hair with flecks of grey in his chin-strap beard. He was Slavic and his accent distinctively Russian. I am well Camille, thank you for having me, but to answer your question in regards to Russian involvement in Cuba. It's definite. The two countries have had good relations in the past. So it's only natural in this day and age for the two to renew relations. Especially, in regards to the division and uncertainty plaguing the territories of the former United States.

"And what do you think of direct Russian involvement at this time?" asked Camille with an inquisitive furrow of her brow.

"Cannot say for sure. I don't think the Russian Navy would send a task force to the area unless formally requested too by the Cuban government. But we could expect substantial material aid to be sent." replied Mikhail confidently.

"Do you think this will tie in with the Texan-Federation conflict over Louisiana?" said Camille. Mikhail leaned forward and clasped his hands. "So far we've seen the Tsarina keep North America at arm's length in regards to getting involved with affairs there. At best the Russian response would be to contain the conflict. Though the government in Moscow would officially support the Federation."

The Camera would pan back to focus just on Camille and a pop-up picture of a pair of Moldovan soldiers.

"And if the North American conflict was not enough. The breakaway state of Transnistria and the country of Moldova have had their own spark of conflict with Moldovan and Transnistrian forces skirmishing along their border. Both governments are claiming the other side has been encroaching and interdicting trade. Especially, after the December 2053 seizure of a Moldovan barge on the Dniester river by Transnistrian forces. This is Camille Eschevaux, stay tuned for tomorrow where we will have Li Xioying from Hong Kong deliver a report on the situation developing in China."

[The Felan Federation]

Pacific News Network

---

///TROUBLE IN THE GULF OF MEXICO///AID FOR ALASKA///TEXAS WAR OF AGGRESSION///

In the eastern regions of American - the red logo of the Pacific News Network would soon come up. Being one of the few state-funded news networks still operational - it was usually the first to receive news and information that was to be shared with the people of the Pacific States of America and anyone else that was hearing in. Be they friendly or enemy states at that. As the familiar young woman of asian-heritage and about thirty years of age would come up.

"Hello again, my name is Kim Anderson, and this is PNN. Pacific News Network - from Sacramento to Hawaii, time to hear the latest story."

"The Gulf of Mexico has become more dangerous as of late - as reports come in of the Republic of Texas going on warpath against the Atlantic Federation. While the Pacific States of America has declared neutrality in this conflict, Chancellor Fairbright has warned ahead - that it will not tolerate any acts of aggression against former states in Northern America. As a result, she has declared a possible secession of trade with the Republic. There is also fear that the fighting might spill on over to the Caribbean Sea - while Cuba and Texas haven't declared war on each other yet, there have been several instances of armed conflict and many fear this might escalate out in a total war that might damage the already delicate trading routes going through the region."

"When asked - Chancellor Fairbright held her stance, that the Pacific States of America will support Cuba both diplomatically and economically against ANY foreign aggression. When asked if the PSA would declare war on Texas, the Chancellor upheld her stance that the Armed Forces of the Pacific will NOT be the aggressor and only utilized for defense. In light of these acts, there is news that while she isn't going to war, that several vessels have been deployed along as escorts to any trade convoys heading towards Cuba."

"In other news - the AFA Act has just been passed in Congress, AFA or the Aid for Alaska Act had been a small package of support that the Chancellor and Speaker had drawn up - in light of news, that the upcoming winter months might be coming colder than the current infrastructure of Alaska might be able to handle. Speaker Romulsen told PNN, that the Pacific States of America wasn't seeking to undermine local authority in the region. That the old rivalry of East versus West was a thing of the past. When questioned about Russian' influence over the region - he stated: 'on how each and every group of people had the right to choose their own path and nobody had the right to judge or question such choices'. The Russian Federation claimed protection over the area, in light of the Great Collapse that happened in America. While for the moment the territorial sovereignty of Alaska is guaranteed by the Russian Empire. Chancellor Fairbright has stated that they would be more than happy to work alongside Russian forces stationed in Alaska to make sure the upcoming cold passes by with minimal suffering..."

"They are also in discussion of establishing more permanent relationships between the two powers - as Chancellor Fairbright has stated: 'it is time to end this Cold War-era mentality that has existed since 1940. That only by going forward and forgetting the insults of the past can the the future be a more brighter one."

As for the situation in Texas, things are still complicated as rumors are about, if President Frost uttered this decree of war or someone from among his Cabinet did so. As ever since the Great Collapse, most of the governmental structure has been operated under a military junta. For now, let us hope peace will return soon. This is Kim Anderson for PNN..."

---

The Pacific States of America has agreed to such a proposition - and has begun manufacturing you the needed equipment (MK-48 ADCAP torpedo and the RGM/UGM-109E Land Attack Missile) - while the convoys are being escorted by Pacific ships.

The Pacific States of America has agreed to opening up an embassy in Moscow and allowing the Russians to open one in Sacramento.

[Newne Carriebean7]

---

The Greater Republic of Texas's main news came from Cowboy News, a purchasing out of many old fox stations throughout the country's rough few years as an independent country. The Texan news agency had clear agendas and biases, something they proudly displayed in their title to each and every starting program on the television. It was almost like a badge of honor to be biased and generally untrustworthy. These thoughts briskly tickled the mind of Anchor Ronald McDonald before his familiar clown and high pitched voice began the day for millions of Texans and the occasional curious listeners from beyond Texas that could get decent signal from their antennas. It was a video titled on the main website of Cowboy News.com.

The video began with a traditional news anchor of Ronald McDonald sitting next to a purple gorilla statue stapled to his wooden desk, normal for many Texan internet users.
"What the Fuck is up you bastards?! My goddamn names Ronny Mickey D! I just did three glorious lines of cocaine and my wife's going to leave me for some reason, so before her attorneys can get to my ass for my three chocolate covered yachts, I'll spill you all the nationalist bullshit you know and love! This next one goes out to- wait we're not a goddamned music station, MUFASA PLAY SOME GODDAMNED MUSIC YOU SON OF A BITCH OR I WILL SHOOT THE FUCK OUT OF YOU!" A panicked scream was heard before McDonald preformed a deadpan on the camera while getting out his pistol with a gunshot being heard in the video, followed by a sharp scream, then classical music on the overheard stereo.

"Now, Our First Story shall go over the Results of the recent Presidential Election, news which many outsiders are unaware of because of the closed off secrecy of our glorious country. Incumbent President Samuel Julina Frost has won the Texan Presidency for another four year term in office. This recent election victory comes on the heels of soured relations with the infidels in cuba. A hot button issue during the election and one that was brought up during the debates was one of the controversial invasion of Louisiana, one that has brought international condemnation from. Frost has recently proven to be a controversial figure both abroad and internally within his own party."

A Soundbite of Frost uttering "Regarding the performance of the Texan Republican Army, however, it's fucking shit" is then played before the McDonald continued to read.
"Several Top ranking Military Officials have called on Frost to resign."
Another Sound bite is played of various Congressional leaders talking.
General Milo Robespierre Donald: "If he insults the men and women who are currently dying in Louisiana like this by saying that about it, it's disgraceful."
Senator Sarah Poorfield: "He's just an asshole to the army, why not a coup every now and then? Who the fuck want's to overthrow the motherfucker?!" *soldiers cheering*

"Currently, Frost has repeatedly stated that he's not going anywhere. In other news, he has ordered a high ranking team of diplomats to Sacramento. According to unclassified details disclosed by the Greater Republic of Texas Government, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bill Noodle, who is currently the Vice President-General elect, has announced he plans to keep his dual mandate of both as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and his soon to be inauguration as the Vice President-General. Cowboy New's own Ronald McDonald was able to get a one on one interview with the VPG, primarily discussing a range of issues including current economic affairs-"
A clip of the interview is shown, with the man in the clown costume talking to the man with a funny wig and weird smile of death.
McDonald: "So about this whole economic shit show that's happening, do you have any plans about the automation craze?"
Noodle: "Oh, that? That's a fucking fad. Automation is never forever, all those weirdos in the Pacific States, some of which are wonderful people, they depend too much on technology. You know what's the most advanced thing I have in my house?"
McDonald: "Um, a razor?"
Noodle: "Nope. It's a rube Goldberg machine that enables me to cook turkey outside. Only takes me nine hours every day to set up the 34 different mechanisms and triggers for each part, enables me to have one delicious turkey dinner when I get home. Of course the oven doesn't turn off so my house catches fire all the time, but I get used to it., Like a nice hug of warmth, only it will kill you,so there's that downside."
McDonald: "have you considered just ordering take out?"
*Noodle and McDonald laugh for five minutes*
"He has not disclosed any more details about the planned trip to the Pacific States other than this statement Cowboy News has received, stating the following:
"The Objective of the Trip to Sacramento by [Foreign Minister] Noodle is to fully understand the nature of relations between The Pacific States of America and The Greater Republic of Texas and to reach bilateral and win-win agreements in the areas of trade, defense, and security measures. The Texan and Pacific peoples have unlimited potential with their pocketbooks and cultures when both sides are aiming for prosperity for all."
"There are rumors floating about within the Senate that the purpose of the trip is to attempt to leverage pressure onto the PSA to drop it's illegal and immoral support of the Cuban dictatorship. These rumors have been conflicting, with reports being confirmed and denied by multiple high ranking officials of differing political parties within the Senate."

McDonald did a full line of cocaine before returning to the other stories that were next on the reporting guidelines and list.

"The Invasion of Louisiana continues on, with the military forces seizing the city of Lake Charles in the country. The Occupation of the areas already under Texan control has proven tricky, with multiple attempts by resistance groups to flee with civilians. Silly heretics, we're just going to blow up those civilians for shits and because we can commit war crimes! Heavy fighting was within Lake Charles, with Texan Casualties being reported at + 3000 since the start of the Liberation of Louisiana. Wilhelmina Packard, the first grandmother to officially lead a Texan Army in the field at the age of 70, is resisting calls and pressures by military members for her resignation or outright execution. President Frost himself has come to the defense of Packard, saying in a statement to the Cowboy News that:

" General Wilhelmina Packard has proven to be an effective and loving military commander within the liberation of Louisiana. Her military records of victorious clashes against armed drug cartels is crystal clear evidence of her excellent job so far in the position of commanding officer to lead the soldiers on the ground once we enslave the Louisianan Populace-I mean, no we're going to enslave them for the hell of it."
Texan Forces are now expected to meet up with a promised right hook army from the Gulf of Mexico which is planning on taking New Orleans.

Texan Nuclear Production was slowed down due to a raging fire that broke out within the facility, the Government is proud to comment on the circumstances of the blaze to the state owned propaganda network. Joining me live is General-Senator Michael Earwax, who sits on the Committee for Nuclear Weapons which we Don't Have so Fuck off Inspectors In the Senate. Earwax, Do you think the government is telling the full story here, how do we know there was a fire there?"
The Camera then zooms in on the thick mustached Earwax, who began his tirade once more on state television for money.
"Well we know there was a fire there for multiple reasons, the Cubans fired missiles at our Pantex Nuclear Weapons Facility, which was being demolished obviously and not repaired to enable us to start production on nuclear weapons with the express purpose of utilizing them for the extermination of the Atlantic Federation and Cuba. Anyone who thinks that is obviously crazy. Like me."
"So how do you know there was a fire at it, all the eyewitness testimony we have states the command base was hit in the strike."
"Well... fuck you got me there. We know there was a fire because there was smoke in the air at the general vicinity of the facility. Of course there were screams and the missile defense system was going off, but you know how old that thing is, heh, heh..."
"But the SAM sites were installed only a year prior upon the discovery of the facility. Are we working on weapons of mass destruction there?"
"Maybe. I'm not completely sure. I know we're not currently building any WMDs, nor am I saying that we haven't already, oh, say... discovered a few cold war era nuclear bombs and missiles from the 1980s that we may or may not be planning on using on the Atlantic Federation and Mexico for shits and giggles- I mean, no I mean shits and giggles."
"General-Senator Michale Earwax, thank you for your insight and fucking lies."
"Fuck you McDonald."
"For Cowboy News, We're State owned Propaganda, and I'm Ronald McDonald, Fuck off Texas."

[Arvenia]

Atlantic POV

White House, Washington DC, Atlantic Federation
President Troy Sullivan was very furious over that Texas still invaded Louisiana despite the letter that the Secretary of State sent to the Texan government.

"This is madness!", the President said angrily. "The Texans have rejected our demands and now they are attacking poor Louisiana."
"Then we got to aid Louisiana", General Vincent Cabarelli, both a high-ranking officer in the Atlantic Federal Army and the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the President. "What other option do we have then?"
"We can still at least put sanctions on Texas, both economically and diplomatically", the Secretary of State answered.
"Sanctions sounds good", the President said. "But aiding Louisiana sounds more good. We will be forced to help that country through humanitarian aid, military intervention and diplomatic negotiation. McCord, message the Louisianian government."
"Understood", the Secretary of State answered and then left in a hurry.
"General", the President said again. "Prepare our military for intervention. I will contact the CIA for covert operations against the damn Texan slave owners."
"Yes, sir!", the General said as he also left in a hurry. The President then contacted the CIA immediately.

To: Greater Republic of Texas
From: Atlantic Federation
Subject: Official Condemnation
Encryption: Very High
Dear General-President Samuel J. Frost, we are disgusted by how you can ignore our demands and still carry out what we don't want you to do. Your military is attacking a small, weak country right now. We are both unhappy with your decision and now forced to do these following neccessary acts:

• Cut off diplomatic ties between our countries, as well as deport any Texan government official from the Atlantic Federation and ordering any Atlantic citizen to return from Texan soil.
• Cut off economic ties between our countries, as well as banning Texan products from entering the Atlantic Federation.
• Militarily aid the Republic of Louisiana in chasing out your invasion forces.

You made a big mistake by ignoring a de facto major power, who is also a successor to the one and only USA. You could now end up like Ba'athist Iraq back in 2003. I hope you regret your decision and beg for our forgiveness.

Sincerely, Elijah McCord, the Secretary of State of the Atlantic Federation

To: Republic of Louisiana
From: Atlantic Federation
Subject: Texan Aggression
Encryption: Very High
Dear President Danton Chaplain, your country is seemingly being invaded by the Greater Republic of Texas, a country filled with slave owners and military dictators. We would, despite our bad relations, offer you any military aid against the Texan aggression in order to ensure your country's survival.

Sincerely, Elijah McCord, the Secretary of State of the Atlantic Federation

To: Federal Republic of Cuba
From: Atlantic Federation
Subject: Classified Response
Encryption: Classified
Dear CASTILLO, we are proud of both your response to our letter and your use of covert communication. We will also give you this top secret message if you like to as long as our communication remain sensitive. We will gladly have the BIW overhaul the CFN warships and we await any economic cooperation until your country's Economics Ministry has finished negotiating with the Federal Economics Officials. Regarding the fourth point, we are now aware of how unlikely Texas is going to invade you, yet we are glad to send you an unit of intelligence officers and military advisors to your capital, as well as docking our ships at Guantanamo and Havana Harbor. We hope we can fix Cuban-American relations amid many foreign issues, most notably the Texan invasion of Louisiana. We await your response and we will somehow keep the Texans at bay.

Sincerely, Elijah McCord, the Secretary of State of the Atlantic Federation

NPC POV

Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Republic of Louisiana
The Louisianian military was having a difficult time combating the Texan invasion forces in and around Lake Charles. The Texans are on the verge of seizing the city and the Louisianian forces are almost being reduced to nothing but a pile of corpses and ashes.

In a part of Lake Charles, three companies from the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (aka the "Louisiana Brigade") of the Louisianian Army were fighting the Texan Army. One of the companies are taking heavy fire from their Texan foes.

"Sir! Sir!", one of the company members screamed to the company leader. "We are taking fire from the enemy forces! We need backup!"
"Don't panic!", the company leader said. "We will both survive and win this battle! Stay calm and fight!" Two other members are killed by a cannon blast from a Texan Army tank. "Nooo!"
"We need backup!", another member screamed in panic. "Enemy tank incoming! Enemy tank incoming!"
"Stay calm!", the company leader screamed. "Stay ca..." The tank had finished reloading and just blasted at the company again, killing the company leader in the process. This forced the remaining members to flee as the Texan tank and fellow Texan soldiers hunted them down.

Louisiana President's Mansion, Shreveport, Republic of Louisiana
President Danton Chaplain wasn't very happy with how the Texans were invading and devastating the southwestern half of his country. He sat in his office alongside Vice President Adam Perkins, government secretaries and military personnel.

"We are losing Lake Charles and nearby areas to Texas", General Justin Hartwell, the head of the Louisianian Army, told Danton. "We may request for foreign assistance."
"Foreign assistance", Danton said to himself. "Forget that! I would especially not request help from the Atlantic fascists who had taken our country's eastern half five years ago."
"Mr. President", Ray Dardenne, the Secretary of Military Affairs, said otherwise. "We can't take on the Texans alone. Also, the easter half was taken because it was in a fragile position and the Atlantic Federation had to ensure it's safety, even if it means to annex it in the process. We would otherwise encourage you to accept foreign aid or else our country will be exposed to Texan oppression."
"You better shut your mouth", the President talked back. "Don't you dare sympathize with fascists and justify their desires. That counts as treason!"
"Mr. President!", Coraline Beauvais, the Secretary of State, came in a hurry to the office. "The Atlantic Federation is planning on fight our war in our favor. Read." Danton read the letter and sighed.
"Why must we accept their aid?", Danton sighed in response. "They just want our country just like Texas."
"Unless their aid might help our country survive the war and keep the Texans at bay", the General agreed.
"Fine", Danton said. "Send the Atlantic government a letter."

To: Atlantic Federation
From: Republic of Louisiana
Subject: Military Assistance
Encryption: Very High
Dear Elijah McCord, despite Louisiana's grudge towards the Atlantic Federation and other so-called "US successor governments" since 2041, we might be forced to accept your government's assistance in driving the Texans out of Louisianian territory. Our military has a difficult time fighting the much larger Texan military, yet your military is far more larger than the Texan military. We may accept your assistance in exchange for our continued independence from any possible reunification.

Sincerely, Coraline Beauvais, the Secretary of State of the Republic of Louisiana

[Imperialisium]

Havanna, Cuba
Antonia Greigorov

Antonia shook the hand of the Cuban President and smiled. Taking her seat she put a small briefcase down beside her. The Russian Security Agents left the room to wait outside, to let the ambassador and leader of the Cuban nation have their privacy, with Antonia speaking, "A pleasure to finally meet you, sir." This was the Cuban President's cue to begin speaking. After all, it was his country, after all, she was his guest, and so it would be rude of her to take over the direction of the conversation. But she could have a guess at what it would entail. Cuba needed a strong ally and access to a military-industrial complex that could produce what they needed to keep their position in the Caribbean secure. It would be costly for them, but access to the Russian industrial base would tip the balance of power in the Caribbean significantly. Especially, if the American powers dallied in a response. Something Antonia expected given the state of that continent.

[Plzen]

Copenhagen was Copenhagen. The wealthiest city in the world, some claim.

From the backstreets of Mjølnerparken with young men eager to trade off their National Dividend checks for his self seven minutes of happiness, whether that be drugs, gambling, sex, or whatever else caught one's fancy, to the new glistening towers of brick, steel, and glass, skyscrapers by Scandinavian standards even if New York or Shanghai might scoff at the term, of Nørrebro where Norden's richest plotted their next billion-kroner takeover of some hapless foreign company, life continued to go on day after day.

For the rising youth of the New Commonwealth, those who grew up in the demobilisation era of the mid-2040s or later, this was all they have ever known. This endless sprawl of districts of factories, commercial buildings, and residential neighbourhoods cluttered and interrupted with segments of wilderness and mechanised farmsteads that stretched from Lolland to Blekinge, with the City of Copenhagen at its very centre, that some five million people called home and was the beating heart of human life in the Nordic Commonwealth.

A gem glistening in the nighttime darkness, a megacity conglomeration flush with money and little else.

Those with a few more decades in their lives, a few more creases on their faces, and a few more specs of wisdom in their minds might remember a different time. A time when people thought about life beyond tonight. A time when jobs were a thing most people had. Some particularly antiquated might even remember the distant days when the year started with "1" and people actually got along with their neighbours. When privacy wasn't just the punchline to a joke and people walked with dignity in their steps.

How quaint, the young might sneer. They really needed to get on with the times. Who even uses Facebook anymore?

The little suited men and women in that retirement home for the elderly people called the Nordic Council might call this pearl their capital city, but who could ever dream of truly controlling, let alone owning, such a vast and shining metropolis? A passing street cat or sewer mice might as well call it theirs too for all the truth that statement would bring. The government doled out money, street-sweeping robots, and sometimes even law when it was feeling particularly generous. Just another cog in the complex, vibrant machine -- little less, little more.

The government might move quickly but the city moved faster. Even now, in Bagsværd, the CEO of Novo Nordisk was deep in meeting with his staff, considering the developing Ebola situation in West Africa. In the free market everything had a price, and a human life was no exception. With another medical emergency looming in the horizon, the Scandinavian medical industry mobilised. Some smelly Guinean or Sierra Leonian foreigners dying of disease and disfigured by disability? The miracles of life, health, and beauty that Nordic biotech could offer was at your service... and they ask only for your soul, life's work, and first-born son.

It's the next best thing to God and unlike prayers to heaven, payment to Bagsværd actually does work.

Price gouging was really a delicate art as well as science. One couldn't just take a monopoly and rack up the price. One had to drown competition with lobbied-for regulation and even then, one had to consider how much money the victims -- apologies, of course valued customers -- had. Taking everything they had, but not a penny more than they could pay.

Those little military dictators of little third-world countries liked to pretend that they were some kind of proud independent states working for the good of their people, and Copenhagen -- not the mayor, the government, or whatever, but rather the city and people of Copenhagen and her surrounding cities -- pretended to believe them. Until they stopped playing ball, that is, at which point... well, money could buy terrorist bomb-throwers and rebel assault rifles as easily as medical research.

Cross the Øresundsbron into Sweden and the other half of this sprawling network of cities and towns, and the managers of SAAB and Bofors' joint artillery plant in Lund popped themselves a bottle of synthetic champagne. War! War was on! War meant profit! And it was the best kind of war, too -- the "far away abroad" kind where their family mansions and corporate skyscrapers weren't at risk of being shelled or some other silly consequence of their own actions. When it came to quality, it didn't get much better than Made in the Nordic Commonwealth, and if some North American pundits thought that would be any less true for armaments as it was for healthcare then those pundits were wrong.

Well, yes, it was illegal to sell modern weaponry abroad without government permissions, but government permissions were so droll. The government worked so slowly. It could never hope to keep up with the City. If they couldn't sell, well, 10- or 15-year leases worked just as well in bringing in the kroner. And if some "former US military advisors" mysteriously showed out of nowhere with an air division of unmanned bombers and suspiciously Scandinavian or Finnish names, well, that would be just a coincidence, surely.

Here, of course, there was simmering rage and resentment also. The recent Russian moves towards a military co-operation relationship with Cuba worried many. How dare some smelly foreigner take their business? How dare a government compete in the rightful domain of the glorious free market? Dictatorial tyranny, one and all... but then again, would anyone really be surprised? Nobody really expects anything good out of a monarchy.

An real-for-goodness empire, if that could be believed. Bad enough Denmark and Sweden still had kings. A queen with actual power? That sounded horrifying.

The dawn breaks. One by one, the bright lights of commerce and industry switch off as sunlight slowly diffuse through the mass of brick, steel, rebar, and concrete. The city breathes.

Governments come, governments go, but Copenhagen endures.

[Greater Redosia]

"In the face of pain there are no heroes."
Oceania

Ministry of Plenty, Airstrip One
Dolly Thompson

The Foreign Representative was on the edge of her chair when watching the telescreen, listening to the news very closely than usual. Knowing that the members of the Thought Police were watching on the other side but it wasn't out of the ordinary, she needed to hear the news. "Texas at war with the Louisiana! Cuba aggression against comrade nation of Texas! Federation! Russia support of the Federation prediction comes true!" The telescreen was blaring as loud as it could go, the anchor looking fanatical with the reports he has been giving. But why wouldn't you love what you did?

"This is doubleplus-ungood....Texas at war with so many other nations...They will falter before they had the chance to fight back....I simply hope the Party has something planned in store for the conflict..." The TV screen cut back to the anchor after giving the weather, "Big Brother condemns the actions done by all sides, demands an immediate ceasefire by all sides and to be mediator in hopes for peace." Dolly nodded at the words, Big Brother was always wanting peace though also wanting war. It was the power of doublethink that allowed the Party to thrive, to hold the two conflicting ideas at the same time and accepting both. Peace can only be made through war, war can only be made through peace. One side always wanted something from the weaker side and the weaker side gathered allies to face the weaker side, thus forcing peace which would last only so long as the stronger side feels weak. Or until it is conquered by an even stronger side. War has three outcomes, the stronger takes over the weak, a stalemate is met or the weak overcomes the odds and defeats the strong. Who was strong and who was weak was a question simply unanswerable, making Dolly's head hurt thinking about it.

"I need some gin...." she muttered, opening a personal fridge under her desk and pulling out a bottle of real gin, none of that victory stuff. Pulling out a glass and pouring the liquid into it was like watching heaven give the water of life to a bowl for all to drink. She downed the liquid so fast she shivered, almost coughing. She slid over to a map, muttering some more.

Factory Designation #153, Seaport Emerald
Zain Knight

The work was endless and tiring, the welders blazing with heat that would put together the pieces of metal that formed the frame of a ship. A massive one, one of the great floating fortresses that carried the name of Oceania and the will of Big Brother abroad. Though, unlike the ones in the book, these were to be put to use. Zain sighed from the exhausting work, being forced to remember the book of 1984, the real one.

"I fucking doubt you Orwell....'if there is hope it lies in the proles', I'm the only fucking one that realizes it." he muttered to himself. Forcing his brain to stop recalling the entire book and focus on something else, he suddenly remembered the bible and every word inside of it. Shaking his head he started welding again, being told they were at war with Spain despite being at war with the European Union two days ago. He learned quickly that he should not speak anything about it, for it could get him killed. The state left the proles alone from the surveillance but patrols of the thought police still roamed the towns and factories. Hearing the bell, he deactivated the welder and was being lifted down. Sighing with relief that the end of the work day had arrived, without it he would of dropped dead from the work he had done.

Getting home was easy as he lifted across the street from the factory, reaching his apartment in the run downed location he sat on the chair. No telescreen to watch him, only a radio from before the revolution. Along with a book shelf with dozens of dozens of illegal books, all he read and he remembered by heart. Turning the radio on he pulled out a bottle of victory gin.

"Welcome to our show listeners, today we announce that Oceania has officially taken over the once microstate of Sealand. The floating metal fortress that once belonged to a pirate radio station and former capitalist paradise has been seized by the navy of Oceania. Troops will be stationed on the island along with radar, surface to air missile launchers and cruise missile launching capabilities. It will also be completely retrofitted to service ships in the sea and to be more fortified by attacks with Phalanx CIWS, to become the most modern fortress in history. The enemies of Oceania will falter against the military might that Oceania possessed, the island fortress of Sealand shall protect the beaches of Airstrip One!"

Zain shook his head, knowing that the microstate was nothing. Only a few people lived on it to escape the chaos and set up shop a pirate radio station, it must've finally been overrun by the Oceanian military. A disappointment in his eyes, knowing that the music he enjoyed listening to, despite the static due to distance, was now gone and forever replaced by that of Oceania. Sometimes, he wished he could simply be as forgetful as the other proles that inhabited the lands of Oceania. That he would simply wake up from this nightmare, but he wished for that before and it never came true. All of this was real and he was simply a pawn in a nation full of pawns. The thought police would eventually get him if he simply didn't decide to kill himself from the horror of the world he lived in, being forced to build a ship that will lead the way to further death and destruction by Oceania. To enforce their goals of power, for power was not a means, but an end.

Unknown location, Airstrip One
Walter Holland

"So you're telling me, that the bastards really did declare war on Louisiana and the Federation is preparing to fight them.....And Cuba has intervened with missiles launched at some facility that most likely didn't even work?" asked one of the Inner Council members, staring with a head slightly tiled to the telescreen. The face of another council member, it slowly nodded.

"Yes, they are at war and Cuba has launched attacks upon the Texans. Our Flyingdale also kept close watch of the Cuban satellites, the ones they had at least...Really we are focusing around that area but, we are assuming those above Texas have been used to take pictures for their attack upon the facility. Surrey having provided us the few satellites we've been able to launch has giving us little information that could be used, but we are indeed able to keep in touch with foreign news networks. Better that due to our advanced firewall that would of put China's to shame has allowed us to keep control of the flow of information to the standards we require them to be." He leaned back, glancing over at Holland knowing that he was the voice of Big Brother, "However, due to our limited funding in regards to space technology we won't be able to conduct more effective recon. Though, many are suggesting that we attempt to recontact the International Space Station."

Holland laughed, "What good would that do? What use would we have for it?"

The face on the telescreen didn't react negatively, only neutral which put Holland off. He hated those that tried their best not to put their emotions inside a cage and burned the cage to lock it away in a smaller cage, "As you may know, the Ministry of Peace is wanting to have the ability to launch missiles from the ISS to any location on the planet. Allowing us dominance in regards to modern warfare, not only that but many wish to see the rise of our technological advancements that allow us constant coverage of a battlefield and something to allow our missile launching friends to know where to fire. If we can do this, it will take some time and some more funds but we will be able to do this. Especially since our figures from many years before don't account for the decrease in pay for our workers, along with the decrease of their rations."

"Ah, that's a good idea. In fact, we should lower rations again....Maybe lower the tobacco ration, people will live longer the less they are able to smoke." suggested a different council member, Holland hated them all, "Then we will simply export that tobacco abroad giving us more funds to spend, then we will give the Ministry of Peace their desired base of operations. That is our goal comrades, we will capture the international space station and declare it our own. For we shall gain an advantage that will simply be too difficult to take away."

Holland shook his head, "Aren't you all rushing into things? What about Texas? What are we going to do about that?"

A council member shrugged, "Who cares, the deal was they asked for our help. Though, ships will be needed for it....but we need a base of operations......" He turned to look at a map, giving Holland a smile, at least he could have the last word.

"How about we sail down to the Falklands, the instability in the South Americas would've stopped any sort of expansion from Argentina into the area, if anything they would've collapsed too. Not only will it give us a base in the new world but will also eventually let us expand into South Africa. Claiming the land that Oceania desires..." The council members were awed by the intellect, which was next to none for it was common sense. They agreed to it, alongside the capture of the ISS a task force sent to the Falklands would be an excellent thing to do.

Operation: "Never sets"

Objective: The immediate capture of the Falklands from foreign powers through the use of naval forces, capturing the key locations on the island including the capital and ports. Commandos shall be sent by boat to conduct any ground combat and if fighting ensues the use of naval bombardment is authorized.

Task Force composition:
1 Floating Fortress (complimented with 10 F-35s)
2 Guided Missile Destroyers
4 Guided Missile Frigates
5 destroyers
3 Frigates
8 auxiliary supply ships
3,000 Oceanian Marine Commandos

[Duestchstien]

Commonwealth of Hong Kong

Shanghai
After days of driving the Division had finally made it to Shanghai, a festival was held as they entered the city with the flag of Hong Kong being waved from windows. Helicopters and aircraft soared over head. Much of the city had fallen into disrepair, windows were broken, the streets were in ruins. The only form of public transportation the city could afford to keep was the metro system. The Commonwealth would have to do much to fix China, its many years of rioting and poor disconnected local rule lead to a widespread decrease in quality of life, and cities like Shanghai had it good. The first shipments of Rice arrived a day later, the government had pledged to rejuvenate the agriculture of the northern regions by starting food drives, the government becomes the main customer providing money, while the countries poor benefit with food to survive. Meanwhile the banks of the country such as the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (the largest one), sent out truck loads of Hong Kong dollars, the money of the provinces was to be exchanged for the money of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Dollar.

Hong Kong
Reporters filled the large auditorium, the building was lively and the ministers all sat together at a large table on the stage, ready to present the plan for the reconstruction of China. Alvin Yueng, Chief Executive, sat up, and tapped the microphone twice. The reporters quieted down. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for coming today. The plan to bring inland China to the same level as the rest is a long and hard task. China is large, and we have divided it into two regions based off Economic Activities that take place in these regions. There is the Coast, and the Inland. The Inland is the heart of China, the agricultural and resource gathering regions, which fuel China's growth, now this is where most people live, but under the Communist Chinese, they remained poor, and they shall do so no longer. In america farmers are rich, and wealthy, they own and run massive factory farms. We have a plan to massively increase employment and production in these regions. IN communist China.. in the 60s and 70s most farmers worked on large factory farms, this food was reserved for expert, so much smaller farms existed nearby to provide food for the farm workers. These small farms were attended by nearly 10 times more farmers per acre than in a factory farm. They received much more care, and although they only made up 3% of the countries farming land, they produced over 25% of the countries food. This is because when you have people managing and caring for each and every crop, rather than a handful of farmers managing many acres of land, plants die or become uneatable a lot less often, and they tend to be far more healthy crops. This is something most modern farms don't accept. Our plan is to have all farming land run this way, farm hands will become in high demand, and the minimum wage shall be 3 2019 Dollars per hour. The idea is that this will not only employ more people, but each farm will produce far more food than China produced before, and we will reclaim our spot as the leading agricultural power in the world." The room met this idea with thunderous applause and cheering, once it died down Yueng began to speak again. "Moving on to infrastructure, many buildings, roads, rails, and sewers have fallen into disrepair, our City Planners and Geographers and Geologists will all meet together to create localized plans to rebuild the infrastructure of each municipality. Our national highways and rail networks will be repaired as soon as possible. But first and foremost we have already drafted contracts for construction companies to begin repairing and updating the nations airports." Another round of applause met this statement. "For now this concludes what we have to say, but we shan't stop planning and we shan't stop bettering this nation until the day our nation falls, and until the second that happens I can guarantee there will always be governors in their officers, magistrates at their desks, and soldiers at the front. My best wishes to my nation, and may we be at peace till we meat again."

[Cappuccina]

(Middle schooler's drawing of the Quebecois Republic, including Newfoundland, and the disputed territories of Bas Laurent and Gaspésie)

Republique Québécoise

"Viarge!!!", Premier Elise cursed to herself with her face in her right palm... practically facepalming at the perdicament. The news of the Texan invasion of Louisiana had reached Quebec, and the media was abuzz with sensationalist chatter, there had even been a demonstration in Montreal calling for war against the "Southern Anglo scum" in defense of the nations so called Francophone cousins. As a result, she had called a conference early in the morning to discuss the situation, and the debate was getting heated, there was a deadlock on how Quebec should approach the issue.

Desmarais, for her part, this was a great inconvenience. The Premier had been able to contain the humanitarian sentiment from some of the populace in regards to the Frost regimes nascent neo-slave trade. However, the prevailent paranoia towards the Anglos had lead the Quebecois to a panic upon hearing of the incursion into Louisiana, an area many in her country considered part of the North American Francosphere.

The Head of the Gendarmarie, General Martin Auberois, an elderly man with a horrid comb-over was livid, "We cannot be drawn into this war! This is a war between the Anglos, let them have at each other this i..."

"This was our war the moment Texas set foot on Cajun land!!!", Interrupted Admiral Jean Valois, he stood up and continued, "Louisiana is a sister nation to our own and is being overran by Anglo-Texan barbarians to be hauled off to Dallas and sold as cattle!!! We must take our stand to defend the American Francophonie, lest we'll be ne..."

Raising her hand, General Patrice Bernard, stopped the Admiral's rant, " Please...Valois, let's not get ahead of ourselves. The majority of Louisiana doesn't even speak French, we also can't vouch for how strongly they identify with the larger Francosphere...or how they'd percieve intervention on our part for that matter......"

The argument was interrupted once more, this time by a large plume of smoke, smelling of a peppermint laced pastry, rolling across the conference table, "We're going to Louisiana", Desmarais said casually as she slammed the vape down. She paid little heed to General Auberois' distainful gaze at her statement, his eyes filled with rage.

She sat up in her seat and pointed at the map laid out on the table, her finger landing on Baton Rouge. "I'll make the concession of not declaring war on Texas, I have no desire for a general mobilization that could drag down our economy, however, this debacle does have a silver lining for our interests.
From our intelligence reports, the Cajuns have no more love for the Anglo powers than we do....this is excellent. We can offer Louisiana aid, and let them decide how much they're comfortable with, of course within the limits of our capacity. I have a feeling they'll welcome a counterbalance to Atlantic and Texan influence in the region. Valois, I want you to place the Navy on standby just in case."

From: Julienne Armand, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Quebecois Republic.
To: Louisianan Foreign Ministry
Decryption: Secret

Greetings from the Quebecois Republic, we're deeply troubled by the news of Texan aggression against your nation. As a fellow Francophone people, we're willing to extend our assistance to your government, if you permit we'll provide military advisors, military equipment, and general economic aid as soon as possible should you request it.

Signed, Julienne Armand, Quebecois Foreign Minister

Since after the conference on the Texan-Louisana War (as it was known in Quebec) had ended, Premier Desmarais was making her preparations to visit Washington D.C, Foreign Minister Julienne Armand, a young diplomat of Haitian decent, was left to carry out the remaining pertainent matters of the governments foreign relations. While the Quebecois public was ranting and raving about the happenings in the Gulf of Mexico, the (2nd, her father's was the 1st) Desmarais Administration generally considered that theatre a priority of secondary concern, and had their collective minds focused on issues much closer to home.....across the Hudson and Baffin Bays, infact. The new administration had its eyes set on the vast expanse of the former Canadian Arctic territory of Nunavut, who's lack of governance was more than a little disconcerting to them, to the paranoid Quebecois, it was a gaping hole in their geopolitical national security...open to foreign penetration....this was unacceptable.

From: Julienne Armand, Quebecois Foreign Ministry
To: Yukolumbian Foreign Affairs Ministry
Decryption: Top Secret

Greetings to our counterparts on the west coast, the Desmarais Administration would like to extend our hand out to Yukolumbia to open formal relations between our governments, and also to propose a project to promote cooperation between our nations.

Our government considers the current lawless state of the former Canadian Arctic to be a weakpoint in the security of our region. As such, we propose a joint Quebecois-Yukolumbian pacification of the area to thwart possible foreign interests on our continent. We would occupy and administer the area corresponding to "Nunavut", and Yukocolumbia would do the same with "Northwest Territory". We'd also forward the idea of jointly developing infrastructure in the area to facilitate trade between us.

Signed, Julienne Armand, Quebecois Foreign Minister

[Parcia]

Havana National Laboratory
Computer Lab
Sub Level 3.


To Say Cuba lacked What could be called "Modern Internet" would not be a lie. While the National Net service was up an running, the people enjoyed having Wide spread accesses to the internet, it was at speeds approaching that of Late 1990s DSL speeds.

How ever, their was a place were the Cuban net had much more modern Connection speeds. Sean sat down in his chair, the 20 something year old tapping away at his keyboard. In front of him sat a pair of 24 inch screens. One showed a personalized UI depicting a in progress up link that was being executed via a large satellite dish on the roof the building. The ECHELON network was arguably the worlds largest information gathering Ring, the largest supranational all seeing eye that mankind had ever seen.

When the US fell, the ring fell with it...mostly. While Many of the LEO (Low Earth Orbit) Satellites had suffered the sad fate of decayed orbit, most of the HEO (high Earth Orbit) and Geosynchronous Satellites still operated. This led to a solution to a problem that the Cuban Government had been facing for some time: Lack of GPS. With the ability to crack in to these still functioning satellites, they had been able to outright take over some, and gain the ability to use part of most of the ones inside their region of space.

Using this Satellite access, Sean had been, at the behest of the Cuban Government, been using the the old technology of the "5 eyes of the world" against their enemies. This task had taken him nearly 5 years of work to do. His father had been a researcher working for DARPA and the NSA at the oak ridge facility in Tennessee and had developed the first version of his own OS tailored to be a multi-purpose penetration and system testing tool to be used in the event the US government needed to shut off a un-friendly nation's access to the ECHELON network in the event said nation turned on the US or NATO.

This project had been Top Secret, so much so that when his Father fled the US with him and his Sisters, he had memorized the Base code for it, then destroyed all versions of it he had. There was the chance the Federation had obtained a copy of a much earlier version, but with out his father to rebuild the Code from that point forward, it was unlikely they would be able to replicate his mater piece to any real effect for some time.

Using the basis his father had built, he had spent most of his Adult life perfecting and building the Code in to Something he had called "Warmind", as an homage to an old Computer game he played as a kid. Using WarmindOS he had steadily built two Programs for the Cuban Government.

One, the lesser of the two, was Simply named CHARLEMAGNE and was completely free for the Cuban Government to use as an All seeing Eye of sorts, A dumbed down VI for usage not unlike the Older US PRISIM system was, though formatted to run on the much older DSL network Cuba as a whole was using. Using CHARLEMAGNE The Carlo Government could essentially spy on all communications in and out of Cuban cyber space.

The Second VI was one he build specifically for him self: RASPUTIN. While CHARLEMAGNE was to be used as the Eye of the Government Seeing inward,RASPUTIN was to be the eye that was to see outward.

RASPUTIN, unlike his older and slower brother, was built around a core programming matrix that stayed constantly under the control of the user (in this case, being Sean and only Sean). This matrix was then written in to the core of a Polymorphic program designed to change it's shape and content either randomly, as a way to throw off security programs, or to what the user specifies as to stay hidden in a target's sub systems were it could be used to simply observe and report, or format it self in to the Native System's Command BIOS, thus rendering it self invisible to the Native System's security program, and allowing the user to have "SuperUser" Access to the system, essentially giving them control over it's functions.


It was...as break through in Cyber Warfare. A program advanced enough to have the potential to crack and compromise any known security suit currently in use by other nations states...it was a shame it would never get to be used as such. This was simply due to lack of hardware, rather then soft ware. Truly, RASPUTIN had the potential to become the closest thing to Actual artificial Intelligence, but was wholly unable to simply because all he had to run on was a set of old, rather outdated and heavily modified SGI Super computers dating to 2006.

Four of them to be exact. Four SGI model Origin 3200C Super computers that at the moment were hooked up to his own personal desk top rig, it self a beast of a machine with 3 GPUs, 2 CPUs, and nearly 50 Gig of RAM. This limited RASPUTIN to Infiltration Missions were its small operating size (he being able to be compressed down to roughly a 3 mb package file that he often had disguised as a simple information request) in order to do its mission, not having sheer hardware and power to execute brute force attacks that he would be so efficient at.

He did have the plans for a RASPUTIN Ver. 2.0, but again the lack of hardware meant he was limited in what he could prototype.


Bringing him self back to the present, Sean looked over the sequence of commands he had been manually typing out over the last 3 hours with care. It was a written out Information request to the Nordic Commonwealth's Official National server IP. His plan was to test out the infiltration ability of his little creation in a neutral, less closed down nation like the Commonwealth before tackling his bigger target: Oceania.

He had pitched the idea to the Cuban Government on the bases of information gathering, and there was truth to that. How ever, he had a personal Vendetta as well: His mother and sisters had been born and raised in London before the Taker over of BIG BROTHER and it nearly killed his poor mother when the announcement of the Take over of England had been made. In his time working on RASPUTIN, this vendetta had grown from the grief of his mother, to hatred of the Oceania's Government for the atrocities it committed against its people...having read Orwell's Masterpiece multiple times had also helped.


Once again bringing him self back to the present, he finished going over the command line and found it clean of typos, syntax errors, and possible conflicts and with a small smile on his face, he pressed the Enter key.

If everything went to plan, then the information request should simply be accepted by the Nordic Master Server's security filter, something he doubted was sophisticated enough to properly filter out the program it self, and he should soon have a line in the National network of the richest Nation on Earth.


"What a time to be alive."

[Arvenia]

To: Pacific States of America
From: Atlantic Federation
Subject: Intelligence Cooperation
Encryption: CLASSIFIED
Dear Chancellor Jessica Fairbright, we welcome any cooperation between the CIA and the OSS. It might be good to ensure the survival of the former US. We are not sure about the Texan nuclear program, but we understand realpolitik. May Texas pray to God as we end it's aggression towards Louisiana and any other neighbouring country.

Sincerely, Elijah McCord, the Secretary of State of the Atlantic Federation

To: Quebecois Republic
From: Republic of Louisiana
Subject: Texan Aggression
Encryption: CLASSIFIED
Dear Julienne Armand, we are glad that you reach out your arm to us. The Texans are seizing the southwestern half of our country. Your support is needed. We hope to get military equipment and economic aid from you anytime soon.

Sincerely, Coraline Beauvais, the Secretary of State of the Republic of Louisiana

[Republic of Turbin]

Commonwealth of Yukokolumbia

Vancouver, Yukokolumbian Lower House

Prime Minister Richter assembling both lawmakers from the Lower and Upper houses in the much larger House building. Reason being the Texan aggression towards Louisiana and what the response from the government shall be. As Lawmakers began sitting down the Socialist, Greens, and the NCP (New Center Party) sitting amongst themselves as the time struck seven o'clock the Prime Minister had arrived shaking the hands of his friends and rivals as he walked to the podium he stopped by the Minister of Foreign Relations and the other ministers around him. Once all of the formalities had ended he began his speech to the lawmakers. "Today respected lawmakers of Upper and Lower Houses I am here to inform you of the grave situation that has unfolded in the Carribean. The conflict as many of you have heard is between Texas, Cuba, The Atlantic Federation, Louisiana. This conflict began as a result of direct aggression from the Texan army invading Louisianan land. Our understanding of the events reveals to us that Cuba and The Federation intervened on behalf of the Louisianians. It is our belief that any conflict can be solved by diplomatic talks and communication and from what has unfolded into war is representative that diplomacy was not involved in this conflict. We urge both sides to discuss their points of views on the table rather than on a battlefield." The speech was interrupted from loud cheering from all parties, Chuckling the Prime Minister continued "We are also more than open to facilitating discussion between the two sides." the Prime Minister concluded his speech and walked from the podium with the anthem being played in the background. The Prime Minister after having some conversations with members of both chambers left for his residence.

Vancouver, Prime Ministers Residence
The government limo that he had taken finally arrived at his residence as he stepped out of the limo he was greeted by reporters who were camping outside the residence."Mr. Prime Minister from what you said are we declaring our neutrality?"
"Yes, although we are hoping for both sides to seek common ground and find a solution to this conflict. Thank you" At the doorstep of his residence he opened the door and closed it with the sounds of the media still being heard from the other side of the door. He found multiple documents on his desk which he did not recall ever placing there this was not uncommon however as it was quite frequent for his wife to leave any documents from his work on his home desk. As he read the first document he noticed that they were telegrams. It appeared that the government delivery system accidentally dropped them off at his residence. Knowing the potential repercussions from opening the telegrams he proceeded onwards.
The first one he opened was from the Pacific States while reading its contents he drafted a quick list of potential economic deals that he had a particular interest in creating.

To: The Pacific States of America
From: Prime Minister Richter
I am very happy that you have accepted our embassy, as for a list of potential economic relations we have an interest in the PSA' energy production. We would like to propose the restoration of the Western Interconnection power grid which supplied Britsh Columbia before America's collapse. Once completed we would like to purchase some of the electricity to power our nation, of course, we would be willing to pay in exchange.
We are also interested in importing some of your agricultural products in exchange for some of our lumber.
we are interested to see further cooperation between us.
From, Prime Minister Richter

Taking a short break from looking at the documents he prepared himself some coffee and took a small break to watch some PNN, and they unsurprisingly were talking about the Texan war declaration. He soon finished and moved back to his desk to continue reading the telegrams which had accumulated on the desk.
As he picked up the letter he noticed it had a Russian Seal or at least from what the writing on the seal looked like.

To: The Imperial Foreign Office
From: Prime Minister Richter
We are glad to hear from you and we'd like to accept your invitation for an embassy and I would be delighted for an exchange of embassies between us, Vancouver would also be an excellent place to have the embassy. We also have interests in discussing the status of Alaska and potential economic deals.
From, Prime Minister Richter

The Prime Minister had finally reached the finale telegram opening it he strongly considered his response.

To: The Quebecois Foreign Ministry
From: Prime Minister Richter
We are glad to hear your interest in engaging in open relations, we too are excited to have relations with another Canadian successor state in the spirit of this feeling we'd like to request an exchanging of embassies.
I too am interested in assisting the Canadian Arctic due to me noting the decline of the HDI and the uncertainty of the future of the region. While I myself do not have the power to implement it myself I can put it into the Lower House and see if it gets passed. It would be somewhat easy to squeeze enough votes seeing the urgency of the Canadian Arctic. I at the very least can promise I will continue to follow up on the progress of the proposal in Congress. Once that roadblock is gone we could begin discussions on doing joint-infrastructure projects.
From, Prime Minister Richter

The Prime Minister was finally done with his responses and soon he headed towards his bedroom where he found his wife gracefully sleeping in the bed.

To: The Greater Republic of Texas, Republic of Louisiana
From: Yukokolumbian Foreign Ministry
Encryption: High
Yukokolumbia is deeply saddened by the lack of dialogue between both Texas and Louisiana, and the rapid of escalation of the conflict. If desired we are open to facilitate diplomatic talks between both nations in hopes for a more peaceful world.

[Imperialisium]

Moscow
January 20th

An embassy had been opened in Sacramento. Russian staff and the ambassador. Nikolay Erchevsk. Had arrived the day prior to begin the formal organizing and set up of the new Russian offices. This was also with the news that an embassy was set to be established in Yukocolumbia. Along with treaties involving the fate of Alaska no doubt being first on the docket between the three nations. The Tsarina sat on the bench looking across the snow-covered grounds of the Kremlin. Her heavy furs and hat shielded her from the cold as she read the news on her datapad. Scrolling with a stylus. There was other news as well. About a Fusion reactor near Kiev going online after a month of test trials. That would provide power for much of central Ukraine and Kiev itself. The crunch of snow behind her caused the Tsarina to turn and she spotted the lanky, tall, figure of Konstantin Myacheslev. Head of the IGB and one of her father's most outward supports. A member of the Old Guard so to speak for the Romanov's and the Empire. "Antonia and Nikolay are well underway of getting their embassies set up. Gregori Ulanovskiy will depart tomorrow for Yukocolumbia with his staff for the embassy there."

"I trust you are here to report on something else beyond the movements of ambassadors." queried the Tsarina as she turned back to her datapad.

"I would ask more precise directives in regard to the Moldovan situation," asked Myacheslev from under his heavy brown mustache. His uniform and peaked cap being progressively covered with a dusting of snow. His black calf-high boots crunching the snow with every shift of his body weight. Myacheslev continued, "My advice would be to support the Moldovans. Possibly work out a deal with them in regards to Transnistria."

"I'm surprised you are not advocating support for Transnistria and trying to annex it." remarked the Tsarina.

"Normally I would advise that. However, the Transnistrians long have had certain Communist sympathies. The only way I could feasibly go with annexing Transnistria would be to incorporate all of Moldova. It'd be worth it then. Otherwise, that strip of land is not worth the effort."

"Very well, support the Moldovans in whatever they need. Send a communication to 42nd Army on the border that they are to cooperate with Moldovan forces in dealing with the Transnistrian separatists."

"And what would we get in return?'

"The Moldovan government will be seen as being reliant upon us. This will assist them but challenge their legitimacy. In the end, it will more than likely lead to the dissolution of the current Moldovan state or its weakening. At which point, it will be gradually sphered and brought into the Empire proper. Those are your long term directives Myacheslev, do with them as you wish."

"Very well, Your Majesty." Myacheslev bowed and walked away with the crunch of snow under his footfalls.

[Greater Redosia]

Oceania
"Proles and Animals are free."

Gray's Apartment, London
Johnathan Gray

Johnathan sat down at the table, staring at the his PT (Personal Telepute) wondering what he was to do. He purchased one after several months of saving rations and saving pounds, living off the bare minimums. The very thing highly advanced compared to the building itself, same with the telescreen. It said on the box it alone had the storage of a complete petabye, but that meant nothing if he had nothing to store on it. Everything that was accessible to him he could already find out on the telescreen, games were decent with most of them being puzzle games which Johnathan found to enjoy.

After downloading a few he played new games such as Thought Police: Special Detective Unit, along with Ministry of Plenty: The Game. Both were fun, the first letting you be a lead investigator for the thought police during a purge where you had to be good at detecting crimethink. He was surprisingly good at the game, realizing how much he saw himself in the faces of those committing the action of crimethink. While the second one was where you had to regulate prices, manage several farms and the transportation of goods.....He found himself a natural seeing as how he had done such a job several times, but this was much easier than simply doing it for a living. The graphics were adorable and the occasional message from Big Brother saying, "He is pleased with your accomplishments." made him feel wanted, but he knew that Big Brother in the game was not the same Big Brother in real life.

He despised Big Brother, but making sure not to show it in his facial or back motions. The telescreen might as well been watching you constantly, no one knew when they were truly watching you but it was better to assume they always were. Though for all they knew they truly were always watching you, the thinkpol could be massive enough to assign members to a certain amount of people. That or they recorded you and could simply be reviewed at a later date. Every action you made a television show ready for anyone else, Johnathan couldn't tell if it was safety or tyranny. Tyranny was never a word, he only remembered it because of a slip of paper that accidentally ended up at the Ministry of Plenty on accident. He quickly threw it away so that no one else would've noticed, hopefully no the telescreens either. But he could never be certain. Turning to the telescreen, a beautiful flat screen that had excellent picture quality, he opened himself a bottle of victory gin. Watching the cartoon about the expedition to the Falklands by the Oceanian Navy, whilst wondering who was on the other side of the screen.

Observation Cubicle #152161, Ministry of Truth
Maxim Walsh

Someone was watching Johnathan, for on the other side of the screen several blocks away from the apartment, inside the giant pyramid of a building and down the several endless corridor of cubicle sat a soul. That soul was a member of the Thought Police, Officer Walsh. Decorated member of the Thinkpol for several years, bringing in criminals of thoughtcrimes from the highest ups of the Inner Party and to the lowest Outer Party there was, no one was safe from the reach of the Thought Police. The same was to be said for Mr. Gray. Though Walsh could not know entirely what they were doing, one moment they sit blankly then the next almost two hours of playing video games. A sudden surge of energy as if given a purpose, a reason to have that energy. As if contemplating their position in the world then losing themselves in something, something that was unorthodox and ultimately, crimethink. Ideas against the true ideology of Ingsoc.

Officer Walsh leaned back in the chair, relaxing. Looking over at Gray's reports as part of one of the several dozens if not even more than that of yottabytes of information the Ministry held, it however would never compare to the Ministry of Truth's where underground almost an entire basement of computers were being filled with information on yottabytes upon yottabytes of storage. He could assemble an entire local department of Thought Police and still never go through all that information held within, which was why it was given the weakest amount of cyber-security, there was simply no room for any decent form of it that could be held by the ever increasing amounts of information within the Ministry of Truth.

Groaning in annoyance, he got up from his cubicle. Walsh knew he was tired, needing rest. Gray wasn't going anywhere, he had nowhere to go. But Walsh however had but one destination, the bunk rooms inside the Ministry itself, where he could regain that extra four hours of sleep he lost last night due to a nightmare. He only hoped that Big Brother would watch over him as he did so, along with watching over the poor boys going off to Falklands on their brave expedition to reclaim it as part of Oceania.

[Newne Carriebean7]

The Greater Republic of Texas
Friendship and Labor Conquer All Things
Austin
January 21st ,2054

General-President Samuel Julian Frost snorted several refreshing lines of cocaine in his personal quarters. The stress of managing such a dysfunctional and dystopian military stratocracy was still weighing on his mind. The needed solution was staring him right back in the face, albeit in a form of fine white powder that resembled powdered sugar from his days of baking with his family.
The door creaked open as a handful of top-level diplomatic letters were simply dumped onto his desk.
“What the hell are these? Letters? For me? I always wanted a creepy, stalking fan to enjoy. Hmm.”
With a snap of his fingers, he pulled open a drawer beside his desk and grabbed a large bucket of peanut butter, slamming it down on the letter once in order to remove it from the envelope. When this didn’t work, he grabbed a whistle and repeatedly blew at it in an attempt to rip the paper apart with the sound. When he felt his lungs tired and blood coming out of his ears, he checked the letter and… still unopen. Grabbing his trusted pistol, he fired once at the envelope at point blank range, somehow missing and narrowly avoiding the ricochet from the bulletproof glass that encased his office.
An aide proved not to be so fortunate with the luck of not being hit by high speeding projectile expelled from firearms, with a light cry being heard as Frost turned his head to the cry. Briefly seeing the aide clutch his arm in pain before collapsing in the nearby hallway, Frost quiety put one finger over his lips, told the man to shut the hell up and slammed the door loudly, self-sabotaging his plans unintentionally of wanting peace and relaxation.
“Blah Blah Blah… someone’s pissed at me for attacking a weak country, blah blah blah diplomatic ties, economic ties, blah blah blah, Military aid the Louisianan forces in chasing out the invasion- well shit we’re going to need to hurry up with that other offensive then. Motherfucker!”
The door creaked open at the beck and call of the General-President, with the aide saluting.
“Sir!”
“I want you to prepare the other operation, you know, the one where we said we were going to invade through the gulf.”
“Understood sir, I shall prepare the Navy Immediately-“
“Wait what?!”
“The Navy, you know, the motherfuckers with boats.”
“Why would we need the navy to go north through Arkansas and strike down south?”
“But I thought the plan was to have the navy fire a bunch of cruise missiles at the enemy.”
“That was all campaign rhetoric, there’s no more campaigning to be done you complete and utter dumbass. I want the army to mobilize the second force up north, and then strike south through Louisiana down that way. We said the other thing just to throw off the enemy. Got it?”
“Not really.”
“Fuck. Alright then, just piss on off outta here unless there’s something pressing that requires my short attention spa- OH LOOK A BUTTERFLY!”
Like a coked up child, Frost ran comically straight through the one window without bullet proof glass, running after a butterfly for a good two miles before he was tazed by the state police for fun and brought back to the capitol building.
With a sigh, the aide picked up several letters before handing him to Frost as soon as he was not completely wasted yet still the fun kind of drunk from the tazer’s effects.

To: Atlantic Federation Secretary of State Elijah McCord
From: Texan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Vice President-General of The Greater Republic of Texas Bill Noodle
Subject: Diplomatic Tensions
Encryption: Fuck that (None)

---

We are saddened to see the hot headed nature of the Atlantic Federation get the better of themselves and lead them onto the path of infidels. We would urge calm tempers, but the time for negotiation is mostly over, though the Texan Government has granted me full diplomatic status as a high ranking member, and would enjoy flying over (schedule permitting) to Washington Shitholeistan DC in order to perhaps negotiate possible beneficial terms for the Atlantic Federation over the interests invested by the Greater Republic of Texas.
However, I am only going to consider such a meeting between our respective positions If you do not intervene in the rightful enslavement, occupation and subjugation of the Louisianan Government. If such an offer is untenable to your government, I shall immediately withdraw it at your request.
On to more serious matters, Frost has decided to take more-controversial- actions in the days following your letter. You shall understand these actions if you read up upon legislative actions posted daily to Cowboy News.

Ronald McDonald finished his final line of delicious cocaine before turning to the cameras and delivering his trademarked grin.
“Hey you big beautiful motherfuckers out there, we’ve got news, news, and maybe some communism hidden somewhere, you never know! The First Story we’re going to spill out for you uneducated dumbasses is a geography lesson.”
McDonald then lifts a globe of north America onto the table next to his desk, pointing first at Texas, Louisiana, and the Atlantic Federation all drawn in the finest Texan crayon.
“We’re right here, the Bayou is here, and infidels are here. The General-President has just recently not pocket vetoed a single legislative act in over five minutes. This has set a new personal record for the glorious master of the lone star state. There is some controversy being the passage of the Fuck the Atlantic Federation, Cuba and Some Third Country because it’s almost one in the morning when I’m writing this Act.
This act, known in popular circles and foreign media as the ‘foreigner execution act’ orders the immediate arrest, imprisonment and subsequent execution with sixty second show trials of any and all persons and machines either willingly imported or immigrated to the Greater Republic of Texas belonging to a nation with an unfavorable or hostile opinion or onion of the GRT. Proponents of the bill have reportedly told Cowboy News ‘lol fuck the Cubans’ while opposition members have stated ‘oh god no’ to the apparent ‘violation of liberties and freedoms which we must enjoy’.”
McDonald did yet another line of glorious cocaine before shuffling the papers on his desk several times in an erratic fashion.

“There were also economic embargoes imposed by Frost on several Texan state owned companies such as Texas Instruments, Texas Nuclear Weapons for Children Inc, Texas Shit Sandwiches, Joe’s BBQ Foot Massage which expressly forbids them from engaging in any form of commerce, exchange or alteration of currency for goods with any company or persons from the Atlantic Federation.
This has reportedly shut down all of the railway traffic that used to flow freely between Texas and the Atlantic Federation over the Mississippi, with the Texan military detonating several bridges over the river in propaganda shoots. A tit for tat response was also declared with a complete and total embargo of any and all Atlantic Federation Goods imported into the Texan Federation. The trade deficit Texas runs with the Atlantic Federation is currently at $200 million.
There is also the unsurprising step of freezing any Atlantic Federation assets currently deposited at multiple Texan state owned and military supported banks for veterans. The estimated total value of AF assets currently in Texas is a lingering estimate of between $15 and $30 million, with the safest estimate being a cool $20 million.”

Lake Charles

General Wilhelmina Packard simply scoffed at the supposed death threats against her by the various politicians coming around election time. It was only because she was a touch senile in the brain and a heavy smoker that they were plotting on ousting her from command. She had supreme authority over any and all operations over Louisiana, and the invasion was proceeding exceptionally well. What few tanks had been lost were due to mechanical failures rather than enemy action, and the hundreds of dead were just the needed price to pay in order to take mile after mile of the swamps down south.
Lake Charles was firmly in Texan hands thanks to a combination of the large Texan armored presence that accompanied her like one of her trusty, yet flirty, cigarettes. Now there was a plan to simply move on to the next town, advance to the next city until they would run into Baton Rouge or the boarder with the Atlantic States, where there was strict orders to not provoke them from having an excuse to counterattack. There were notable problems with the increasingly long Texan supply chains, easily snipped by the frequent attacks on several water convoys to the men once Louisianan resistance cells had poisoned the local wells by dumping readily available and easily accessible household cleaners down it. The fuel situation for the massive waves of Texan armor was better than the water situation, but the tanks would be usless filled with the fuel they need but lacking the crews to man them. She soon heard a tap on her shoulder and turned to the aide in the small tent.
“What?”
“General, I was wondering if we could possibly dig in to fortified positions around the city to await reinforcements-“
“Reinforcements? We’ve hardly lost anything in this offensive, I’m the most surprised out of all of you. Only five thousand dead out of a total force of seventy-five thousand, only a dozen tanks destroyed with another dozen damaged out of two hundred. I’d say we’re doing pretty damn well, I just pray to Allah we don’t jinx this with something. The Men shall continue to march out of the city and keep advancing until something stops us.”
“With all due respect M’am, I was wondering if you could perhaps rethink your plan of attack. We have taken this rather large city with some substantial losses, perhaps it would be preferable to secure our right flank in detaching a small portion of the army south in order to capture the town of Grand Chenier. If we can capture such an inland province, we might be able to prevent flanking assaults on the right by Louisianan forces.”
“How small do you propose this detachment be? 500? 1,000?”
“4,000 strong. But, It’s only because of our need to throw more than a few boaides at the enemy.”
“What the fuck is a boaide? I think the author meant to spell bodies, but he’s clearly in a rush to get this post out, fucking amateur. Anyways, I’m going to allocate a fourth of that number and two tanks to secure those needed positions. Now in regards to-“
Suddenly, they were interrupted in the military planning by a white man smoking a fat Cuban cigar, walking around with a diamond incrusted cane while wearing the fur of a dead racoon draped over his three-piece suit. The man removed the sunglasses he was wearing and sounded rather cheery in the manner of his pronunciation of certain words.
“Howdy doo ya Liberators?! My name is Corrupt Carl, my full name is Carl Portsmouth Wilson, but just keep to Corrupt Carl, ya here? I happened to overhear your glorious liberation of the country from the infidel populace, and I propose something. How about you and I go for a walk an talk, no?”
With one arm swung around Packard’s shoulder, the old woman and the strange man that smelt faintly of booze and strongly of cigarette smoke took a walk through the Texan military base.
“Now, I hear you managed to capture this wonderful city of Lake Charles. I am one of your biggest fans, Willie, Wilhelmina, however the fuck you say that. I know that you like cigarettes like my love for double-crossing my own government in order to sell you a deal you’d like to hear over the rocks.”
Wilhelmina’s eyebrows made a noticeable movement when she heard of the supposed offer.
“Continue. I’m listening.”
“That’s wonderful Willie, can I call you Willie? Yes? No? Fuck. Ok then Willie, I’ve got some political knowledge in one or two minor offices within the government, though I mostly run some small crime family in the bayou. I’ve got wonderful monopolies in several casinos within this city, and I would like to propose something to you. Ya listenin? Ya? Vunderbar! Now my proposal is this somewhat legitimization of your allegedly illegal actions by the world community. How about you not annex any of the land, well maybe a few cities and perhaps the coast-“
“The Army does not need the beaches of Louisiana, those are for the Navy to play with their boats like a bunch of weirdoes. You want to become a puppet regime for the Greater Texan Republic?”
“Oh hell yeah, I designed a flag, anthem and personal bodyguard myself. I’ll declare myself Gangster-President of the Greater Republic of Louisiana.”
“Normally, such a high-level decision would have to be discussed by my government, so please wait here while I send a carrier Pidgeon back to Texas.”
After two long days of waiting for the bird to come back, along with Frost almost shooting the bird when it flew into his window during a syrup bath for himself, the response was dribbled out before the letter was dropped into Wilhelmina’s palm, who read the blunt answer.
“Oh Hell Yeah I want some puppets. That’s what his response was. May I hear that national anthem too?”
“Oh hell yeah.
Gangster! Gangster! Here we are! Here we are! Savior of the Bayou!
The Nation of the Bayou, is rotting from the core.
Idiot Leader Chaplain wants to eat you whole! All of Louisiana salutes you, brave Gangster Carl!
Gangster! Gangster! Here we are! Here we are! Savior of the Bayou!
Louisiana shall return to it’s greatness under your hands.
Chains will be placed around all who oppose!
Our soldiers march to save our souls!
Gangster! Gangster! Here we are! Here we are! Savior of the Bayou!”
“I love that national anthem by the way, so catchy and sounds like some 1940’s Vichy French music to accompany it. It is a pleasure collaborating with you, Gangster-President Corrupt Carl. I now appoint myself as the official ambassador of the Greater Republic of Texas to the Greater Republic of Louisiana.”
With a salute in the small town, a ceremony was launched as the old flag of the Louisianan local government was hauled down and taken as badly needed toilet paper supplies for the Texan soldiers while a newly designed flag of the GRL was hauled up the flag mast as the national anthem plated once more.

Town of Ida, near the Arkansas-Louisianan boarder

After swiftly taking the small police force off guard and throwing their bodies into various shallow graves, General Eustace Bagge squinted without his glasses at the charts of the casualties sustained in the beginning operations of the second part.
He was on the move in a rather large convoy in the very van of the armored formations, being led by the unarmored and unprotected PT Cruiser that dated back to the early 2000s. The second Texan force was smaller than the main one which was moving through Louisiana in an easterly direction. The Southern moving force of southerners was a total of 46,000 soldiers backed up by 95 armored tanks and about one hundred technicals, taken from various car dealerships vandalized by the advancing Texan army as they marched to the boarder within their own territory. Needless to say the insurance payout for the one hundred various cars would be one hell of a bitch.
“Now where’s my goddamned suppa Muriel?!”
“Oh my you bastard. Be a little patient with it. I can’t cut the bread and shit on the toast at the same time.”
With a heavy grumble under his breath, he was finally served the delicious poop on the slice of wheat, eating it eagerly and slightly smiling at his wife for the probably alright to eat meal.
“Now, we’re going to move our main force down state route seventy-one all the way until we reach the city of Shreveport, where we shall dig in with defenses and await further reinforcements once we’ve secured our supply lines. Then we shall continue our advance down the road, following the Red river south until our forces possibly link up with Packard’s main force. Once we’ve rendezvoused with her, I’ll just have to listen to her annoying voice for the remainder of all combat operations until she dies.”
His trusted military aide, Daniel Courage looked on with mild fear as the rather simplistic plan was laid out.
“No Offense, General, but this plan seems to vague, should we not launch assaults along each flank in miniature strikes to enable clean lines of communication with our allied forces?
“Secure our flanks? That’s ridiculous, we all know the Louisianans are too stupid enough to do nothing more than assault our forces head on with whatever armed cop cars and water pistols they’re armed with.”
“General, you had better not be underestimating our enemies, I hear they’re-“
“Get down you dumbass!”

Forcing the aide’s head down in the cruiser, bullets slammed into the driver of the automobile and the personal guard, killing them instantly. Bagge and Courage were saved immediate death from the immediate ducking down from the car. The Convoy was thrown into chaos as explosions ripped apart the rearguard Toyota truck in the back carrying a heavy machine gun.
Now trapped, the Texan forces hastily adopted a proto wagon wheel formation, with defenses established from the MBTs forming a circle around the command units which barked out orders. Crawling out of the bullet hole riddled automobile, Bagge and Courage managed to avoid hails of gunfire when they reached the center, where a makeshift on the go headquarters was inflated with balloons.
The Texan soldiers shot up at the surrounding valley walls where Louisianan forces had ambushed them, managing to hear several faint screams over the loud amounts of Texan firepower that was shot up at either side. The Main Battle Tanks soon purred with their main armaments, seemingly silencing the assault.
When it was all over, the dead were counted quickly and left on the side of the road, with the burnt-out husks of several armored vehicles and technicals. On their way back to a Dodge Pickup Truck that was the transferred flagship of the force, the casualty estimates were being mulled over.
“Shit. Eighteen technicals and 5 tanks destroyed completely, eighty-nine dead and forty four wounded. Confirmed seventeen enemy dead from estimated force of fifty. It appears these Louisianans can still bite down hard.”
With a determined look in Eustace Bagge’s eyes, he would retort “Well we’ll just have to bite harder than them.” Before loading up a shotgun with a pumping motion with his hands as the force continued along the road.

[Parcia]

Havana

Fredrico Took her hand and shook it warmly. "And it is a pleasure to finally host you here in Havana." Taking the allotted moment to let the Women get settled, he retrieved his cup of coffee, taking care to offer her some, before continuing.

"So, I will be frank with you, the rather large topic of conversation will likely be devoted to the matters of Military support and refurbishment, from the aging Soviet Warships the Federal Navy sails to even older tanks and aircraft my nation's Army and Air force operates. To say it would need a full overhaul equipment wise would be...an understatement. How ever, I recognize this meeting will also go a long way to boost the relationship of our nations in others ways as well."

Taking a sip from his coffee, he went on. "My advisers have crafted a rather balanced proposal to allow us to begin a expanded, large scale economic cooperation plan to allow us to grow the economies of our nations to a firm and friendly level." He would reach over and hand her the large binder that contained the official plans and documentation.

"Now, I do have a few...other matters I would like to discuss that are...no appropriate for an official plan."

He would keep his gaze leveled on the young women, reading her face the best he could.

[Cappuccina]

Republique Québécoise

Year of our Lord 2045

Quebec City

Premier Desmarais had recently been in a meeting with the various ministers of her cabinet, outlining current the state of the Republic, and the forecast was looking rather bleak. The public works programs initiated by her father's administration years prior to bring the nation's infrastructure back up to its pre-collapse glory were nearing completion resulting in an increase of the unemployment rate, and the economy was seeing little growth as a result of Quebec's isolation. The upcoming Arctic deal with Yukolumbia hadn't been made a reality as of yet, the production of equipment for Louisiana would only be a temporary measure, and her meeting with the Atlantic Federation's president had yet to be scheduled, she'd no doubt have to pitch some economic deals his way. But she needed to think quickly of something to secure Quebec's stability on the economic front in the long run. Seeing an opportunity to make a business deals, she decided to reach out to the Nordic Commonwealth.

To: Nordic Commonwealth
From: Quebecois Republic

Greetings our Eastern neighbors, the Government of Quebec would like to formally open diplomatic relations and request an exchange of embassies between our nations.

In addition, we'd like to invite the Nordic company Volvo to open factories in our territory, as we lack a native automotive industry. We look forward to a strong partnership with our neighbors across the

Sincerely, Elise Desmarais, Premier of Quebec

With the communique sent to the Nords, Elise immediately began typing up a second letter, one that interested her far more than the previous. The current war in the Caribbean, though a pain in many ways, did provide her a unique opportunity to make headway on her pet project ahead of schedule.

During the last decade, a growing sentiment amongst the younger Quebecois was the idea of "Françamerique" or "French America" as a community of French speaking regions in the Americas with Quebec as its heart and metropole. The Premier shared this view, and dreamed of a grand alliance of the American Francophones lead by her beloved homeland. The apparent collapse of France, added to her sense of Quebec as the torchbearer and heir to Gallic civilization, that had a duty to maintain and defend said culture.

To: former French Overseas Departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, St. Martin, Martinique, St. Barthelemy
From: Quebecois Republic

Greetings our fellow Francophones, we extend our hand out in friendship towards our southern sisters and come to you with a proposal. Since the collapse, the French Republic has left your people abandoned and out to fend for yourselves. I, Premier Desmarais, invite your departments to join the Quebecois Republic in a customs union and defense pact to replace the former French market and military protection, and if so requested Quebec will annex those polities whose populace vote for such by referendum.

Sincerely, Elise Desmarais, Premier of Quebec

[The Felan Federation]

Pacific States of America

---

Brought to you by Spicy Noodles of Texas and Fairly Bright Lights of California

Bill Noodle’s arrival in Sacramento could be in a way said to be...hostile or unwelcoming, if Bill could understand why he was being escorted to the Chancellor’ Office in an armed convoy. That included armed humvees and trucks that had rather impressive firepower on top of them.

Not to mention, the Pacific Army had guns that looked more fancier, polished and less rusting than their Texas counterparts. In a way, if Noodle wasn’t crazy, coked-fueled or super-sane then he might have assumed that Chancellor Fairbright didn’t like his arrival here.

Rather it was the typical response to whenever anyone from Texas arrived here - as the Pacific States of America didn’t allow nor had organized any Embassy for Texas to be established here. Namely cause any such Embassy would be a likely den of drugs, sex and illegal arms trafficking.

Not to mention, none of the Sacramento Police Department wanted to have such a headache upon their hands. Especially when Texas seemed to act in a very unprofessional way. It was an ironic thing, that even the former state of North Korea seemed to act in a more professional and more politically acceptable way - to give off the impression that they were a sovereign state - and not a dictatorship in all but name.

Thus, whenever Texas needed or wanted something discussed - they usually needed to send a representative here. Granted they had a habit of not wanting to go back home once their job was done - seeing as the Pacific States of America were more cleaner, safer and the food wouldn’t give anyone poisoning if consumed.

In a way, Bill Noodle had been politely informed to keep his antics to himself - less he be shot down and killed on the spot.

The Texan delegation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs/ Vice President Bill Noodle was still rubbing several noticeable bruises on his arm from a tumble down his hotel steps this morning before Sacramento's finest in blue escorted him to the humvee. In a way, the humvee conjured up images of a more peaceful yet still powerful country, similar to the Pacific States. He had heard rumors of the Texas Army not being fully equipped with troop transports, being forced to utilize such archaic means of transportation such as the slingshot and “borrowing” hundreds of cars from local dealerships.
He fully knew that war between the Pacific States and Texas was always a possibility, though he had dismissed such a frivolous and expensive operations. Instead exercising in Louisiana to advance in a straight line as the height of Texan battle tactics, seeing no need to alter or change them in an invasion of different terrained countries such as the PSA. He understood that the coked up mad-man known as Frost didn't pay much attention to the PSA, instead opting for a brutal campaign in Louisiana instead.

In a way, the Pacific States of America might be considered the more harder foe to crack - considering that Texas and the PSA didn’t even share a border between the two of them. As between the middle of them both, stood the King and Kingdom of Deseret. In a way, likely more crazier or more sane than those living in Texas. Secondly, the Pacific States still attempted and kept utilizing more of the former United States technological advantage.

That was included in a way, of having drones following him - the kind that would deliver to him, thousands of rounds of lead per second, instead of a package from Colombia. As Bill would be delivered to his destination and allowed entrance to the Chancellor’ office - granted he would still have those floating drones follow him and armed personnel behind him as well. Compared to the rather dysfunctional Texas Armed Forces - these guys and few girls seemed to barely crack a smile or laugh at all at his visit.

When he would arrive in the Chancellor’ office - he would find the blond woman, sitting behind her desk and having a rather dispassionate look on her face. As in a way, Jessica Fairbright didn’t like those ruling Texas - both because it was heavily inefficient, slavery itself was being practiced and their ruler was someone whom would have been arrested dozens of times. In a way, Texas was the unruly college frat party boy’ club and the PSA was the displeased dean - except in this case, both were armed and didn’t like each other that much.

“Vice...President...Noodle is it?” she hummed, the two first words filled with much displeasure, at how any man could gain such titles and look like...him. “...what does Texas wish to discuss, proper then?”

Bill Noodle looked around at the room, the whole air smelling with the faintest whiff of perfume, his eyes then directly staring at the apparent woman within the room. From what he read in several history books and magazine articles as part of a diplomatic refresher course on how not to blow the fuck up out of your allies , he waved his trademark semi insane grin at the woman before taking a seat that was opposite Fairbright.

“Vice President-General.” He would start with a correction to the position he had been sworn in a few days prior.

“I also serve as the Minister of Foreign Affairs as well, and I would like to first begin by saying the secretive nature of my trip is to ensure security for my person. There’s been threats against myself, particularly from Cubans and various other enemies of the state.“

After coughing slightly for a brief second, he unveiled a coke bottle that was downed swiftly by his thirsty mouth before he would continue.

“Though I’m quite pleased with the way you’ve treated me so far. Sure there’s only a couple of cuts and bruises, but those will heal. Scars inflicted by a trip to Cuba will not. I have no intention of having my ass blown apart in Havana. Now, about why we are here. Allow me to first discuss plainly and simply about increased trade and the lowering of tariffs on Pacific States good imported to the Greater Republic of Texas. With our complete and total embargo of trade from the Atlantic Federation, we will have to have turned to your technologically advanced industries such as in consumer goods to shore up the flailing state owned railways and military general controlled factories who harbor ill intentions towards President Frost and myself.”

“It should come as no surprise to you that our country is riddled with incompetence, corruption and even the unfortunate third wheel of the room, slavery. I was loathe to discuss the third option with you, given your historic history of participating in the civil war to defeat slavery. I understand completely that trade involving literal human resources of the african populace is an asinine, insane and toxic proposal for any possible ‘win-win’ trade deal.”

“I shall drop that subject now and move back to the lowering and possible elimination of any and all tariffs, save on grain imported by Texas, towards the PSA. In exchange we simply ask for a 7% stake by state owned companies to freely mine, and fishing rights within one mile of your exclusive economic zone, but no further for any Texan flagged shipping vessels. The basic deal is, both our countries eliminate tariffs between what trade is available in exchange for slightly increased texan influence with fishing and minor mining concessions on your part.”

Bill Noodle then looked at his watch on his wrist, smiling at the time before unveiling a yellow colored folder marked Confidential in big red letters. Unfolding it was a large map and several documents with lines crossed out on them.

“This, is my personal project. I don’t believe you people to be the enemies of the Texan Republic. In fact, I think you could be quite beneficial partners in a possible joint division of territory. All we need is the conquest of Arizona, and you are allowed to expand into both Utah and Idaho. I understand the increased instability in those regions are causes for concerns about being dragged into another long war with your forces, but I trust you people wish to expand the borders as much as we do.”

“If this is not possible, then I would absolutely adore a non-aggression pact with the Pacific States, as we harbor no ulterior motives in our intentions. We are attempting, well, I’m attempting, to be as clear with you as possible.”

With that, Noodle sat back in his chair, grabbing a cigarette from his pocket and striking a match to light it, eager to her back her response to the proposals on trade and military action as he blew a cloud of smoke into the air.

If Bill was hoping for any great or amazing reply he would be sorely mistaken as the only reply he would got was simple and flat. “No…” stated Jessica, looking rather irritated and short of angry at the man in question whom was flaunting any and all sense of political decency at her face.

“You seem to forget who you are talking with and what kind of situation your country is in,” replied Chancellor Fairbright. “Let me make this quite clear. As far as I see it - you are nothing more than a narco-state. A nation who has lasted only this long and far, only because those with power have deemed your nation too corrupted to waste a single man upon.”

“But in your blatant move in engaging hostilities, you have changed that. Far from any tariffs, trade deals or agreements. The Pacific States of America will cease any and all trade with Texas…” she declared, rather calmly yet with a very sinister undertone. Almost similar to Big Brother from Oceania - although with a more humane face to things.

“You seem to blatantly ignore the fact, you are enslaving people based on nothing but the skin of their epidermis. Or in plain terms. You are enslaving people, just because their skin is a more darker color due to evolution giving them such a thing. But I likely assume you people wouldn’t know a thing about evolution. You like thing some Flying Spaghetti Monster created you all, and granted President Ice-Dick his authority to rule…” she growled, looking at Noodle and hoping that by his surname - he would melt from her gaze alone.

“I have had black students from Texas literally fight police officers against the idea of being sent back to the state that made North Korea look good. They would rather be jailed in Sacramento than return to Texas,” she said. Then she reached over and crumbled up the map he had and threw it back at him. “If you even think of putting boots onto Arizona, Idaho or Utah - then I will flood the sky with drones and turn your entire so-called ‘armed forces’ into mincemeat…”

“You are a failing state due to your own faults. Is it any wonder why millions of African-Americans had fled Texas in droves to escape your brutal regime…” she spoke. “The security forces aren’t for you. It is for them, the people outside. There are several people from Texas itself who would be most happy to hang you from a lamp-pole.”

As that was said and done, she finished things off by soon throwing to him a bottle of pills at that - namely, Bill Noodle was crazy and insane, so she decided to still show some sort of political rapport and handed him what was basically medicine for his insanity. “We are done…” she declared. “Also...if you think of trying anything funny with me or pulling out something…”

Namely she reached down and pushed a button under her desk, as two hatches opened up in her ceiling - having two drones soon fly out of it and have themselves be pointed at Bill Noodle. “These two things here are Mark X-Class Attack Drones. Armed with 10mm caseless auto-cannons that can fire a hundred rounds per second. More than enough time to turn you into swiss cheese, before you can think of pulling out some rusty flintlock pistol you likely stole from an old Civil War Museum…”

The response that Bill Noodle got was not one he had been expecting in the slightest. He had been hoping that some tangible agreement would be secured in this, something that he could bring back to Texas and prove to them that diplomacy was an option. But he guessed there was no reasoning with certain people, it seemed. Taking a long, delayed drag on his cigar, he clutched the bottle of pills before finally gaining enough courage to speak up.

“That’s too bad. I was hoping something worthwhile would have come from the limitless economic potential between the Greater Republic of Texas and the Pacific States of America.” Then as he was reaching in his pocket for a pen, he noticed the two drones pointing at his neck. Dropping the simple writing utensil back in his pocket, he simply shot her a disarming smile.

“I see that you don't take kindly to slave driving, stratocratic regimes, and you’re not open for the possibilities of dividing up territories in a way that would benefit us both. I just ask one simple thing, that I be allowed to return to Texas with my life intact. I thank you for your hospitality so far in keeping my head attached to my neck, and I don’t intend on dying today. Maybe you can kill me tomorrow or something. I guess these negotiations have proven fruitless in advancing any sort of economic concession out of either of us for a fairer system. It was nice to get out of texas, I enjoyed your gardens, that one bridge thingy, and your gay people. Ok the gays were weird, but two out of three aint bad, eh?”

With a deep sigh, he slowly began to inch out of the room before asking.

“Can you remove these things, please? I’m just going to get back in the limousine, drive back to the airport and fly my ass back to texas. The Texan military high command had initial plans for an invasion of arizona, though it was considered too risky. I now see-” He paused, taking a long stare at the drone before returning eye contact.

“That any military incursions into Arizona will be met with the full wrath of the Pacific States, as such, I will inform my high command to scrap the operation immediately. Again, I wished that these talks had born some fruit, but the best I can ask for now is leaving with my head attached to my body. I hear those things are quite annoying without the head part. So, again, thank you for your unwavering hospitality, and this weird bottle of stuff.”

With that, Noodle opened the door and slowly backed out of it, smiling at her once again before tripping down the steps several times to go back to the limousine.

Chancellor Fairbright soon enough, made sure the security detail would keep an eye on Noodle until he was on-board his worthless piece of cardboard known as a plane and was out of their airspace. Granted she wouldn’t be surprised if the plane itself broke mid-flight and they were blamed for it.

Thus, she soon wrote to one the Secretary of Defense. “Set, Operation Goodneighbor to stand-by...we might be expecting cowboys…” she declared.

[Imperialisium]

Havana

Fredrico Took her hand and shook it warmly. "And it is a pleasure to finally host you here in Havana." Taking the allotted moment to let the Women get settled, he retrieved his cup of coffee, taking care to offer her some, before continuing.

"So, I will be frank with you, the rather large topic of conversation will likely be devoted to the matters of Military support and refurbishment, from the aging Soviet Warships the Federal Navy sails to even older tanks and aircraft my nation's Army and Air force operates. To say it would need a full overhaul equipment wise would be...an understatement. How ever, I recognize this meeting will also go a long way to boost the relationship of our nations in others ways as well."

Taking a sip from his coffee, he went on. "My advisers have crafted a rather balanced proposal to allow us to begin a expanded, large scale economic cooperation plan to allow us to grow the economies of our nations to a firm and friendly level." He would reach over and hand her the large binder that contained the official plans and documentation.

"Now, I do have a few...other matters I would like to discuss that are...no appropriate for an official plan."

He would keep his gaze leveled on the young women, reading her face the best he could.

Antonia took the binder and began to flip through it. There was figures, estimates, material quotas, time frames, and everything in between pertaining to Russo-Cuban economic development. His mention of unofficial plans perks her ears up, however, and she lowered the binder to rest on her lap. "And these unofficial plans are what exactly? You have official documents ready for economic plans and mention my nation helping yours refurbish your...aging military apparatus. What specifically are you inferring?"

Antonia had been prepped on the Cuban military capabilities before her departure. Sure, most people didn't have much on anyone else to a vast extent given how damaged the information networks were due to the chaos of the previous decades. But Russian information agencies had been able to garner some details. The Cubans had an aged, small, Navy. An Airforce that would be grounded by any force carried by an aircraft carrier; not to mention an Army sporting armaments much to be desired. At least by Imperial standards. No doubt Cuba would be making big purchases from Russia to build, transport, and train Cuban forces in the use of more modern weaponry. Especially, given the hostility, Cuba possessed with the Texans and being in close proximity to the Atlantic Federation.

[Parcia]

He would nod and Continue.

"Cuba fins her self in an Increasingly...Volatile position. Between the Warlords of Central and South America, to Caribbean Pirates to belligerent States like Texas to even more formal ones like the PSA and the Federation. The all pose some sort of threat, one that Cuba, as of now, can not properly defend her self from. I am asking, rather, am willing to purchase, in no official capacity, three things."

He took a sip of his Coffee, "First would be a missile defense system capable of intercepting and destroying enemy launched ICBMs. Second, and some what more important, would be a set of IRBMs to give Cuba her own strategic and national deterrent against Nuclear equipped powered like the Federation and Texas, the latter of which we have good intelligence that tells us they have working Remnants of the United State's National Strategic arsenal." He paused. "And yes, we hit their Pentax nuclear plant before production could resume on WMDs."

"Lastly, we wish to purchase Super computers, Models similar to the ones found at the NDMC facility in Moscow."

He paused again, taking another sip and retrieving a Cigar. "We are prepared to pay up front, in gold if we have to, to have the Interception system and the Weapons them selves, to be rushed to Havana by aircraft in order to have these systems in place in the upcoming war Cuba will find it self in. I understand why these things would be...alarming and I encourage you to ask questions, as long as we both understand that officially, this conversation stopped 6 minuets ago."

He took a breath and lit the Cigar, waiting for her response.

[Arvenia]

To: Quebecois Republic
From: Union of the French Caribbeans
Subject: Unification
Encryption: None
Dear Premier of Quebec, even if we still seek to maintain our independence, we are delighted to join your country. We hope the future looks bright and that the Francophone can be reunited. Long live equality, liberty, fraternity and sorority. We await your response.

Cordialement, Secretary-General Birgitte Alexandre of the Union of the French Caribbeans

[The Felan Federation]

Alaska, Anchorage

Brought to you by Imperial Russian Vodka and Fairly Bright Lights of California

The State of Alaska was neither a constituent territory of the United States any more, nor was it technically apart of Russia. In fact, Alaska, was pretty much at odds with what it was. It belonged to no sovereign nation and yet was not run entirely of its own volition. The government in Anchorage had long been under the influence of Moscow. Needless to say a protectorate of the current Russian Empress father more or less defined the territory. Indeed, the current monarch in Moscow's own Father, before his passing, was the one that extended Russian influence over Alaska. Offering protection and the establishment of a small Russian force to keep order and assist the native Alaskan police units as they reordered the land to face the realities of the present. Juneau was considered to exposed of a location and unsuited as a capital. The territorial government was thus moved to Anchorage, the major city, and established in the former town hall. The Russian Navy had a small presence, mostly cutters, couple corvettes that would patrol the waters, and the odd destroyer or frigate that would cruise on by a few times a year. It was mainly due to the geographic distance than anything else. At least, until recently with the reintegration of the Russian Pacific Fleet from the naval base in Vladivostok. It offered a large military presence much closer to Alaskan shores. Yet, Moscow had no designs to alienate the Yukocolumbian and Pacific peoples to the East and South of Alaska. True, the Moscow and the Pacific States had reached a mutual understanding over Alaska. The Tsarina reaffirming her fathers policy of allowing trade, travel, and in the case of the Pacific States even going so far as to allow them to send provisions North to help the Alaskans in Winter...

"You see them Ivan?"

"Of course I see them Sergei." replied the ethnic Russian from behind binoculars - around the dockyards. Watching from the shore as a tugboat bearing the Alaskan flag led a Pacific States cargo ship into port. Stocked with so much metric tons of food, drinking water, and winter clothing to ease the people surviving out here in the Alaskan wilderness. The two Russians were part of the Russian Army detachment Amerika. A battalion sized formation made up of volunteers, English speaking Russians, winter specialists, and even Alaskans that volunteered to join the Russian Imperial Army. Their military and policing purpose was not lost on any bystanders as the AK's slung on their backs and combat gear showed them what they where. But they were not oppressors either. One could say this detachment was a boring post increasingly made up of Alaskan's looking to join a military service and remain close to home. Only prerequisite was loyalty to Russia and the ability to speak or learn Russian.

"Andrew I have the cargo ship coming in on schedule. Relay to HQ and Major Everman. Over." said Ivan next to his observant compatriot. Indeed, Everman, Andrew, they were English names. Nothing else could exemplify the unit being a hybrid of Russians and Alaskans.

"Confirmed, Ivan. Over." came the reply over the commset.

The cargo ship had been let here by the PSS Yellow Thunder - a name that usually was mis-translated or misnamed intentionally by the crew as 'piss yellow thunder'. Although, one couldn't change the acronyms for the vessel unless one changed the name of the Pacific States themselves - jokes aside, the Yellow Thunder was a new and unique type of ship in this new geopolitical world. By all accounts it was a regular destroyer armed with the necessary missile and gun batteries to ward off any approaching aircraft or ship. Although, it was unique in being classified by the PSA as a drone destroyer - as if necessary, the Yellow Thunder could rapidly deploy around twenty armed drones with seconds of warning. The operators behind these things were still a mystery - be they operated from within the destroy, by program or even by some semi-AI intelligence in the Pacific Military Network. A few had criticized the idea of discontinuing the few carriers that the Pacific States of America had gotten from the former United States Navy - although the choice had gone through.

In a way, the Chancellor had still stuck behind her logic - the PSA had no need nor wanted to sink in the resources in maintaining a symbol of former dominance. Not to mention the cost it would be to maintain a carrier against whom exactly? Not to mention, developing technologies were slowly making even the carrier slowly obsolete. Why would one need a floating airfield - when a regular destroyer could get the job done with less costs? Not to mention, with military hardware having evolved following the 'Second' American Civil War and the Central European War - drones had started to become more and more deadly as time passed on - and the PSA still kept improving on their designs.

But that was a different story, as for the moment the cargo ship belonging to the Pacificans would soon enough reach the docks of Alaska. The man whom was overseeing this transfer was Captain Jonah Smith - Jonah was a rarity, he had lived in Alaska once, then had moved to California when America had started to become unstable and the economy of Alaska had started to dry up like ice in the desert. In addition, his mother happened to be Russian - whom had arrived here, back when things were still normal and she had merely attempted what anyone did when coming to America: a new chance and start. Granted, she got it - although not how she had wished. Since when the Great Collapse happened - Jonah recalled his mother telling him, how the situation in America reminded her of times when the Soviet Union had collapsed.

In a way, it helped to broaden his view of the world - Capitalists or Communists didn't much matter. Both would try to skim you broke anyways, nobody was better than the other, and both were idiots all the same. Her mother had plenty of idioms to use and curses, many in Russian. It was why he had been deployed by the PSN here. Since he had a history, could speak Russian...relatively speaking...and was the perfect poster boy for improved relationships with the Russian Empire. Since both factions saw a net positive in the other - if Alaska was developed well, then it gave the Russians a strong foothold in America and for those in the PSA, it gave them a lukewarm ally if the need arose.

"Allo?! Ey! Whose the guy in charge here!?" yelled Captain Jonah - mixing between English and heavily accented Russian, once they had docked, the anchors had been dropped and the chains secured.

Approaching Captain Jonah was a man in a heavy brown coat, workman' hat, and bearing the symbols of the Anchorage Wharf Customs Agency. In charge of monitoring trade to and from the dockyards. The man spoke in perfect unaccented English, an American Alaskan, if one could still call them that. "Anthony Smith, I'm the head of Customs for the Anchorage Commercial yards. Your manifest says your supplying foodstuffs and other provisions to aid us in weathering the Winter months. I must extend my gratitude to the PSA for this." Smith looked over at the pair of Imperial Army soldiers with their slung AKs and one going over the ship with binoculars. "I never thought I'd see the day when Russians controlled Alaska and worked alongside us. What a strange world we live in." It was then Jonah could really grasp the mans age. His brown hair had not yet turned grey but his leathery, weather worn face, showed that he was somewhere in his mid to late 50's. "The Russians will require you to file a report with them and they'll search your ship shortly as per anti-smuggling regulations. No doubt you're familiar given how crazy it was to ship anything just ten years ago."

True, the collapse of global and regulated trade meant that as soon as trading started to re-commence in full there was an outburst of piracy, smuggling, and trafficking. Illegal practices that still plagued many maritime regions of the world and would only cease once the world stabilized more. The sound of a cargo truck came to be heard until a GAZ covered transport truck came into view. Jumping out the back was a couple squads of Russian Army troopers who began to make their way towards Jonah. Headed by a Lieutenant in a peaked cap. Arriving amidst the duo the Russian officer, for this particular officer was indeed from Russia, but he spoke English well enough, "We require a copy of your manifest and to search your ship. At which point your crew is free to go and begin unloading as they please. We are aware of your official purpose here and should you require additional manpower, Her Majesty's Government has authorized my unit to aide you in such efforts."

So the Russians were there to help as well. Evidently the Tsarina had gone to lengths to deliberately order such hospitality as a sign of good faith and cooperation.

Captain Jonah soon enough nodded in reply, more of a respectful gesture as a civilian captain to a military officer. "As you wish," replied Jonah, handing the Russian in question a more detailed list of things that they were bringing along with them. Namely clothing; most of them were old yet finely kept clothes from the time of American consumerism. Medical supplies; mostly antibiotics, over-the-counter drugs for more common needs, a few more prescription based and a rarity in a place like Alaska or the world itself. Non-industrial equipment; televisions, electronic equipment, medical equipment and also twenty weather drones. Although the most important part and largest part being food; the good old corn, wheat, vegetables of various sort and kind, a few fruits mostly lemons and oranges and also some meat too. The curious part being, the surplus would be enough to feed the population here for months - while also having enough over for any military base here as well. Either the PSA had this as an oversight and were mostly eager to waste food...or they did it on purpose, as their gesture of goodwill.

"I will warn you ahead...since this ship had been out of commission for five years and only recently brought into service - I will not be sure, that every part of this ship and every pipe is clean as a whistle. If you find any contraband, then it is yours to confiscate...including anyone whom brought it there..." he commented, the last part directed at the crew themselves. Since this entire aid mission had been a way to improve relationships with the Russian Empire. As things were though - no contraband would be found, seeing as the Pacific States had gone through this place earlier and had promised bonuses for a smooth and orderly sailing at that. The only contraband that the soldiers doing the check-up might find, inside a rusty old pipe. was a pack of Marlboro cigarettes still in mint condition and in their plastic wrapper - a contraband that might disappear in a few seconds into a trench-coat considering how rare quality cigarettes were and how valuable such a brand itself was nowadays.

"If...there isn't anything else...anywhere specific you want this goods to be placed in?" he asked.

The Russian officer read through the inventory list as best he could, he understood it all, but even if one was fluent in a foreign language you just couldn't quite compete with the speed of a native speaker. So as the Russian officer traced his index finger along the lines of Latin script and English words. Anthony Smith was the one to reply, "Warehouse 8 is where the foodstuff will be stored. Its a temperature controlled warehouse. Took us a month to get it working since the company that made the components shutdown when America went tits up. But it'll due until a full assortment of replacement parts come in from Murmansk. Warehouse 11 is where all other commodities will be stored." As Anthony finished speaking the Russian officer finished reading the list and handed it back to Captain Jonah. Looking up at the ship his men started to come back in pairs. Team by team as they finished their designated rounds. Until, eventually, they all arrived back to stand behind their officer. "If you need us. Radio channel 14. You're both free to conduct your activities. Gentlemen." The officer nodded to them both before trudging off back to the truck with his men in tow.

Once the paperwork was done, soon enough the offloading could begin - seeing as these provisions could make or break the Alaskan Autonomous Zone.