«12. . .4,7614,7624,7634,7644,7654,7664,767. . .4,7724,773»
| Lodged | From | Messages |
|---|---|---|
 The Infinite Empire of Cybus1 | I got 12! For arms dealing, developing my IT industry, and for the written word. All of which are fitting, given our many weapons companies (like Ryan, for instance), and our technological and cultural sophistications. | |
 The Semi-Direct Democracy of Oceara |
The team proposes that comparison between Cybusian Orsonian Blacklight and Earth Orsonian Blacklight with Psychic sensors might lead to the first experimental evidence for the theory and would allow for the first Psiono-Genetic Decryption to eliminate 'command codes' from the Earth Orsonian Genome and would give valuable insights for conducting similar Decryption on Drakul Venom which may not quite lead to a vaccine or 'cure' given how many strains exist but would be likely to lead to more effective treatments in delaying the progression of a Drakul Virus infection and together with extreme procedures like brain extraction and full-body replication using particle manipulators might allow some to survive depending on if their brain isn't yet infected when receiving treatment. | |
 The Unified Worlds of Corsahnim | Alexis Trenton, General of the Corsahn Space Marines, sat at the holographic computer system in her private quarters. Ever since the Reunification War and the subsequent conflicts that happened after the fall of the Na Military Duumvirate, she had no real use for the power Johnathan had given her. As well, meditation bored her out of her skull, and she'd much rather consume mindless content on CorsaNet than do anything remotely close to just sitting there doing absolutely nothing. She knew that in a few minutes, she'd get bored of that, too, and find something else to do, namely in the form of lifting weights in the onboard gym. In a few minutes, that's where she would be. As she lifted irons in an amplified gravity chamber, her thoughts went toward the war and her actions during it. Some time during the war, she made transfers from one ship to another until she landed with two distinct figures - Johnathan Corsahnim, who gave her some strange power that amplified her combat abilities on top of her MAU modifications; and Phoenix Squadron, whose captain was, for all intents and purposes, the most hardcore Space Marine captain she'd ever met. After she met Captain Swart, she ended up staying with that particular squad for the rest of the war. The covert operations, her newfound powers that made her feel like a goddess, the death and destruction that seemed so incredibly addicting, she couldn't get enough! Just when things were getting exciting, exactly when she did the things she signed up for when she joined the Space Marines a hundred years ago, she found her purpose: that purpose was chaos, and causing as much of it as possible. And then the war ended. When the war ended, she felt hollow. She had power and strength and even durability beyond comprehension, far more than any Evolved or even Evol'cor. She knew that firsthand in the dozens of melee encounters that she had with the Evol'cor that the Na Military Duumvirate had on their payroll. She fought and killed groups of them in seconds, and with each death, she gained more and more power until eventually just a flick to the forehead had enough force to create a mess of biomass. The real treat was the souls she absorbed - and she found out pretty quickly that she could suck the spiritual essence out of an Evolved when one was in a regenerative state with a little soulsearching, both literally and figuratively. With anything else, you simply caught the soul in a net of darkness before it went into the cosmos, going who knows where. Alexis couldn't drink enough souls. Even now, she was parched, thirsting for more souls, for more power - something John himself warned her to try and control, or she would end up consuming herself. But all of that was over. She felt a distinct lack of purpose, a depression that this gravity room - set to a hundred and fifty times Earth's gravity - couldn't quite fix. Perhaps one day, she'd suck either soul away. --- Delta Seven arrived at the artificial moon orbiting above Johnna, the Capital Planet of the Corsahn Union. It remained that way even after countless conflicts, even the recent separation and Reunification War. He couldn't help but feel responsible for that particular war. He was a tool that caused untold chaos and countless deaths, murdering millions both directly and indirectly to achieve the nonsensical aims of the Library in one of the darkest eras in Corsahn History. The worst part is that he enjoyed it. After losing his first love during the beginning stages his reawakening - something that seemed to happen every 1000 years, losing every memory in place of creating new ones every millennium as Sentinel explained - he was in a state of rage for years that nothing could satisfy. He could have burned the entire galaxy if he wanted to, given enough time, but the thought of two people stopped him in that pursuit entirely. Those people happened to be his AI, Lilith, who seemed more a sister to him than an algorithmic set of ones and zeros; and Vlad, who was Jacqueline's little brother. He remembered Jacqueline like it was yesterday. The woman had found his unconscious body in a wreckage site not too far from the long-forgotten ruins of what was formerly Jacksonopolis, a city that preferred old-style living sans the amphibious vehicles the community created out of the space shuttles they landed in, which could go extremely fast on land. It was on one of these vehicles that he woke up, meeting her and Vlad for the first time. He couldn't understand her language at first, but Lilith deciphered it pretty quickly and put it in a way that Delta Seven could understand. Jacqueline, who preferred to be called Jackie, inherited a fishing business from her parents after they died in the Democratic Revolution that deposed Johnathan Corsahnim. They fought for the side of freedom. These days, it seemed John respected the Democratic process despite losing power, and thus ended up respecting what Jackie and Vlad's parents died for. Perhaps it was true that the Mesmer is what caused his tyrannical period, though Delta Seven had at one point been conditioned to believe otherwise by powers who wished John dead- Delta Seven shook his head. His thoughts were a mess today. What mattered was the here and now - he wasn't concerned anymore about Ilyth'la and her schemes. He didn't care to expand on his theories either - the only thing that mattered was that she used him as a tool of destruction just like the Library did. He had every right to hate her for that. Had every right to hate everyone who participated in those experiments in the Mangana realm. Yet he didn't. That was all irrelevant to him. These past few decades calmed Delta Seven considerably. He had no real desire for revenge - he didn't even thirst for violence in the way that he used to. Since the Ocearan Agency took him in, he learned a lot about himself. He learned to control and conquer his heart and mind, and it was through that that he knew he was ready to face the music. Despite everything he did and the circumstances behind it, he was still responsible for the deaths of untold millions. Meeting John was likely to have him arrested, and if that happened, Delta Seven wouldn't really have the will to escape. Delta Seven had to pay for his crimes somehow, had to be held accountable for the things he'd done, things that still haunt him to this day. When he exited the ship, Powersuit equipped to his body for easier recognition, he saw Johnathan at the door leading to the hangar with two guardsmen dressed in power armor decorated purple, with capes of black. They held their oversized rifles in a shoulder-resting position, walking along Jonathan Corsahnim himself. John wore a formal military suit decorated with a gradient half-red to half-blue bisecting vertically, and he wore a cape as well. The cape itself was black, and in the center was the Capetonian Rose - the alien plant native to the planet Johnna that had orange petals. "Welcome back, Delta Seven," Jonathan said with a smile, his short crew-cut grey hair and clean-shaven face giving way to youthful, unwrinkled skin. He lost the pigments in his hair, yet despite that, he had so much youth left in him - it was almost like looking at an early twenty-something who dyed his hair such a color. It was quite jarring to Delta Seven, but it wasn't unnerving. After all, he's seen stranger. "You requested a meeting. How's my old acquaintance doing this fine evening?" "Better than when you last saw me," Delta Seven admitted, his voice modulating through the suit. His voice was naturally baritone, but the suit made him sound more intimidating than he intended to be. Despite that, John gave a chuckle, a mirthful smile crossing his lips. "Indeed," John replied. "Tell me, what was so urgent you needed to call me away from the oh-so-important task of peacetime operations?" "You mean, keeping you away from doing absolutely nothing." "Ha! That's a good one," John said, his face giving way to Delta Seven's humorous statement. "Seriously now, what is it?" --- Johnathan sat in the private room, sipping on hot tea with the unsuited Delta Seven - Samuel, as he preferred. He was a golden-skinned individual with black hair, though his eyes were the oddity of his form - one eye had a white iris and pupil with black sclera, while his other had a black pupil and iris with white sclera. This made him unique to John. "So you're saying we need to prepare for war once more?" Johnathan asked. "All because we used temporal distortion technology to defeat Orsonian-built war machines?" Samuel nodded. "Yes. It seems that whatever this 'Oblivion' is, it feeds off of the tears of the fabric of space-time." "Do you think Ilyth'la and the Orsonians knew of this?" "Doubtful," Samuel said, his expression one of surety. "If they did, this either wouldn't have been an issue, or it would have happened far sooner." John stroked his chin as he looked into the honey-looking liquid in his hands. He saw his reflection, and in that reflection he saw his past self - the soul which reunited to his current body to give him Godlike powers. He could teleport anywhere in the galaxy that he wanted to with just the snap of a finger. It was how he caused so much trouble in the Reunification Conflicts after all, playing sides against one another in the trickiest of ways. It often amused him how foolish the successor states' leaders were - with the sole exception of the United Kingdoms of the Wild Finger, who didn't pose a threat after the 'Mure Liberation' plot he cooked up since the beginning. He became a bit of a prankster during the war as well. He didn't need to be directly involved in many of the battles he partook in - it was like his enemies destroyed themselves with how he used his powers. Commander Swart's operations, with the help of Alexis Trenton - who he considered a disciple of sorts - almost guaranteed victory in all of the battles of the war with the Duumvirate. It was essentially a landslide victory on the military front. He knew he could win office as well, but that didn't interest him one bit. He was content with being the guardian of the Corsahn Arm, a title he took very seriously in the past decade. The Mesmerized John was still a part of him, begging for more and more power, more and more souls, yet the true John - the John before and after the hypnotization process of Mesmerization which turned him from a wise leader into a tyrant - was in control. He felt as if these were two different people. The evil version of him just didn't seem real, yet the memories of all of his atrocities - including the anatomical consumption of his wife and child when he'd been an Evolved, which haunted him greatly - were real enough. He was still confused at these memories, yet he accepted them for what they were. He accepted that he still needed to atone for his atrocities, regardless of how lucid he was. Perhaps helping Delta Seven - er, Samuel - would be another step in the right direction. "Very well," John continued. "Now that you've explained this to me, I think I know exactly what we need to do." "You've already devised a war strategy?" Samuel asked in disbelief. "Of course not. I don't know what all this Sentinel or the Chronosians are capable of, but I do know that a lot of the coming damage of the war can be averted. You said you've been in the Galactic Center, and I know you can get in there again." John grabbed a small glass touchscreen pad and gave it to Samuel. Samuel scrolled through it, finding several ex-Librarian personnel files, high ranking Corsahn military officials, and his former lover, Alexis Trenton. "What's this?" "Your options," Johnathan remarked. "You need a team for what is essentially a suicide mission. Despite your ability to cause a lot of chaos for the Library, I've got a gut feeling this is an entirely different playing field - and Sentinel knows your game. However, I think that despite him being the Galactic Guardian, as you said he was, I still think there's a way to bypass his all-seeing eyes. That's where Alexis comes in." "She's a necessity?" Samuel asked, apprehension in his voice. "Absolutely. I'd go myself, but I'm the only one person the entire military respects - I need to be here to rally the troops if you fail." "Understood," Samuel said. "That being said, I know you have a past with her. I don't know what it's about, and I won't ask - that's your business. I know it won't jeopardize the mission, however - she won't let it - but it's clear there's something you two need to work out." John also had the ability to see into the future just a little bit, and he used that to great effect. "I'm sure you two will get along eventually," John said in an almost prophetic tone. What he left out was that one of them was sure to die. Oceara, The Orson Empire, and Cybus1 | |
 The People's Republic of The Orson Empire | Control Director Madison Cenga and the Strategic Blacklight Institute have both agreed to participate. Although still wary of working alongside Malians, the experience of being brainwashed by Turner has left Cenga deeply troubled, and she wants to solve this issue as soon as possible. | |
| The People's Republic of The Orson Empire | Year: 2018 Elenā Kiri sat before UCP Representative Mary Dara, both in complete silence as Dara filled out paperwork on her computer. Dara had not spoken a single word for several minutes after Kiri's arrival, but Kiri nevertheless remained stoic. This was undoubtedly some sort of test, and her career was already at a dead end- she couldn't afford any more mistakes. Finally, Dara briefly glanced at Kiri, seemingly annoyed at her presence. "Elenā Kiri, correct? Former head of the Abu Dhabi consulate?" Kiri nodded yes in response. "I suppose you already know why they've sent you to me?" Kiri nodded once more. Her dream of being a foreign ambassador was assuredly dead- those goons in the Foreign Ministry made sure of that. Now she was doomed to work at the UCP, the punishment detail. "Whatever rumors you have heard about me, forget it. I run a tight ship here, and there is no room for error. We are responsible for interacting with not just one nation, but all of them. Now I must ask the obvious: are you a committed Aturorist?" "Of course, Representative. How could I not be?" Kiri replied with an expression of shock. "Well, from what I've been informed about you, your commitment to the party line is dubious. It seems you spent all your time in Abu Dhabi constantly complaining about lack of funds, lack of staff, lack of this and that. You've undermined the Foreign Ministry's strategic goals on multiple occasions. You are, by definition, not a team player." "I was simply fighting to ensure my staff had the necessary resources-" "I don't want to hear your excuses, Kiri. Here is what you must understand: our mission is temporary. Aturorists do not desire peace with humanity, but the time for conflict is not yet upon us. We must appease the international community until we are strong enough to crush them outright. Until that day arrives, we shal serve the Emperor without question or hesitation. Is that clear?" "Yes, Representative." "Excellent. Now, commence your work as my secretary while you are still useful. My staff will show you the ropes." Kiri rose from her chair to leave Dara's office. Her expression remained stoic, but her soul was utterly crushed. This would be her future: menial labor as a paper-pusher, and Dara's personal servant. Her life was truly over. Oceara, Cybus1, and Novo Wagondia | |
| The Semi-Direct Democracy of Oceara |
Hope is they can simultaneously stimulate off world trade and get samples for research. | |
| The Infinite Empire of Cybus1 | Fascinating! I imagine Strain S must have been extremely difficult to make: Blacklight naturally wants to reproduce, convert. | |
| The Infinite Empire of Cybus1 | The ICDC has expressed interest in this collaboration, and has begun a campaign to solicit biomass samples from Cybusian Orsonians. | |
| The Infinite Empire of Cybus1 | Excellent work Cor! I like the literally two-sided John: I’m also surprised Alexis became so powerful. I’m interested to see where this goes. | |
| The Infinite Empire of Cybus1 | Oh, Dara returns for a flashback showcasing Kiri first being assigned to the UCP! Good work! It’s interesting but understandable that Kiri got in trouble for actually trying to be a diplomat. | |
| The People's Republic of The Orson Empire | Thanks! Indeed, Kiri's career was basically over at this point. Her rise to become People's Envoy was unprecedented. | |
Post self-deleted by The Orson Empire. | ||
| The People's Republic of The Orson Empire | Marriage Crisis: The Marriage Crisis was a political dispute between Turner and the Imperial Senate over his refusal to marry and sire an heir for the throne. This crisis was a rare occasion where the Aturorist Party acted against Turner's wishes. Background Turner's sexuality has been a source of endless speculation and even mockery in Orson for decades, although few would dare speak about it in his presence. Turner was both asexual and aromantic, and psychologically repulsed at the idea of an intimate relationship with another person. Orsonian society is notoriously hostile towards people who cannot conform to traditional marriage expectations (such as LGBT+ people), and arranged marriages are commonplace. As a consequence, enemies of Turner quickly caught on to his lengthy status as a bachelor, and accused him of being a closeted homosexual. This was made worse by Turner refusing regular advances from famous female celebrities, entrepreneurs, or nobles. To counteract these rumors, Turner paid supermodels to pose as his girlfriend at public events, starting in the late 1980s. Turner's real sexual orientation was an open secret in the entertainment industry, where models and celebrities shared stories of him angrily rebuffing all attempts at intimacy. Crisis In 2004, the Aturorist-dominated Imperial Senate passed a resolution mandating Emperor Turner to marry and have at least one child within 10 years, or the Senate would appoint an heir of their own accord to succeed Turner upon his death. The Senate was deeply concerned that Turner's death would cause a succession crisis and wanted to avoid a repeat of Emperor Thorseus's controversies. Thorseus never remarried after his first wife died from the Scourge Syndrome and sired multiple illegitimate children with various women. The Aturorists especially wanted to restore a sense of moral decency to the Imperial throne after Thorseus's assassination in 2003. This resolution sent Turner into a blind rage, and he wanted to completely dismantle the Aturorist Party. Turner was ultimately talked out of this idea by Prime Minister Christopher Wells, but the dispute was a significant motivation for Turner seizing absolute power and dissolving the Senate. In 2007, Turner reached a settlement with the Aturorist Party, where he agreed to adopt Christopher Wells as his heir in exchange for the resolution's repeal. Additionally, any discussion of Turner's sexuality was prohibited on pain of hefty fines or imprisonment. Turner nevertheless remained resentful of the crisis for the rest of his life, and several Aturorist politicians who created the resolution were eventually murdered by Inquisitors on the Emperor's orders. | |
| The Unified Worlds of Corsahnim | I actually had plans to expand on the Reunification War arc, but I never had the time to do it. Since I wanted to do the Chronosian War for a while now, which itself is based off the Chronosian War I cooked up during the first couple of years here, I decided to say 'screw it' and remake it like I did my national history. The key differences here: -instead of the Chronosians creating their own God, they have a super powerful keeper of the galaxy at their head instead Anyway, with that in mind, now that I started this, I kinda wanna finish it. | |
| The Infinite Empire of Cybus1 | The Good Neighbor Doctrine: The guiding force of Cybusian diplomacy for millennia, the Good Neighbor doctrine (also known as either the Romanek Doctrine for its creator or the Krivoshein Doctrine for the man most responsible for its initial implementation) is both the standard operating procedure for Imperial diplomacy and -partially- the reason Earth is permitted to remain independent. The Good Neighbor doctrine was first proposed by the Cybusian master politician Ondrej Romanek in a treatise which was rather confrontationally entitled “On The Correction of Foreign Policy Mistakes”. Romanek set forth several precepts: first, that the Imperial policy of limitless straightforward conquest was a failure whose “only profits are corpses, ruined planets and the hatred of our new subjects.” Second, that unless a state proves itself to be either unmistakably and irrevocably hostile to Cybusian interests or unable to provide a stable government for its citizens, it should be left untouched by the Cybusian military machine, and that cultural, religious, and economic means should be used to bring it into the Cybusian orbit as a “good neighbor”. Third, that a “good neighbor” was one which adopted Cybusian norms: in Romanek’s view, the ideal “good neighbor” was an enlightened monarchy, predominantly Mercerist, having embraced lassiez faire capitalism, connected to the Empire through mutual cultural and commercial exchange and a sense of religious brotherhood. The treatise proved popular among the Didacts, and the pragmatic High Consul for Foreign Affairs at the time, Voijtech Krivoshein, immediately adopted the policy, partly because it would significantly increase his own importance, as the Foreign Office was, in his own words, “a withered appendage which is rarely used”. Over the next few centuries, he ably promoted the policy with Alexander’s blessing, raising the profile and importance of the Foreign Office from a veritable dusty office to a vast, efficient, and well-respected entity by following the Good Neighbor doctrine. Krivoshein’s policy has been followed ever since; JSR has become a major tool in the Foreign Offices toolkit with which it creates Good Neighbors, and Krivoshein promptly recognized its usefulness, helping subsidize the organization, a tradition which continues to this day. Earth presented a conundrum to the Cybusian government. Some argued that given the devastation of the Second World War, and the general lack of technological advancement, it would be a mercy to simply occupy the planet. Others argued that Earth was far too fractious and divided to justify courting; how could they possibly justify sending so many ambassadors to a single tiny planet in the middle of nowhere? Ultimately, High Consul Wolf, in a meeting with several top officials and the man who would ultimately become Earth’s UCP representative, decided to abide by the Krivoshein doctrine; Henry Whaite argued that due to the uniquely isolated Cybusian community on Earth, the planet could make for a fascinating window into how so many different cultures coexist, while the Empire could observe and emulate or import elements it found desirable, essentially proposing that Earth should be retained as an independent cultural laboratory observed from Crykanin, even as the Krivoshein doctrine was employed to make the planets disparate nations into multiple Good Neighbors. This plan has failed somewhat, due to the stubbornness of the Earth nations, but Cybusians continue to try to expand their commercial and cultural empire on Earth while the Mercerist Church works to proselytize to the planet. | |
| The People's Republic of The Orson Empire | Great work! By these standards, Orson is certainly considered a bad neighbor by the Cybusian Foreign Office. | |
| The People's Republic of The Orson Empire | Year: 2022 The Dhaka City Council has attempted to contact Martian authorities, desiring to purchase land around the portal exit in the Valles Marineris. Dhaka desires to build its own settlement on Mars for use in trading with various Martian corporations, expanding its own economic reach beyond Earth. Additionally, there are thousands of potential Orsonian colonists who are not fond of the new communist government, and would be willing to relocate to Mars. Cybus1 and Novo Wagondia | |
| The Infinite Empire of Cybus1 | Yes. Since the Orsonian Revolution up until 2030, there have no less than 67 separate memos to High Consul Wolf by Foreign Office employees arguing that Orson is incapable of maintaining order in its borders/is a menace to the planet/is a bad neighbor for various reasons, advocating for armed intervention. Only a few of those actually came from Earth diplomats though, largely because Henry has -to some extent- grown used to the chaos of Orson and Veronika believes Orson is counterbalanced by the various “good neighbors” on Earth. | |
| The Infinite Empire of Cybus1 | The Martian government has agreed to this proposal, and will heartily welcome any colonists who object to communism. | |
| The Semi-Direct Democracy of Oceara | Honest Force Doctrine As time passed and West Africa could weigh the events more thoroughly in their hearts and minds, they would coalesce behind a new Doctrine of foreign policy that while open to the ideas of International Diplomacy -- would never actually trust it. Where West Africa would remain committed to being open and honest with the international community, but would not rely on the international community to be open and honest back with them. Instead of relying on interlocutors to be trustworthy and to act in good faith, West Africa would leverage it's Economic, Political, Social, and if attacked -- also Military force to punish dishonesty in interlocutors depending on the severity of the transgressions against West Africa. Under this new doctrine, the New Entente would wither and die as West Africa built it's own Alliance -- The International Defense Emergency Alliance -- where West Africa would not expect any real aid of any substance from it's allied states and would be the overwhelmingly dominant military power. Effectively, IDEAL exists as a reward for Honesty. Advanced technology and protection from a collective security framework where no power themselves is directly required to go to war, only those that they have sent to the Joint Defense Fleet. All rewards for good faith and honesty as well as alignment with the Ideals of Self-Determination, Non-aggression (Or in West Africa "The Sacred Defense"), and liberty. Some might question why Wagondia hasn't been invited to IDEAL, and the simple answer is that Wagondia is going on it's own path and IDEAL is part of West Africa's path. While not incompatible, they are not the same. The two countries can maintain friendly relations and developed trade without fully committing to a common vision for their places in the world, while West Africa has grown distant -- It's never really gone that far away.. It just seems distant from just how close the two were in the past. The name for the Doctrine comes from the KJPC where the following was written. "Good Faith Diplomacy is dead, the trustworthiness in the international institutions of diplomacy has eroded and we can no longer trust interlocutors to be negotiating in good faith. We can no longer trust in the international community to act against bad faith actors as a collective community, simply put.. The International community has given up on trying to promote and maintain honesty. What should we, who hold honesty so dear, do? We should act with our own sovereignty where the International community doesn't, Unilaterally sanctioning bad actors and building relations with good ones. To use our full spectrum of Economic, Political, and Social Force available to us for our own diplomacy as an independent nation to associate with those we believe in and to distance ourselves from those we do not while keeping to the Defensive military stances we hold sacred. In a dishonest world, we have but one recourse; to resort to Honest Force." In the most simplistic terms, Honest Force doctrine is simply the "Solo" version of Good Faith Diplomacy. Where pressure is applied unilaterally rather than multilaterally. | |
 The Imperio Constitucional of Novo Wagondia | Very interesting to see the Honest Force Doctrine developed as a direct successor to Good Faith Diplomacy, famous for being one of the major intellectual forces behind the formation of the UCP (after all, it was a Malian who served as the first Secretary-General). Ironically given the somewhat diverging paths of West Africa and Wagondia, the Honest Force Doctrine is not so dissimilar to the Barrachina Doctrine. Both Wagondia and West Africa felt the need to radically rethink their foreign policy following the disaster of the Third World War, viewing the Cold War-era partisan alliance system as being largely responsible. Both nations also felt the need to assert a greater degree of independence in their foreign policy following the war, something they could do arguably for the first time after years of domination by powers in the Global North. Both nations will gain considerably in global influence over the next century as ascendant powers. The difference is that the West Africans began to look more inward whereas the Wagains began to look more outward. The Honest Force Doctrine is representative of a conservative worldview at its heart, seeking to play West Africa's cards close to the chest and avoid relying too much on any one foreign actor. The Barrachina Doctrine, or Apertura ('openness'), also seeks to divest from troublesome ideological factions, however still views consensus-building as central to Wagain leadership through its mantra of 'engaged non-alignment'. The difference in attitude here is quite easily explained by the vastly more traumatic experience of West Africa during the war years, when it was forced to rely on heavily militarised self-reliance merely to survive. Though Wagondia did play an indispensable part in the New Entente through its role as the industrial and agricultural 'arsenal of democracy', its experience as the only Entente member that wasn't bombed meant that there wasn't quite as strong a current of reactive isolationism. The status of Wagondia as the host of the UCP is also absolutely vital to consider, and this symbiotic relationship only becomes stronger over time, with Wagondia viewing the promotion of the UCP and its 'four freedoms' as arguably its primary motivating force in the 21st century. Of course, despite the dissolution of their formal military alliance under the New Entente, Wagondia and West Africa's foreign policy goals will continue to mostly be aligned throughout the century. Many Wagains still view West Africa as the empire's closest cultural and historical partner, even as Wagondia becomes ever more interlinked with traditional foes like the People's Republic of Orson. Opinion polls still routinely show that public support for West Africa is higher than for any other country, as a result of this affectionate (if increasingly informal) relationship and a strong belief that West Africa can be trusted to stand for what is right in the world. | |
| The Infinite Empire of Cybus1 | We continue to court Wagondia both economically and culturally, emphasizing the achievements of collaboration such as the Mach-Fedorov partnerships. As you once jokingly noted, the Wagains “outsource foreign policy to the UCP”: a lot of Wagain complaints and concerns about the world seem to stem not from Wagain ambassadors directly, but from Isamar Guirachoca. Playing host to the UCP gives the Wagains a large amount of soft power, particularly because Santa Catalina is, as my friend put it, “the closest thing Earth has to a capital.” | |
| The Infinite Empire of Cybus1 | It’s interesting that the West Africans perceive there being a collapse of honesty in international politics. While the post-war Orsonians were quick to fabricate things -although Kiri seems to have stopped that particular trend, thankfully- I don’t know that other diplomats were particularly more or less dishonest than before. | |
| The People's Republic of The Orson Empire | Regarding Orsonian foreign policy, the Akenehi Administration is essentially the exact opposite of the Aturorists: collaboration with the UCP and cooperation with the international community wherever possible. The Diplomacy Commission is making a concerted effort to repair Orson's reputation after decades of totalitarian rule, seeking to be a friendly international partner rather than a rogue state. This is complicated by the legacy of 20 years of Aturorist rule, with many Orsonians still suspicious of or outright hostile towards humanity. There are also hardliners within the Communist Party who believe Orson should avoid any interaction with capitalist powers and seek to spread revolutionary activity across the world. Cybus1 and Novo Wagondia | |
| The Infinite Empire of Cybus1 | Think I found the perfect theme song for Meredith Stout. Angry Johnny, a song from an artist called POE, who I found out about via Alan Wake (her song Haunted was an end of chapter song in the first song, and she wrote an awesome -albeit long- jazzy song for Alan Wake 2 called This Road), which is seductive and dangerous, just like the ruthless Rapturite CEO. On the subject, I’ve noticed that literally all of my female characters are inspired by femme fatales, to one extent or another. Well, except for Elizabeth Greene, who is much more psychotic and weird and has no interest in being mysterious and alluring. |
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