[story][Fenspace Alternates] The South Is Rising, Someone Get A Hammer

[M Fnord]

or “Why Mal shouldn't read Turtledove novels at three in the morning.”

So... yeah. This is something I'm writing just to try and exorcise the idea from my head & get back to more productive Fenspace stuff. Comment at will, 'cause this one's going to be a bit strange. --Mal

---

In Fenspace Alternates, our heroes are taken from their usual setting and put into strange times and places – some that have existed, or might have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist. This is one of them.

Our tale begins in two universes.

In the universe next door, life is pretty damn swell. The exploration and colonization of the solar system proceeds apace. A few years earlier the locals defeated a group of pirates and criminals that threatened to overturn all they had worked for. Certain elements in the Earthside governments fumed that they were no longer the potential masters of all they surveyed, but for the most part life went on as it always had. The Fen were in the heavens, all's right with the world.

In a universe three blocks over, things weren't quite so swell. Over there, the nations of the world held their breath as the latest round of bloody warfare seemed imminent. Almost every twenty-five years, like clockwork, war had overtaken the world and drenched it in blood. Now, as a genocidal madman rules the Confederate States of America, everybody was on edge, waiting for the next hammer to fall.

This is the state of these two universes as November 18th closes. Normally, this would be the end of it – despite knowing about multiversal travel (to the chagrin of two people in particular, but we'll get to them in a bit) the Fen don't have the ability or really the interest to universe-hopping just yet, and the unlucky denizens of TL-191 don't have the knowledge, much less ability or willingness. However, because the gods are assholes (Some religions would prefer the term “unknowable,” but honestly? They're assholes.), somebody decided to see if one could deal with the problems of the other.

It is 23:59 P.M. Greenwich Mean Time, 2016 in Fenspace, 1940 in TL-191. In just one minute both these universes are going to find themselves confronted by some serious culture shock. Our tale will follow the Fen.

Let's watch, shall we? This is going to be entertaining.

---

Short version of the plot, in case it's too opaque: Those goddamned Alien Space Bats decide to ISOT the United States and Confederate States from Turtledove's TL-191/Southern Victory novels into Fenspace, replacing the USA we all know and love. What happens next? Well, stay tuned True Believers!

More will come as long as this thing continues to latch onto my frontal lobe. --Mal
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[robkelk]

(Some religions would prefer the term “unknowable,” but honestly? They're assholes.)

I would have gone with "ineffable" instead of "unknowable"... but, yeah, you're right.

Hmmmm... 19 November 2016... Helen is three years old, and her aunt Minerva (Swansen) and cousin Charles (Anderson) have finished their college courses (sociology and mechanical engineering, respectively) and are Up and married to each other. However, the rest of the Swansen and Anderson families are gone with the USA, and it'll be pretty obvious what in general happened to them even if specifics are unavailable. This would be enough for Noah to release to the SMOFs the "interdimensional theory and practice" parts of the Whole Fenspace Catalog that he had previously redacted - he wants his family back. (And if it comes out that some gods are responsible, the locks come off the "research theology" parts of the Girls' Database...)

Does Maico Tange break cover, or does she keep The Secret despite this blatant "reality quake"? And if she does break cover, what can she do?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[M Fnord]

Does Maico Tange break cover, or does she keep The Secret despite this blatant "reality quake"? And if she does break cover, what can she do?

Well....

---

November 25, 2016
Canberra, Australia

Maico Tange sat at her favorite little cafe in the heart of the Capital Territory, going over her report for the last week and wondered exactly when the multiverse decided to stop making sense. It might've been the time when a group of people Maico damn well knew were not real decided to make a stopover in Fenspace. The report on that little escapade had thrown Infinity into a tizzy. This report was going to be worse, if anything.

Dear Infinity,she thought, turns out that almost everything we knew about parachronics was wrong. As proof, here's a version of the United States straight out of a Homeline novel transported to Gernsback-2 by parties unknown for reasons unknown. Please don't tell Dr. Van Zandt, he'll be so disappointed. Love, Maico.

Oh no, this was not a report she was looking forward to making.

“Having trouble there, missy?”

Maico looked up from her laptop. Standing in front of her was a shortish man not much older than she was. His broad Chinese features held a slight frown that belied his broad, genial Ocker accent. Maico knew that accent was a little too broad and genial to fit the man who used it, in order to hide an accent that didn't quite fit into the known categories of Gernsbackian English. She recognized him right off the bat.

“Oh, sit down already, Chang. And buy me a drink, please. I could use one.”

Mohammed Chang, Maico's opposite number from the fearsome Centrum, slid into the chair across from her. “Of course,” he said, “this place has a way of driving people to drink.” He flagged a waitress down with practiced ease and placed a drink order.

“So,” he said as the waitress walked off. “What are you telling your superiors about this latest... event?”

Maico's eyes narrowed. “What are you telling your superiors?” she asked. This was an old game of theirs, ever since they'd first encountered each other at this same cafe years ago.

“I have informed my superior, the esteemed Grade 5 Goldstein,” Chang said gravely, “that this worldline has once again confounded all our understanding of parachronic physics, and that a mere Grade 4 like myself hasn't the slightest fucking clue what's going on, and that Secundus – excuse me, Infinity – feels much the same way.”

“Well... that's what my report will end up like too,” Maico sighed. “The natives seem to be taking well enough, though.”

“The natives have been dealing with this... irrationality for almost ten years now,” Chang replied. “I think they're just numb at this point.”

“That's a distinct possibility.”

“Indeed. So. What are we going to do about it?”

“That's out of our pay grade, I think. Our superiors will decide whether or not to send in the troops – or the clowns, for that matter. I suspect the only thing we'll get to do is watch and wait for further orders.”

Chang nodded at this wisdom, as the waitress returned with a pitcher of beers. As Maico took a sip, she thought And it might be worth mentioning in the report that the first person to find wherever the Gernsback-2 US went might get a nice little treaty out of the deal. She suspected Chang might be thinking the same thing.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[robkelk]

Good to see Agent Chang again... And since neither Chang nor Tange are on the receipt list for this email, they won't know about it, which will help them keep what sanity they still have:

Subject: Information which may be useful in the current situation
To: "The Jason" (the_jason@yggdrasil.fen)
From: Noah Scott (bigcheese@stellvia.lib)
Date: November 21, 2016

Please find attached information related to interuniversal travel and prerequisite skills needed to make use of that information, which was removed from the Whole Fenspace Catalog prior to that database's release. I'm sure somebody here has staff that can use it to help resolve the current situation - from what Skuld told me before she left, it's likely that members of the crews of Yggdrasil and Grover's Corners are in that category. I know that I am not in that category; all I can do is provide this information and obtain expensive materials for the people who can make use of them.

I trust you to distribute this to the people who can use it, but not to the people who would use it against us. (Unfortunately, that includes the Wizards; their security is notoriously porous.) If the Boskonians were to get hold of this and use it against us, could Utopia Planitia, Herschel Crater, Hogsmeade, Babylon .5, Serenity Valley, Crystal Tokyo, the White Tower, the Watchtower, the Roadhouse, Gagarin Base, or Stellvia put up any defenses at all?

Mal, I have a good idea how you're going to react, even after you answer that question. You can chew me out after we get our families and friends back, but until they're back, we have more important things to do than yell at each other.

--
Noah Scott, of station Stellvia

Attached: grimoires.zip (3.9 TB)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[M Fnord]

Subject: Re: Information which may be useful in the current situation

To: Noah Scott (bigcheese@stellvia.lib)

From: "Gen. Mal Fnord, VVS" (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)

Date: November 21, 2016

No time to talk, got a war to avert. Or maybe start. Queue for meeting the new neighbors forms to the left.

--MF
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[ECSNorway]

Ohhh yeah. Right. I haven't even read those books, but judging from a quick perusal of the Amazon listings...
Marsden is gonna be fricking incandescent with utter furious rage.

Subject: HEADS. WILL. ROLL.

To: "Noah Scott" (bigcheese@stellvia.lib), Ben Rhodes
(aeronaut@roughriders.fen), Col. Stephen Caldwell
(stephen.caldwell@tsab.usaf.mil), "Bob Schroeck"
(rms@ourtown.fen), "Gen.
Mal Fnord, VVS" (fnord@sovietairforce.fen), "Kyon"
(dontcallmekyon@sosdan.fen)

From: Chris Marsden (rockhound@greenwood.us)

Date: November 20, 2016
Any and all information leading to the arrest and persecution of those responsible for the travesty ongoing below us will be rewarded generously. Noah, I know you have means of investigating this directly. I want in. I want this... this...
xXx
Pardon me. This is Rei. The Commander is incapable of speech at the moment that does not consist of obscenities. I thought you would appreciate it if your spam filter did not swallow this message for the sheer volume. He has cycled through nine languages so far, I do not believe I have heard him repeat.
Please direct further inquiries to Captain Abriel (lafiel.abriel@gss.fen). She is taking charge of our response to this occurrence; the Commander is clearly incapable of reacting rationally at the moment. Should the situation change, Lafiel will inform you.
We request that you keep us up to date with the results of your investigations into this occurrence; we will similarly pass on any information we are able to acquire.
Thank you,
Ayanami Rei.
xXx
--
Chris Marsden
Rockhounds Mining & Colonization
rockhound@greenwood.us
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[M Fnord]

Subject: *ominous chord*

To: Chris Marsden (rockhound@greenwood.us)

From: "Gen. Mal Fnord, VVS" (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)

Date: November 21, 2016

The one thing communists & capitalists can agree on is that kicking the mortal shit out of fascists is good clean fun for the whole family.

Since fixing this cosmological mess is way out of our pay grade, how about a little of the old ultra-violence, lads?

Ya interested? Beep me & we'll do this by the numbers; popular front, UN support, the whole enchilada.

--Fnord
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Foxboy]

"My name is Jake Featherston, and I'm here to tell you the Truth."

Vulpine Fury's head swiveled slowly towards the Terran Television feed. It seemed that the BBC was rebroadcasting radio programs from the Lower 48, and that particular turn of phrase felt like a suckerpunch to the gut. He listened in the sort of sick fascination reserved for train wrecks and gruesome deaths as the closest thing to the Second Coming of Adolph Hitler blamed the "damyankees" for stealing Chihuahua and Sonora and giving them back to Mexico. He cringed at the shout of "FREEDOM!" that ended the speech, and stood dumbstruck in numb fascination at the images of what could pass for Sherman Tanks flying a mutilated Old Glory barreling into Ontario.

He got up and, telling Lime to take care of the storefront, began to make his way to the Watchtower. He was going to go on his active duty rotation a little earlier than he expected.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[ECSNorway]

Subject: *ominous chord*

To: "Gen. Mal Fnord, VVS"
(fnord@sovietairforce.fen), Ben Rhodes
(aeronaut@roughriders.fen)

From: Chris Marsden
(rockhound@greenwood.us)

Date: November 21, 2016

> Subject: *ominous chord*
> To: Chris Marsden (rockhound@greenwood.us)
> From: "Gen. Mal Fnord, VVS" (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)
> Date: November 21, 2016

>
>
The one thing communists & capitalists can agree on is that kicking the mortal shit
> out of fascists is good clean fun for the whole family.

>
>
Since fixing this cosmological mess is way out of our pay grade, how about a little
> of the old ultra-violence, lads?

>
>
Ya interested? Beep me & we'll do this by the numbers; popular front, UN support, the whole enchilada.

>
>
--Fnord
Yanks and Reds took down one Hitler. Yanks and Reds can take down another. And this time we won't dither for three years while you do all the bleeding.
-- Marsden
P.S. - Caldwell and his people want a share of the hobnail-boot duty. He's already over here, you two feel free to join us any time you please. GSS is already on full alert so don't screw around with traffic control, ok?
P.P.S. - Thank Rei for me if you see her, she still isn't talking to me after yesterday.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[M Fnord]

Subject: [FIREFALL] Operational Planning
To: Operation FIREFALL Mailing List (firefall@sovietairforce.fen)
From: General Fnord (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)
Date: November 22, 2016

If you're receiving this message, then you are officially part of the General Staff of Operation FIREFALL. Congratulations. Standard rules of warfare apply, so don't blab.

This message will serve as a beginning primer to the situation that's fallen into our lap, and (hopefully) will serve us in figuring a way out of it that doesn't involve too much mass slaughter. It would've been nice if Dr. Turtledove was available to aid us, but since he was downstairs at the time of the Event that avenue is closed to us. Hopefully the old USGov is putting him to good use on the Other Side. But I digress.

First up, here's a capsule look at the primary target and the country that came along for the ride:

The Confederate States of America, in the books, is a pretty nasty piece of work. According to their history, they won the Slaver's Rebellion in 1862, fought and then defeated the United States in a second war in 1882, and then fought & lost a third war in 1914-16 (this corresponds roughly to our First World War). Since then they've been planning their revenge, and (assuming the books are correct in the particulars) will throw the first punch on June 22, 1941. This gives us a maximum seven months before all hell breaks loose.

Confederate territory consists of largely the "classic" Confederacy from our Civil War, plus Cuba and (our world's) Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua. And before anybody argues, we -have- checked; those did appear to come along for the ride. A few chunks of Confederate territory were peeled off by this USA during the last war, and it looks like they're full of unrest.

Militarily, expect lots of tanks, infantry, artillery and piston-engine bombers. Turtledove wrote this CSA as a direct analogue to Hitler's Reich, so they're equipped with mostly the same level of forces as 1939 Germany with one major exception: chemical weapons. Unlike Hitler, nobody in the Confederate leadership has had a bad enough experience with poison gas to outlaw its use by their forces. CS, blister and probably some fairly primitive nerve agents will most likely be in use should things go pear-shaped on a major level. FIREFALL forces should be buttoned for NBC warfare -at all times- should this occur.

CSA forces are led by their President, one Jacob "Jake" Featherston. He's charismatic, filled with rage and racist as all fuck. What is -not- however, is stupid. The man clawed himself up from nothing to achieve the highest political office available to him, so even if you consider him a buffoon, he's very dangerous. His chief adviser, one Ferdinand Koenig, is Attorney General and the man in charge of exterminating the CSA's black population.

And yeah, they are doing their level best to exterminate African-Americans within Confederate borders. The situation hasn't accelerated to the worst point of the Shoah just yet, but the camps -are- largely built and they -are- operating. I intend these camps to be the first target of FIREFALL military operations. "Never again" isn't just a phrase folks, it's our watchword. Never. Again.

***

Now, the United States of America is a more complex mess.

This isn't the US that we all know and love, nor is it the same US that our parents or grandparents grew up in and fought for in the Second World War. It's a deeply fucked up country that was humiliated by their mortal enemies within living memory, and they've channeled that humiliation into a militaristic society for a longassed time. It's all very Prussian, in fact. That society's opened up some between the last time they fought a war, however; the Socialist Party (and I know some of you are grumbling, but once in power they're not even as socialist as the New Deal in many respects) has demilitarized in the interbellum period and focused on domestic issues.

Those "domestic issues" unfortunately include ongoing occupations in Utah and the Dominion of Canada. Thankfully the Canadian occupation zone didn't come along for the ride (We've heard reports of US tanks crossing the border and getting very confused, FWIW. So far nobody's been shot; let's hope that luck holds.) but the Utah one -did.- This is going to require finesse. In the event that the Event can't be reversed, there're some possibilities, but we'll burn that bridge when we get there. They also have a significant problem with casual bigotry - it is the '40s technically, but it gets a little deeper than that. Otherwise assume the usual 1940s prejudices apply.

US military forces are roughly equivalent to the pre-war British and/or Soviet forces - much the same as the CSA's but not as many or as advanced guns. They'll also have no real problems using chemical weapons if they think it'll give them an advantage. Most of their major strength will be tied down in Virginia along their version of a Magniot Line. Similar emplacements of lesser strength will be found along the Ohio River.

The current leader of the US is President Al Smith (S-NY), a man who had a counterpart in our history, so look him up on the Wiki backup. Turtledove wrote him largely as a Chamberlain-analogue, but as of right now he hasn't yet turned over the Sudetenland. We can work this to our advantage, since Chamberlain became a demon when he found out he'd been had.

***

This is my advised game plan:

1) MAKE CONTACT

We -need- to get proper intelligence on the target before we strike. Operating just from the books will get us in trouble, because we can't assume that everything in the books is 100% accurate. So we need to send delegations (presumably friendly) to both USA and CSA and test the weather. What's more, elements of the "old" US government and military need to meet with the transposed US government in order to figure out what the hell -that- relationship is going to be and how it'll work.

(I would also suggest sending a delegate to the Mormon leadership in Utah as well - keeping them from rising against the US will prevent a lot of difficulty in the event things are inevitable.)

Our delegations should be, if not large in size, at least flashy and impressive. The VVS will pull a Gagarin-class off rotation for this job (probably Laika), and I would suggest other FIREFALL members picked for delegate duty do something similarly impressive, if you've got something landing-capable. A Peacemaker with a couple of Blackbird escorts would be good, for example.

We can draw straws on who goes where, of course. My honest reccommendation is to send Benjamin and Gina as the head of the delegation to the CSA. Benjamin's a proud (to say nothing of vocal) Texan, which means he has a better chance of getting through to Featherston. If we're lucky, Benjamin will rattle Featherston's cage and put him off his game. If we're very lucky, he'll give us an iron-clad casus belli. If we're unlucky Featherston'll shoot him, but even there we're still a little lucky because Gina will rip Featherston to shreds with her bare hands, so it's a win/lose/kinda-win situation.

2) PICK OUR TARGETS

Here we have an advantage; the books give us a rough idea of what and when, and our satelite-based intelligence can give us where with accuracy undreamed of by Featherston's people. Since we have the ability to pick and choose, and don't necessarily have the forces to take them all on at the same time, let's use this option wisely. Locate all the juicy targets, and plan out hit-and-run attacks on all of them.

3) MAKE OUR CASE

With appropriate intelligence, this shouldn't be too hard. We need to convince the United Nations to back us up since they have the Superior Firepower we don't (not even the remnant US forces, since all their main supply depots are on the Other Side). Thankfully, a little photorecon work plus Jake Featherston opening his mouth on all channels should all we need to accomplish that. The Security Council won't sit still for Cracker-Hitler.

4) HIT 'EM HARD

Institute a series of lightning raids on Confederate territory. First stop the extermination camps; drop special forces, kill every Reb on the grounds and liberate the prisoners. Next target would be airstrikes on Confederate military targets up and down the USA/CSA border. After that, well, we'll have to see.

This plan is bare-bones, since our actions in the next handful of days will alter the steps to follow. However the aim of the plan and Operation FIREFALL remains unchanged: the elimination of the Confederate States of America as a threat to global peace and stability. Should the Event reverse itself, I would like to be able to send back a chunk of North America that's a little cleaner than the one we got.

--
Mal Fnord, speaking for the Central Committee
Soviet Air Force-In-Exile

---

OOC: So who's on the FIREFALL listserv?

Well, Chris, Ben and Mal are the Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin of this little shindig, so they're on the list. Military SMOFs from the major factions will be there too, including at least one Named Senshi from HM's Government. Stephen Caldwell and Tom Dodge, as the top US officers "in charge of weird shit" are on the list and part of the planning party. Buckaroo and Noah may or may not be, since Buckaroo's not a big fan of war and Noah's too busy trying to figure out where the missing chunks of continent went. Oh, and Haruhi's on the list too; she's the closest thing Fenspace has to Jake Featherston (Xenu help us all), which means she'll be the Voice of Fen much like she was in the later phase of OGJ.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Rod.H]

Well a ISOT of this magnitude. Heck any form of ISOT would be a trigger for Fen-AA-me to enact my in-case of MAD/MasterPC/GrayGoo/Tiberium plan: Get the heck outta Dodge/Earth! In other words grab all SAS terrestrial assets and evac to our designated space-based fallback position and circle the battle-wagons. Once that's completed then we'll start working on a response to all. It's Most likely going to be assist those trying to get FS-USA back. And depending on how development & constructions gone, the SV Normandy, Makos, Hammerheads and a few SA-10s could be available for support.

[Bob Schroeck]

Subject: Re: Information which may be useful in the current situation
To: "Noah Scott" (bigcheese@stellvia.lib)
From: Bob Schroeck (rms@ourtown.fen)
Date: November 22, 2016

> Please find attached information related to interuniversal travel and prerequisite skills
> needed to make use of that information, which was removed from the Whole Fenspace
> Catalog prior to that database's release.

Um... thanks? I know I like to write about this stuff, but to have "Worldjumping for Dummies" shoved into my hands, that's a bit on the scary side. I'd rather hold onto something safer, like 40-year-old nukes with decaying trigger mechanisms.

Fear and panic aside, though, I understand the reasoning here, and I'm grateful that you brought us in on this.

> I'm sure somebody here has staff that can use it to help resolve the current situation -
> from what Skuld told me before she left, it's likely that members of the crews of
> Yggdrasil and Grover's Corners are in that category.

She told you, did she? Woulda been nice if she'd told *me*. That said, we've had our first town meeting on this, have cracked the books and begun testing with the "diagnostics" in the first chapter of the obvious "start here" grimoire. Skuld was right, we have a few folks among us who can handle the magical side. However, I should also note that two-thirds of the magic-capable are among the kids.  While we're going to see to their education in that regard (a couple more-general instruction manuals from your stash would be appreciated, Noah, when the current crisis is over or in a couple months, whichever comes first), the kids are *not* going to be shoved anywhere close to the front lines on this. The magegifted adults, on the other hand, are looking forward to creating their own little chapter of Warriors Alpha here.

However, let me warn you that from what we can tell so far, magic is *not* going to be the quick fix. At best these techniques/rituals/spells open tunnels or doorways, just as in the stuff I've written. Quite frankly, something on the scale we're facing downbelow is either a "Grantville"-type accident caused by Sufficiently Advanced Aliens who got careless, or it's deity-level action. You may need to break out the research theology materials after all, at the very least because we're going to want to find a friendly face or two among the celestials to help us either way.

In the mean time, we've read up on the new tenants of North America, and on general principles we're sending Salvage I out to collect some big rocks. No dinosaur killers, but a few 10- to 20-tonners will be handy if we need to vaporize fascists in a hurry.

Which reminds me -- what's the reaction from the Australian government (outside of the news bites, I mean)?

-- Bob

(who is most expressly *not* a happy camper right now)

---

And yes, what is the international response to the sudden replacement of North America?  The US has more than a few enemies who might just take advantage of a moment like this, that's obvious, but what about allies and neutrals?  Surely Fenspace isn't that much quicker on the uptake than the international community.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Ebony]

I'm a little preoccupied right now with RL to actively work on anything for this, but I will note that Buckaroo and the Cavaliers would definitely get involved on this. Buckaroo isn't so much "opposed" to war as a firm believer in one of the central tenets of kenjitsu: One strike, One hit, One kill. He will be all about gathering as much inforamtion as possible, verifying it as closely as he can, and using it to forge a plan of attack that takes anything and everything that has been learned into account. When the Blue Blazers move, they move suddenly and quickly, and they have a tendency to stun people with their knowledge of the enemy.

As I've said before, what the Blazers excel at is information gathering. The Global Frequency is a group of more than 2,000 experts, on all sorts of things, engaged in real-time conference. That is the main strength that the Institute brings to the table in a conflict like this.
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Jinx999]

From: Jinxie (Jinx999@hotmail.vega.fen)

To: "Noah Scott"
(bigcheese@stellvia.lib),
"Blackstone" (blackstone@banzai-institute.org), "Gen. Mal Fnord, VVS"
(fnord@sovietairforce.fen)

Date: November 23, 2016

Subj: Current US situation
OK. What I can tell you is that, despite the original being based on "lost cause" romanticism, the Browncoats have absolutely no liking for racist fascist dictators and certain things, up with which they will not put, so you can rest easy on that score.
And we've sent a message, through a chain of "I'm not one of them, but I have met . .. " types, to the Turnerites (or what's left of them), that the only reason we put up with them at all is their complete powerlessness and if they try anything funny, they'll be sucking vacuum and screw the collateral damage. And a few of the Jayneys went and delivered the message in person and keep watch, just to make sure there weren't any misunderstandings. The last thing we want is any of those assh*les getting wave tech.

[Foxboy]

OOC: There's a significant group of Supers planning a "Golden Age" strike force, fwiw. VF is taking part through a combat Telepresence, details to be decided later.

I'm sure there's a "Tuskeegee" squadron of FE-Zigs already getting their tails painted red, and Tom Dobbs is planning to take part, even if Serenity gave her a Commission. "All due respect, Senny. I ain't a Sailor. I'm a MARINE."
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[M Fnord]

And yes, what is the international response to the sudden replacement of North America? The US has more than a few enemies who might just take advantage of a moment like this, that's obvious, but what about allies and neutrals? Surely Fenspace isn't that much quicker on the uptake than the international community.

That... sounds like the perfect call for a scenelet!

---

November 19, 2016
North America
14:00 GMT (07:00 EST)

The broadcast was sudden, it overrode all wireless stations in the United and Confederate States with a sudden burst of loud, pompous music.

(music_LOAD: “The Throne Room / End Title” John Williams, Star Wars Episode IV Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

The music played for a minute, grabbing the attention of every waking person in the displaced section of North America. Then, it faded and an unearthly voice filled the air.

“THIS IS THE VOICE OF THE MYSTERONS. WE KNOW YOU CAN HEAR US EARTHMEN- OW!”

A pause.

“(Stop that! If you can't be trusted to take this seriously we'll find somebody else!)”

“(I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please put down the newspaper!)”

“(You two do realize that we've got a live mic, right?)”

“(We what? OH SHI-)”

Another pause.

“AH, ER... SORRY ABOUT THAT, LET ME TRY AGAIN... and fix the volume. There. *ahem* Ladies and gentlemen of the United States of America and, er, the Confederate States of America (and wow does that sound weird): Good morning. I'm sure that many of you noticed the big flash of light that occurred last night. More of you have seen strange lights on the borders and in the sky. Well, there's a reason for that.

“To steal a phrase, I'm Simon Jones, and I'm here to tell you the truth. The truth is, this is a long story, so please sit back and remain calm. If you're sitting comfortably, then we'll begin...”

***

November 19, 2016
Emerson, Manitoba
16:03 GMT (10:03 CST)

Constable William MacGregor, RCMP had had strange days before. Life on the border of the US pretty much guaranteed that. Of course, nobody back at the academy had prepared him for the sight of a tank column rumbling across the border without a care in the world.

MacGregor let out a startled “Huh!” and hopped into his patrol SUV to flag down the convoy and find out what the hell was going on. As he got closer, he noticed that these tanks weren't the shiny M1s favored by the US Army. In fact, these tanks looked... older. Much older, like Second World War vintage or perhaps earlier. Weird, he thought. Maybe somebody put 'em together for a museum up in Winnipeg and the joker thought it'd be cute to drive 'em up like Patton. Best put a stop to this foolishness now.

Meanwhile, the barrel commander was just as confused. The last time he'd been through Emerson, the town didn't exist. It had been one of the first casualties of the Great War, and nobody had bothered to rebuild it afterward. And considering he'd been through Emerson less than six weeks ago, this clean and shiny new town was a complete mystery.

“Are we lost?” he asked his driver.

“No sir,” the driver replied. “We followed the checkpoint out of Minnesota, and far as I know we're on the road back to Winnipeg.”

“That's great,” the commander said. “So where the fuck did this town come from?”

---

So obviously the next-door neighbors know Something is Up pretty much from the word go, probably even earlier than this scene since a good chunk of urbanized Canada can be seen from the border, and the Mexican government is going to want to know where the hell Juarez and their northern tier of states got off to. Things are going to be more than a bit confused for the first day or so as US occupation forces filter north and are - politely - turned back by the local cops. The Mexican authorities will probably make some forays into the Confederate states of Sonora and Chihuahua, so expect lulz from the south.

Internationally, everybody knew something was wrong when a good chunk of the intarwub vanished along with the lower 48. It wasn't until planes bound for the coasts started diverting to Mexico and Canada that people knew the old US was missing. As of 11-22-16 the UN - or at least the rump Security Council - is scrambling to meet in Geneva, NATO is doing much the same in Brussels along with the commanders of US EUROCOM and CENTCOM, ANZAC's teleconferencing with PACCOM and all these brass types are leaning on TSAB at Franklin Station, since the uniform consensus is that this is somehow the Fen's fault. Good times.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Cobalt Greywalker]

Something of a bigger worry is the sheer financial chaos caused by one of the top three economies up and vanishing, as well as the oil supply from Texas. And then there's much of the Net giving a permanent 404. At least top level DNS is backed up, and we have the Alexandria Archive.

That said... Be free to ignore some, most, or everything below.

---

From: A.C. Peters (rock_doc@prometheus_forge.fen)

To: firefall_list@steels_lab.luna

Subject: Project Looking Glass update

Date: 28/11/2016

Just to keep people informed of developments in the investigation.

First off, we're now finalising the mass-production design for the new

sensors. Give us about a week and the plans will be available. Once is

an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is enemy action.

Second, due to the development for these and thanks to some artifacts

gained by Intel we've locked down the unique signature for the universe

our US got swapped with. This has been holographically encoded into

synthetic diamonds, placed in Adamantium cages to protect them, and

dispatched in a swarm of carrier drones to everyone of note. So that

knocking at the window may be them. Also, given I haven't slept since

this started and probably won't until things calm down, you're also

getting my favourite cheesecake recipes because I'll probably need them

if I come calling.

Third, after throwing more processing power than should be physically

possible at the physics, Hades thinks we've cracked the principles

behind the Stargate. Which is good.

Now to the bad news.

Working up a Traverser Drive is somewhat beyond even the Bluest Hair

at the moment. We simply don't have enough information about ten-

dimensional physics to try without turning the travellers into random

mathematical junk, Planck scale cupcakes, honest polictians, or all

three simultaineously. We think we know how to get it though.

We need to build Stargates.

This is something along the lines of working with Lego before building

a house if you want the analogy currently making the rounds. The

Stargate topology is only six-dimensional, but it gets the subject out

of conventional spacetime enough to help resolve some of the questions

we need answering.

We'll keep working at it this end, but you guys out there will need to

think about it.

Excellsior,

A.C., insomniac and unwilling Project Manager.

---

From: Red Knight

To: Secure List

Subject: Field Update

Class: OMEGA GOLD

***BEGIN ENCRYPTED MESSAGE SEGMENT***

As agreed, I lied about the sensors on the public post. They've been

ready since Thursday.

Further analysis of the four new signals since Firefall showed two

matched inbound-outbound pairs, connecting to two different universes.

What's interesting is these are eight-dimensional events according to

analysis.

I've deployed thirteen sensor platforms so far in a system englobment

pattern to hopefully catch the next set. Location precision will be

down to about 100m, so I recommend an extra response team or two being

ready.

We catch one of the visitors, we may have better information about the

Event.

***END ENCRYPTED MESSAGE SEGMENT***

[robkelk]

To: all-call@nation.fen
From: Noah Scott (info@stellvia.lib)
Date: November 23, 2016
Subject: EMERGENCY CONVENTION

By now, we are all aware of the recent change to the United States of America. I am party to a large number of responses to that change, some of which are overlapping others. We don't have the time or the resources to duplicate efforts.

Thus, under the Articles of Convention approved at Kandor-Con, I am calling an Emergency Convention to coordinate the responses to the situation.

This convention will be held at station Odyssey, Mars orbit, beginning at 00:00 GMT November 25.

There will be no dealers' room for the first day of the convention. Food will be provided at no charge on that first day.

--
Noah Scott, of station Stellvia

---

To: "The Jason" (the_jason@yggdrasil.fen)
From: Noah Scott (bigcheese@stellvia.lib)
Date: November 23, 2016
Subject: Re: EMERGENCY CONVENTION

Folks, I trust that all of you will be attending. I was serious when I said we can't duplicate our efforts.

What I'm hoping to do is present a three-pronged response to the situation.

First, establish a United States Government-In-Exile. Col. Caldwell, Cmdr. Dodge, I want you to find somebody who has the legal authority to represent the US at the UN and other bodies. If you can't, then Col. Caldwell gets that job as ranking US military officer off-Earth. The entire world needs a friendly face that has the authority to negotiate. Kyon and Blackstone, please liaise with whoever they find.

Second, keep the warriors bottled up. Turtledove stories aren't my cup of tea, but Kagome tells me that this particular series of his was up there with the Draka stories for unpleasantness. Gen. Fnord, I want you to head this part of the operation. Mr. Marsden, Mr. Rhodes, please assist Gen. Fnord with this.

Third, get our people back. I'll head this up; I hope that Mr. Schroeck, Ms. Peters, and The Jason will work with me on finding our lost families and friends.

That's my proposal - if anyone has a better one, present it at the Convention.

--
Noah Scott, of station Stellvia

---

To: "Gen. Mal Fnord, VVS" (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)
From: Noah Scott (bigcheese@stellvia.lib)
Date: November 23, 2016
Subject: Re: EMERGENCY CONVENTION

> Second, keep the warriors bottled up. Turtledove stories aren't my cup of tea, but Kagome tells me that this particular series of his was up there with the Draka stories for unpleasantness. Gen. Fnord, I want you to head this part of the operation. Mr. Marsden, Mr. Rhodes, please assist Gen. Fnord with this.

No, that list of people isn't a coincidence. Yes, my daughter does keep me in the loop, unlike some people. But considering I kept the grimoires secret from you, fair's fair.

Let me know how much kaboomite you need. I'll try to keep Bob from dropping rocks on our new neighbors.

--
Noah Scott, of station Stellvia

(OOC: I only ever made it a quarter of the way through The Guns of the South, so I'm going by the story's reputation here...)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[robkelk]

Subject: Re: Information which may be useful in the current situation

To: Bob Schroeck (rms@ourtown.fen)

From: "Noah Scott" (bigcheese@stellvia.lib)

Date: November 22, 2016

>> Please find attached information related to interuniversal travel and prerequisite skills

>> needed to make use of that information, which was removed from the Whole Fenspace

>> Catalog prior to that database's release.

> Um... thanks? I know I like to write about this stuff, but to have

> "Worldjumping for Dummies" shoved into my hands, that's a bit on the

> scary side. I'd rather hold onto something safer, like 40-year-old

> nukes with decaying trigger mechanisms.

Which is why I kept them under wraps in the first place.

> Fear and panic aside, though, I understand the reasoning here, and I'm

> grateful that you brought us in on this.

Thanks. I was afraid I may have frightened you off... and I *need* the

help of every mage I can find and train.

> Skuld was right, we have a few folks among us who can handle the magical

> side. However, I should also note that two-thirds of the magic-capable

> are among the kids. While we're going to see to their education in that

> regard (a couple more-general instruction manuals from your stash would

> be appreciated, Noah, when the current crisis is over or in a couple

> months, whichever comes first)

Yomiko has access to all of these books, now. Whatever you need, get her

to print and bind in PS238's office.

> the kids are *not* going to be shoved anywhere close to the front

> lines on this.

Good.

> The magegifted adults, on the other hand, are looking forward to

> creating their own little chapter of Warriors Alpha here.

Here's hoping it doesn't come to the point where they'll *need* to

become Warriors Alpha.

> However, let me warn you that from what we can tell so far, magic is

> *not* going to be the quick fix. At best these techniques/rituals/spells

> open tunnels or doorways, just as in the stuff I've written. Quite

> frankly, something on the scale we're facing downbelow is either a

> "Grantville"-type accident caused by Sufficiently Advanced Aliens who

> got careless, or it's deity-level action. You may need to break out the

> research theology materials after all, at the very least because we're

> going to want to find a friendly face or two among the celestials to

> help us either way.

How the hell did you know about the research theology texts? No, never

mind - I already know. (Who's more in a story than it's writer, after

all?)

> In the mean time, we've read up on the new tenants of North America, and

> on general principles we're sending Salvage I out to collect some big

> rocks. No dinosaur killers, but a few 10- to 20-tonners will be handy if

> we need to vaporize fascists in a hurry.

Normally, Id try talking you out of the Harsh Mistress solution... but

this situation isn't normal.

> Which reminds me -- what's the reaction from the Australian government

> (outside of the news bites, I mean)?

I don't know. I've tried calling consul Walker three times today, and

I'm not getting any answer. That's beginning to worry me. I *hope*

that's because AusGov hasn't come to any decisions yet.

--

Noah

"In any confrontation, your goal must be to win. There is no sense in

pursuing a confrontation in a way that will leave you or your cause

worse off than when it began." - J.D Salinger, March 1999
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[robkelk]

Something of a bigger worry is the sheer financial chaos caused by one of the top three economies up and vanishing, as well as the oil supply from Texas.

No worries about Texas oil - Venus and Titan are drenched in hydrocarbons, after all.

As for economies, AFAIK Fenspace never had a market correction in 2009-2010 - this will do that for the world. We'll weather it somehow...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[robkelk]

(And one more, then I let other folks play too for a while.)

Owner's Office
Odyssey
26 November 2016

Noah came to a decision. The other androids he'd built had knowledge and abilities that the characters they were based on knew and had; maybe he could use that to his advantage. Even if it took a few months for the new android to awaken, it would still be faster than training people to do the same things from a standing start.

"Safety, get Sanda Makoto-san on the line; I need every scrap of information available about Rental Magica. We're building an artificial mage." That phrase knocked a few memories loose in his head. "Then hire Ueda Kana-san and get her up here."

If we're lucky, thought Noah as Safety moved to her videophone, involving her in the process of waving Honami might mix in a few abilities from Ueda-san's other powerful prodigy mage character. Assuming of course that a cross between Honami and Hayate is a good thing...

---

(Noah's pretty sure he can get Honami Takase Ambler as an android. He's hoping for Honami Takase Yagami. What he hasn't realized is that his method is more likely to give him Honami Tosaka Yagami...)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Black Aeronaut]

OOC: Jeeze - I don't check the forum for couple of days and this happens... I'll be replying sometime tomorrowish or even later today (evening? morning?), but the short version is that Ben, Gina, Mayonaka are gonna be running recon immediately to get details on enemy assets and a solid look at what's going on inside.  Given that the original intent of a Blackbird was photorecon, the stuff they'll get is gonna be worth its weight in hyper-core processors.
And yes, Ben's gonna give Mal his full support - no room for egos up here.  Although one of the first places Ben would like to liberate would be Utah.  Thought I was gonna say Texas, huh?  Thing is, FS!Ben used to be Mormon, albeit inactive, until he met Skuld.  He's still pretty partial to them because they do good things despite being a bit higher-than-thou.
How are things in this version of Texas?  Is FS!Ben gonna wind up choke-slamming a lot of people down there?

[M Fnord]

OOC: Okay, for anybody who wants to do research on TL-191, I've... *acquired* the e-books in question and am willing to share off-forum. Most've you have got my email address, so ping me there. They're somewhat long books but pretty quick reads IMO.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Foxboy]

OOC: Short form? Think "skinhead paradise" for the CSA, with a lot of swagger.

The Rebs whooped Yankee ass three times before their World War One analog let a Bitter, Prussian USA win. As the CSA began mechanizing, manumitted slaves went socialist and attempted a Communist revolution that failed HARD, but gave the USA the opening to curbstomp the CSA. This revolution is what Featherston uses as his rationale to attempt a "Final Solution," compared to Hitler's blaming Jews for the Great Depression.

Point of divergence for this timeline is a set of orders wrapped around some cigars. Special Order 191, and thus the source for the name of the timeline. This order was intercepted by the Union Army, OTL because some Confederate officer was an ass to the enlisteds, and they figured that an asshole of that caliber can clean up his own mistakes. In this timeline, they picked up the orders , leading to a resounding Confederate victory and enough momentum to win the war quickly, before the Union's advantage in materiel could become a factor.

First Novel in the chronology is "How Few Remain" set roughly in the 1890s. Then it goes on to the Great War, Depression, and then the WWII Analog.

Turtledove uses a "Tapestry" writing style, so several characters and their descendants weave back and forth throughout history. He picks say five or so RL people who would be important and throws a few others around that are original, "little guy" types.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Black Aeronaut]

OOC: In short, persecution of any and all non-white people? Including anyone with a name like Saldana? ... These guys are toast.

Gonna be fun to see the looks on their faces when they see FS!Ben flying the old Texas Standards.