Quote:If they’ve got the reality bomb (for lack of a better name), I can see
that Hong Kong might be a “real-world” test for the device, but, that’s quite
dangerous. After all, the whole world has their eyes on you in that place. Sure, that
would be an impressive display, but, if it backfires, you’re screwed.And, you’re not clear about something: Does the bomb simply make it a fact that they were redeployed (to their surprise) and that the Chinese are now in control of the city? Or did it redeploy the soldiers, and the Chinese had to come in and occupy the city?
British and American soldiers/government officials, their
support equipment and a number of civilians found themselves suddenly situated
in other countries, with limited physical evidence suggesting their new
locations are where they’re supposed to be and that they’ve been there for
quite some time. Chinese soldiers/officials/etc. found themselves in control of
the city with indications that they’ve been stationed there since July 1, 1997,
when the UK was supposed to turn Hong Kong over to Chinese control.
There is of course no actual Reality Bomb. This is the
result of an exceedingly large and unstable Reality Quake. Since people don’t
notice most reality quakes, they have no basis for understanding what happened.
There should probably be a sidebar along the lines of:
What Really Happened?
Nobody knows at the time. It is possible that the cause
remains a mystery, is uncovered by certain groups but never revealed to the general
public or even discovered and revealed to the world too late to significantly change
the course of events that have been set in motion. Player characters operating
during the millennial period may investigate, and perhaps identify the cause as
one of the following:
1). A temporal war between multiple mutually exclusive
futures spilled over into the present, with Hong Kong the epicenter of a
massive paradox event. Whether these shadowy future organizations or their
agents still exist is unknown.
2). An alternate dimension where the UK returned Hong Kong
to Chinese control on schedule ‘crashed’ into the IST dimension, imperfectly
fusing the two realities. Can (and should) this be undone? Was this a natural occurrence or the result of
some sapient agency? Can a way be developed to protect the world from future
incidents?
3). It actually was a Chinese reality bomb (sort of). China’s
attempts to breed cosmically powerful metas was actually more successful than
they thought. An eight-year-old third generation product of their breeding
program was so worried for the safety of his parents – metas who were posted
along the Hong Kong border – that his attempt to WILL things right catalyzed
his reality warping powers. His unresponsive body was later found at the bottom
of a flight of stairs and doctors – who think he simply fell and struck his
head – are uncertain if he will ever regain consciousness.
Quote:I have a real hard time believing that China
wouldn’t just reach out and snatch NK back. NK would become a new
province in China. After all, this attack will make China lose face.
China will definitely be turning Korea into an outright
puppet regime in the future, and this event will be the largest contributing
factor. Do note that the New York incident occurred in the middle of the day.
That means that the North Korean offensive probably began at about three in the
morning. China’s officials were still mostly asleep when the order was given
without first consulting them.
As for why China hadn’t already taken full control over
North Korea, there are three major reasons (which will soon no longer be
applicable):
1)
The global outrage this would have produced and
the questions regarding possible expansionistic policies this would have
raised.
2)
The fact that, as willing allies, Korea required
a smaller commitment in resources than would have been necessary for military
occupation of a hostile country.
3)
North Korea made a great deniable asset. After
all, China hasn’t publically taken over North Korea in the real world either.
Why would they? As long as North Korea is the world’s #1 problem, China seems
less threatening, even if they do back the regime for political reasons.
Quote:I’m sorry, but that flies
in the face of established canon. The IST already
has a clear and concise chain of command outside of the U.N.
They’re pretty much the most effective and efficient military on the
planet. The IST is a standing army fielding about 1,400 supers and around
30,000 powered armor infantry. Also, the IST HQ is not the U.N. building.
It’s IST New York. The IST’s chain of command is undamaged.
Good point. I was sloppy and kept saying IST instead of UN
when the terms are not equivalent. On the other hand, I just checked and GURPS
IST specifically states on page 19 that “IST Command and its bureaucracy is … in
the Secretariat building.” This means that IST Command, which works parallel to
IST New York in the organizational chart on page 8, is indeed gone.
Page 9 notes that “The IST commander has also been known to address
the General Assembly and other primary organs of the U.N. during times of
crisis.” Since the Hong Kong event was being discussed that day and was clearly
of extra-normal origin, IST Commander Witchwind would likely have been there at
the time of the building’s loss. She’s probably gone.
Finally, page 19 gives an address for the IST New York building
that, when checked on Google maps, turns out to be literally across the street
from the UN. I already stated that radiation zapped everything within several
blocks of the former UN building. IST New York is most certainly in the
radiation zone. On the other hand, I believe that IST buildings are virtual
fortresses, so not everyone necessarily died. Some died, some were hospitalized
with radiation burns and are slowly dying of cancer and a few lucky ones lived
(many will be in therapy for years overcoming the survivors guilt).
This could also explain why IST members from around the
world had to teleport to New York to stop the Blue Demon, because IST New York
was off the grid with heavy losses.
As a final suggestion for why the IST is so ineffective for
the next several months, although they may be able to act without the UN, that
basically makes them an army without civilian oversight. Given the global
reputation of military governments, whoever winds up in charge may be wary of
exercising their power without strong popular support. They’re undoubtedly new
to the position, lacking in contacts (since their contacts are all dead) and hemorrhaging
personnel as various metas take leaves of absence to aid their
governments.
Quote:This is a bad plan and Mugabe would know it.
This is in fact a very bad plan. Given
that Mugabe would oversee an economic plan that saw his country facing 11.2
million percent hyperinflation, I think we can all agree that the man is indeed
capable of doing very stupid things.
To make things flow smoother,
perhaps he responded to the increasingly severe South African incursions into
his country with a rallying speech which included the rhetoric “we are in a
state of war with South Africa.”
The South African President then seized
upon this statement when he addressed his own government, using it as a pretext
to “bring war to those who would bring war to us” while vowing to fight for the
liberty of his people and for their “persecuted white brethren in Zimbabwe.” An
amazing act of political doublespeak that turned South African aggression into
a patriotic fight against a bellicose land thief.
As a final note regarding my last
post, I should probably move the Cuba/Guatemala rebuilding bit from late 2000
to mid 2000 so that things can start heating up there a little faster.
Xxx
Early 2001 –
Coalition (really need to come up with an evocative name) forces
and Chinese troops continue to skirmish, with Chinese victories becoming more
and more common.
Coalition leaders realize that a Chinese clairvoyant is spying
on them, and spend the next several weeks laying out false plans for a massive
assault on Hong Kong (Operation Second Sun), with logistics chains and training
exercises ordered in preparation for the attack.
Operation Second Sun is enacted and China falls for the
feint, redeploying the bulk of their forces in expectation of an attack that
doesn’t come. Coalition troops instead
land in South Korea and overwhelm the understrength North Korean positions,
establishing a stable beachhead.
Based on their mutual hatred of the IST, Cuba and Guatemala begin
seeking an alliance with the Colombian drug cartels.
The Zimbabwe/South Africa conflict continues, with Zimbabwe faring
quite poorly. The IST is incensed by the violation of Zimbabwe’s territorial sovereignty,
but South African diplomats claim both that Zimbabwe declared war on them first
and that they are simply doing the IST’s stated job of protecting innocent
civilians, in this case the white land owners who are being illegally stripped
of property by Mugabe’s despotic regime.
In the end, the IST protects civilian refugees from the
violent excesses of both sides while trying to limit the scope of the fighting,
with little success.
Mid 2001 –
The Coalition reinforces their position in South Korea and
slowly fights its way northward. North Korea takes heavy losses, but mostly
hold their ground due largely to the aid of highly trained Chinese metas.
In response to continued interference in their affairs, Jugo
enhanced agents of the Colombian cartels storm IST Bogota, breaking through the
outer defenses before being brought to a stop by reinforcements teleported in
from other IST sites. Moments later, a “flea” nuke provided by the
Cuban/Guatemalan alliance detonates inside the building.
With the fall of IST Bogota, the Colombian government soon
follows. The cartels are not precisely in control, but neither in anyone else.
South Africa has occupied nearly half of Zimbabwe when the Marxist
leaning FRELIMO government of Mozambique, which had given aid to anti-South
African rebel groups in the past, enters the war as Zimbabwe’s ally. Secret
diplomatic agreements are suspected.
Mozambique’s army pushes deep into South Africa and works its
way towards the city of Pretoria.
South African troops in Zimbabwe, cut off from their supply
chain by Mozambique’s attack, fall back towards the border, allowing Zimbabwe
to reclaim much of its territory.
Late 2001 –
Mozambique’s army finds itself caught between South African
Troops retreating from Zimbabwe, South African troops moving up from the south and South African
metas enraged by the assault on their homeland. Mozambique’s troops are routed,
suffering heavy losses as they retreat back to their country.
The Colombian cartels, encouraged by their Cuban and
Guatemalan allies, start to extend their business interests in Panama and El
Salvadore via a campaign of kidnappings, assassinations and gang violence.
China, looking to knock out the Coalition’s momentum in South
Korea, open a second front by attacking Coalition territory in the Philippines.
The local IST branch attempts to intervene, but they lose half their team and
are forced to abandon the facility.
China secures their ground presence in the Philippines,
causing the Coalition advance in South Korea to sputter to a halt.
----------------------------------------------------
"Anyone can be a winner if their definition of victory is flexible enough." - The DM of the Rings XXXV