Note: The following is part of the Fenspace Infinities collection, and as such should not be taken seriously for continuity purposes. The events described herein may happen, or they may not as events in the main storyline overtake them.
Oh, and while this is strictly an alternate world for the moment, there are some slight spoilers for the outcome of "Mr. Fnord Goes to Washington." Nothing I don't think anybody wasn't expecting, but they're still technically spoilers.
The future isn't written yet, be of good cheer. --Mal
"Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will dig you in." -Nikita Khrushchev
Korolev Air Force Base
Office of the Generalissimo
Wednesday, 5 May 2021 13:59 GMT
"The results are in."
"And?"
"It went our way. Six to one in favor."
"*Wonderful*..."
"Mal, I've been your friend for almost thirty years now, and if you say 'Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen it,' I *will* kill you, friendship or not."
"Can I at least do a 'Just as planned'?"
"Yeah, that won't hurt."
"Allright then. Ahem. Just as planned."
"Very dramatic."
"Thank you."
!*!*!
DAILY ILLUMINATOR
Thursday, 6 May 2021
UNIFICATION!
Federation Admits First Non-Trekkie Faction As Member
UTOPIA PLANITIA, Mars - In a move surprising leaders all across the solar system, the Federation Council voted yesterday to allow the Soviet Air Force-in-Exile to join the United Federation of Planets as a full member.
"This is a historic moment for the Federation and for Fenspace as a whole," said Council press secretary Alexander Mack during the announcement. "It shows that despite our differences, we are willing to come together and create something greater."
"We expect that our new relationship will be beneficial to both partners," Mack said from the official statement.
Soviet officials have not offered any official words regarding the admission, although Soviet Central Committee member General Katrina Stewart was present at Starbase One when the announcement was made. A short statement from the Soviet public information office was released to reporters, indicating that a formal statement and press conference will be held Friday at the Soviet base in Kandor City.
The announcement came as a complete surprise to many in Fenspace's leadership. "I honestly don't know what [Soviet leader Malaclypse Fnord] was thinking," said interplanetary mogul Noah Scott. "The Soviets have always been very independent-minded. I can't imagine any situation where they would give up their sovereignty willingly."
!*!*!
Daily Illuminator/Blogs/Eye on the Con
Thursday, 6 May 2021
Subject: Well, Didn't See That Coming
Everybody's jumping about the big news of the day, the Trekkie annexation of the Soviet Air Force. One faction swallowing another would be big news on any occasion, but when it's the big fish in our pond taking up a smaller fish, everybody goes nuts. The lack of warning compounds all this too. Nobody in media, the bloggers... hell, not even SMOFCon had any inkling the Sovs were in talks with the Trekkies.
The question on everybody's mind is "why?" Why would the Sovs essentially throw their independence away? The Soviet Air Force-in-Exile isn't very big, only a couple thousand people, but they've got fingers in a lot of the pies out here in Fenspace; they're founding members of the Great Justice coalition, they have a big stake in the Nikaido Foundation, their documentaries are cult classics down in the Danelaw and they've got the ears of the solar system's most influential people. It's rumored that the Sovs were the ones who convinced Eric Zhu to let the Convention build Ackerman Station around his Island. Potentially they're giving up a lot of that influence by becoming a Trekkie vassal.
Fatima Nuygen, an ex-Bailey political analyst whose current resume seems to consist of telling people what they want to hear, thinks that this move is a sign of weakness. Speaking on FOX News (naturally) yesterday afternoon, Nuygen had this to say:
"The effect of the US embargo on the Soviet Air Force has reduced them to this state. They're like an innovative startup company with really poor management, sooner or later the company fails and the lucky people get bought out. That's all this is, is one company buying out another. Mr. Fnord is just lucky that the Federation wants to buy what assets he has to sell."
Nuygen made a name for herself working for Bailey Security back during the Boskone war, when she falsely claimed that an army of white supremecists was waiting in the wings to take over Fenspace after the factions exhausted themselves fighting the mobs. (I never said it was a good name.) It's nice to see that time hasn't tempered her ability to get shit completely wrong. The seven-year US embargo hasn't affected the Soviet expansion drive or their ability to pull jobs from Earth. If anything, freeing them from pursuing solely American work seems to have paid off for the Sovs.
Still, Nuygen made a point in true stopped-clock fashion. The Federation is interested in buying what the Sovs have to sell. Something like 60% of Starfleet uses Soviet-made equipment to one extent or another. The backbone of the fleet, the Gagarin-class cruiser, is a Soviet design. Soviet space probes are at the core of the Federation's "Grand Survey" project. The big one is of course Project Constitution, whose slow death has only been kept at bay by tech from the Sovs' "miracle factory" at 2700 Baikonur. The Trekkies stand to gain near-unlimited access to the candy store by annexing the Sovs.
What do the Sovs get out of it? That's a very good question, and not one I have a good answer for at the moment. The balance of the transaction seems to fall towards the Trekkies, but there has to be something there for the Soviets. An important thing to remember is that Mal Fnord and his cronies have an agenda. The agenda is - probably - pretty benign, but the Sovs have been utterly ruthless when pursuing it. Fnord himself is a man known for brilliant and unorthodox political maneuvering, and whatever his other faults he believes in the Soviet agenda. Joining the Federation may be nothing more than a means to an end. After all, if one wants to steer Fenspace in a certain direction having unbreakable hooks in the largest of the factions would be very useful.
It'll be interesting to look back five or ten years from now and see who exactly annexed whom.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
Oh, and while this is strictly an alternate world for the moment, there are some slight spoilers for the outcome of "Mr. Fnord Goes to Washington." Nothing I don't think anybody wasn't expecting, but they're still technically spoilers.
The future isn't written yet, be of good cheer. --Mal
"Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will dig you in." -Nikita Khrushchev
Korolev Air Force Base
Office of the Generalissimo
Wednesday, 5 May 2021 13:59 GMT
"The results are in."
"And?"
"It went our way. Six to one in favor."
"*Wonderful*..."
"Mal, I've been your friend for almost thirty years now, and if you say 'Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen it,' I *will* kill you, friendship or not."
"Can I at least do a 'Just as planned'?"
"Yeah, that won't hurt."
"Allright then. Ahem. Just as planned."
"Very dramatic."
"Thank you."
!*!*!
DAILY ILLUMINATOR
Thursday, 6 May 2021
UNIFICATION!
Federation Admits First Non-Trekkie Faction As Member
UTOPIA PLANITIA, Mars - In a move surprising leaders all across the solar system, the Federation Council voted yesterday to allow the Soviet Air Force-in-Exile to join the United Federation of Planets as a full member.
"This is a historic moment for the Federation and for Fenspace as a whole," said Council press secretary Alexander Mack during the announcement. "It shows that despite our differences, we are willing to come together and create something greater."
"We expect that our new relationship will be beneficial to both partners," Mack said from the official statement.
Soviet officials have not offered any official words regarding the admission, although Soviet Central Committee member General Katrina Stewart was present at Starbase One when the announcement was made. A short statement from the Soviet public information office was released to reporters, indicating that a formal statement and press conference will be held Friday at the Soviet base in Kandor City.
The announcement came as a complete surprise to many in Fenspace's leadership. "I honestly don't know what [Soviet leader Malaclypse Fnord] was thinking," said interplanetary mogul Noah Scott. "The Soviets have always been very independent-minded. I can't imagine any situation where they would give up their sovereignty willingly."
!*!*!
Daily Illuminator/Blogs/Eye on the Con
Thursday, 6 May 2021
Subject: Well, Didn't See That Coming
Everybody's jumping about the big news of the day, the Trekkie annexation of the Soviet Air Force. One faction swallowing another would be big news on any occasion, but when it's the big fish in our pond taking up a smaller fish, everybody goes nuts. The lack of warning compounds all this too. Nobody in media, the bloggers... hell, not even SMOFCon had any inkling the Sovs were in talks with the Trekkies.
The question on everybody's mind is "why?" Why would the Sovs essentially throw their independence away? The Soviet Air Force-in-Exile isn't very big, only a couple thousand people, but they've got fingers in a lot of the pies out here in Fenspace; they're founding members of the Great Justice coalition, they have a big stake in the Nikaido Foundation, their documentaries are cult classics down in the Danelaw and they've got the ears of the solar system's most influential people. It's rumored that the Sovs were the ones who convinced Eric Zhu to let the Convention build Ackerman Station around his Island. Potentially they're giving up a lot of that influence by becoming a Trekkie vassal.
Fatima Nuygen, an ex-Bailey political analyst whose current resume seems to consist of telling people what they want to hear, thinks that this move is a sign of weakness. Speaking on FOX News (naturally) yesterday afternoon, Nuygen had this to say:
"The effect of the US embargo on the Soviet Air Force has reduced them to this state. They're like an innovative startup company with really poor management, sooner or later the company fails and the lucky people get bought out. That's all this is, is one company buying out another. Mr. Fnord is just lucky that the Federation wants to buy what assets he has to sell."
Nuygen made a name for herself working for Bailey Security back during the Boskone war, when she falsely claimed that an army of white supremecists was waiting in the wings to take over Fenspace after the factions exhausted themselves fighting the mobs. (I never said it was a good name.) It's nice to see that time hasn't tempered her ability to get shit completely wrong. The seven-year US embargo hasn't affected the Soviet expansion drive or their ability to pull jobs from Earth. If anything, freeing them from pursuing solely American work seems to have paid off for the Sovs.
Still, Nuygen made a point in true stopped-clock fashion. The Federation is interested in buying what the Sovs have to sell. Something like 60% of Starfleet uses Soviet-made equipment to one extent or another. The backbone of the fleet, the Gagarin-class cruiser, is a Soviet design. Soviet space probes are at the core of the Federation's "Grand Survey" project. The big one is of course Project Constitution, whose slow death has only been kept at bay by tech from the Sovs' "miracle factory" at 2700 Baikonur. The Trekkies stand to gain near-unlimited access to the candy store by annexing the Sovs.
What do the Sovs get out of it? That's a very good question, and not one I have a good answer for at the moment. The balance of the transaction seems to fall towards the Trekkies, but there has to be something there for the Soviets. An important thing to remember is that Mal Fnord and his cronies have an agenda. The agenda is - probably - pretty benign, but the Sovs have been utterly ruthless when pursuing it. Fnord himself is a man known for brilliant and unorthodox political maneuvering, and whatever his other faults he believes in the Soviet agenda. Joining the Federation may be nothing more than a means to an end. After all, if one wants to steer Fenspace in a certain direction having unbreakable hooks in the largest of the factions would be very useful.
It'll be interesting to look back five or ten years from now and see who exactly annexed whom.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
