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

[Jinx999]

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

To: Operation FIREFALL Mailing List (firefall@sovietairforce.fen)

Date: November 23, 2016

Subj: [FIREFALL] Re:Economics
Just to clarify. I was referring to large scale trade - the kind of thing with serious economic impact or for enough equipment to upgrade more than a tiny amount of their military. They can easily sell enough stuff to buy a load of books and enough guns to reverse engineer.
Speaking of which, I've had a couple of offers from people who think it'd be really original to smuggle some AK47's into the CSA. (Just because I hang around with the brown coats and run a tramp freighter, that does not mean I'm a smuggler, OK.) I told them that a) it would take only a few months to reverse engineer them and maybe a year to start large scale production with WWII tech and b) Fenspace needs a co-ordinated approach and they should go through the Con.
Oh - we're going to be REALLY alien and pretty disgusting to these people. For a start, a lot of us are OK with "sodomy" of all things, let alone "miscegenation". We don't blink at wearing clothes in public that prostitutes wouldn't wear in private. We would NOT have what they consider proper manners. We'd just be familiar enough that the differences would stand out, not what we'd have in common - basically the uncanny valley effect. Frankly, we're sufficiently nasty to their sensibilities that if we aren't careful and professional about this, we could end up with a US/CSA alliance against us, with a mutual horror of anything that might lead to them becoming like us.

[M Fnord]

From: General Fnord (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)
To: Operation FIREFALL Mailing List (firefall@sovietairforce.fen)
Date: November 24, 2016
Subj: [FIREFALL] Re: Economics

> Frankly, we're sufficiently nasty to their sensibilities that if we
> aren't careful and professional about this, we could end up with a
> US/CSA alliance against us, with a mutual horror of anything that
> might lead to them becoming like us.

If the information in the books is even 50% accurate, that's not in the cards. We'd have to be literal Giant Lizards From Another Star, show up in force & nuke their cities on a daily basis in order for the United and Confederate States to even *think* of joining forces.

We're going to be weird and alien to them, no question. But the USA and CSA hate each other with a ferocity that we don't see much of in our world. The closest I can think of would be Israel v. Rest Of The Middle East, but even *there* the hatred's been tempered by wisdom, or at least pragmatism.

--Fnord
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[robkelk]

(Posting to a few points in the narrative, and moving the story along...)

From: Noah Scott (bigcheese@stellvia.lib)
To: Operation FIREFALL Mailing List (firefall@sovietairforce.fen)
Date: November 23, 2016
Subj: [FIREFALL] Re:Economics

> Speaking of which, I've had a couple of offers from people who think
> it'd be really original to smuggle some AK47's into the CSA. (Just
> because I hang around with the brown coats and run a tramp freighter,
> that does not mean I'm a smuggler, OK.) I told them that a) it would
> take only a few months to reverse engineer them and maybe a year to
> start large scale production with WWII tech and b) Fenspace needs a
> co-ordinated approach and they should go through the Con.

Oh, joy. Whose bright idea was it to mix TL-191 and The Guns of the
South? Whoever it was, please slap him, her, or it with a
Clue-By-Four a couple of times for me.

> Oh - we're going to be REALLY alien and pretty disgusting to these
> people. For a start, a lot of us are OK with "sodomy" of all things, let
> alone "miscegenation". We don't blink at wearing clothes in public that
> prostitutes wouldn't wear in private. We would NOT have what they
> consider proper manners. We'd just be familiar enough that the
> differences would stand out, not what we'd have in common - basically
> the uncanny valley effect. Frankly, we're sufficiently nasty to their
> sensibilities that if we aren't careful and professional about this, we
> could end up with a US/CSA alliance against us, with a mutual horror of
> anything that might lead to them becoming like us.

True. At least for the first few trips, let's not mention our mixed-race
and same-sex marriages, let alone any of the human/AI marriages. And no
blues, jazz, swing, rock, or hip-hop on our sound systems unless we hear
similar styles from the replacement US or the CSA first. Let's keep the
culture shock to a minimum.

(Yes, they probably have something like blues, but I wouldn't be
surprised if it's "sharecroppers' music" in the replacement US and
"slaves' music" in the CSA. We do not want to come off as lowbrow.)

--
Noah Scott, of station Stellvia
"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

---

From: Noah Scott (bigcheese@stellvia.lib)
To: Operation FIREFALL Mailing List (firefall@sovietairforce.fen)
Date: November 24, 2016
Subj: [FIREFALL] Visting Hours Are Now Open

> (Noah: Are any of the Graces currently available & can be pulled off
> rotation quickly? Laika's equipped to piggyback a shuttle, and we might
> earn some goodwill if they see a spacecraft with the Stars & Stripes
> accompanying a Convention vessel.)

Discovery's currently docked at Port Phobos, having just brought half
the Artemis Foundation folks to 191-Con. I'll have the flight crew bring
her to Korolev ASAP.

In exchange, I'd like somebody with heavy towing capability to keep an
ear open at L5. If worse comes to worst, I may need to drop a few pods
for someone else to pick up at a moment's notice.

--
Noah Scott, of station Stellvia
"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

---

From: Noah Scott (bigcheese@stellvia.lib)
To: Bob Schroeck (rms@ourtown.fen)
Date: November 26, 2016
Subj: Re: Information which may be useful in the current situation

> The basics of the Burroughs drive are simple enough -- force a gyroscope
> to precess in a direction outside of 3-space. But precisely-controlling
> that precession to the degree that's needed for navigation, yeah, I can
> see how that would be a bit hard to accomplish with SOTA technology and
> techniques in a space smaller than a barn. No cheating with waved
> support systems is possible?

Kohran says "at least ten years, and that's *with* handwavium assist".

I think we're out of luck with a tech solution, but I'm not dismissing
any possibilities right now. This one will need more brainpower than we
can spare until Featherston's brought to heel, though, so let's hope the
fighters work fast.

--
Noah Scott, of station Stellvia
"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

---

Main Operations
Stellvia
08:31 GMT 29 November 2016

As he sat down behind his own desk for the first time in days, Noah Scott thought that it was good to be home. The Convention, while necessary to show the Fen and the 'Danes that things were happening, was a distraction from the real job of finding everyone.

"Sir..."

Noah heard the undertone in Jake Hansen's voice. "What's wrong now, Duty Officer?"

"We've got a DQS on level 2, attached pod 37. It was so faint that I almost missed it."

"Seal the pod. I'm going to check it out."

"Already sealed, sir." After a beat, the duty officer continued. "Be careful, Noah. The last time this happened, you had backup and you were single. Now you're going out alone, and you've got a wife and daughter waiting for you to come home tonight."

"Jake, that's all the more reason for me to find out whether this is a threat to Leda and Helen." The door closed behind Noah.

Level 2, Attached Residential Pod 37
Stellvia
08:32 GMT 29 November 2016

The damned door was locked. Obviously, the locals had some way to detect the quantum disturbance caused by the message pod's jump; this was a hell of a way to discover they knew more than expected.

Nothing to do about it now but wait - suicide, while always an option, wasn't particularly appealing, and death would make it impossible to salvage anything of the mission.

The wait wasn't very long. The outer airlock door opened to admit, no nobody's surprise, the station's owner. "Of all the people I thought might be in here, communicating with another universe, I didn't expect to see you." Noah Scott manipulated the airlock controls while he continued. "I'm going to unlock this door, but I'll warn you now: if you make any attempt to overpower me, the entire pod will depressurize."

"Yes, of course," Maico Tange replied.

Level 2, Attached Residential Pod 37
Stellvia
11:14 GMT 29 November 2016

"Does this 'banestorm' phenomenon usually affect that large an area?"

Maico shook her head. "No, Mr. Scott, that's the largest banestorm I've ever heard of. And that's really all I know about them. But I have a question for you: how did you spot me?"

Noah smiled. "Sore was, himitsu desu."

"I didn't know you speak Japanese."

"I don't, aside from a few phrases. But now you know how I felt when you kept telling me so many things about you are classified." He stood up, holstering his pistol. "I'm going to let you go, but I expect you to come back with a reply to my request."

"We don't usually operate openly in other worldlines, but exceptions have been made on occasion. I'll see what I can do."

Noah backed out of the pod, and Maico put her head in her hands. How am I going to explain this to Infinity? she thought. At least I was able to keep most of The Secret... but I'm sure I told Mr. Scott too much.

Meanwhile, Noah was trying to decide how much, if anything, to tell the SMOFs about Ms. Tange. Despite her being a spy for a completely different reality, she hadn't actually done anything wrong. Did he have a right to betray her confidence?
--
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

[LynnInDenver]

From: Jeph Antilles (lordandmaster@jmc.fen)
To: Operation FIREFALL Mailing List (firefall@sovietairforce.fen)
Date: November 24, 2016
Subj: [FIREFALL] RE: Visting Hours Are Now Open

>In exchange, I'd like somebody with heavy towing capability to keep an
>ear open at L5. If worse comes to worst, I may need to drop a few pods
>for someone else to pick up at a moment's notice.

We're dispatching three Blue Midgets in that direction as I type this. Why three? Right now, we're paranoid that there may be more space swapping in the near future, and they can watch at a long enough distance to warn if one of the group disappears.

Oh, Jinx, I think I know who you're talking about on that 'original' idea. Someone's getting belted in the mouth when I get back to Serenity Valley if I'm right.
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[Black Aeronaut]

OOC: Sorry I haven't been talkative lately. Finding a computer on this ship for more than ten minutes without being interupted for SOME reason is nigh impossible! In the meantime, Yes, Ben will hit Richmond, and he's gonna drop the bomb on Featherstone that is his wife and daughter. (Little girl with black-feathered wings - how would he take that?)

And yes, he will definitely go to Salt Lake in an effort to get the Mormons on-board. If anything, he can push the idea to them that Fenspace presents the ultimate degree of Freedom of Religeon, including religeously organized governments, so long as basic human rights are observed.

[robkelk]

(I'm glad this is an alternate - I get to do so many things I would never do in "real" Fenspace. Like blow the top off of a secret, or give a background character some screen time...)

Owner's Office
Stellvia
14:19 GMT 29 November 2016

"I wonder what stats I have..."

Safety looked up at Noah. "Pardon, sir?"

"Oh, it's nothing really important. I was just musing on transfictionality."

Safety nodded, then blinked, then spoke in a different voice. "Noah, stop dwelling on the past!" Then she blinked again.

Noah stared at his assistant in shock for a moment. Then he took a breath, held it for a five-count, then exhaled. "Safety, go see Kohran right now and get Ms. Nikaido's memories out of your head."

"Yes, sir," she replied as she rose to leave. "I'm sorry to have troubled you."

When he was alone, Noah spoke to the empty air. "I'm not dwelling on the past, Yoriko. I still miss you, but Leda and Helen are almost enough to fill the void you left in my heart." Then he just sat there for a moment, as if expecting a reply.

Instead, the door opened. "Mr. Scott, are you all right? Safety looked upset when I passed her in the hall."

"Kelly! Come in, please. I'm fine, just surprised by something she did. What brings you away from the hotel?"

The bunnygirl who managed Hotel Stellvia sat down in one of her employer's guest chairs. "I was wondering why you wanted me to stop accepting reservations."

"Ah. Officially, it's so we have room for some refugees from the CSA."

She nodded. "And unofficially?"

"It's in case we need to initiate Plan #3."

"Are things really that bad, Noah?"

"Not yet, Kelly, but whatever happened to our home could happen again. And if it does..."

"...we need to be ready. All right; I'll continue refusing new reservations. Now, what else is wrong?"

Noah raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think anything else is wrong?"

"I've known you since before either of us headed Up. You've slipped into your gamemaster mode, which you only do when you're GMing or there's something on your mind that you don't want anyone else to know."

"You remember the campaign I ran on alternate Fridays before I got married?"

"The ISWAT game? I still have my techomage character sheet. Why?"

"I just found out who the Infinity Scout Service agent in our universe is."

Both of Kelly's eyebrows shot up. "Woah. Anybody I know?"

"There's the problem - should I tell anyone? It isn't as if this person's done anything wrong..."

"Aside from spying on us."

"That isn't a crime."

She thought for a moment. "Do we need to know?"

After a longer moment, Noah replied, "I don't think so. At least, not yet."

"Then don't tell me. How did the agent react to learning about the GURPS books?"

"I didn't tell her about them."

"'Her,' huh? Well, that narrows it down..."

"Kelly!"
--
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]

(Little girl with black-feathered wings - how would he take that?)

Besides claiming we "consort with demons"?

OOC: Somebody remind Noah to give Mayonaka a copy of the In Nomine rules when she's old enough to play RPGs. (Then our little Blackwing will have to decide what her Oaths are, beside the required "never let evil live it it's my choice" and "never surrender or allow myself to be captured"... )
--
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]

Besides claiming we "consort with demons"?

Guys... 1940s, not 1540s. I know we're the enlightened elite here, but c'mon.

And with that in mind, let's get rolling. Send in the clowns!

---

Somewhere in the foothills outside Calgary, Alberta
Universe 05-0000-0000 (Codename: HOMELINE)
December 1, 2028

The Director of the Interworld Special Weapons and Tactics branch went over his briefing notes again. He took special care in reading the latest dispatch from the incident zone, wincing at the incredibly apologetic tone the last few paragraphs took.

Poor woman, he thought, nobody had any idea that the natives had parachronic sensors, she did everything by the book and yet she'll probably go down in history as The One Who Blew The Secret. Such a shame. The Director made a note; perhaps when the immediate trouble was over Ms. Tange would be interested in a new job.

The desk intercom buzzed. “Sir, Sigma Team is here.”

“Send them in, please.”

In filed one of the ISWAT's best – and more infamous – teams. They hadn't intended the infamy part, not really, but when redacted copies of Sigma Team debriefs found their way to the newly-minted Vice President of Communications (one Derek Bacon by name), well... things happened.

Thrilling Tales of Infinite Adventure, the comic book (soon to be animated series, soon to be live-action movie) Bacon developed based off of Sigma Team's exploits, was the newest Infinity spin-off to hit the shelves in Homeline, and looked like it might beat Mango Spredd in popularity. The general public loved the idea of reading “really, really real adventures of the Infinity Patrol,” giving them a glimpse of the adventure waiting beyond the quantum barriers. The Director had tried to put a stop to the nonsense, but as long as Thrilling Tales sold well, his requests fell on deaf ears.

The Director mused that this mission might be worth a whole year's run of the comic.

“So,” he said. “You've probably heard the barracks rumors about Gernsback-2. Well, whatever you've heard is most likely true. This mission comes straight from the top of the company and the Interworld Council; you're to escort a Paralabs team to the IZ on Gernsback-2, protect them while they try and figure out what happened there, and then stand by for further orders.”

“Sir, what if the locals find us?”

The Director smiled thinly. “If I've trained you properly, they won't.” The group shared a laugh at that. “However,” he went on, “it is possible; they managed to discover the Scout agent-in-place, so they have some sort of parachronic detector. In that event, the Council has authorized full disclosure.”

Dead silence. “Holy shit, sir. They're going to break the Secret?”

The Director nodded. “The logic the Council's using is if they can track parachronic jumps, then they're not all that far behind Homeline, or Centrum for that matter. Better to gain an ally than to add another rival to the war.” Sigma Team nodded en masse; they knew enough politics to know how the game was played. And the weird-tech used by the Gernsbackians would be a huge bonus for Infinity. “Also, the Scout reports that the entire IZ is geared up for a war that might go hot at any point. If it does while you're there, well, breaking up a few pseudo-fascist military formations is good training, nein?

“Allright, the conveyor to Gernsback-2 will depart in eight hours. Dismissed.” Sigma Team saluted and started leaving the office. The Director pointed at three agents. “You three, stay a moment, please.”

The three singled out came back to the Director's desk. “What's the scoop, chief?” asked the first, a stocky, clean-shaven man.

“This is to be between us only,” the Director replied. “You three have alternates on Gernsback-2. These alternates are, shall we say, people that Infinity does not want antagonized.” He fixed all three with a glare. “You will not antagonize them.”

The second agent, the tallest of the three and darkly handsome, tried his best to look innocent. “Who, us? Why sir, I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Don't lie to me,” the Director growled.

“All right, all right,” the third agent, the oldest of the three, graying hair and a figure that went past stocky and into overweight. “We swear that we won't antagonize our weird-science counterparts, no matter the temptation. The Warriors Three keep their word.”

All three nodded solemnly. “Verdamnt book,” the Director said under his breath. “I knew I should have strangled Bacon when I had the chance. All right,” he said out loud, “I expect you to hold to that. Dismissed.”

The Director watched the Warriors Three depart and made some notes. Perhaps he could swap out Wildman, Darkwood and Anderson for Ms. Tange and two new fish. It would be less of a diplomatic nightmare, to be sure.

---

*dramatic chord!*
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Rod.H]

Ah yes, it's good to see that no matter where he is in the multiverse Derek Bacon releases some epic comics.

[Black Aeronaut]

OOC: Okay, this is my third attempt at a post in the last 48 hours...

---

From: "Benjamin Rhodes" (blackrider@roughriders.fen
To: Operation FIREFALL Mailing List (firefall@sovietairforce.fen)
Date: November 24, 2016
Subj: [FIREFALL] Re:Visting Hours Are Now Open
Sorry for the silence, Mal, but it was worth it because 36 Atalante's facilities are now at 100% war-footing.
Hi-Lux Armored Modular Ground units are in full production. Yep, you know the one - ugly as a junk-yard dog and tougher than Wovlerine's bones. And we got all kinds of fun modular packages, from anti-armor loadouts to troop transport. My favorite so far is the one my good friend has nick-named the Missile-Bitch. Basicaly, it's a VLS-type launcher packed with our answer to the Stinger missile. And these guys thought that flak-fields were bad news...
Also in production are the MiG-31 Firefoxes I thought would be so nifty a while ago. We rush-built the first two - mine and Gina's. We'll be arriving in those two so you can get a chance to inspect them yourself. The rest, you have first dibs on. We can expect these things to roll off the production line at about two units per week.
And just so you know, they're a match for Eddie's UCAVs because I coupled AC Peter's overall drive system with my Quad-H Ion Directors. I'd thank her for letting me use the design, but she's a tad busy right now. Oh well, I'll just make sure that the basket we send this Christmas is an extra special one.
Also, we've been working on new Peacemakers and that's going to be a saving grace for us. We already have two off of the production lines, with another two on the shakedowns. This leads into my next Big Idea.
I know you've relented on having Grover's Corners as a base ship, but it'd be poor form of me to just do this without asking. We could use a forward-deployed base for our Peacemakers and our Sammies - having a response time that can be clocked in minutes intead of hours is critical. And GC is going to be the closest to the action, if I'm reading Bob correctly.
Also, consider me outbound. I got my course set for Earth and we should be arriving in a few hours. It's going to be myself, Gina, Mayonaka, and Sailor Atalante and her team on the Tough Love. And we're going in full dress-uniform as befits ambassadors of Fenspace. Yes, that includes spurs for us pilots. We're even bringing a few little gifts. Nothing major, but it should give Featherstone an idea of what he's up against. If what's been said about their tech-level is true, then the pocket calculator I'm gonna give him is gonna knock him for a loop.
-Benjamin Rhodes
Roughriders of 36 Atalante
"Would you like blind, broke, or bedlam?"

From: Benjamin Rhodes (blackrider@roughriders.fen)
To: General Fnord (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)
Date: November 24, 2016
Subj: Your mission, should you choose to accept it
Mormons? No problem. All I gotta do to get them to the table present them with the possibility of a colony that is trully free of persecution. Don't worry, they may be fundementalists, but they're good people. And you'd appreciate the fact that they're socialists of the first degree.
I'll see who else I can snag. Maybe there's someone that can represent the Hispanic population. I also got my eye out for Native-Americans.
-Benjamin Rhodes
Roughriders of 36 Atalante
"Would you like blind, broke, or bedlam?" 

---

OOC: If you are reading this, then I have finally been successful!  YATA!!!  (^_^)  BTW: Mal?  Is Darkwood who I think he is?

[M Fnord]

BTW: Mal? Is Darkwood who I think he is?

Probably. Sort of. He's not the same Darkwood as what you're thinking of (naturally), but he's got the same rough relationship to his alternate as, say, Don Griffin has to Ben Hutchins, or Mal Fnord has to Sean Breen.

---

To: Benjamin Rhodes (blackrider@roughriders.fen)
From: General Fnord (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)
Date: November 24, 2016
Subj: Re: Your mission, should you choose to accept it

> Mormons? No problem. All I gotta do to get them to the table present
> them with the possibility of a colony that is trully free of
> persecution. Don't worry, they may be fundementalists, but they're
> good people. And you'd appreciate the fact that they're socialists of
> the first degree.

Be aware that these aren't the nice, happy Mormons you're used to. The people I'm sending you to contact have made major uprisings against the US twice already, and they're (if the timing's accurate) in the process of building up for a third with Confederate support. Don't expect this to be easy.

--M
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Black Aeronaut]

OOC: Ooooooh! I'm gonna have fun with this! Too bad we aren't going to really crank things to eleven by getting Nanoha-verse TSAB involved plus their 'alternates' of us.
BTW: I wouldn't ask, except we're underway so I can't DL the eBook... Any idea who the President/Prophet of the LDS Church is?  If it's not known, then I'll just supply a suitably militant version of the one from our world during that time frame.

---

From: Benjamin Rhodes (blackrider@roughriders.fen)
To: General Fnord (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)
Date: November 24, 2016
Subj: Re: Your mission, should you choose to accept it
>Be aware that these aren't the nice, happy Mormons you're used to. The
>people I'm sending you to contact have made major uprisings against
>the US twice already, and they're (if the timing's accurate) in the process
>of building up for a third with Confederate support. Don't expect this to
>be easy.
eeeEEEEeeeee... (0_0) I'll take that into consideration.
If it's that bad then they definitely don't want to relocate - too much blood spilt for that land for them to just up and leave. Think we can grant them total protection from either side? I know it may not be a good idea, but I may be able to get them to sign a non-aggression pact if we can give them that much. And if they're not the ones throwing the punches we might just get the USA and CSA guys to leave 'em the hell alone.
-Benjamin Rhodes
Roughriders of 36 Atalante
"Would you like blind, broke, or bedlam?"

[M Fnord]

BTW: I wouldn't ask, except we're underway so I can't DL the eBook... Any idea who the President/Prophet of the LDS Church is? If it's not known, then I'll just supply a suitably militant version of the one from our world during that time frame.

Oof, that's a tough question. Turtledove doesn't name an official President, since up until 1937 the LDS had been declared an illegal organization by the military administrators of Utah. During the occupation era the de facto head of the LDS was Heber Young, a (fictional, I think) great-grandson of Brigham and probably the only moderate Mormon left in the entire state. Once Utah reverts to statehood he's elected governor, but as far as the ban on the LDS I don't know if it was lifted (probably, all things considered) or if the reconstituted church elected Young to the office of President (possibly, but maybe not; Utah at this point is filled with radicals).

And then once the next war starts, they start throwing stuff like car bombs and suicide bombers around in addition to the usual insurgent tactics. Mormon suicide bombers. Yeah. Turtledove was kinda reaching here a bit, but... *shrug* when you make the kind of bank he does I guess nobody can tell you no.

---

To: Benjamin Rhodes (blackrider@roughriders.fen)
From: General Fnord (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)
Date: November 24, 2016
Subj: Re: Your mission, should you choose to accept it

> If it's that bad then they definitely don't want to relocate - too
> much blood spilt for that land for them to just up and leave. Think
> we can grant them total protection from either side? I know it may
> not be a good idea, but I may be able to get them to sign a
> non-aggression pact if we can give them that much. And if they're not
> the ones throwing the punches we might just get the USA and CSA guys
> to leave 'em the hell alone.

I think we can convince them to stay the hell out of the fight in exchange for a guarantee to put pressure on the US to leave them alone. Maybe. They've been spoiling for this fight just as long and just as much as the Confederates have; it's just that much more doomed from the start since all the Mormons have is Utah. Either way, it's a cost in bloodshed on both sides I'd like to see minimized or even eliminated before Featherston starts his war.

Abandoning Utah in favor of, say, Juno should be our preferred gambit here. The Temple's a sticking point, but we ought to be able to Grover's Corners that if we need to. It won't be an *easy* sell, but the opportunity to build a New Deseret out far beyond any American influence might be enough for them to abandon the Confederates & pull up stakes.

--Mal

***
From: General Fnord (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)
To: Bob Schroeck (rms@ourtown.fen)
Date: November 24, 2016
Subj: Information Needed - Urgent

Bob:

If you have it available, we need a HOWTO file on how you guys managed to put together the Corners. Procedures, methods, amount of handwavium necessary, etc. We might need it for Contingency Case TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT.

If it's available, package it up and hand it off to Benjamin *after* he's completed the diplomatic mission to Richmond. He'll be needing it for his next assignment.

--Fnord
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[ECSNorway]

To: Operation FIREFALL Mailing List (firefall@sovietairforce.fen)
From: COL Stephen Caldwell (stephen.caldwell@tsab.usaf.mil)
Date: November 24, 2016
Subj: American Civilians on the ground

I received a satphone call today from Admiral Stavridis (SACEUR). He's been a bit too busy trying to organize responses groundside to make contact with any of us in orbit, but Dodge finally got through to him and managed to explain what's happened to the States. Most people don't think too much about it these days, but the USA has literally hundreds of thousands of people abroad at any time. Has anyone given thought to all the tourists, businessmen, diplomats, and such, currently overseas?

I've got my people contacting various national media agencies to request time for a general announcement. It should go out tonight. Basic summary: Yes, the 'real' USA is still out there somewhere, yes, we will eventually be able to do something about it. We're asking everyone who needs immediate assistance to go to the nearest embassy or consulate. Air transport is going to get everyone to some sort of central location; the question is where.

Greenwood City has space, and claims to be US territory; Australia or Canada are the only dirtside places we can really consider at this point. Nobody else has the combination of space and willingness to take in our lost souls.

Marsden, how much transport capacity do you have available at the moment?

--
Colonel Stephen Caldwell, USAF
Commanding Officer
Trans-rationality Scientific Assessment Bureau
Space Station Benjamin Franklin
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[robkelk]

The Director watched the Warriors Three depart and made some notes. Perhaps he could swap out Wildman, Darkwood and Anderson for Ms. Tange and two new fish. It would be less of a diplomatic nightmare, to be sure.

---

*dramatic chord!*

You evil, evil man.

Good thing we've already established Noah's paranoid, and I think Gina would notice any switch... but are the VVS ready for this?
--
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]

Good thing we've already established Noah's paranoid, and I think Gina would notice any switch... but are the VVS ready for this?

"Hey cool, I've got an evil twin."

"Up yours, buddy! You've got the beard, so that makes you the evil twin!"

The Soviets have been expecting something like this for quite some time. Not exactly like this, but close. Y'see, the old-school Soviets first met because they're gamers, and the long running campaign that ended just about the same time handwavium hit? Had a lot of world-hopping elements to it. So they've been waiting for the other shoe to drop & their characters to fall out of a plot hole Any Day Now for just under nine years as of ISWAT Sigma's assignment to Gernsback-2.

And it's not like Sigma Team would try and switch out with their counterparts. That'd just be stupid. A massive brawl started because certain parties signed their names to bad checks, OTOH... This should prove a fruitful clusterfuck. %D
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[robkelk]

OOC: Ooooooh! I'm gonna have fun with this! Too bad we aren't going to really crank things to eleven by getting Nanoha-verse TSAB involved plus their 'alternates' of us.

OOC: We aren't?

---

From: Noah Scott (bigcheese@stellvia.lib)
To: Bob Schroeck (rms@ourtown.fen)
Date: November 29, 2016
Subj: Re: Information which may be useful in the current situation

>> The basics of the Burroughs drive are simple enough -- force a gyroscope
>> to precess in a direction outside of 3-space. But precisely-controlling
>> that precession to the degree that's needed for navigation, yeah, I can
>> see how that would be a bit hard to accomplish with SOTA technology and
>> techniques in a space smaller than a barn. No cheating with waved
>> support systems is possible?
>
>Kohran says "at least ten years, and that's *with* handwavium assist".
>
>I think we're out of luck with a tech solution, but I'm not dismissing
>any possibilities right now. This one will need more brainpower than we
>can spare until Featherston's brought to heel, though, so let's hope the
>fighters work fast.

I cannot believe I completely missed the hint you gave me, Bob - "in a
space smaller than a barn". (I'll blame it on being busy with 191-Con.)

Ever read "Doc" Smith's Skylark stories? Seaton had the same problem we
have here - an inability to miniaturize needed controls - and he solved
it by building bigger ships. Kohran thinks something the size of
Grover's Corners would just barely be big enough to hold the kludge we'd
need for the controls. (Yes, that's with 'wave assist.) It'll take at
least three months to build, but *we can do it*.

Now the problem is getting hold of parachronics maps. I don't see any in
the Whole Fenspace Catalog. But I might have a solution there as well.
(You're familiar with the Infinite Worlds setting SJGames released a few
years ago, I assume...)

--
Noah Scott, of station Stellvia
"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

---

From: Noah Scott (bigcheese@stellvia.lib)
To: Operation FIREFALL Mailing List (firefall@sovietairforce.fen)
Date: November 29, 2016
Subj: Good news, bad news, and worse news

Good news: I started developing an android three days ago in order to
jump-start the mage-training program that might get our people back.
She's already showing signs of waking up. This may be because I hired
the character's voice actress, Kana Ueda, to take part in the process,
rather than relying solely on published material about the character.
Kohran and A.C. think she'll be awake within a week.

Bad news: She appears to be becoming a cross between at least four of
Ueda-san's characters, one of whom A.C. has already awakened as a
Fenspace citizen. I was hoping for Honami Takase Ambler; pre-awakening
scans show that's her main personality and skillset, but she's also
developing traits from Hayama Shizuka (the person we've already
awakened), Rin Tosaka... and Hayate Yagami. If she get's Hayate's power
level, this stops being completely bad news, but she's likely to have a
bad case of MPD no matter what she gets from the other characters.

Good news: We've figured out a way to build a cross-world transport.

Bad news: In order to be at all useful, its controls will be the size of
Grver's Corners, so the ship itself will approach the size of Greenwood.

Worse news: We have no idea where to point it... unless the cross-world
agent I discovered today can help us. (I'll say nothing more about that
bombshell over comms channels. See me face-to-face if you want details.)

Question: Do we want to build the cross-world ship?

--
Noah Scott, of station Stellvia
"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

---

Owner's Office
Stellvia
21:51 GMT 29 November 2016

Noah clicked on "Send", then picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a five-digit number. "Kelly? It's Noah. That order I gave you today about not accepting any new reservations is rescinded with regard to the SMOFs. I think a lot of them are about to want to talk with me..."
--
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]

From: fnord@sovietairforce.fen

To: bigcheese@stellvia.lib

Date: November 29, 2016

Subj: Re: Good news, bad news, and worse news

I. Am going. To *kill you.*

***

From: General Fnord (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)

To: Operation FIREFALL Mailing List (firefall@sovietariforce.fen)

Date: November 29, 2016

Subj: Re: Good news, bad news, and worse news

> Question: Do we want to build the cross-world ship?

Do we know where TL-191 is?

If we *don't*, then blindly tearing off into the aether just invites dragging God only knows what else back along the departure vector. I don't know about you guys, but I'm not up for becoming the Grand Central Station of the multiverse because we panicked.

We've got pressing matters to deal with here; the US can take care of itself for a while if necessary.

--General Fnord, speaking for the Central Committee
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[ECSNorway]

(OOC: Besides. Modern-day USA with 'wavetech dropped into the middle of WW2? Talk about curbstomp. A single squadron of 'waved Warthogs would decimate the Wehrmacht's panzers in an afternoon.)
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[robkelk]

From: bigcheese@stellvia.lib

To: fnord@sovietairforce.fen

Date: November 29, 2016

Subj: Re: Good news, bad news, and worse news

> I. Am going. To *kill you.*

Take a number; the line forms to the left.

And it's not like I went looking for the cross-world agent...
--
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]

(OOC: Besides. Modern-day USA with 'wavetech dropped into the middle of WW2? Talk about curbstomp. A single squadron of 'waved Warthogs would decimate the Wehrmacht's panzers in an afternoon.)

(OOC: Yep. "One shot, one kill"? Fenspace|USA forces won't be that wimpy! No worries that they'll survive; the issue Noah's working on is how to get them back.)
--
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

[Norgarth]

*reads first post*  O_O  
Damn, this is what I get for not keeping an eye on the Fenspace forum...
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

[Bob Schroeck]

(OOC: Damn. I was busy today, and I'll be gone all day tomorrow. You're going to race so far into the story before I can catch up, it won't be funny. Argh.)
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Foxboy]

[ooc:] Part of the problem with a Email-thread-based fic is that the "tell, don't show" can be knocked out quickly compared to the more carefully thought-out prose bits. FWIW, Stoker used the technological equivalent of his day when he wrote Dracula, but still...

*tries to put together why his Supers faction guys weren't mentioned by Luffy: Hopefully we won't be at Featherston having a screaming fit at the delegation and ordering his Freedom Party goons to "Seize them!" by the time I get it worked out.*
''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

[LynnInDenver]

From: General Fnord (fnord@sovietairforce.fen)

To: Operation FIREFALL Mailing List (firefall@sovietariforce.fen)

Date: November 29, 2016

Subj: Re: Good news, bad news, and worse news

>> Question: Do we want to build the cross-world ship?

>Do we know where TL-191 is?

>If we *don't*, then blindly tearing off into the aether just invites

>dragging God only knows what else back along the departure vector.

>I don't know about you guys, but I'm not up for becoming the Grand

>Central Station of the multiverse because we panicked.

Agreed, but it doesn't hurt to pool resources and consider it anyway. For the record, JMC has started long-term work on fitting out an asteroid that could be big enough for that... but we're easily a decade away even with 'wave from being spaceworthy with that.

>We've got pressing matters to deal with here; the US can take care

>of itself for a while if necessary.

Agreed, on that being a 'back burner' subject, but something to still look at.

>Marsden, how much transport capacity do you have available at the moment?

If it helps on that, Colonel Caldwell, JMC can also provide significant lift capacity that can be quickly outfitted for 'supercargo' (read: people), to the tune of easily a dozen or more evacuations of Woomera, Australia at once, in any configuration you choose to look up. In easily manageable sizes.
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor