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Instellar Cold War (writing exercise)


z-Alexis Layton

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December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor – A woman appears on the USS Arizona, flying above the deck with no external propulsion. She is incredibly beautiful, a lovely brunette with striking blue eyes. She demands to speak to her Captain, Franklin Van Valkenburgh. After two hours of consultation with her in his quarters, he calls Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. Whatever he says starts a rapid chain of events. The woman is taken ashore and boarded on a plane bound for Los Angeles Harbor.

December 8, 1941, Washington D.C. – After a long flight, the strange woman is meeting with the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She names herself as Alexis Layton, a visitor from another timeline. She seeks to save as many timelines as she can from the destiny of her own future: one in which the world is split between two tyrants. She details a terrifying scenario: Germany and Japan turn on their ally Russia when they have subdued the rest of Europe, Africa and Asia. They split the mighty nation and turn their eyes to what is left: the Americas. First South American nations fall; North America finally sees the noose tightening around them, but their fight is futile. Like Russia, America is carved into pieces. Layton has a plan to combat this and lays it out for them. By the end of their meeting, President Roosevelt has issued several emergency declarations, including the execution of martial law across the United States.

December 9, 1941 – February 19, 1941 – Layton and President Roosevelt make a circuit of the other American nations. Layton tells their leaders her story and her plan; between the intelligence and charm of the woman, all of them agree to the Union of the Americas treaty. The treaty creates a unified association of nations, all working toward one goal: a free Americas.

October 19, 1945, Rio Gallegos – Nazi Germany and the Nippon Empire finish splitting Russia. They were aware that America has been preparing for them, thanks to their spy network. They gear up for an attack, planning to start with a simultaneous attack on Chile and Argentina. To their surprise, they are met with severe resistance. When the Nazi fleet thinks it’s about to break through, they encounter a woman who floats in the air. She throws fire from her hands and destroys Reich ships single-handedly.

October 20, 1945, Puerto Aisen – The fight for this Southern Chile city is deadlocked; flying from her fight at the Battle of Rio Gallegos, Layton joins the conflict there. In an hour, though she fought yesterday and is tired, she turns the tide of the battle, leaving the American Union victorious here, too.

October 21, 1945 – The Battle at Rio Gallegos and the Battle of Puerto Aisen mark the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War. Layton’s scientific knowledge keeps the American Union well ahead of her enemies, though many suspect that she hordes knowledge from the future and gives it only when she sees fit.

InterstellarColdWarMap.gif

(The dark rose is the Nippon Empire; the gray is Nazi Germany and the pale yellow is the American Union.)

July 29, 1955 – President Eisenhower declares though his press secretary, James C. Hagerty, that the US will launch a manned mission to the moon within three years. The Reich and Nippon Empire immediately announce their intentions to gain the moon as well.

August 15, 1958, Sea of Tranquility, The Moon – A team of astronauts- Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Lucille Alricht – become the first humans to land on the moon. Though Layton follows them into space and remains near the all the time, she doesn’t aid their mission.

September 30, 1961, Sea of Tranquility, The Moon – Genesis 3 lands on the moon, delivering the final supplies and crew for the AU Lunar Colony. Layton has already started construction and she remains on hand to aid them.

December 7, 1961, American Union Headquarters, Benemérito de las Américas – Layton makes a Special Announcement to the General Assembly. She tells them that her work is almost done and that she is leaving to help others who need her help. Her final act is to leave a device full of technological advances, which she calls a computer. With that, Layton disappears from the Assembly Hall.

January 19, 1962 – Having determined that Alexis Layton was truly gone, the AU began plans for the utilization of the plans left behind. The Western Hemisphere, already well ahead of the other two empires, leapt further ahead. They could have gone to war, ripped away the Reich and the Nipponese, but they didn’t want to do so. Why should they? Let Europe and Asia tend to itself.

April 13, 1965 – Nippon puts their first man on the moon, well away from Luna City, AU’s thriving colony. Shortly, the Reich, an aging Hitler speaking, announces they’ll be first to Mars. AU plans for a Mars mission immediately.

July 9, 1968 – AU finishes construction on the United American Space Port. Construction begins on a space fleet.

March 28, 1976 – The first manned AU mission to Mars lands successfully on the Red Planet. Plans for colonization and mining begin.

August 22, 2219. There are three main powers: the American Union, the Reich and the Nippon Empire. Though the Reich and Nippon Empire have historically lagged behind the AU, they have started to catch up in the last century. All the powers have far-flung colonies and FTL drives. There is an uneasy peace that lasts mostly because neither side wants to upset the balance.

OOC notes: I am practicing my world-building; I will be writing stories for this world and posting them here. I appreciate any feedback you can offer me; please post it in this thread.

Tag for this world: [iCW] All stories with this tag are Alternate Universes, not canon.

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Just for the record you would be welcome to post under Infinite Earth.

IE is open enough for your setting to fit easily with in it and it would provide you with a game forum in which to post. You could even control the 'rules' for others to create characters and post in your setting if you like.

If you have a reason for wanting to post here instead of a in a game that's cool, just thought I'd offer in case you are interested.

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A large part of the reason I didn't is that I'm not even sure I'm making a character sheet for the 'nova'. By that reasoning it really is just me dicking around with a character, not playing a game.

The rest of it is that I just don't like IE. But thank you for the offer - I appreciate it.

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As far as worldbuilding goes, it's worth mentioning that these three powers each hold an enormous amount of territory, spanning hundreds of ethnic groups. It's worth considering how the centralized governments of each manage to project their power to their far borders effectively. What methods do they use to prevent uprising?

Another interesting question is how these rapid introductions of technology affect large scale systems of the planet. For example, in our reality, pretty much everything from the invention of gasoline and plastic onward is a tale of petroleum. The incredible rapidity of advancement in the 1900's to present has been entirely due to the availability of that vast and abundant energy source. Is that different here? I note the AU has no access to the Middle East in this globe. South America has large oil reserves too, but if the AU industrializes extremely quickly, using anachronistic tech, it could easily find itself the owner of an awesome sports car but no fuel (metaphorically speaking).

And of course, does all this accelerate climate change? Or does Layton give tecnology that ameliorates it entirely, thus removing any reason to conserve resources?

Other interesting consequences for splitting the world into 3 antagonistic factions:

1) Trade barriers. This world has no 'globalization' as we know it. AU companies are limited to, hire in, work in, the AU. There won't be regional variations in wages or legislation. Same with the other two.

2) On a related note, the world only has 3 real economies. Absence of trade means no foreign debt. All deficit spending has to be "powered" domestically through bonds or similar. Considering the exorbitant cost of waging modern war, this could be crippling.

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That is very accurate Smax. Historically, the Soviet Union didn't fall because they were beaten in technology, it fell because the US could out spend them. Their economy was insular just the way you describe and limited to what they could 'power' domestically, whereas the US had many foreign trading partners. That's a simplification of course, but pretty accurate.

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