Dinh AaronMk

Hi.

pls help repopulate nrp

we're friendly, I think, we won't bite. Or I won't

Precipice Of War: The Reboot of a Reboot

Russia

Vladivostok Free City

Parties within the Kuomintag considered it the Great Embarrassment. Some others would follow through on this scorn with “the Last Embarrassment”. But it existed all the same. Built on territory signed away by the Qing, in one of their moments of weakness to the Russians, who wasted no time making their best effort to colonize the far-east. Vladivostok was as true to its name: the Lord of the East. Presiding over the cold waters of the Ussuri and the Amur Bays the far flung Russian city enjoyed a new life in independence compared to the rest of Russia. Founded by diplomatic maneuvering in drawing rooms nearly a world away from it. Through the interventions and intrigues of multiple parties the city was quietly snipped away from the Russian and from the Chinese. It was such a small detail it was basically ignored in favor of all the new territorial changes, shifts in regional and global power, and concessions made by the Treaty of Sydney.

Nevertheless, even though the city was protected by a paper shield, it grew to have out sized protection through the other uses the city had for all its neighbors. Uses which wove complex labyrinths in the shadows, tea houses, and cafes of its main boulevards. Mazes that trained entirely new generations of civic leaders who in the few years since the city's strange freedom were managing the levers to ensure its continued independent existence, to reap its benefits. For starters: the occupation of the Manchurian territories by China created a mass of nation-less Russians who did not envision themselves under Chinese rule, being too proud they left for Vladivostok; the rest of Russia offering no safe haven otherwise. While the Chinese controlled the Trans-Siberian railroad before entering the city it still maintained a vital land link to the rest of Russia, making it capable to maintain business with the warlords and Cossacks who were fighting over the remnants of Empire. It greased the minting of swift capital for foreign goods and a means by which to sell their booty and production. As a neutral hub on mainland Asia, Japanese business had come to flourish here and Chinese business likewise came in to meet them, establishing a network of shell companies and subsidiaries that could conduct commerce with one another; granted they paid the city its rent. All this coming together to blossom a city that had at time of its reorganization from 400,000 residents to just over 900,000. It boasted proudly for itself a certain strange civic nationalism, perhaps not seen in any part of Asia. Familiar only to that of Europe. Like the Merchants of Venice, it was becoming the Companies of Vladivostok. And while they were not yet the shimmering city of Shanghai, it was all their ambition and new goal, their new spirit. And in a small cafe on Ulitsa Pekinskaya two men came to sit.

Short of stature and trim they did not actively give off any appearance of being note worthy. Though Asiatic the city did not have its shortage of Chinese, Japanese, or even Korean visitors. It was not unusual. Carrying a briefcase one approached the table of the other and sat down. It was warm in the sun. For either men the summers of the north were cool, even the late summers. But the direct sun made it all the better. The wash of the gentle ocean waves made a crisp ambiance, matching with the gentle progress of the city around them. Families strolled the sidewalk, hands stuffed in pockets as they went. Drivers crowded on the narrow brick street kept close together. A distance off a freighter crawled slowly over the steel gray and blackened ocean on its way from port. A flock of seagulls sat perched on light posts screaming at one another in their shrill voices as they scanned the area for any forgotten food. As the visitor sat he was immediately attended to my a waitress. Who in the rustic accent of the city Russian asked for his order. He answered briskly, haltingly starting in Japanese before switching abruptly in Russian. The waitress left. The table mate nodded.

Wei Chu had worked in the foreign ministry for eight years, in that time he has rotated between postings in Mongolia and Australia before arriving currently to Vladivostok. On most days he wished he could be back in Australia, where it was warm. He was southerner by birth, Hakka by way of his father; Cantonese by his mother, Guangzhou. But on days such as this he could bare the cool Siberian afternoons, it hit just right and it made the Russian coffee sweater. He held the cup in his tanned hands, watching his accomplice through patient soft eyes. The breeze ruffled his thin hair.

Yamada Daisuke was a fish out of water. While nominally a member of Japan's imperial internal ministries he had mostly rotated between duties in Korea and Japan before ending up somehow in Vladivostok. For the three years he had been posted to this city, he long suspected he had ran afoul of someone and had to thus be banished to some obscure posting. And so he came here. Wiry and thin, with bad eye sight requiring thick glasses he had dodged military service on grounds of physical inability, but that had not excluded him from imperial service. And so he found himself in the suit of an imperial paper man, doing the office work necessary to keep the administrative functions alive. Sometimes even those duties being entirely out of the ordinary, anything to accelerate his redemption.

“Thank you for coming.” Wei Chu said after taking a sip of his coffee. His first time having the drink was when he came to Vladivostok. He had been looking for a good tea house. Was recommended coffee instead. The cafe he found, regularly visited, and held this informal meeting at quickly became his favorite. The owner was Finnish, and by misfortune one way or another found himself in this city. Here he built his new life. Here he called it, “the Cafe Karelia”.

“Yes. Yes. You're welcome.” Daisuke said nervously.

“Is something wrong? You've never been this tense.”

“I- oh... Yes, everything is fine.” Daisuke answered, holding tensely to his suitcase.

The waitress reappeared and placed a cup of fresh coffee in front of him and a small hard biscuit. Daisuke never came to like coffee. Out of respect he always found himself having to suffer it. “So per our last meeting, I got in touch with the army and their War Prisoner's Administration and obtained a list of men they're willing to release back to your country. Have you got your consulate's response?”

“That I do.” said Daisuke, opening his briefcase and handing off a sheet of paper to Wei Chu who looked down and read it.

“These are the men?” he asked.

Daisuke nodded. “I am told they will only do one-for-three, at minimum.”

Chu nodded. He had begun his day assuming the price Japan would offer would have been higher. Despite his and his office's calculations it was not. This was a feeling of victory to the diplomat. Tonight he would need to reward himself. So the notion that three Japanese pensioners would be returned to Japan for the price of one Chinese captive coming home was not a bad deal in all. It would mean they would have to add to the list. But that would be the administration's problem, not his.

“I also have a request for negotiating the return of some property.” Daisuke added, “This comes from private parties in Japan. It is not a government matter.”

“What sort of property return?”

“More a reimbursement. A family is looking to have a cash repayment on property their father owned in Dalian that was taken in the war. It is a town house on Youyi road, which they say was valued at three-million yen. If you could see the request at least, that would be fine.” he held out a sheet of paper. It was a hand written letter. The kanji Chu noted was clean and impeccable.

“I don't have permission to make this call, but I will move it up.” Wei Chu offered, taking the paper, “But I would not be surprised if it is declined. The government's position is that even civilians were losers in the war, so they won't be offered damages.”

“I understand.”

“After all: you people lost. Why should the losers be compensated?” he chided with a smug grin. He sipped at his coffee and turned his attention to the sea. Silence briefly hung in the air between them.

“I do have another thing.” Daisuke said quietly. Wei Chu turned to him. He noticed he was visibly agitated, looking all around him, “It is a sensitive matter.”

“What is it?”

“Well, how do I put this? There is no way I can put it lightly, and it may have me separated from my head. But Japan needs change. We are, as you know well: we are wasting our youth. Thousands go off to the south to fight in a cause we may never win or we have no belief in. The generals go on the radio daily to say we are winning. But the lengths now the state has to go through to find its recruits is revealing my country is spreading itself thin. We need help. I need help.”

“How do you fit into it?” Chu asked.

“Because my young nephew has been recruited to fight in the war.” he said with a crack of desperation. “He is only sixteen. I did not know they could recruit so young. But just last week he crossed with a recruiter on the street who told him, 'you are a fine strong young man. Why don't you put that strength to use? Fight for the emperor!' and took him off the street. Now he is in basic training, and scheduled to go to Indonesia. The situation is tense, dire.”

“Is this something official? Are you qualified to give this offer? Have you been given permission?”

Daisuke shook his head. “Not at all. This is just the concerns of a single proud countryman. It would be an amazing stroke of fortune if we were open to normalizing relations. But far too many of my superiors and the men above them are too bruised from the war. I'm sure it won't change until they die. But no, I'm asking out of desperation: there is no one to help Japan.”

“If this is not to normalize relations, then I think opening a military alliance is out of the question.”

“No! No, not at all. Or maybe. Listen: I'm not sure myself. I lay awake every night afraid for my kin. If he's this young, who else do I know will go? Women too. We are dashing the flower of our nation's youth into a quick grave.”

“How many people think this?”

“More that the government is willing to admit. But no one knows it. You have to really pick and prod. It took me hours to get it out of my family and friends when I was last home. It was not hard to do to learn they're all as afraid as I. I would go further, but I am not sure if the Kenpeitai is reading my letters, or they'll start. I know I have heard rumors that there are anti-war movements all throughout the country. But they haven't been able to come out against it, everyone is so scared to speak.”

“I understand.” Wei Chu said in a low voice, “So what assistance do you want from China?”

“I think that will be up to your creativity.” Daisuke said. His expression became more distant, but his posture relaxed. He was venting, and relieving himself of the weight on his shoulders. But his skin was pale, his eyes dark. Though he was letting it go, he was well in the grip of fear as he looked down the road and back again, searching to make sure they weren't being watched.

“Do you need a safe house?” Wei Chu offered.

“That may be too conspicuous.” said Daisuke. “I do not want to bring any more attention to this as I should. If I live, we will keep up business as usual. If I die, carry on what I told you. Or no, don't if I die. Do tell your superiors. Let them know. They'll find something out. I'm not in the military, I'm not divulging any of those secrets. So maybe I'll live.”

Wei Chu nodded. “You know where to find me.”

“Yes, OK. But, oh: where and when will the prisoner transfer be?”

“My government's open to do it at the Versailles hotel. Next two weeks to a month.”

Daisuke nodded his head, “Very well. We'll meet again there.”

China

Nanjing

The August day was hot and it was muggy. The kind of day that made Li Su irritable. It did not make things easier that the government affairs building was sparsely air conditioned; if it were not for the tall ceilings, towering windows, and the long blades of ceiling fans it might become inhospitable in Nanjing's late summer atmosphere. For all the luxury and comfort that came to government buildings the room could easily feel no better than a peasant's lodgings if it did not have these amenities. But for Li Su this did not matter. He simply did not care about the details of engineering and architecture. All that he knew that in weather like this, and a base mood such as his own, that the heat and humidity acted on his stomach and made his indigestion worse. He satisfied himself with a cold glass of water. Condensation was heavy already on the glass and the iced pitcher and was pooling heavy and thick on the dark gloss enamel of the table. He settled uncomfortably in the chair, affected by the sweat that adhered his shirt to his back. A breeze blew in through the windows, carrying with it the sound of birds and cicada song. It was caught in the draft of the fan and blown down on the old general mixing the smell of the gardens of the presidential palace and the tree pollen thick in the air. He lifted a handkerchief to his mouth and coughed dryly. His nose was plugged thick. His throat itched and his eyes were dry.

Elsewhere in the room a bustle of government ministers moved to their chairs. They were the last to enter. It was Li Su and his old comrades in the military that had the good sense and nature to arrive on time, which was five minutes early. The old man Xiu Lu looked at him and bowed slightly. He was followed by Soong, who looked natural and smooth in a trim cut gray suit open to reveal a steel blue vest and red handkerchief folded neatly in the pocket and there was Robert Cao, the Hong Kong Cantonese looking comfortable in this weather, looking like he was cold even.

Following them were the other ministers who could attend the proceedings today. Minister of the Interior Ken Su, stocky and Christ-like in his patience and also his own faith, he wore large aviator-frame styled glasses. The Minister of Justice, Weng Tsai wearing a receding hairline as a crown and unassuming otherwise. And there was Xiu Lu's partner in government, the fat Confucian in the Council of Overseas Community Affairs Lee Wu. Li Rui, the minister of the interior with a bulldog face was accompanied by Tsai Guo the minister of education, a hawkish man with the dull eyes of a lamb. The minister of justice, Xu Zi staggered in next, his hair perpetually disheveled. Then was the bulbous headed H. H. Kung, TV Soong's brother in law and minister of economic affairs, who in conjunction with his brother unofficially shared the portfolio of the minister of finance. Last was Wang Hu, who always smiled and headed the ministry of social affairs.

The men took their positions with the commanders of the military. General Hsu Wen of the Army, whose towering presence stood him out from a crowd and his graying air making him a silver general among the ranks, by his side was personal lieutenant, the long and pointy Liu Siàu Tha̍t, who managed to get away in his career with a long salt and pepper beard. He watched the room with a hawkish expression, from under bushy eyebrows that hung low from their own weight.

In a white uniform was Zhao Liu, the admiral of the navy. Bright and sun tanned and with a piercing gaze. His mouth curled in a permanent snarled frown as he sat next to general Fan Hou of the air force, thick as a brick and built like a fortress.

And there was finally the pale and wiry spy master for the Qíngbào jú, the state Intelligence Bureau. He sat leaning to the side in his chair, smoking a cigarette, pack open in front of him. Cigarette stained fingers twirling a pen between his fingers. Chuang Yu.

As the men took their seats Li Su cleared his throat and took a drink of water. Grumbling for a bit he half rose from his chair, “You could have been more late.” he began, rising more, “But now we can start. I have to initiate this meeting of the Executive Yuan because some important material has come to my attention. As I was assured by TV Soong, a meeting of the minds of the Yuan was the best course. So we should just begin.”

He coughed again as he got back into his chair, “Recently according to news from Mexico, operations have begun by the Mexican military in the British territory of Belize. I've been informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that for some years before the Mexican and Japanese government have been fostering a partnership between either government. Recently before this invasion the Japanese embassy met with the Mexican government and I'm told that this may have been the origin of the invasion of Belize. Xiu Lu, do you care to fill us in?”

Xiu Lu, the elder statesmen nodded his head and leaned over the table, “Yes, it's important to realize the world of diplomacy is a pretty close knit world. Anyone in any posting anywhere will eventually know all of his peers, as their under secretaries will no doubt form their own casual friendships. So it came to the attention of my ministry that the Japanese have been working closely with the Mexican government have had many counselors and their diplomatic envoys become close to the Mexican government. It is a relationship that never became sufficiently public but the two nations had been enjoying the company of one another more and more over time this past year or two. Our surrogates in Mexico City have repeatedly noticed not just Japanese diplomatic liaisons in the company of Mexican officials at formal and informal events but have helped us and the intelligence bureau to identify military meetings between the two. Earlier this summer these events culminated in an official meeting at the Presidential Palace. While no one in the public has been privy to any official information from the government, the rumors in the Federal District of the capital is that this was a correspondence between the Japanese military and the Mexican president himself. And now, over a month later it has culminated in the public invasion of Belize by Mexican troops.

“Our military friends may be able to give a tactical assessment of the situation at large but war is only an army of diplomacy and it's a move I believe intends to distract the British from events in Asia and spread them to a second front in the Americas.”

“Hsu Wen, is this something you agree with?” asked Li Su.

The commander nodded, “It'd make sense from a strategic point of view. The Japanese war in the South China Sea has been at an uneasy stalemate for some time and it is not hard to believe that they would seek out a way to tip the balance. With the British high command having to look to a second continent they would have to re-prioritize their forces. How effective the maneuver is on the part of Japan is though is up to the willingness of the British to accept their loses in the Caribbean, if it is all that valuable to them. But I can not see their pride letting it go without trying to contest it. Still, it would become an island hopping campaign by Mexico, and I don't think they have the material for it.”

“My department in the military has never had the confidence in the Mexicans as being able to be a naval based power, I agree.” Zhao Lu concurred, “At best they are a capable land force. They may try, but it would put blood in the water. I can't help but see the Americans coming in to take a bite with the region disturbed, sharks as they are. A destabilization of the region could negate the effectiveness of Mexico as a strategic ally in the region since the fighting would draw aside the British less and attract the Americans more. If this devolves into a broader conflict and inflame their hostilities. The American presence in the Philippines would absolutely threaten the tenuous stability of the war in Indonesia. With it: a full collapse of the South China Sea and a threat to our national economy.”

Before Li Su could invite further comment TV Soong agreed: “We move billions of Yuan in commodities and raw material through the South China Sea and through Indonesia and passed Malaysia. Any escalation of the war will threaten that, if I may remind you, Mr. President.”

“I don't need reminding.” said Li Su, “It's what I'm afraid of.”

“We can hope that the region complicates itself before this all happens.” Zhao Lu continued, “The uprising in the Dominican Republic, as doubtlessly America as it may be could be watched as a factor that changes the entire war. If they were to become a powerful entity of their own, could not be an American asset, and seized on the opportunity to pick off the British crown holdings in the West Indies it may stay the hand of Washington in intervening directly, replace the British entirely, and maybe even curb any intent by Mexico to expand in the region and limit an escalation between they and America and the Americans thus keep neutral in Asia and things continue as-is. We can preserve the stability of the South China Sea, as threatened as it is and keep the trade moving.”

Li Su nodded, and ran his fingers through his long beard, “I do not think we can push ourselves that far, however.”

TV Soong asked: “Do we have any reach in the diaspora that far?” he asked, looking to Lee Wu.

The sagely commissioner of the overseas Chinese thought for a moment, “Our strongest presence in the diaspora would be in Mexico or Cuba. How do you think they would be used?”

“Could we not use them?”

“The consulates in Mexicali have extensive contacts with the Tong of the overseas Chinese in mainland China, more so after the political turns in America made it hostile to be Chinese in America. But I do not think the communities in north western Mexico can do anything for us in this case besides annoy the Mexican government.”

“General strikes by the Chinese community in Mexico may be our only ticket there.” said Chuang Yu of the Qíngbào jú, the Intelligence Bureau, “But at this time I am lacking information on Mexico. At least off hand. I would have to put out requests if I knew this was an option.”

“That move is too communist, I will not do it anyways.”

“It would besides spoil decades of work in Mexico to assure the security of the diaspora Chinese.” Xiu Lu added, “So I can not abide the move either. It would set us became thirty years. No, but Cuba?”

“How is Cuba going to impact the war in the Americas?” admiral Zhao Lu laughed, “They are hardly involved.”

“No, but could we use them as a contact into Hispaniola? To get in touch with the Dominican uprising? If they are you believe an American asset that could be swayed it could be tip the balance.” Xiu Lu proposed.

“It may perhaps, but you can just operate out of the embassies themselves, depending on how long the Dominican government has left in it.”

“Any cooperation in the Caribbean would be an open avenue for Chinese finance,” H. H. Kung interjected, “But the distance of the operation and us having to compete directly with American finance would be a battle I can't advise. In a future period we might be able to. But from a particularly economic point of view it's not a good use of Chinese resources. We should best leave the matters of the Americas to the Americans and let it be. If we have to, we can evacuate any nationals of the Chinese diaspora from the region in Mexico itself, or back home to America and mitigate the lives lost.

“President Li, if I may: the threats to Chinese national security and economic independence is much more at threat here in Asia than it is in the Americas. I think we should ignore the Americas all together for the time being and look at what we have to contend with here outside our front door.”

“I agree and launch a motion to disregard the Americas. All agree?”

All the men in the room raised their hands, some begrudgingly but it was a universal consensus that the Americas were not in their concern.

“Thank you, Mr Li.” Kung said with a deep breath, “If I may?”

“You may.” Li Su offered.

“If I may recall ourselves back to the matter of Japan and the South China Sea: any escalation in the war will lead to a direct threat of Chinese export and import from Europe and the Americas. While the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Royal Netherlands Navy, or the British Royal Navy may not pose direct threats to the Chinese mainland, the entire field of combat between each of them will involve our shipping lanes. And whether by policy of any power or accident, we stand to risk loosing significant capital and a tragedy of human lives should any freight carrier be sunk by main gun or submarine torpedo. The growth of our economy could suffer substantially, perhaps loosing half of our GDP growth if the South China Sea were to become destabilized. At worse we may lose the entire economic future of the nation. Our only other options being to move north along Russia and risk our economic prospect to Wokou off the Russian coast. It would be imperative to not only ensure the neutrality of Chinese navigation, but the waters themselves become absolutely defended and separate from the war.”

“We have no ability to police the South China Sea however.” Zhao Lu protested, “And besides: they are international waters.”

“They are, but does that mean the Straights of Taiwan remain in such a relationship? The situation as it is now: it may be worthwhile to make our move on removing the final malignant cancers of the Century of Humiliation and bring back Taiwan!”

“That involves direct war with Japan again!” Hsu Wen protested.

“Agreed” said Zhao Lu

“As much as I would love to prove we can bomb Formosa, I do not think the air force is capable of such an offensive duty at this time.” Fan Hou added.

“I understand, but Soong and I have been discussing this matter closely with Chuang Yu for some time. Do you care to explain the situation?”

Chuang Yu nodded, taking a drag from his cigarette and leaning forward. Rubbing at his sunken brow he began to explain, “For some time the Bureau has been seeking inroads into Taiwan and has made significant progress among the Chinese still on the island and the Yuanzhumin. We've managed to cultivate a wide network of contacts across Taiwan which we could use at any time to initiate unrest and even over throw the Japanese government, or make such a move. It'd be violent. Particularly bloody. But there is a common discontentment on the island. I am confident, very confident that the Japanese mainland is being sapped dry by the war and is starting to put more and more pressure on its colonies to provide the fighting force. The wars in Indonesia are not Taiwan's wars and the effect if being felt. Of course this means the Japanese have had to resort to an incremental change in how they rule Taiwan and this is starting to shift the perception of the Japanese as returning to the style of government of the island of the last century. We may not soon be at the level of massacres for minor insults. Hardly. But their secret police have been more and more breaking of the social gatherings of the people there. This has had the unintended consequence of making it difficult in recent years to maintain the network we have there, but we persist all the same.

“So in short: a move to break Taiwan from Japan and re-integrate it with our nation need not come from substantial or public involvement by our forces there. The Japanese will surely suspect it, but chance willing there will never be enough connection with our government to reignite war. It requires simply the provisioning of weapons and of aides and commanders to work off the books to organize the Taiwanese resistance to shed the Japanese.

“The broader implications, as you can imagine is easy: the removal of the island of Taiwan from the Japanese imperial archipelago means, will it means that the war can not come so close to mainland Asia. Possession of Taiwan ensures a staging ground for the air force, the navy to patrol the waters and enforce strict neutrality.

“Between us and the Americans, the Japanese navy will have to navigate territorial waters not under their control and unless they want to start new fronts, if they want us to invade Korea, they will have to re-evaluate the war in South East Asia. This may cripple Japanese imperial ambition. The broader domino effect is Indonesia, Borneo, and so on having become alienated with their European masters and being quickly freed of another imperial master even shed the Dutch and the British from Asia for good. The Republican sun can rise!”

“And this is a viable option?”

“Yes.” said Yu, “I have a dossier prepared and I would have shortly announced it to the Executive soon. The moment now has just been opportune. I will have copies distributed to the ministries and the military command if you will it.”

“Please do, I want to see it as soon as possible.”

Chuang Yu gave a yellow smile and said, “And so it shall. Thank you, Mr Li.”

“If there is any chance it will send Japan into terminal decline, I would like to see to a evaluation of an invasion of Korea, if that is fine with you.” Hsu Wen offered.

“Very well. Go ahead.” said Li Su, drinking water, “Are we settled on this? Calling for a vote.”

A majority voted in favor: to initiate operations in Taiwan. “Very well,” Li Su responded, “Our next matter concerns Tibet.”

“Before we begin on that, I know a promising individual I would like to discuss when it comes to Tibet. I know command priority is elsewhere but on this I would like to propose a potential supreme commander for operations against Tibet. He's worked with me closely during the War with Japan, personally. If we may?” asked Hsu Wen.

“We may...” said Li Su.

Xi'an

The visit in the museum and the time spent with the professor Shao had given Yu some things to think about as he prepared to spend a night in Xi'an. It was mid August, and the evening air was hot and dry. Shao had given him a few extra slips of money and advised him on a youth hostel in the south of the city. He would go there later. For now he sat at a wooden food cart in the court yard one of the ancient stone gates of old Xi'an. In the sheltered space, the tall stone parapets blocked out the sound of traffic within and without the ancient walls. Under the faint amber glow of flickering electric street lights he ate from a cheap soup bowl, slurping down the thick cold wide noddles provided by the vendor. Several other men had joined him at the cart, which accommodated them with bar seating as their cook prepared drinks and a meal in front of them. Overhead the sky was cast in a thick mandarin orange glow. Cicadas sang in the shadows. The occasional rickshaw rolled through the court yard which they sat, their wheels clattering over the rugged stone work. There was a sense of peace in their isolated enclave. Closing his eyes Yu could almost fool himself that he was back at home at the small open cafe at the old village. But the dream would have to end. He'd awaken back in the world of the real, and he'd be at a push wagon eating local noodles.

Their cook for the evening was an old Hui man. Heavy wrinkles adorned his face and his loose wispy hair fell about his face from under his stained white skull cap. The lose silken strands falling to meet with his equally white beard that rose and twisted in every direction. Atop his shoulders and framed by the air light curled hairs, his entire face appeared to be emergent from a ghostly column of mist, his body clothed in white cotton stained by the glow of the evening sun.

At the cart besides Yu sat two men. The younger, a middle aged man in a single peace working man's jumper had closely shaven hair. The other, older, more middle aged with salted pepper black hair and a tired expression face sat across the shaven from Yu.

A dusty old radio stood next to them, which connected with a equally worn down electrical cable was wired into one of the street lights in the gate-house court. It looked to be a hack job, shoddily sewn in without a proper outlet. But it did not concern Yu. He did not recognize it. He rarely knew electricity. Besides, what little he had grown up with was the domain of the landlord, and the aforementioned fantasy cafe now in the distant dream of home. To him it was all magic, a magic that glowed in the modernist fantasy of the cities of China, of the new places he had seen. He still hoped to see Nanjing yet. Somewhere there he believed there would be even more mystifying things to dazzle and mystify his peasant mind. Everything else was beginning to become mundane.

“Ma Mao, please. Turn of the radio. I don't want to listen to the news!” the salted haired man said in a whining Shaanxi accent.

“No, leave it.” said the shaven man, “I haven't had time to read the papers.” he turned to the Hui and said jokingly, “This is the least you could do for me for free.”

“There is never anything good in the news.” salt haired complained.

“There is if you listen well enough!”

“I am happy to do either if the two of you come to agreement.” Ma Mao, the operator said to either, “So make up your minds. A drink?”

“If you would be so kind.” salt haired said, holding out an empty glass. The operator poured beer into it. “But listen, we are a republic are we not? So what does our guest think?” salt haired asked, sipping his glass.

Yu looked up. He had only been half paying attention. This was not his city, these were not his people. To be asked what he thought felt strange. The last he wanted to do was to impose, and now he was being asked to impose. He hesitated to answer, which annoyed salt hair. Buckling, Yu made his answer, “leave it on.” he said rushed and immediately turned away to hide his face. Shaved head laughed.

The radio meanwhile, finished the chime that heralded in its news. Through crackling speakers and tough breaking pops the headlines of the day were read out through a thick accent unfamiliar to Yu, “Shaanxi Inquirer News on the Radio. The time is 20:02 and I am Wang Runze for tonight. The headlines of the day are:”

“I hate him so much.” salt haired complained. Shaved head laughed.

“Prominent Shidaiqu performer Ying-Yin Li has been arrested today on assault charges against his wife Bai Wu. The Shanghai police arrived at his townhouse on Xueye Road in the affluent South Zhoujia district. Bai Wu, who announced following the arrest the couple had been trying to negotiate a divorce. Ying-Yin Li, who had finished a concert hall tour last July did not make a comment, nor as any attorneys affiliated with him.

“In Southern Gansu, a raid by Tibetan militants was repelled by National Republican Soldiers south of the town of Yushu. An army spokesperson said of the attack, 'If these hostilities continue, we will be forced to escalate'. The government of Tibet has not made a comment pertaining to the event. One soldier was injured in the fire-fight. Yushu is a location along the of the Dzungar-Chengdu pipeline and is two-hundred kilometers from the closest Tibetan city of Chamdo.”

“From Urumqi, an agreement was announced between the semi-state run Western China Railway Development, Planning, and Design Company and the state-operated Kazakhstan Rail Authority to extend the West China Rail #3 to Karagandy. The move is celebrated by either side, who see the agreement as a step to official recognition of the break away Republic of Kazakhstan and a development to the Kazakh economy. Government departments are optimistic saying the agreement will be a happy benefit to Chinese manufacturing by opening a new market to Kazakhstan and a promotion of friendship between the two nations.

“A lost hiker, who had been missing in the Shunan Bamboo Forest for two and a half weeks has been found alive today. Loo Bai, 28 traveled to the parkland on a solo adventure earlier this summer. But when she failed to arrive home a search was commenced to look for her. Although famished, doctors say she is otherwise in decent health.”

“See, it is not always bad.” the middle man said with a smile.

“And why would it interest you?” the other said.

“Why would it not? It's interesting.”

“Those are the national headlines.” Wang Runze announced. “Here are the international headlines:

“Continued violence in Ukraine as a battle erupts in the west between Polish backed groups and Ukrainian national forces. Fighting as reported from the front is predominately focused in Korosten, approximately fifty kilometers from the border with the People's Republic of United Workers and hundred-twenty kilometers from Kyiv, the largest city in Ukraine. The battle is part of the ongoing hostilities between the Polish-led PUL government and the government of Ukraine. Speaking on behalf of the president, Xiu Lu commented to Central Daily News saying: 'The Republic of course condemns the acts of aggression committed by the PUL in Ukraine. It is the right of the Ukrainian people to peaceful self-determination without the threat of war from their aggressive neighbors. The stance of this government is staunch protest.'

“The war in Ukraine is matched by broiling conflict elsewhere in the war, including a revolution ongoing in Dominica. The government has released cables reporting that the revolutionary force active in the north of the country has carried out acts of cannibalism. However the reports are unfounded and the national intelligence community is skeptical as to the veracity of the claims. Needless to say, violence has spread through the northern half of the country and the predictions are poor for the local government, which has long been accused of answering directly to Washington DC. Regardless, US response to the situation has been slow if not absent. Comments from the Americans In China Association as represented by Samuel H. Thorne have said that, 'this may be evidence of direct US interference in Dominica. That the government has not been to the liking of the US administration and it has to discipline the country. This is of course, if true, a sign of America's despotic rule of the Caribbean.'

“Though not an integrated territory of the United States, much of the impoverish Caribbean island answers to the beck and call of the United States, which has long engaged in programs of state management of the numerous island countries of the region and local governments especially as European power retreats. This is per a long history of intervention in Central and South America, which while slipping has not entirely retreated. 'This could be a consolidation of remaining power' Thorne elaborated to Central News Agency.

“The invasion comes at the same time as the British territory of Belize announcing Mexican troops having entered and occupied its frontier. As the military intervention is new, little is known about the campaign and London via Reuters has not yet provided comment to the public press. It is expected in due time a response from London will be made known.”

“The world is going into disorder.” silver hair announced depressed. Leaning over the counter he looked down to Yu adding, “I pray that you have your affairs in order young man, least you get caught up in all of this.”

Yu had nothing to say, holding in his breast the feeling of dawning grim certitude this is what would come to happen with him.

“The culmination of the two separate conflicts in North America could well represent the beginning of a conflagration in North America with Mexico considering itself a rising power. The Caribbean may become a lake of fire in the coming future, as one international affairs correspondent with the Central News Agency remarked in morning broadcasts. But it is a matter of time will tell.”

What are some of the most confusing/cringiest OC's you have ever encountered?

I'll give most cringe-ass OCs a pass since chances are that they are probably made by children or teenagers basically so it's all fun and games. So I'll just go ahead and blanket-wave a lot of X-sonas off the board with that. You know, the usual stuff; sad back stories, edgy backstories, non-sensible ones. For a thread like this a lot of them just sort of turn into cannon fodder and don't really mean or do much of anything.

But for OCs in a position that suggest someone should have know better: I'd have to say Blackjack from Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons.

For context: Fallout Equestria is at this point a sub-genre of the broader brony fandom. It's centralized around the fan-fic Fallout Equestria, a cross over between Gen 4 My Little Pony and the Fallout series. By and large you can transpose a lot of Fallout's background and even some of the main story aspects of the original Fallout games on Fallout Equestria and you get the idea. America is Equestria, China is a Zebra Empire, The Master is a divine amalgam of three different characters known as the Goddess, The Enclave are the Pegasi, and the third major villain Red Eye is an amalgam of Caesar and Ashur. It's pretty decent as far as fan-fics go, or stories in general; could use some additional editing to just clean shit up. I enjoyed it, still do to a point. Helps that within the story's framework you can read the awkwardness less as mid-level writing and more as a product of the framing.

The result of Fallout Equestria and its success within the fandom though is a lot of side-fics were spun off as people wanted to partake in the same world and FoE's author Kkat embraced that. You get some more very good stories like Pink Eyes and Murky Number 7. And then there's... Project Horizons.

Project Horizons has garnered a lot of fame within the FoE fandom that I don't feel it's necessarily deserved especially having decided to go back to read the fucking thing again to get the complete story a little over a year ago. The break down of Project Horizons being:

Blackjack, is a slacker of a security guard of Stable 99 (Stables being this world's version of Vaults). Stable 99 is a primarily female run Stable where a small stock of stallions are kept for breeding purposes. The number of them never exceeds 20 of either the regular horse, or unicorn. Once a 21st earth pony or unicorn comes to age, the oldest of that race is killed and recycled in the Stable's system. On this premise the story could perhaps be either a femdom fetish fic and no one talks about it openly or Somber, the author makes a half-hearted and effort-star worthy gender role introspection sort of story. However he does not dwell on it for very long because Blackjack finds herself in the center of a 200 year old conspiracy which has been sleeping in 99 for the passed two hundred years and is forced to flee the stable with the oldest normal horse of the stable, P-21 with the mysterious program EC-1101 in her PipBuck (Pip Boy) in order to pull raiders away from her home who are making their way through killing and eating everyone in order to claim the program by command of a mega cyborg raider Deus, commanded by a ghoul named Sanguine.

And some weird fucking shit happens.

The story adapts every single anime and video game trope you can grab and the story can be easily read as Somber's anime-of-the-week watch list because he cribs so many disjointed themes from them, and adapts them so poorly with even a passing understanding of things you can pick out anything from Dragon Ball Z to Full Metal Alchemist and he understands them about as much as any mid-level video essay themes essayist's comment base. To try and fully summarize the entire story would be a chore itself. And I really have to focus on Blackjack here.

Blackjack takes on all the power qualities of a Shonen character, dying two or three times throughout the story only to be revived in steadily more powerful forms. Her first death is where many critics of the story say Somber really should have ended it, but by chapter 32 or whatever he's not even half way through the plot because he has some thirty more to go all of steadily increasing length until many are full novels in their own right. She is brought back to life through the magic of technology, and make into half a cyborg. But this isn't enough either because I swear she fucking dies again and comes back as even more of a cyborg and goes even further. Eventually she is killed for the third time and gets a biological body reset and at the end of the story is again killed and without the intervention of the preceding technology made up on the spot to fulfil the function of simply reviving her spontaneously comes back to life in the prior biological reset body that she before transferred herself out of to reclaim her old robot body.

An early character theme for Blackjack is that she's abusive or soft-abusive to all her friends, having had a history of raping P-21 back in the Stable and for the first twenty-ish chapters having to deal with and come to terms she's actually in the wrong and apologizes for it. This is supposed to be an episode of character development for her where she learns to overcome her past and patch things up redeem herself to P-21 particularly after her refusal to honestly admit to and express forgiveness leads to a suicide attempt by him. However the longer the story goes on the less it seems she ever really learned her lesson and keeps going being emotionally abusive to her friends which is simply hand waved away as being "oh you silly pony you lul" and becomes framed less as a tragic flaw but more as a funny character trait. This goes up to the point where she basically rapes P-21 for a second time by coercing him into bed/a three some when he was too drunk to consent and then gets knocked up for it.

Did I mention she also gets P-21's boyfriends killed? She does that. She's directly implicit in or culpable for the gay boy's only love interests being killed and it doesn't really become a problem between the characters.

Throughout the story, because of Blackjack's shonen level importance many of her supporting characters circle about her as mostly being appendages of Blackjack and never give resistance themselves and follow her along without protest, killing much the same as her, and offer complimentary back pats when Somber has to find the need for the tragic breakdown when Blackjack has to have a depressive episode over the lives she takes for flavor reasons, I guess. And even when they do protest, in the end they all go along with it totally fine.

In one such even P-21 says they should release all the slaves of one faction of the story's setting, and rightly so. But despite previous passes by Blackjack being anti-slave, she refuses to because the leader of the faction is technically a cousin several times removed and "a nice person" or something. This is a problem for all one scene in one chapter and never comes up again.

Despite repeated use of the line, "not a smart pony" in reference to Blackjack, she is able to somehow still cut through the thickest of conspiratorial mysteries and histories by sheer existence. She uncovers a 200 hundred year old deep state plot to overthrow the war-time government of Equestria, over lapped with cult shit and coercion between the two sides of the war, and Zebra prophecies and mysticism of the Lovecraftian occult variety. She never has to actively do anything to figure it out besides kill the pre-requesite one-hundred waste landers between each objectives, and neither do her companions despite several being objectively far more intelligent than she. They just stumble into each and every layer and stage of the conspiracy and give all the credit to Blackjack.

And despite attempts by the story to be philosophical over concepts such as ethics and responsibility, it never goes anywhere and Blackjack's response to all this is to become the dumber Socrates and scream "but y tho" while the more intelligent comrades make no comment or are actively as dumbfounded by such riddles and become functionally retarded and help no one in development. But this is less a fault of Blackjack per-say, and more Somber.

Taken at this face value though you might say, "well this seems fairly OK. Not good, perhaps. But not awful. Shonen leveling up aside"

Well a part of the frustration this character gives me and what has cursed my soul to my last day knowing I have wasted 1.8 million words of my time with is: no one says anything. Blackjack is the terminally qt pure waifu who never did anything wrong to the fandom and like in the story no one stops to ask: "is Blackjack really the role model we pretend she is for raping her friends and lusting after minors? No, she is the angelic one!" She's continually received as a pure character, with most everyone being as indifferent to her shenanigans as everyone else in the story was to her. Blackjack got to die a hero, and maintains her pure trad waifu status among Project Horizon's readership.

Where as in comparison: Little Pip, the hero of Fallout Equestria has not had her massacre of Arbu forgotten. Though she killing an entire village had weight in the story and punishment. Blackjack I swear was complicit in destroying several and no one cares because the story doesn't care; it went on as if she was innocent. And the one hard moral decision she makes in the first thirty chapters to shut down the stasis pods of thirty broken and dying two-hundred year old foals is forgotten pretty quickly.

So yeah, death to Blackjack and P-21 is the true messiah.


The truly forsaken one. Everything would have been 200% better in all ways had he been the central figure.

EDIT - To connect things to the OP: did I mention Blackjack has a sword? Yeah. She has a sword. A very special one. She's a sword and shotty character. Her shotgun typically shoots explosive rounds, and her sword I guess absorbs souls for ??? reasons because it's made of meteorite metal and basically can't be destroyed and cut through most anything. I think she takes on a tank with it. I can't fucking remember. I do remember she uses her cyber legs to yoink off the hatch of a tank though to get inside and yell at its horse-brain powdered computer.

A horse brain that is, to everyone's shock: from the brain pan of Deus the previously mentioned mega cyborg raider she earlier killed in the story by blowing up his head with a grenade or something in the first twenty-ish chapters.

She then uses the sword to - I assume - kill a eldritch nightmare god.

EDIT 2 - So every time I look at the OP I see something comparable Blackjack has done. In the course of the story she goes to the moon, twice. First to confront the Big Bad who wasn't really the Big Bad and get he body back which has the gestating fetuses she conceived with P-21 and also to save the world because the moon had a military base built on it centuries ago with the intent of delivering a world-ending payload by the rebel Equestrian faction for ??? reasons that are revealed to be tied with the eldritch god's influence. Several centuries later after the events of the story because Blackjack is cursed I guess with eternal life or just super slow aging per the conditions of the body she came back alive into she returns to the moon with Little Pip who also has prolonged life through contact with mutatgenic compounds because Somber really likes Blackjack x Little Pip shipping for some damn reason. But anyways, she goes back to the moon to retrieve a friend she abandoned there who is likewise cursed with immortality through being bound to a healing artifact so far corrupted beyond its abilities it can fix death, and so continually revives her from even annihilation; if as a filly. She also crash lands in this second trip and survived, Little Pip does too but as a thoroughly demeaned accessory to it all.

In the time-span of the story she essentially crosses enough territory to have hiked across the country of Equestria. The story in its 1.8 million words of mayhem is only two or three weeks long. Sometimes she manages to cross the entire core region in what is basically a day.

Blackjack throughout the story encounters and fights a variety of Extremely Anime Villains and Characters that range from "cyber pony Deus who is in many ways canonically a traumatized tank, figuratively AND literally", a mutated and colossal prison warden who has incorporated the full prison defense apparatus into his body like some Metal Gear abomination



Additional villains include gods and demigods, the pegasi enclave's military-industrial apparatus (alone, Little Pip had to fight them too but she also called upon and organized an army of her own through the various contacts she made and the reputation her story in-universe got her) and an epileptic bat orgy.

EDIT 3 - Did I also mention she catches one of her underaged companions doing the naughty bumps with an adult character? She does and then tells her she did a good job.

alpine republic

<Snipped quote by Dinh AaronMk>

>69th post

Nice

@Yam I Am

nice

alpine republic

Japan invents Superior Alt Accounts and now has seventy of them

Precipice Of War: The Reboot of a Reboot

In order to get the Federatiob active as an NPC presence, I have posted the first Imperial Federation event.

Considering the rate this RP moves though, I'm thinking making the time-span until the next as "pages" to be too long though

Precipice Of War: The Reboot of a Reboot

The roll was:
3 (Africa) – 5 (moderate) – 4 (pages until next)

Reuters

Violence erupts in Norther Nigeria

August 26, 1955

ABUJA – A wave of violence has swept northern Nigeria today in response to comments made by the Nigerian premier Akinwunmi Jacobs. In a radio interview earlier that week he expressed disdain for the majority Muslim population saying that, “We shouldn't let the Muslims have so much power, less they oppress the rest of the country. It was the sovereign will of God that their power was scattered”.

At a time of uncertainty and contention the comments did not raise the country's Muslims confidence in the premier. A number of clerics in the country have written open letters of condemnation against the premier, criticizing him for his open hostility. The statement comes at a time where the Nigerian government has been expanding farming settlement in the north and was seeking to offer aid to the Federal home office in London, but this adventure may have to be scrapped.

Following these comments, a riot broke out in the northern city of Kano as mobs took to the streets in protest to the president's words. Earlier that afternoon many gathered before the mosque of Kano has local leaders gave speeches of condemnation against the Premier. Shouts of “Allahu ackbar” rang in the streets as streams of invective against the premier were shouted forth. That night violence broke and local police and military positions were attacked.

During the ten hours of night fighting, twenty national policemen were attacked and killed and three members of the Nigerian Army were killed by mobs of rioters armed mostly with knives and clubs. Several banks and businesses were attacked and burned, accused of being Christian or southern. At least ten additional civilians were killed and thirty others wounded before the sun rose the next morning.

In response, the government declared martial law over Kano state. The arrival of the armed forces the following afternoon frightened the rioters who abandoned the streets. But peace has not come to Kano as sporadic raids and attacks now continue against local government forces. The Nigerian National Police have however commented that they do not believe there is an organized group behind the attacks, and that the situation should be under control in short time. However, Akinwunmi Jacobs has refused to withdraw his comments. Parliament is urging him to do so before things grow out of hand.

The initial raids were initially carried out by bands from the Fula people, an indigenous ethnic minority in the north of Nigeria and who range across much of western Africa. They are a majority practicing Muslim group. They mounted resistance against initial British settlement of the Nigerian interior organized around the Sokoto Caliphate. The caliphate was eventually defeated in 1903 and the present territory of Nigeria was formed.

In recent history the Fula have been initiated in conflict with numerous local groups in northern Nigeria and abroad as the impact of expanded farm land encroaches on their domain. Part of the possible reason to violence was the expansion of farming and sedentary industry in the north under Akinwunmi's program of expanded economy. The premier and his party, the Nigerian Democratic Party or the NDP has sought to relieve the pressure of urban growth in Lagos and the capital Abuja by turning people back to the countryside by resettling them on uncultivated ground with the expectation they would develop the land. The plan has received criticism from the Delta Congress Party for being a waste of resources and finances and criticizing it for a lack of results. The premier and his party meanwhile have urged patience, saying it will soon overflow the country with food. They have no commented on the conflicts it has caused with pastoral Nigerian populations.

Akinwunmi Jacobs is Nigeria's second president since the country achieved autonomy from London following the Federalization protocols in 1937.

Need Some Creative Direction For RP

@Sapphira

If we're going with an actual historical direction and not a comparable fiction, then I guess I can have some fun too:

You are a former Chartrist from the West Midlands who owing to political pressures from the government between 1840 and sometime after 1850 have pulled up stakes and left the Black Country for the United States, landing in the East Coast. There you lead a workingman's life. Marry, have a family, and vibe. But at the outbreak of war you are not able to escape the eventual draft and are inevitably picked up by Union Recruiters as a conscript and sent to war where you serve in the Army of the Potomac. Enter some begrudging loathing of the Irish because Anglican-Catholic disputes but you serve valiantly through the war and retire a decorated war hero.

However, because of the retreat of the Southern gentry class from American politics because of the war, and with the west being opened up, you can take your family west, and you strike out to homestead being fed up with the impoverished living of a factory laborer and seeking your own free land in the vast trans-Mississippian interior.

To add more spice: a veteran of the Crimean War and arriving and living in New York City are eventually join the New York British Volunteers, eventually absorbed by the 36th New York. You serve the full two year enlistment, going home just before Gettysburg but not without first bloodying your already colorful reputation by repressing the New York draft riot and eventually retiring westward out of shame.

i have a question on Metagaming

If I understand the situation right: seems like poor form to include an OOC offer in IC especially if it had no lead up. It's not as if the situation can't or couldn't be salvaged, depending on how deep you've gotten in the story or not. You could simply claim delusion on the part of one party who believed they offered a deal when they didn't which becomes a source of further interpersonal conflict. Or the non-offer of a deal that is later talked about as if offered becomes a character motivation for doing this battle in the first place; there may after all not be much justification for the one clan to fight another, so a reason is made up by the antagonizing character to invent a reason: "I did make a deal, trust me bro, I offered it to them, but then they disrespected me and my honor and ours. We should fight!"

That at least be how I would resolve the dispute, but it hinges imo on specific character details: would Merom Yuumei be deranged enough to dream up events that never happened and convince themselves they did take place and believe in them earnestly as real? Do they have the character basis and profile to be that way, have they been that way before, and will the writer keep that up? Or are they envious, scheming, and proud enough of themselves that at least in this moment they could see the benefits of making shit up to get what they want, have they done this before, and would they do it again?

If the answer to any one of these, or any combination is "yes", it can be saved. If "no" then you may have to work it out, maybe even go back to the point things went off the rails and do it all over to correct the record.

I have a magical superhero who needs a RP to call home.

@AceSorou fair enough.