Old War, Cold War, What's the Difference? (MT/PMT)

Somewhere in Northern Alaska

Brigadier General Henry Watkins stared at an old transmitter in his office at the American base at Juneau. For the last two hundred years, the thing broadcasted a nearly constant signal, but never had any help arrived from America to support his soldiers, five thousand strong. Of course, he knew that he couldn't blame them, as after all the world was nuked and the only people nearby who could pick up the signal were Canadians, and they were unlikely to help, especially not after the US annexed them so long ago. Still, it WAS two hundred years, he expected that the world would have rebuilt already, and while such an expectation was partly true, it most certainly was not in North America. Still, what he waited for for so long would soon arrive in an exploratory fleet from the UMNA that happened to pick up the message en route to Alaska...

***

Somewhere in Eastern Alaska

Vladimir Ivanov, a balding seventy-ish man in a heavy fur coat, stood at an old long-distance radio transmitter with his most trusted technicians, Provost and Lolya. The two technicians were working hard on restoring the transmitter, and it almost seemed to Vladimir that they could potentially actually properly restore it. Still, he kept such feelings back, as they tended to only create false hope, which was especially dangerous when you were the leader of a few thousand Russian descendants from refugees who had fled from Russia into Alaska into one of the most dangerous battlefields in the world, and without any proper weaponry to boot. He remembered his trusty old AK-47, which he salvaged from an old gun store so many years ago and used to take out even American soldiers in (century-old) power armor, much less Chinese soldiers in even older combat armor. Still, he was too old for that now, and in any case his two technicians interrupted his reverie when they alerted him of the transmitter finally being restored. With that, he simply nodded and began to transmit a message back to his Russian homeland (in Russian of course), with the (somewhat desperate) intent of getting help from home. It went,

"My Russian comrades, if there are any of you out there to receive this message I urge you to immediately come to my aid. I am one of a few thousand Russians holed up in eastern Alaska and I require urgent aid against the Americans and Chinese in the region. If we cannot get aid soon, our fates will be condemned only to death as we are both greatly outpowered and outnumbered. Until then, we will hold on until the bitter end. Vladimir Ivanov out."

Not the best message, but it would have to do...

***

Somewhere in Southern Alaska

Colonel Cheng looked on at some of his radio technicians with absolute fury. For so many years the Chinese forces in control of Juneau, Alaska, had attempted to radio the mainland for reinforcements but each and every time their attempts at making contact failed, leaving the transmitter only a hunk of scrap. However, he had then suddenly gotten "good news" that his men had found a pristine transmitter in their storage areas, powerful enough to radio the mainland. Good? Yes, if one ignored the fact that the equipment that was necessary to get reinforcements was left around unaccounted for CENTURIES. In any case, he quelled his rage quickly and went to the transmitter, and began speaking, directing the message out towards the mainland, hoping that what remained of China could help him. He then said the following, not knowing how drastically the nation of China changed...

"Attention, Chinese comrades! Urgent reinforcements are required at Juneau in order to destroy the dirty American capitalists who have been fighting us for the last two hundred years! We currently outnumber them but we've been driven back by advanced power armor. Only five thousand of us remain, and we have no more central command. Without assistance, we cannot defeat the Americans. Colonel Cheng out."

Likewise for Vladimir, a Swiss expedition into Alaska has been venturing forth, some of them in winterized versions of their MkIII Advanced Power Armor. They answer back in Russian, "Vladimir Ivanov, this is Colonel Tikhonov of the Swiss Alaskan Expeditionary Force. Transmit coordinates and we'll be on our way. Over."

A&A responds in Mandarin. "Colonel Chang, transmit exact coordinates and we will send assistance." There may not be anyone there, but it's relatively close enough for them to send someone. In fact, they're already getting ready to go.

Bismouth doesn't care.

Or, more specifically, it hears, it listens, it watches, and it doesn't do anything.

Both Vladimir and Colonel Cheng send coordinates immediately. Meanwhile, Brigadier General Watkins gets an almost heart attack worthy surprise when for the first time since the nukes fell a steady radio signal began to appear...

Out of the entire expeditionary force, the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment, 1224 soldiers total, is sent to check things out. The rest of the Sixth Infantry Brigade, consisting of another two battalions, stay behind.

(OOC: The Foreign Legion is organized differently. They have regiments the size of battalions instead roughly the size of a brigade, which is where it's supposed to be.)

(OOC: Sorry! Lot of threads to pay attention to here.)

A&A shows up later with a group of soldiers numbering 500. It would be explained to Cheng that the war is over and no one won. They haven't even been known as the Chinese for quite some time.

The Swiss see what is a large mass of shoddy shacks that barely seem to keep their residents from freezing to death surrounded by a series of trenches and defenses constructed from scrap metal. They don't seem to do very well, to say the least.

***

The Colonel is disappointed by the words of the A&A soldiers and point out that even if the war is over in their territory, the attacks on them won't be stopping any time soon, trying to elicit their guilt if anything.

***

Brigadier General Watkins begins to speak with the UMNA fleet via radio, explaining his current situation. While he's a bit disappointed that they aren't the direct descendents of the American government, he's happy that at least someone is willing to hear him out. The Municipal fleet decides warily to visit the American first to see their position before deciding whether or not to help...

And Cheng is shown several maps of the world. Recent maps. The attacks have stopped and the old United states was destroyed. They're trying to avoid a problem.

Tikhonov makes his way by foot over to Vladimir's command center, guided either by signs or directions from soldiers. "Morrill, Finley, you're with me." A pair of power-armored soldiers follow, one with a minigun and one with a laser rifle. They enter.

The Municipal fleet goes towards Anchorage, and takes in the extremely battered defenses of the city and the damaged equipment of the soldiers that they see. They're actually somewhat impressed that they held out so long...

***

Colonel Cheng appears distraught at the map, disappointed to find out that the war he's been fighting has already been over. Still, he does point out one thing, "These American still are fighting to destroy China. If you leave them unchecked, they might attempt to bring their war back to the motherland. If you can support us against them, you have a buffer."

***

The Swiss soldiers are found by two of the Russian soldiers who bring them to a modest compound, a bit intimidated by their heavy armaments. When they enter the compound, Vladimir salutes them, and says, "Greetings, Russian comrades. Welcome to our refugee camp in Alaska, maybe three thousand or so men strong. What can I do for you while you're here?"

"Nothing much. Do not refer to us all as Russians, however." He taps the small Swiss flag on the chest of the armor of Morrill. "Not all of us are Europeans, either. This is a regiment of the Foreign Legion, after all. Morrill and Finley are Americans, both former soldiers cast aside from fighting the remains of the American government."

The information is sent back to A&A. While they await instructions, the group with Cheng begin to question him about how the hell this survived for 200 years without A&A ever detecting it.

A small group of Municipal soldiers land on the base and Brigadier General Watkins is quickly brought to them by the Americans. They then discuss their situation with the Municipals, while the Municipals fill in the fact that America has split up and dropped out of the war, which the Americans receive bitterly. The Municipals, however, are still impressed by their preserving spirit and begin to consider sending aid and possible arms...

***

Vladimir nods to the Swiss, and says, "I see, I see. Still, anyone who is willing to answer our call for help is welcome here in our refugee camp. Could it be possible for your nation to aid us, if only with humanitarian assistance? Our people in this camp have suffered from disease for many years, and without some medical aid, we will continue to do so. Our foraging efforts have not been going very well either, and each year more and more of us starve from a lack of nutrition. I hardly eat much myself, either, I give up what I can to help my people."

***

Colonel Cheng points out blithely that fallout doesn't make for very good communications, and that some of his men seem to be totally incompetent in equipment tracking.

"We can definitely do that. We brought enough rations with us to last a few days. We can have them break out some food for your people immediately."

"Well, yeah, but how long have you been here?" They ask.

The Municipal soldiers decide to take the liberty of distributing extra rations, however they first send a message to the Generalissimo on whether or not arms should be sent. Roald begins to consider it, wondering if it could potentially help secure a large amount of oil...

***

Vladimir bows, and says, "We refugees will appreciate such aid deeply, I'm sure. Now, you said you were Swiss? If I'm not mistaken on my geography, which isn't perfect, isn't Switzerland in western Europe? Why are you in Russia, or for that matter, Alaska, then?"

***

Colonel Cheng replies curtly, "I don't even know for sure. Two hundred? Three hundred? It's all a blur to us."

He has Finley retrieve a map. When he returns, he spreads it out. He points to regions in purple and says, "All of this is the full expanse of the Swiss Empire. They were one of the few states not hit by the warheads and they took advantage of it. They used their power to unite the next three powers in Austro-Germany, France, and Italy. Over the decades, they gradually incorporated the rest of Europe and have now gone into incorporating territory overseas."

(OOC: Sorry. I will post soon. Things are crazy right now RL. I'm trying to catch up on schoolwork and I've been sick. Not doing so well following too many threads at the moment. )

(OOC: It's cool. I have Green Lantern, Assassin's Creed, and the Mothership Zeta Crew mod for Fallout 3 to keep me occupied. You should try that mod if you have time. I made an addon mod for that, though it's being processed right now.)

The person in charge just nods. "We'll do what we can." They radio back to A&A with an update. A&A then contacts the Swiss since they have what used to be Russia to see if they've gotten anything weird from what was Alaska.

The Municipal team asks the Americans if there is any nearby oil, and they find out that there are a few nearby fields, although some are in the zone of control of the Chinese and Russians. With that, Roald tentatively agrees to send them some weapons in exchange for allowing Municipal control over nearby fields.

***

Vladimir nods, and says, "I see. Now tell me please... what exactly would it take to join your empire, and what would it entail? It rouses my curiosity."

***

Colonel Cheng, bows slightly in gratitude, and says, "Thank you, fellow comrades." He then waits on the A&A response.

"You are bound to grant your citizens certain rights, such as property, bearing arms, universal suffrage, and representation in Parliament. Parliament elects the Chancellor. Any changes to the constitution require a referendum. Citizens can challenge laws created by Parliament and can create initiatives to alter the constitution. In exchange, all men eighteen to thirty-four are conscripted into the military, either in Cantonal or Imperial. By law, Imperial forces cannot be larger than Cantonal forces except in wartime. You are also allowed to do anything not explicitly stated in the constitution to be the realm of the Imperial government. There are even a few socialistic and communistic cantons around. They're anomalies, though."

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The Swiss government replies that the Alaskan Expeditionary Force encountered some survivors of Russians stranded there from before the war.

A&A responds with what the Swiss stated and the message is relayed. "What I think should occur is that you are all brought home. It is past time for a homecoming."

A Municipal transport begins to head out from Port Ledo with a small cache of food and arms. It might take a few days to arrive, however.

***

Vladimir nods as he takes in the information. He then asks, "Of course, what would the benefits be to doing so? Obviously independent groups wouldn't join your nation voluntarily for no reason at all."

***

Colonel Cheng shakes his head, and says, "Who would be there to receive us? Almost all of our ancestors are almost certainly dead. Besides, it seems like our homeland has changed so much, from what we've seen from you, and we still hang on to our old ways and beliefs. Now, if you won't help us for your own defense or for the sake of your own countrymen, perhaps you should consider our area's resources. There is a lot of oil here, still untapped, and if we just go back home, all of that will play into the hands of the others, and who knows where it will go from there..."