Pax America

[vovan]

Don't be sorry about that, Centauri. Many people confuse my nick - it's really no big deal.

Any way, back on topic: I am glad that you decided to write another story eventually after you finish this one. I know some people write one story, and then are gone, never to be seen again. It is always sad to see a person who has created good pieces of writing, leave.

We'll all be looking forward to more goods from you

EDIT: Oh, and by the way, I have just finished my story, Postmortem: Two Thousand Years Later, and would appreciate if you read it and tell me what you think. I am going to eventually write another story, and could use some constructive suggestions on improvement, or maybe what was particularly successful, and what was not effective.

[Centauri18]

I'd be glad to read it.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Maybe he's heard the rumours vovan and was trying to write voyeurism but got it wrong

Just kidding, great stuff again Centauri18

[unscratchedfoot]

Originally posted by Centauri18
I'd be glad to read it.

Sure ya will.

Centauri dude, this is a real wing-dinger of a story.

[Centauri18]

I read it. Left a review and everything. Vovansim, (there, I got it this time) it was a good story. And thanks to everybody for their support in this one.

[vovan]

Originally posted by Centauri18
I read it. Left a review and everything.

Thank you, Centauri18

[Centauri18]

The Colony War

[The World Before (the light green areas are unclaimed territory):]

New Washington Junior Hgh School, 2003 A.D.
"So we're finally getting into an actual war in class today, huh?"
"Yeah. It's probably gonna take the whole class time. Might even take till tomorrow."
"Robbie, I think we really need to read the chapter this time."
"I like hearing Mr. Grant tell it - he's a pretty good storyteller. So are you going to the dane this weekend?"
"Yeah. I'm just not sure if Spring River will want to go out with me."
"Spring River? The Iroquois exchange student? She's... wow, where to start? Wow!"
"That's what I said. I keep wondering if she's interested. Well, are you going?"
"I'm thinking I'll go alone and pick up a girl whose date won't dance."
"Where did you learn to dance?"
"Lessons. Mom insisted. She's an immigrant from Celtic Ireland, remember, and the Celts have an old saying: 'Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.' So I can dance."
"I never knew that about your mom. What about your dad? I never really met your parents."
"Well, Dad's from Scandinavia. The capital... Trondheim. He came here because he wanted a good education for his kids. 'You have an American education,' he told me, 'and the world is your oyster.' So I figure if I go to school, get good grades, the world will be full of opportunities."
"Which is why you put up with math."
"Yep. Aren't your folks immigrants, too?"
"Sort of. My dad is Russian. My mom's from up North."
"Iroquois-Canada?"
"Not that far north."
"Oh, right. New York, maybe?"
"Yep."
"How is it up there?"
"Cold compared to here. It's a good city, though. Crime is lower than ever, and for New York, that's saying something. Crime's almost nonexistant now."
"Huh."
BRRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!
"Good morning, class. I trust you didn't find the homework too difficult. No? Good. Now, today we come to a very important chapter in American history. It was when America revealed itself as a military power. America also made friends out of the Vikings, English, the Carthaginians, and the Celts, all of whom have contributed citizens and military assistance - where needed - to America in its hour of need. We helped these nations out in the World Wars of the twentieth century."
"The Colony War?"
"The Europeans called it that for centuries. Particularly the Egyptians and the Romans. The French also got involved, glad for a chance to face off against their old rivals, the English."
"So it was the new NATO against France, Rome, Spain, Germany, and Egypt."
"Yes. As you no doubt know, America called this the War of European Imperialism. But half a millennium later, it was given a new name..."
"World War One."
"Exactly."

Life was good for America. They had extensive maps from Spain, from Rome, and even Egyptian maps of Africa. The Americans struck up an alliance with the Zulu, a race of warriors led by a man who styled himself Shaka of the Zulus. Shaka was originally a despot, and Lincoln taught the young nation about Democracy, but Shaka decided to make his nation a Republic. His people were not too thrilled with Democracy. Shaka as absolute ruler seemed to work for them.
Expansion had slowed down, as we felt we'd gone far enough for the time being, and the industrious Americans started building.
A Great Stock Enxhange was set up on Wall Street in New York - eventually almost all American and Iroquois cities had Stock Exchanges and watched their treasuries grow. Your parents probably follow the stock market. Adam Smith's Trade Company set up shop in Boston and brought in more revenue from trade tariffs; a monument celebrating Nelson's circumnavigation of the Earth was set up in Richmond; a Controversial Theory of Evolution was brought forward in Los Angeles (it was disproven, but it really stimuated the scientific community), a Heroic Epic was written in Chicago - a widely read novel about the Mexican War that actually inspired military officers to be at their absolute best; and the art of Battlefield Medicine was perfected in Los Angeles where, let's face it, that kind of response time was often needed in those days. Also, a man named Issac Newton, son of immigrants from England, built a great University in Washington, in the suburb of Georgetown. In Washington, the 19th Amendment was signed into law. giving women the vote. Universal Suffrage was achieved.
The great Iron Works built in Anchorage was the envy of the planet, a great center of production.
People lived longer in America than anywhere else in the world, and the educational system produced smarter people. People didn't have to be short-lived to be smart, after all.
Cities around North America existed in an almost perpetual state of celebration in honor of either Lincoln, Hiawatha, or both in some places.
People also joined the military. America's military was the finest in the world, and its six armies of new tanks often paraded through American cities and towns on the Fourth of July, the day the thirteen tribes were united by Washington.
General George Washington was often there, happy to help pay tribute to his famous ancestor.
That particular day, a great monument to Washington was dedicated in Washington City, just across the Mall from Congress.
It was also on that day that the Avenger-class ironclad Phoenix (named for the city in Arizona, not the mythical bird) sailed into Washington Harbor, with a passenger - Christopher Columbus.
Lincoln and Hiawatha were in the Oval Office, discussing the parade, when Columbus burst in, flanked by Secret Service Agents. Next to him stood J. Edgar Hoover, head of the CIA's International Espionage Division. Both had grim looks on their faces.
The two leaders immediately rose to meet them.
"What's going on?" Lincoln asked.
"I bring the most dire news," Columbus said. "I have just arrived from Europe. And Rome has issued... straight from the Pope himself..."
"Spit it out, man!" Hiawatha bellowed. In Europe, if it came from the Pope, it was something absolutely huge in those days.
"War," Columbus said simply. "Rome, Spain, Egypt, and even France are declaring war on NATO. It is to be a war of epic proportions."
"We can handle them," Hoover said. "But just in case, we need allies. We need allies badly."
Lincoln thought for a moment. "Who is closest to us?"
Hiawatha spoke up. "I know that one. The Celts have colonized parts of Greenland, and that's close to my territory. The northern parts are practically uninhabitable for them, so they aren't moving. They have signed a peace treaty with Iroquois-Canada."
"Why didn't you tell me this sooner? We could have sent diplomats."
"It slipped my mind, I assure you. They are led by a man named Brennus. He is a monarch - it is Europe, after all. We also have ties with the Zulus in Africa to deal with Egypt."
"Anybody else?"
"Through the Celts in Ireland," Hiawatha continued, "and even the ones the English absorbed into their fold in Scotland, we can get in touch with Queen Elizabeth of the English. She made an enemy of Rome when after the church would not allow her to divorce her husband, she formed the Church of England, the first Protestant church in Europe. Through recent reforms, it resembles more and more the church system here than the Catholicism England abandoned. None of the old traditions."
"And they managed to hold off a huge invasion by the Spanish recently," Columbus said. "So the Spaniards hate them, too."
"So why would they join us?" Lincoln asked.
"The old American adage," Hoover said, "I believe it goes, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.' I think they would join us."
"And through the Celts in The Netherlands," Hiawatha said, "we can get hold of the Vikings. They have close cultural ties with both the English and the Celts. The Viking Democracy is a constant thorn in Europe's side. Prime Minister Ragnar Lodbrok would be happy to help us."
Lincoln nodded. "Send envoys to Trondheim, Entremont, and London. Is there anybody else?"
Hiawatha and Hoover looked at each other. "Hannibal," they both said at once.
"What?"
"Hannibal," Hoover said. "Hannibal, king and leader of Carthage. He owns most of west Africa. We could also get in contact with Shaka Zulu. He could almost certainly keep the Egyptians busy."
"Or they could roll right over him," Hiawatha said grimly.
"He would be willing to buy us some time. He has horsemen and knights and those deadly old Impis."
"I thought he would have upgraded those," Lincoln said.
"Well, if it ain't broke..."
"Don't fix it. I understand. Won't the Pope look for more allies?"
"France is still Catholic, and Consol Joan of Arc might try to help out," Columbus said. "Russia keeps to itself, and Asia does too. The Russians are still recovering from the brief Mongol takeover so long ago. Rome might enlist Germany."
Lincoln stood, walking to the window and looking out over the city. "So if we fail to secure allies, we will be attacked by nearly all of Europe. They could overwhelm us with sheer numbers."
"They found out about you from Catherine. A priest managed to talk Catherine into revealing her maps of Alaska."
"Why are they doing this?" Lincoln demanded.
"Because they believe that this continent belongs to them. Because America is made up at least partially of what the Europeans declare savages, and also because America is not exclusively Catholic, they feel that they have reason to declare war. The riches of America are just too much to resist for the Pope and his vast coffers of gold."
"Are they so rich?"
Columbus nodded. "Julius Caesar is just a puppet these days. Roman Italy is a theocracy these days."
"They feel they have the mandate of God to declare war on us so-called infidels. They know we house Muslims," Hoover sighed.
"What's the problem with that?" Hiawatha wondered. "Oh, yes. European xenophobia."
"We will have to respond," Hoover said. "The time is now, Mr. President."
Lincoln took a deep breath. "Contact our generals. Have the newer recruits here to defend America if they manage to send troops to our shores. Prepare troops to head south into South America. Inform the Settler Corps that we will need cities built. Tell the Worker Union that we will need the jungle cleared. We must fortify South America. Tell Washington, Sherman, and Lee to prepare to head for Europe. And send our envoys to all these potential allies. Also, tell the factories currently producing wealth and the Iron Works in Anchorage to mobilize. The colonists might get here before we can rout them in Europe. America will become the Arsenal of Democracy."
The Secret Service agents scrambled to get word to the Pentagon, and to tell the CIA to pull their agents out of Rome, Paris, Madrid, and Thebes. And they sent word to the agent in Berlin to pack his bags.
The world would soon be at war.

The Vikings were in at once, especially after they heard that Rome might call for Germany to get involved. President Ragnar Lodbrok (affectionately called "Old Hairy-Britches" by his people) loved American democracy, and got into the war mainly because of what his people wanted. You see, the Vikings wanted revenge for continued German attacks on their homeland and even on their colonies in Iceland over the last few decades.
And they knew of Rome's hatred of their policies and hoped to show Rome what they could do.
The Celts were all for it as well. Lincoln had knoiwn they would be. A first-century writer wrote of them as a race that lusted for war, but that was only partially true. In recent years they had become mainly peaceful. And they were far from being savages. Their technology was quite advanced compared to what the ancients had said of them. Their alliance with the Vikings - Brennar saw Ragnar as a "kidred spirit" - required them to offer at least some assistance in the war. And America would also hand several settlements in the Caribbean over to Celtic settlers, and some technology.
Hannibal received the emmisary well. Carthage was all too happy to face off against Rome, its old rival for millennia. Carthage had almost conquered Rome, but they managed to stop him. Hannibal hoped that this would not happen again.
Now the Romans knew Carthage as "Poeni," a deriviation of the word "Phoenician," and the source of the Roman name for the Roman-Carthaginian Wars: the Punic Wars.
Carthage was out to make a name for itself, and if Hannibal got to take a chunk out of Egypt before it was all over... so be it.
Shaka and the Zulus were the most eager. NATO equipped them with technology to create musketmen. That was all they could do right then. A sudden explosion in Zulu technology might have prompted the European alliance to take pre-emptive action. The Shaka was afraid of being overrun, but any Zulu refugees were offered a place in the new settlements in South America, and the Shaka agreed.
NATO changed because of the new alliances. THe North American Treaty Organization became the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
As for England, some serious negotiations took place. England wanted Ironclad technology, and they got it in return for American control over New Liverpool in the Sandwich Islands.
You kids might know that city better as Honolulu, and the Sandwich Islands as Hawaii.
[OCC: Hawaii really used to be called the Sandwich Islands until the Americans took control and gave the island chain back the name the natives had given it.]
As predicted, Rome convinced Germany - even though it was a nation that had adopted Protestantism, specifically the philosophy of a man named Martin Luther - to join the war. Germany wanted a shot at South America.

The ink on the declaration of war was not even dry when all hell broke loose.
Zulu Impis, equipped with muskets and American training, stampeded into Egyptian territory; Vikings and Celts headed through the Netherlands south into Germany; the new English ironclad HMS Conqueror began shelling Normandy, making room for English troops to cross the channel while the HMS Warrior shelled the Pais de Calais, making room for troops there; Hannibal and his troops poured into the tip of the Italian Peninsula, and marched through Egypt; and the American First, Second, and Third Armies poured into Spain.
American tanks decimated the Spanish Conquistadors, and the larger part of the American Fleet (made almost entirely of ironclads based on the USS Avenger, which was based on the Monitor, but with two rotating turrests instead of one and better armor) began a blockade on nearly all sides, annihilating Spanish galleons.
Spain fell in less than a day, even as the Spanish colony ships were halfway to America. Queen Isabella was killed as her castle in Madrid fell down around her. The abandoned Spanish ships - which now rest in the Spanish Museum in Florida - drifted on the sea for a decade, empty except for the coffers of Spanish gold, all of which would be recovered by American Ironclads and shared among the other members of NATO.
After the war was over, the only Spaniard truly left alive was Christopher Columbus. He had sworn loyalty to America, but still felt a shudder as the majority of his people died.
Refugees from the Spanish cities - all of the cities had been burnt - were loaded onto new steam-powered Transport ships headed back to America. It took nearly a dozen ships to hold them all. They would be used to populate the new American cities in South America. All of them were shocked that they were not excecuted.
The American Settler Corps established New Madrid on the ruins of the old city, built a harbor, and American workers began working the land.
Spain had been annihilated. Washington, Lee, and Sherman held off the few French troops Joan of Arc could spare, and began marching into France.
England had taken several cities in Normandy when France sued for peace.
The Vikings and Celts stormed northern Germany, extending the borders of Celtic Denmark by three hundred miles south when Germany sued for peace. They were given back their land, but the English kept Normandy.
Carthage fared well, but the Zulus did not. Fortunately, the bulk of the Egyptian Army was pushing the Zulus back as Hannibal and his army of war elephants - bought for a very good price from Consol Gandhi of India - was just outside the gates of Thebes when Cleopatra saw them coming.
Egypt had destroyed the Zulus on Madagascar when Hannibal and his elephants were storming Cleopatra's palace.
Egypt surrendered.
America signed a Right of Passage agreement with France, just long enough to begin storming Rome.

Several Roman cities were burning when Caesar and the pontiff were called to a meeting in Caesar's palace.
The puppet leader and the Pope were surprised to see several Roman guards standing behind them.
"Senator Brutus!" Caesar said, relieved. "What are you doing here?"
"Have you come to praise Caesar?" the Pope wondered.
[OCC: Just FYI, I'm just used to capitalizing Pope, I'm not Catholic, and I have no prejudices against them - I merely do it to emphasize the fact that the Catholic church held a large amount of power in Europe during those days.]
"No," Brutus said with a strange calm. "We come not to praise Caesar... but to bury you!"
The aging pontiff did not stand a chance as they set upon him with daggers.
They actually came close to stabbing each other in their rush to kill the Pope. They blamed him for the fact that they might be wiped out, just like the Spaniards, unless something was done.
Caesar had let the Pope control him, but in the end they forgave him - he was their leader. He was taken into custody.
"E tu, Brute?" the pontiff groaned in Latin, as his life left him. They wrould become famous last words, immortalized in a play by England's William Skakespeare.
Caesar was glad to have the Catholic Church no longer in control of all of Rome. Eventually, Roman troops drove the Papal loyalists into the Vatican, in the center of Rome. Caesar was merciful, mainly because he knew that if he crushed the church, war might break out again all through Europe. Instead, he killed the old pope's supports and appointed a new Pope. The Pope was the leader of the church, and that was it. Rome was no longer a theocracy.
Rome signed peace accords with NATO and the Americans moved out. Rome applied for membership in NATO and was accepted. Rome and Carthage also finally made peace.
World War I was over.

"And that was it. The war was over and peace came to the world. NATO signed peace accords, and transfers of technology between America and the other NATO nations began. The one tank that had been destroyed was loaded onto the transport ships with the victorious Armies so the Europeans could not figure out the technology by analyzing the remains of the tank. The Armies returned to America as heroes. Columbus was named Lincoln's Secretary of Foreign Affairs - so as a member of Lincoln's Cabinet, Columbus would now live forever as well."
"Lincoln's advisors live forever, too?"
"What happened to the old foreign advisor?"
"There was no need for one. Lincoln and Hiawatha had met regularly in those days. Anyway, telegraph wires - eventually phone wires - were built between America, Canada, and England, by way of Viking Iceland. Phone wires also extended into Scandinavia, Celtic Ireland, into English Normandy, to New Spain, into Carthaginian West Africa, and into Roman Italy.
"The Zulus were dead. New Spain was handed over to the Celts, and they reenforced it within hours with new Celtic cavalry. Spanish and Zulu refugees colonized South America. Egypt withdrew. American expansion covered the whole continent, absorbing the local tribes."
BRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!

Next: Age of Conquerors

[vovan]

Interesting.

[Centauri18]

What?

[vovan]

The latest chapter.

I like it, and I found it interesting.

[Centauri18]

Oh. Thanks. I'm sorry. I guess I was just ready to be defensive.

[Easthaven I]

Age of Conquerors...can't wait.

[Centauri18]

Anyone think they could take a crack at some maps? I could use some help, and since this isn't even remotely based on a real game of Civ 3, I don't have screenshots or maps. Anybody have any idea how I could modify a real map or something to put on here between chapters?

[ChrisiusMaximus]

The stories going great

[unscratchedfoot]

Originally posted by Centauri18
What?

This is becoming quite a hooby-doober of a story.