Update 1

 UPDATE ONE: JANUARY 1st 2100-DECEMBER 31st 2102   ''"Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are." ' ''

Bertold Brecht

NORTH AMERICA:

High Priestess Rachel leaves many Cascadian citizens worried when she orders the construction of a massive number of well-funded orphanages throughout the nation, “Does she know something we don’t? Are all the adults going to die?” Sales of “Lord of the Flies” novels increase as children explore the idea of a parentless-society. (+ power, Technocratic Priesthood faction, Cascadia)

A second Cascadian project, this one to link the diverse regions with well-maintained roads suitable for both the rare vehicle and the much more numerous horse or mule carts is better received by the population and provides some additional income from increased trade taxation as municipalities find it easier to trade goods between themselves (+ EP income, + industry spent, + loyalty, western agricultural communities faction, Cascadia)

Across the mountains, Canadian rangers are busy training in the rocky slopes of western Alberta, perhaps preparing themselves for the day when they will need to once again fight amongst the beautiful lands of the Rocky mountains (+ army quality, Canada).

Further inland, the massive plains of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are receiving massive government attention as huge centralized slave-powered farming enclaves are developed. These farms, while promising to feed many, have done little to learn from the errors or our ancestors mono-cropping technology and many are dedicated to one or two major crops, often the exact same species of grain (+ agriculture produced, + energy spent, Canada)

A combination of warming waters and reduced pollution of the St. Laurence has resulted in the return of once greatly diminished fish migrations to this major causeway. (+ agriculture produced, Quebec)

Montpellier begins development of textile plants based on slave labor and some bio-diesel machinery on Lake Chaplain. (+ industry produced, + agriculture, energy spent)

Researchers at the Crosshairs board of education have made significant advances in their understanding of solar energy and believe that with some further investment the may be able to harness the glaring sun of the western prairie (+ research into solar energy technology, Absaroka)

The Crosshairs Corporation also invests in training and equipping new cavalry as their veteran units are sent to round up leaders of peasant enclaves rebellious to the corporate cause, forcing them to attend a tribunal where their grievances are heard. This provides no unexpected results- the people are disenfranchised and receive little compensation for their labor in what they effectively think of as a kleptocracy. The corps counter with increased wages for ‘motivated work’, including reporting the formation of ‘pinko’ labor unions and exceptional productivity (+ loyalty, non-corporate peasantry faction, Absaroka)

California share-holders are eager to develop Frisco as the new jewel of the west and have begun by focusing on the development of new solar farms throughout the outskirts as well as a variety of associated heavy industrial manufacturing centers which though heavy on the energy use, soon begin to spit out finished industrial building equipment as well as more mundane consumer product. There is also talk of developing the harbor and other sectors but these projects await the industrial and energy backbone to make them happen and may be part of a longer 20-year program. Some in Fresno wonder at why so much is being spent outside the capital and if the executives are considering moving their headquarters there. (+ energy, industry produced, + energy, industry spent, California)

The Council of Gabriel is eager to translate its agricultural strength into energy independence and embarks on an ambition program to transform their grain to bio-diesel fuel with numerous new refineries throughout their territories being established by the Stonecutter’s Council. (+ energy produced, + agriculture spent, Heartland Union)

American subsidies to small and medium sized businesses helps develop a number of artisan-based manufacturing sectors with human labor churning out tools, textiles and other common goods (+ agriculture, energy spent, + industry produced, United States of America)

Confederate States of America begin developing large-scale bio-diesel plants to accompany new slave-powered farms to produce the required corn. Military leaders are happy to know their ships and planes will have the power they need. (+agriculture spent, +energy produced).

New ‘second-generation’ solar plants in Azteca bring energy wealth. (+ industry spent, + energy produced)

--- The conflict in Peru has allowed the Confederate States to focus their military in Venezuela without fear of reprisal from the regional power. Fighter reconnaissance locates and relays the location of rebel position before strafing and bombardment help suppress the rebels allowing conventional forces to move in and enslave them. Losses are not insignificant however as the rebels have constructed extensive networks of subterranean bunkers and jungle fortresses complete with anti-aircraft weaponry. Confederate officers ensure losses are primarily amongst slave militia however. (-3 divisions militia, -1 division infantry, - power Venezuelan rebel faction)

 ''But the Colorado rocky mountain high I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullabye Rocky mountain high''

The Colorado “John Denver” movement see it ‘rainin’ fire form the sky’ for real when the Los Zetas military, greatly expanded in recent times, moves, in great numbers, into the Rocky Mountain foothills, flushing out the secessionist or any others who might get caught in their dragnet with artillery and airstrikes before moving in with infantry and cavalry. Unfortunately for the cartel soldiers, the “John Denvers” know the mountains like no other and resist desperately, causing disproportionate losses amongst the Los Zetas military before many are rounded up and enslaved. (-1 division infantry, cavalry, - power “John Denver” movement faction)

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA:

A colder and much wetter then usual 2100-2101 winter in the Cordillera Oriental have returned snow to the bare mountain tops of the northern Andes and brought greatly increase spring run-off to the hydro-electric dams of the Colombian nation and for the first time in many decades, a healthy spring flood along the dried Amazonian river basin (+ EP Colombia, + EP, population, Amazonia)

Peruvian comandantes invest in a series of farming terraces amongst the mists of the high Andean slopes, the irrigation of which feeds through very small scale hydroelectric dams (+ agriculture, energy production, + industry spent, Peru). They wish they had invested in their military.

Azteca technicians come to the aid of Amazonian municipalities, introducing them to the wonders of high-end solar energy as well as their strange pagan faith.

Brazilian military planners, seeking to secure food production for their large army, clear parts of their southern rainforests and establish communal slave farming projects in a style based on the Canadian one. Similarly, keen to ensure a steady supply of spare parts, the planners set up centralized slave-based workshops dependent upon water and wind –mill energy. These projects are limited in scope however, because, much of the Brazilian attention has been focused on developing a modern fighter, the Gritar Chuva (Screaming Rain), to better control the skies (+ agriculture production, + industry produced, + industry spent, new design, Brazil)

From Santa Rosa, the charismatic and fervent Father Luis orders his armed forces into greater readiness. New weapons are produced and distributed, supplies are stockpiled and roads and assembly yards undergo a beehive of repair and maintenance activity. To the consternation of the Brazilians, the roads to the northern borders are cleared and maintained, ensuring that eight soldiers can march abreast should they ever have to. (+ army quality, + power, military officers faction, Pampasna).

Simultaneously, Father Luis orders that not only shall the people’s souls be saved but their bodies and he orders the expansion of the farming communes throughout the nation (+ agriculture produced, Pampasna)

---

In the early hours of June 3rd of 2100, just as a major storm is disappearing eastwards leaving the hills and coast shrouded in dew and mist, Colombian bombers, with fighter escorts fly low over the Andean hills and strike at Peruvian airfields and radar and radio towers in an attack that should have been expected but wasn’t. Despite the limitations of the Colombian radar and the darkness, the attack catches the Peruvians off-guard and leads to the rapid air superiority of the Colombian airforce over northern Peru. Within hours infantry with fighter escorts have crossed into the Peruvian Andes both on the coast and in the inland jungles. While these thrusts are successful and large swathes of the north fall to the Colombians within days, an attempt to send cavalry further south and attack supply and communications systems meets with rear-operating Peruvian air and the Peruvian cavalry itself. The Colombian cavalry are quickly captured. Despite this set-back, the Colombians blitz attacks are largely successful and their army quickly moves south to control many villages and towns (where through superior discipline, they largely prevent massive pillaging and rapine plunder). But as they move further and further into Peruvian territory they encounter stiffer and stiffer resistance and despite their numbers and aerial support, the locals know the land and have excellent terrain to defend from. Soon enough however, Andean and Colombian navy appear, along with fighter and bomber escorts operating from the northern Andes, and begining bombardment of the Peruvian capital directly. A short, but extremely bloody naval engagement, wherein Peruvian forces inflict unexpectedly high losses due to their capacity to support from nearby coasts, sees the dispersal of the Peruvian fleet and the landing of communist forces in Lima proper. Herein, as losses mount quickly in the north for both sides as fighting meant to be decisive and conclusive rages on, fierce street-to-street fighting goes on for almost three weeks, with Peruvian peasantry taking up weapons to fight or fleeing eastwards. Finally naval and aerial support for communist forces win the day in the capital, though Peruvian rebels continue to harass supply lines. With the fall of the Peruvian capital, Peruvian forces in the northern defensive lines begin to drift towards new mountain fortresses amongst the highlands… or home. By August the capital and many major coastal communities belong to the communists but little beyond that changes over the remainder of 2100 and 2101 as Communist forces are unable to effectively locate and hunt down the remainder of the Peruvian forces in the mountain homes while simultaneously fighting a popular resistance keen to prevent a socialist hegemony. To date, Brazil has responded only with the diplomatic threats and aerial fly-overs meant to ensure territorial integrity; perhaps their support for the Peruvian regime is not as great as was thought. (-8 infantry, -2 cavalry, -4 Chávez-class Frigate, -1 Bolivar-class Destroyer, -6 fighter, -2 bomber, -population, Colombia, -2 infantry, -3 Chávez-class Frigate, -1 Bolivar-class Destroyer, -3 fighter, -population, Andes, -7 infantry, -2 cavalry, +15 militia, -4 militia, -5 sail warship, -3 frigate, -5 fighter, -2 bomber, -population, -agriculture, industry, energy produced, -agriculture, industry, energy spent, Peru)

EUROPE:

The Confederate Communalist Union municipalities, balancing a need for energy and the strong anxiety of their population regarding damage to the environment, repair and bring back online several ancient hydropower dams shut down by neglect or by the religious views of the Gaian movement. They complement this with the construction of wind-farms across the mountain ranges of Norway and Scotland. Overall, efforts such as the Loch Lomond fish ladders and other environmental sensitivities prevent major public backlash. Many municipalities couple these investments with limited industry, much of it based on metalwork or chemistry, including fertilizer development (+industry, energy spent, + agricultulre, industry, energy produced, Confederate Communalist Union)

As drought continues across Iberia, Comrade Danilo Consuelo and the Grand Council enact a series of measures meant to alleviate the plight of the farmers and the starving, parched people. Firstly, they subsidize the moving of farmers from drought-stricken areas to areas in the north with more rainfall, greatly increasing the agricultural density of these areas at the expense of more central and southern territories which are increasingly being specialized towards solar energy farming. Secondly, they enact a country-wide centralized composting system to ensure that farmers’ crops are receiving the nutrition they need to be most efficient and lastly they develop construction of new well systems throughout the nation. Together they are having some effect though they are straining the energy production of the Iberian state as energy, food, and fertilizer need to be shipped throughout the nation (often by hungry pack mules, but sometimes by train) (+ agriculture produced, + energy spent, Iberia)

In the south, Muslim and Christian villagers report strange activity amongst the Iberian military, preparations of some sort, but the whole thing is kept very hush-hush.

The energy crisis in Prussia is thrown into high gear when new fertilizer factories are constructed in that nation. The King, eager to feed his people, perhaps does not realize the amount of energy needed to power the factories and produce these fertilizers, then to distribute them, and while food production is up, the airforce and navy are anxiously reporting that should they need to go to war, they might have very limited operating times (+ agriculture produced, + energy spent, -power, King court faction, -loyalty, nobles, serf peasantry factions, Prussia)

A deal between the Prussians and Bavarians to acquire howitizers goes south when neither party can agree on the terms.

Frankish princes purchase howitzer batteries from Bavarian corporate interests and begin cooperative military training, which while not terribly effective in improving their military readiness, does produce some sense of national identity and united culture (+ Frankish princes loyalty, military quality, Frankish Principalities).

Austrian royal planners, eager to establish energy security, begin subsidizing the construction of wind-farms amongst nobles eager to invest in the technology. (+ energy production, Austrian Kingdom)

Bavaria seems keen to follow the lead of the Prussian in developing smaller fertilizer factories but once again, while producing agricultural gains, fertilizer ‘factories’ serve as a epic energy drain. They do, however, temper this with means to prevent rot and waste with new granaries throughout the farming enclaves. (+agriculture produced, + energy spent, Bavaria)

Within the central areas, while technicians are busy repairing aging thorium plants, Bavarians witness the beginning of construction on an ‘academy’ meant to teach mathematics, science, history, arts, and language. Insiders report that at one time the Bavarians had asked the Frankish princes for cooperation in the project and had been scoffed at; at the time the Bavarians had intended to teach etiquette as well and the princes found little use in that. Could this be the beginning of soured relations between the two? (+ industry spent, + energy produced, + power corporate board of directors faction, Bavaria)

The Mediterranean Principalities Confederation comes to the assistance of the Magreb union when they send them several ship’s worth of grain to help them combat local drought and starvation. These are very appreciated by the Magreb citizenry and together with local improvements help make food available for many who would otherwise starve. Already child-hood mortality is dropping as nutrition is improving. The act is not completely selfless as the princes and sultans also receive technical assistance from their Mediterranean neighbor (+ loyalty Sunni Islamic princes faction, - loyalty Catholic princes faction, Mediterranean Principalities Confederation, + loyalty, peasantry faction, Magreb Union)

--- The Princes of the Mediterranean Confederation pool there resources and invest in several new bio-diesel ships, placing them under the command of their Admiral’s council. These, in turn are used, in conjunction with intercepted radio transmissions and fighter aircraft to hunt and capture several pirate ships operating from Murato, Corsica and with, apparently, the full knowledge of the Mefetis. The pope has warned that these ships could not possibly be engaged in piracy and warn the Principalities that their aggression will be repaid both in this world and the next if they fail to make adequate penitence. (+ 1 sail warship, + loyalty, power serf peasantry faction, Mediterranean Principalities Confederation, -1 sail warship, Mefitis)

AFRICA:

The Margreb Union does not wait for rains that seem never to fall as the drought enters its twelfth year. Instead they invest in a series of passive and active-solar energy powered desalinization plants (powered by new solar energy plants which are also used to power local industries) along their coasts and especially around Tripoli to provide city-dwellers and especially farmers with the water they need. Together with the deals made with the Mediterranean Princes, this goes a long way to alleviating the food and water issues of the nation. (+ agriculture, energy produced, + industry spent, Magreb Union).

Believing that internal trade can be stimulated through investment in the ancient highway system, the Magreb internal advisors invest in a series of roads criss-crossing the Sahara and throughout the coasts. Unfortunately, these are expensive to maintain as the fine dust and sand of the drought-striken land quickly cover them again and again. That said, traders are using them and perhaps they can turn a profit despite the cost to maintain (+ EP income, + industry, energy spent, Magreb Union)

The Bantu Ubantu, who, in some parts of the nation have not seen rain in over eight years, invest in passive solar and hydro-powered desalination plants to provide fresh water to coastal farming regions, alleviating much of the food shortages that were so prevalent of late. (+ agriculture produced, + energy spent, +loyalty peasantry faction, Bantu Ubantu)

The army of the new day are somewhat allayed when the councils order the development of synthetic fossil fuels though the more academic wonder where the energy to convert cruder hydrocarbons to the high energy fuel will come from and suggest that perhaps the energy crisis will only worsen as a result. Most ignore these academics. (+ loyalty Army of the New Day faction, Tukufu Tanganyika)

The Makuata, making use of their abundant hydro-electric power, begin construction of a series of small scale manufacturing plants throughout their nation, coupling them with both energy production and resource production areas to minimize transportation costs. Ultimately consumers soon find the price of common goods like woven sacks, clothing, plows, nails and other items dropping. Conversely, many have seen their jobs taken over by centralized factories leaving many without employment. (+ industry produced, + energy spent, Makuata)

In a surprising display of cooperation between the primarily Sunni but officially secular nation of Turkey and the openly Shia theocratic state of Makuata, technicians from both nations have begun cooperating to share state secrets involving fuel cell and thorium power technology (- loyalty, Umma Al-Mu’minin faction, Makuata, - loyalty general peasantry, Turkey, + loyalty Lebanese/Syrian Mixed Sunni/Shiate Peasantry faction, Turkey)

The Khoisan Kingdom, making use of their abundant cropland, and eager to solve some of their energy concerns, begins construction of a series of moderately size bio-diesel fuel plants at major grain exchanges. In doing so, and by subsidizing the costs of the new fuel for serf peasantry, the clearcutting of forests for charcoal has slowed considerably (+ energy produced, + agriculture spent, + loyalty noble, serf factions, Khoisan Kingdom)

ASI A  :

In a move that speaks to the unifying ideology of big-business and ‘fat cats scratching one another’s backs', business officials and technicians from California and Russia have been making frequent visits to one-another’s nations thought what they are involved with remains a mystery to most. Regardless, many Californian executives especially manage to sign beneficial trade agreements though Russia will also no doubt benefit shortly (+ power, loyalty, corporate executives faction, California)

Amidst a flurry of ‘worker’s propaganda’ (“The Board of Directors approves of your sweat and toil for glorious Russia! So get back to work!”), the oligarchs of Russia begin a series of land and population reforms that sees large numbers of, often out of work, peasantry make the move from the urban west to the more undeveloped east where peasants that never really owned land or prospects could own land, grow crops, and truly contribute to the great shareholders. And while much of Siberia in modern times is either too rocky (the soil having been removed by the glaciers as they moved south during the last ice-age), or boggy (these lands are very low and humid now), many new farmers do manage to make a successful go of it, and if not as farmers, then as shepherds. (+agriculture produced, + energy spent, +loyalty peasantry faction, Russia)

The Russians are also involved in renovating and rebuilding much of their road system in the southern reaches of their territory, especially near the borders of the Algerians and Umma Al-Mu’minin. In addition, a number of fortifications have begun to be developed but are yet to be completed (+EP income, + industry spent, Russia)

The Ayatollahs of the Umma Al-Mu’minin are eager to deal with drought in their own way and offer substantial subsidies to farmers and agribusinesses interested in developing farms, orchards and pasturage along the Arabian Peninsula and the Caspian sea. Most of these funds end up going to small scale desalinization businesses who use passive solar or purchase atomic energy to produce viable water from the sea while others end up going to larger companies who build new irrigation ditches and pipelines. Qanats, an ancient technology developed in the Iranian plateau as early as the 1st millennium BC, allowing much more widespread water distribution from limited oasis and ground water see a massive resurgence amongst poorer or more energy-conscious farmers (+ agriculture produced, + industry, energy spent, Umma Al-Mu’minin)

Earthquakes in the Hoisseinabad near Bam have toppled a number of factories and set fire to buildings (- industry produced, - energy spent, - population, Umma Al-Mu’minin)

Perhaps it is fortuitous for the region because what the earthquakes demolish, Tehran rebuilds. Prior even to the disaster, the region was the target of government industry programs and now, those programs turn into rebuilding and redevelopment of pre-existing industries and expansion of new industries in that region, and to a lesser extent, those in Tehran (+ industry produced, + energy spent, Umma Al-Mu’minin)

Aggressive negotiation on the part of the Majles-e Khobregan soon results in the relaxing of trade tariffs with the Makuata and Bangledesh, though both these nations remain eager to protect their native industries, especially Makuata cotton textiles and Bangladeshi jute textiles. (+ loyalty merchant class faction, Umma Al-Mu’minin, + loyalty, power, Umma Al-Mu’minin merchants, Makuata, + power Umma Al-Mu’minin merchants, Bangladesh)

Khalistan officials have invested in reclaiming lands for farmland from those areas least affected by fallout and desertification. Though the process is based purely on human labor and does not net a significant increase, markets are reporting reduced shortages and greater accessibility to common foods including wheat grain and rice. (+ agriculture produced, Khalistan)

Odisha domestic planners put their population to work with new decentralized workshops in many villages and towns, many specializing in brick or ceramic production. The result is a small increase in the availability of these goods and more employment for the people with minimal energy costs due to decentralized and human-labor based manufacturing (+ industry production, + energy spent, Odisha)

Socialist planners in Naxal have expanded their farming territory, reclaiming lands where fallout has begun to fade and though the peasantry working these lands may suspect exposure is high, at least the people are being fed. Farming communes, in turn, are having a greater influence in national identity (+ agriculture produced, + industry spent,+ power communist peasantry faction, Naxal)

The Mongolian Khan orders the development of a new flight academy specializing in developing the best and brightest pilots, ordinance and support crews and navigators. Ultimately they no doubt hope to develop one of the best air-forces in the world (+ air force quality, Mongolia)

Dalai Llama establishes a central cancer hospital, as well as satellite clinics throughout Nepal. Though modern Tibetan medicine is limited, there is many cases where a bit of care can do so much. Many of the Nepalese population suffering from the effects of radiation exposure soon find they have a new lease on life and many are even able to return to the fields. (- radiation effects, + industry, energy spent, + loyalty, power Nepalese faction, Tibet)

The Dalai Llama also makes an unexpected deal with the theocracy of the Umma Al-Mu’minin, sending technicians to the Shia state to assist them in developing Cermets while the ayatollah sends specialist tank drivers and technicians, as well as a battalion of Zulfiqar to assist the Tibetans in patrolling their borders and controlling refugee migration. The Tibetans have politely refused the ayatollah’s offer to send their infantry to assist however. (+1 power military officers faction, Tibet)

Slaves in Bangladesh have risen against their masters, overrunning garrison and seizing weapons, when, as a result of inadequate safety protocols, a series of major mining accidents left many dead. Freed slaves are organizing themselves from the mountain jungles, preying on their former oppressors. (+ slave faction power, - industry, Bangladesh).

Despite these slave revolts, Bangladeshi planners have proceeded with the construction of a series of hydroelectric dams on the Teesta and much-reduced Brahmaputra rivers. These dams, in turn, are used to power the energizing of crude hydrocarbons to complex ‘synthetic fossil fuels’. Additionally, a variety of manufacturing plants dedicated to the construction of military parts are also constructed in association with these dams. The net result is an overall increase in military resources, leaving some Bangladeshi neighbors, as well as the rebel slaves, somewhat anxious (+industry produced, +industry spent, +energy produced, + energy spent, Bangladesh)

 "My eye seeks out repose; my face is the 'oft repeated seven (i.e. the Surat al-Fatiha). My words proclaim 'I am the Truth'; Our ascension is (by means of) the scaffold. We have become aware through the 'firm letters'; We will not abandon essence or attributes. Balim speaks arcanely of God; Our teaching is a mystery."'

Bektashi poet Balım Sultan Continuing their tradition of patronizing the Sufi mysticism and integrating it into every aspect of their strange theo-socialist life, the Huizi sponsor a large number of monasteries, shrines and resting places for use by the dervishes and wandering mystic beggars. As a result the Bekteshi order, once very popular across central Asia, Albania, Turkey and the Balkans moves their headquarters to the Sufi state (+ loyalty Sufi Military Officers, Sufi Mystics factions, +power sufi Mystics, - loyalty Sunni purists, Huizi)

The Sufi socialists do not stop there and also invest in the construction of windmill, human, and draft-animal powered communal workshops for the production of metalworks and textiles in a tradition very similar to artisan workshops of the medieval ages, the only concession to modern technology being their ample use of composite materials in their manufacturing. (+ agriculture spent, +industry produced, Huizi)

Bingzhou military officials undertake organizational and training reforms meant to increase their army’s readiness. Indeed, these are soon put to the test. (+ army quality, Bingzhou)

In Hubei, Blue Suns corporate executives are busy establishing diplomatic overtures and even providing gifts to their fellow Chinese factions finding the Bingzhou and Huizi very unreceptive but receiving more positive responses from the Szechuan, Yānzhào, and Liangshan Yi. Indeed the overtures do not end there for the descendents of the labor forces ‘acquired’ from the failing Chinese penal system, a potent propaganda campaign aims to convince them of their value and place within the company. (+1 loyalty slaves faction, Hubei)

The Korean National Assembly orders investment in their coasts these years, subsidizing fishermen, aquaculture farmers, and merchants. They also shore up their agricultural production by subsidizing the farms of their interior. Throughout the peasantry and merchant classes, the moves are universally well appreciated. (+ agriculture produced, + industry spent, +loyalty, Merchant Freeman faction, Korean Union)

Major storms have struck the coast of the New Qin Empire, bringing not insignificant destruction to their fishing fleet and coastal communities (- population, - agriculture produced, New Qin Empire).

The military leadership of AU6, keen to regain control of both their domestic and foreign markets in the face of aggressive competition from the Umma Al-Mu’minin and Pacific Island Sultanates takes two actions. The first is to develop tidal-harness based water splitting stations throughout the islands and making the hydrogen produced available for cheap to those with the right business licenses. Secondly, they subsidize the development of a wide variety of hydrogen-based industries to produce products cheaper and in greater numbers than hand-made workshops. The idea is that by using the tides’ energies to power these industries, they will remain competitive in the very cut-throat economies of the Indian ocean. (+ industry produced, + energy produced, spent, - power Umma Al-Mu’minin merchants faction, AU6)

Amongst the Pacific Island Sultanates, the princes are pleasantly surprised when Bapak Pramana Santoso, who, true to liberal ideology and the founding model of Indonesia, “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” (old Javanese for “Unity in Diversity’) further devolves power and control over common law, agricultural policy, corporate law, and family law. While this is effectively already true, by formalizing it, he wins over many of the princes who might otherwise had been suspicious of him. Additionally, he orders the construction of a grand palace to house a Princes’ council where the princes can meet regularly and discuss issues of importance to them (+ loyalty, power, princes’ council faction, Pacific Island Sultanantes)

Prince-Elect Santoso is not done there either. He undertakes a thorough investigation of many of the princes’ security forces as well as the national army, and where evidence of treason or corruption is found, arrests and even executions are made. Some amongst the princes complain that the purge is political and that replacements are political allies of the prince- indeed that the whole affair is some sort of politically expedient method to centralize power. Most of the remaining military does not complain however as they are promised, and delivered, a small pay increase. (- EP income, - military quality, + espionage quality, - power princes council faction, new faction: Sultanate military: loyalty 5, power 4, Pacific Island Sultanates)

 ---

The Majles-e Khobregan had hoped that by relocating five divisions of militia from Sunni Arabia to Sunni Central Asia and vice-versa they could cut down on the number of rebels and banditry in each region as the number of armed men in the region would decrease and one would police the other. Well, give a rebellious population the guns they need to enforce their demands and they aren’t very likely to do what you ask them to, as the Ayatollah and the Majles-e Khobregan soon learn. While the Central Asia militia does indeed make the trek to Arabia (for the most part- one whole division does disappear, with its guns, into the Central Asian steppe and hills), the Arabian population soon ‘loses’ their guns before they even make the trip and soon enough the local Arabic rebels are armed with new weapons and even overtaking local garrisons, seizing their weapons and taking control of entire towns. As it stands, a force of tens of thousands of rebel Arabian soldiers, much of it cavalry, are approaching the region of Mecca and Medina, intent on liberating the Kaaba, endangering the hajj for many both within the Umma Al-Mu’minin and abroad. (- 6 militia, -1 infantry, -1 loyalty Supreme leader and Majles-e Khobregan, -1 power central Asian Sunni faction, +1 power Arabian Sunni rebel faction, Umma Al-Mu’minin)

Naraka Kshathriyas, having had enough of bandits preying upon the faithful, set out to put an end to their predation. Using cavalry, they manage to not only locate the bandits’ forward operating bases but also the villages and homes the retreat to when not preying upon the population. In a well-organized sweep taking place over three months of the 2101 summer, the bandits are dispersed and killed, many executed by burning on pyres as a warning to other would-be bandits. (-1 infantry division, + power peasantry faction, -power bandit faction, Naraka).

The Kokumin Yusei Hō (National Eugenic Law of Japan) has never, amongst many sectors of society been very popular, at first being used to enforce the genetic health of the Japanese people but over the years and with the rise of a form of dystopian fascist government, increasingly the purity of the Yamato junketsu (pure bloods). In Hawaii, rebels have long been arming themselves, even acquiring sophisticated weaponry on the black market to harass and harry the Japanese military doctors there. In spring of 2102, the Japanese launch a major counter-offensive and is able to track down, capture, and ‘euthanize’ many of the rebels. Others are forced further into hiding and many ‘mixed bloods’ are taken to special clinics where their sterility is enforced. Pregnant mixed bloods have had their pregnancies, even into their third trimesters, terminated. Of course, this sort of oppression is not without cost and the rebels, using naval mines are able to sink one frigate as it supports coastal infantry operations and destroy at least one division of infantry (- power Hawaiin Konketsu rebel faction, -1 infantry division, -1 frigate)

OCEANIA:

The Australian dominion, facing similar drought as the Magreb Union and Israel takes a similar approach in dealing with the problem, investing in a series of passive solar and atomic energy-based desalinization plants (+ agriculture produced, + energy spent, Australian Dominion)

The Tok Pisin king, keen to prevent the damage of ever-worsening storms and avoid the destruction wrought upon the Qin empire so recently invests in a series of break-waters, levies and reinforced fishing ports. Though as yet untested, the local population is happy to have their protection and the ports have proven useful for the local fishing fleets (+ agriculture production, + loyalty peasantry faction, Tok Pisin)

Zealand Communalist Confederate municipalities have begun implementing hydrogen fuel tanks and hydrogen-based transportation between municipalities (+ energy spent, + industry produced, Zealand Communalist Confederate).

In addition, the Zealanders, eager to avoid another war on their territory, engage in a series of naval and air war-games meant to provide practice and training for their armed forces (+ naval, air quality, Zealand Communalist Confederate)

SPOTLIGHT: CHINA

 ''“If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”'''

Sun Tzu

Perhaps the Hubei thought an invasion of the southern New Qin Empire would be easy; after all, their capital is nearly on the Hubei border and the superior weaponry, and spy network of the Hubei should all add up to an easy victory. A surprise strike could decide the battle, seizing the capital and claim victory all in a matter of weeks. But unfortunately for the Blue Suns Corporation, fate has a way of interfering, and so too do the Jiangnan, Liiangshan Yi, Bingzhou, and indeed even the celestial heavens themselves.

The Hubei sought to strike quickly using their vast network of spies to pinpoint the Qin infantry and air-force and making use of that information, win the ‘race for the capital’. And indeed their spies were successful, though many went missing and the intelligence networks of the Blue Suns corporation where soon made aware of counter-intelligence operations by the Qin specifically designed to intercept the Hubei spies- though how they knew to prepare for this is anyone’s guess. The news the spies brought back was disheartening. The Qin were mobilizing their forces, training and equipping new soldiers, building new fighters, shoring up the Wuling and Luoxiao mountain passes with various fortifications. For the Hubei, it was indeed a race; if they were going to act, they must do so soon. And so they committed their forces, with the first fighter planes crossing the borders on January 14th, 2100. But by then the element of surprise was already lost; the Qin were ready for them.

But the Qin were not ready for the Liangshan Yi, who quite independently and without knowledge of the Blue Sun Corporation’s intentions, had also prepared a surprise strike at the New Qin Empire. General Su of the Yi had also been expanding his forces, in particular his air, which now also included its first division of bombers.

And so while the Qin may have been ready for the Hubei assault, they were not prepared for the Liangshan Yi attacks upon their western flanks. As Blue Suns fighters fought over Changsha and Blue suns electric-powered mobile infantry raced around Dongting Lake, skirting the high fortifications of the Mufu mountains in the east to avoid the entrenched Qin soldiers therein, and crashing into thick fortified trenches, the Liangshan Yi were overrunning the western Nanling mountains.

The blitzkrieg assault by the Blue Suns came to a grinding halt there in that thin strip of plain between the Dongting lake and the Mufu mountains. Within sight of the Qin capital, the electric jeeps and trucks and other fast-moving vehicles of the Blue Suns could move no further; indeed their front ranks were being decimated by machine gun, cannon and even primitive rocket fire. From the east, entrenched mountain fortifications shot down upon the columns with near-impunity. Only the superior training and weaponry of the Blue Suns airforce, who were fighting an enemy with superior logistics (due to distances) and numbers, prevented a complete blow-over. Then the Qin cavalry came racing, moving in a wide arc around the western coast of the Dongting. And so it was that the Blue Suns were forced to withdraw, leaving thousands of their electric vehicles and many more thousands of bullet ridden corpses behind and reform their ranks at the Hubei-Qin border. Here a more protracted form of warfare, with each side digging long trenches soon developed, though the momentum once again began to swing back in favor of the Hubei as the Qin had to withdraw their northern forces to face the southern threat.

At sea, the Liangshan attempted to make good use of the preoccupation of the Qin airforce in the north to use their own airforce, in conjunction with their own more meager navy, to hunt down the Qin navy and establish control of the coasts. But it was not to be. A frigate is not a sail ship and a propeller fighter’s Gatling guns are not a bomber’s heavy bombs and while the Liangshan airforce is well trained and well-equipped, so too is the Qin navy and there is only so much that can be done with fiberglass warships in the face of armored frigates when your airforce has to be recalled to support your army as it moves through the increasing hardened high mountain passes of the enemy’s defensive fortifications. And so the Qin were able to force back the Liangshan navy, sinking many of their sailboats and even downing several fighters, though suffering equitable losses themselves.

In the Nanling mountains, the Qin were not nearly as successful and one after another of their mining villages and manufacturing centers fell to the Liangshan Yi as they brushed aside two entire divisions of infantry with ease, their superior numbers, supporting airforce, the element of surprise and of course the diverting influence of the Blue Sun all making progress relatively simple for them. Indeed by early spring, they have pushed all the way to the Da Yao and Da Ming mountains. Increasingly the Qin are forced to split their forces and now the Hubei begin to make rapid progress as entire infantry divisions and fighter squadrons are peeled from the front lines to go fight in the south-west.

Indeed, it seemed as though the Qin would fall after all. Huge swathes of their western industrial lands were collapsing every day and the northern trench lines were looking increasing fragile. Their airforce were being repeatedly repelled over the northern territories; indeed the Blue Suns bombers, under fighter protection, were periodically able to bomb the Qin lines and even Changsha itself. All that changed during the week of the Chinese Spring festival.

Hubei forces were not rotating back to their families for the festival- the front lines were just too desperate for that but the roads were packed with company executives returning to the villages to visit with their families and villages crisscrossing the often irradiated lands to gather and whisper fearfully of the war and pretend they were celebrating. And so when the Jiangnan fighters and bombers come screaming over the horizon, dropping ordinance on the Blue Suns bio-diesel plants and eastern airstrips, the Hubei response was dulled. The second attack struck at the Hubei bridges over the Yangtze, those that have been rebuilt after the great dam collapse of 2038 anyway. Suddenly the nation, except for some rickety and untrustworthy bridges, was cut in two… and fighting a two-front war.

Immediately Hubei forces are recalled, their electric vehicles screaming back to their homes at the same breakneck speeds they once raced for the Qin capital. Overnight the Qin see the Hubei airforce evaporate as they return to guard their eastern flank and protect their airstrips and fuel supplies.

With Hubei air-forces forced to operate from rear airfields in the face of the surprise Jiangnan attack, the Jiangnan are able to press their advantage in the east by a coordinated assault upon the Hubei navy. Throughout February and March the Jiangnan engage in a number of inconclusive skirmishes before, in early April, they are able to finally engage in a the concerted naval encounter they were seeking. But by then the Hubei were being forced to defend in the north as the Bingzhou invaded. Without committed air support, the Jiangnan navy had the advantage and as the two sides fought amongst the protruding tops of the sunken sky-scrappers of their forefathers, the Jiangnan better trained, better supported, and more numerous navy was able to press the advantage and sink, disperse or capture the majority of the Hubei navy, even sending their frigates up the Yangtze river.

In the north the Bingzhou were making excellent use of their new training techniques and expanded armed forces, rapidly taking much of the northern lands in the face of an opposition that was hard-pressed to fight a two-front war with minimal remaining forces and a rapidly depleting airforce.

Ultimately, over the successive months, the battle was one of slow retreat for the Hubei as they had to repeatedly give up ground to the northern and eastern aggressors, their plans for the Qin completely forgotten, and stock-holders berating company executives, complaining of 60-80% share loses “in this quarter alone.”

In the south, the Qin were not standing up too well to the Langshan Yi as they took control of first the Nanling, then the Da Yao and Da Ming mountains. Here too the war slowly coalesced into one of slow retreat and fortified mountain passes for the Qin, the more numerous and better trained forces of the Langshan Yi continuously pressing the advantage, all the more so when the Great Storms struck the Qin coastline.

As the Bingzhou and Jiangan push upon the Hubei, they are not unaware of the hornet’s nest they have swatted by attacking (or turning traitor to) the Far East Defensive Cooperation Orgainization. As Korean and Yānzhào forces begin to converge on the borders of the Bingzhou and Jiangnan, the military leadership is feeling anxious. Their entry into the war could very much change the balance of power in the conflict. A sort of unofficial cease-fire begins to develop where Jiangnan and Bingzhou forces begin relocating to their western borders or consolidating the gains they have made and the push upon the Hubei center, for now, is forgotten. Everyone awaits, with baited breath, the talks between the executives of the Far East Defensive Cooperation and the belligerent powers of Jiangnan and Bingzhou.

(- industry, agriculture, energy produced, - industry, agriculture, energy spent, - population, -3 infantry (draft and march), -3 infantry (electric vehicles), -1 cavalry, +10 militia, -4 militia, -3 frigate, -1 destroyer, -4 propeller fighter, -2 propeller bomber, Hubei, -population, -2 infantry, -6 sail warship, -1 frigate, -4 propeller fighter, Jiangnan, -population, -4 infantry, -1 cavalry, -8 sail warship, -4 fighters, Liangshan Yi, -popluation, -2 infantry, -2 cavalry, -1 fighter, Bingzhou, - industry, agriculture, - industry, agriculture, energy spent, - population, -8 infantry, +15 militia, -7 militia, -4 sail warship, -2 frigate, -6 fighters, New Qin Empire)