I had to cut out a good chunk of post. It'll be unedited from Febuary 14 2135. Sorry this chapter took so long! Originally I was delayed by an error that forced me to replay and rewrite, then current events made a post themed around subjugating Ukraine feel a little...
off.
With three votes (two for Tereshchenko, one for Spada), our dear lich shall usher in his new dark age. If he dies mid-decade, Spada will take over.
January 13 2130 - Alik Tereshchenko stood grinning amidst the clutter and dust of Outpost Herculina. Having announced his victory, Union electors had voted overwhelmingly in favor of his appointment to Administrator. With his team already on-site on Earth, he would soon give his speech to the Union to reconfirm the priorities of his administration. Knowing full-well that the broadcast would be received and dissected by all nations of Earth, declaration of a full-scale military reshuffle would be poorly received at best, and wildly threatening at worst. At over eighty however he had to act fast to achieve his goal of liberating homeland within his lifetime - it would be necessary to rectify military deficits as soon as possible.
His address would therefore consist of a carrot and a stick. On the one hand, he would take a page out of candidate Spadas' playbook and liberalize independent colonial ventures. Granting this decades-long request would ensure he was not considered particularly totalitarian, while potentially securing the Union a new source of capital and mining goods. On the other, his empowerment of the Union military would ensure terrestrial stability for the Union, despite long-rising global tensions. Commentators across the globe would note that during its' existence the GUN like the defunct EU had never needed a true standing army - Member states under the Union had long held universal articles of defense, and creation of a standing army could only signify intent of military adventurism.
Using the two to offset one another, deposed Ukrainian president-turned-Administrator Alik Tereshchenko hoped his arguments of balance would ensure that the Romania-Ukraine regime would not receive assistance over his tenure. With only a few non-Union states supporting it, direct GUN intervention could come by decades end if only they could prepare properly.
Hundreds of millions of kilometers away, Premier Sergiu Mihalcea saw the threat, and arranged for immediate re-militarization of the state-run economy. The people of Romania-Ukraine had duly rejected the Grand Unions' tyranny, and left through force. The insipid peace corps of the Union had withdrawn decades prior, allowing the people of the combined state to determine their own fate outside extranational jurisdiction. The old puppet Tereshchenko still acted on behalf of globalists and not his homeland, and finally was being used as a pawn to 'liberate' the free states. Premier Mihalcea would not have it, and neither would his people.
Our beloved GUN, a summary;
The treacherous dual-republic of Romania-Ukraine, a summary;
January 17 2132 - Alik Tereshchenko had settled in well to his new life as Administrator. With tensions continuing as a result of his desire to rebel-held regions in Eastern Europe, he considered himself quite lucky to be out of the share market. Every press release he made sent the market to a tumble or frenzy, and every move he made was carefully dissected by a legion of would-be political experts. A thousand people coming up with two thousand motives for his actions was both humorous and wildly irritating. Knowing full-well that this would agitate both the tyrant of his homeland
and the gawking masses, Administrator Tereshchenko released the news that several new ground force infantry prototypes had finished development, and would soon be trained within the facilities that had until recently been training Union peacekeepers.
As expected, the politically-minded went immediately to a state of furor. Unexpectedly, global share markets rose. Apparently, the commercially-minded had adjusted their appetite on conventional and poorly-equipped peacekeepers, and revitalizing the military with 'Union Guards' evidently reduced the risk on market investments. Alik requested market data be sent to him in real time for the next fortnight, in order to gauge the enduring financial reaction. No need to request political updates, as they were far more intrusive and seeped in regardless of how hard he tried to ignore them.
January 18 2132 - Enraged, Premier Mihalcea responded to this new military transgression with releases of his own. The numerous 'Infantrie Brigada' of the Peoples Republic would be bolstered. Doubled, even. Though securing nuclear arms from his nations supporters had proven impossible thus far, requests were made to every supportive non-Union nation for conventional and trans-Newtonian armament. It appeared the imperialistic Union would not allow the people of Eastern Europe any respite. Additionally ordering the establishment of several vehicular divisions to counter the Unions' aggressive weapons development, the Premier would not allow a mote of Union control over his homeland.
October 21 2132 - Amidst fanfare, a representative of the Tereshchenko government attended the Unions' first guard graduation ceremony. Recently refitted, the brigade was smaller than anticipated, containing a modest fifteen hundred dedicated men and women, and their supporting vehicles. By dawn the day after, the grounds would be cleared for the induction of the next cohort, with several armored vehicle companies to follow afterwards. With sanctions mounting on the growing Eastern Bloc powers and with international tensions on the rise after Administrator Tereshchenko's military readjustments, few if any doubted those incoming cadets would not see action.
Thousands of miles away, Administrator Alik attended a ceremony celebrating the opening of the first non-union mining colony. Though he could not see them jostling, a dozen foreign leaders were held at bay by his security as they approached, each attempting to flatter him with flowery words and insubstantial platitudes in hopes of softening him up to granting further solar mineral rights.
Members in attendance noted to themselves the significance of the dual-ceremonies. Here, Tereshchenko himself continued to attempt appeasing Union and Non-Union nations alike with promises of continued peace and cooperation. In parallel however, were several thousand graduating military personnel, each swearing to defend the Union against the very nations that Tereshchenko was attempting to ingratiate. Circling above it all, ships of the UNSC continued monitoring the situation in ever greater numbers. Working only amidst their own naval hierarchy, the aging yet well-armed ships were poised to strike with just a moments notice, should the need ever arise.
November 20 2132 - Roaring to life amidst a spectacle, the twenty brand-new vehicles of the 'Ninth Vehicular Company' began maneuvering before a small crowd of delegates. Though technically the first of its' kind, an old misinformation strategy was employed to infer a larger force number. With four supply-laden helicopters performing deft aerial acrobatics above, the sight was a well-choreographed if poorly-attended spectacle. Showcasing far more advanced equipment than the recent graduate ceremony and with no families present, the ceremony was over in short order before the next cohort of trainees began activity less than twenty-four hours later.
Not fooled by the spectacle, Premier Mihalcea dismissed the events as more sabre-rattling, to boost GUN morale. The troops of his free nation were more numerous than all the Union combined, and were not spread out worldwide on alleged 'Peace-keeping' operations. Against the new Union vehicles would be the well-armored Main-line tanks, produced by the dozen in central Romania. With vehicles more numerous and better armored, the Union wouldn't stand a chance if they tried to bring Romania-Ukraine back in to compliance.
September 03 2133 - After three years of fostering small independent Solar ventures, Administrator Alik virtually officiated the opening of a Canadian-run mining colony. Having dozens of 'control' stations throughout the solar system, the Canadian government had been granted first-of-its-kind mineral rights to Comas Sola. Now the largest non-union colony in the Solar System, the mining facilities on the distant comet would generate almost two-thousand tonnes of valuable material per annum. Using private contractors, the materials would be shipped to Earth at Canadian discretion - the single largest concession yet granted to a single nation. Though hardliners rejected any notion of extra-national or private commercial development, Tereshchenko recognized that seeming pliant and cooperative undermined arguments coming out of the burgeoning Eastern Bloc and freed Union-directed industry to produce and deliver more valuable forms of infrastructure.
October 07 2134 - Quite early on a Thursday morning, Tereshchenko was doing two things. Firstly, he was being read reports of the completion of a massive mining district in New Caledonia, and secondly he was learning of the release of a new cohort of mobile artillery platforms. Several years in the making, he was somewhat elated to hear a recording of their celebratory first firings. Alik was known for his fierce appetite for risk, but he wondered if he would even need to risk utilizing the platforms - the news was that the Bloc was in dire financial straits, and would either become unable to grow their military, or collapse entirely. With a history of unstable Eastern-European coalitions, the feedback was positive for the Union. Signing off on the new postings for the artillery pieces, Tereshchenko reaffirmed five more companies of them and permitted a recently-commissioned research lab to join Doctor Hei's work in power and propulsion.
December 25 2134 - Christmas day 2134 across the world saw two things:
First, the delivery of presents across the globe. Despite the downward trend of most organised religions during the 21st century, Christmas maintained its' longstanding tradition of a unifying period of goodwill. Secondly and in stark defiance of that goodwill, the troops of Romania-Ukraine preempted Union aggression, and began an overwhelming assault to the surprise of pundits and strategists alike. Blocked by heavy snowfall and with the Northern plains bogged by substantial melt and runoff, Ukraine was well-defended from the North, while the West were almost impassable, and bristling with fortified infantry and artillery.
In response to Tereshchenkos' warmongering, and in recognition that the Union appeared to be in some sort of waiting game for the Bloc to crack, Premier Mihalcea had used the security-lax festive period to bring war to Union forces across Eastern Europe.
PRRUMoving to capture agrarian Moldova from the North and East, Ukrainian forces came across little resistance and saw surrender in less than a day. Pictures of the disheveled Moldovan president signing the peace accord in bloodied casual wear would circulate the world by days end, and would generate great unrest despite arguments of the signing being invalid, made under duress. Concurrently, mobile divisions stationed in Southern Romania began a rapid transit over the Danube, taking the only border bridge. With the now-poorly-named Friendship Bridge under Romanian control and with few-if-any passable ways to attack the aggressor states, independent forces began movement towards Bulgaria, and afterwards the crucial waterway bisecting Turkey.
GUN[Edited out some sections like the one here, because writing about towns being levelled and sieged while they're now actually being bombarded and sieged seems shoddy]
At the behest of Admiral Tsukamoto Montaro, the UNSC began requesting targets from the ground-based OTS spotters. The twenty warships of the UNSC struggled to find isolated targets to strike without hitting city centers themselves. With consideration for the citizens beneath, the Union would not burden itself with a twenty-second century repeat of the bombing of Dresden. Determining not to raise dangerous and radioactive dust from their exotic weaponry, they would wait until the situation beneath was either improved or desperate enough to warrant such actions.
This is where I found out the OTS spotters have light personal weapons rather than FFD. I believe this must have happened when I redesigned them in a rush after errors forced a reload. On a quick test, indiscriminate barrages caused a civilian:combatant casualty ratio of about 12000:1, so the now-useless UNSC will be sitting this one out until a small group of newly-designed spotters are recruited.Tereshchenko, formerly convinced of Serbian support, was stunned to discover the borders would be closed to Union personnel. Determining that maintaining neutrality would best protect Serbia, the only relatively-undefended path towards Romania would remain closed to GUN and PRRU both. Beginning a far-harder journey, the recently-stationed Union Guard Brigades began their 1055km transit to the Sofian battleground. There the battle would be quickly joined.
On a near-universal day of rest for billions across the world, boiling tensions had resulted in the deaths of over twenty-five thousand people. Men women and children who had been celebrating the end of an uneventful year at morning were now bloodied or dead at evening, presents unopened and the wrecks of their homes and livelihoods now scarring the unexpected battlefield.
December 26 2034 - [Another cut section. Damn Russians]
With the death toll mounting and the holiday season brought to an horrific end, Tereshchenko signed for immediate refurbishment and expansion of Union ground force training facilities. Though it wouldn't be operational until late 2136, there was not one mote of dissent regarding this priority despite its' immense economic disruption.
In a wide belt from Debresen to Burgas, scenes native to any war began to appear. With roads clogged with newly-created refugees and with the death toll rising by thousands an hour, there were few within the Union that were not either transfixed to hourly news broadcasts, or discussing the worst political and humanitarian crisis in over a century.
December 27 2134 - From his seat of power in Kyiv, Premier Mihalcea viewed the progress of his invasion. In defeating Union forces in Europe, he would be able to secure his nation against the ousted Tereshchenko and his imperialist ilk. Long dreamt by his party, proving secession from the Union was possible by force would strike a hard blow against the GUN - similar to the secession of the United States from Britain several centuries earlier. Like the old British Empire, the lingering implicit threat of violence would ensure that the Union provided its' remaining members with a path to peaceful independence.
If only his countrymen didn't have to shed blood to make them see that.
Shocked by the Boxing Day massacres in Chișinău, Mihalcea ordered a single-days grace for the residents of Moldova. After collecting and disposing of the dead, Premier Mihalcea instructed non-combatants to leave the city, and head through a new humanitarian corridor to Poland. Though the trek to Poland in wintertime would be harsh, it would prevent further 'misunderstandings' with newly-appointed Ukrainian law enforcement.
[Another cut section]
December 28 2134With Union troops in withdrawal from Sofia to nearby Pernik, and with heavy street fighting across the Bulgarian capital, PRRU Mitralors' began moving to position. Similar to the suppression of protestors in Chișinău, violent crackdowns on the civilian population broke most of the unprepared civilian resistance. With fighting at a temporary standstill in Hungary and Bulgaria, Tereschchenko's goal of a direct invasion of Kiev was in peril. Instead of moving South as expected, the vehicular divisions focused instead on encircling Sofia, seeming instead to protect the city from counterattack. With most of the Bulgarian cabinet missing or dead, it appeared that the mostly-Romanian brigades were hunting for leadership to secure a peace treaty.
From behind a wall, Mayór Petar Savu addressed the mounds of sandbags and wire fortifying the Largo, home to the Bulgarian administration. Nestled within its' many layers were the local citizenry - stubborn defenders that were preventing him from securing a Bulgarian peace. Forbidden from razing the complex to the ground and without a Bulgarian translator, his crude gesturing was insufficient to move them. Estimating them to have little in the way of food or supplies, a small-scale siege of the administrative center would suffice. With Savu's own fortifications beginning to take shape surrounding the center square and adjacent streets, if the President or her cabinet had survived thus far, they and their guards would soon be forced out.
December 29 2134Though global-scale conflict had not at this point broken out, targeted terrorist attacks on GUN assets globally had increased in the preceding twenty-four hours. Making global news, an entire shift of several thousand Venderite miners were killed in Brazil when dissenting locals stormed the unguarded civilian complex. Looting what they could, charges were placed to collapse the deep shafts and destroy the complex entirely. The valuable complex was destroyed in less than twenty minutes, by rainforest conservation extremists that had found themselves long-ignored.
In secret, Administrator Tereshchenko had discussed former Administrator Koziol's fate. Though he had disgraced his office, all his actions thus-far had been solely to safeguard against this exact eventuality. Vindicated, Koziol would be pardoned and his house arrest withdrawn. With this news instantly leaking towards Zimmermann and his sympathizers, an inflammatory Lunar request to explain was received and rejected by Tereshchenko. Though discussions regarding the possibility of a Lunar rebellion had begun, there was simply no way for the colony to survive on its' own, and such an event was presently the least of the Administrators' concern.
[I deleted the rest of the post related to the war, because it was mostly focused on levelling Kyiv, Odessa, Mariupol, and settlements downstream of Kyiv all the way to the mouth of the Dneiper, half for story and half to explain the inexplicably high civilian death toll]
Febuary 14 2135 - As agreed, the Christmas-Day war came to end at midnight, Valentines Day 2135. Signing upon the peace two days earlier was the bruised Premier Mihalcea, forced to sign a peace under similar circumstances to the Moldovan president eight weeks earlier. Despite its' estimated 3.6 billion dollar weekly damage bill, the war had calmed in its latest days. Cut off from fuel and ammunition, the stalling of the PRRU's main offensive had proven catastrophic and prevented damage to the extent seen in the first phase of the war.
The Valentines Armistice of 2135 would not see the PRRU rejoin the Grand Union of Nations. Over the course of three months the conjoined territories of Ukraine and Romania would be forcibly separated from one another, democratic governments reinstated, and both nation states would rejoin the Union as member states. Knowing that his homeland was again returned from nationalistic extremists, Tereshchenko determined that he would step down at decades-end to retire in his hometown, Odessa.
With peace signed, it would only be a matter of time before other entities within the GUN and without sought to violently force development of their own interests, and Administrator Tereshchenko endeavored to find likeminded people to address the security deficits that had allowed the PRRU the confidence to openly attack the Union, and initially overwhelm Union defenses.
Records of casualties over almost 8 weeks. Total GUN losses: 20676. Total PRRU losses: 25124. Total civilian losses: 312000.
March 16 2135 - Addressing the Hall of Representatives were three men of great power. Administrator Alik Tereshchenko, Admiral Tsukamoto Montaro, and General Boris Heckel represented the highest ranking members of the administration, navy, and army. The three were to convince the Union at large that the best course would be a substantial expansion of the Unions' army and navy. Former Union leaders had
assumed compliance of extra-national and extraterrestrial governments. Despite Lunar Administrator Zimmermann's protests, so far Union relations had been largely been peaceful. Independent attacks on Union assets in addition to the recent outright European war had shown that compliance had to be
assured - through overwhelming military capability.
Following the full adoption of the Romanian and Ukranian peace treaties and with rebuilding efforts in Eastern Europe fully underway, the Union was losing in excess of a third of a billion dollars a month. It would be necessary to rectify this, and then immediately adopt the first true Union standing army, with additional developments in transporting these troops to the colonies. Increasing military strength and power projection outside the domains of Earth would ensure that the imprisoned war criminal Mihalcea was the last to threaten the goals of humanity and the Union.
November 13 2136 - Attending the graduation ceremony in person, General Heckel watched the newest expansion of the Union military with great interest. The First Union Defence group was comprised of eight demountable surface-to-orbit railgun sites, alongside some eight hundred infantry and two dozen spotters and mobile artillery to protect them. Spreading several dozen of these sites around the globe would ensure no nation would be able to maintain local space superiority in future, as well as enforce Union presence on nearly every corner of the Earth.
With a planned two hundred thousand military personnel being trained by the end of the century, the Union would soon have a standing army comparable in size and greater in strength than even its' largest member states. With few updates to make regarding ship-based troop transportation, this ceremony was the best military update General Heckel would see for a good while yet.
Settled after the initial ceremony and knowing full well that this first group would be one of dozens, Heckel enjoyed his light refreshments - It was quite warm for the season, and the day would be quite long indeed.
March 14 2138 - At his colleagues request, the far-away Admiral Montaro made plans to meet with Administrator Tereshchenko. Updates from the Union research divisions assured Tereshchenko that new micro-reactors would soon be available for the long-awaited 500 tonne escort ships. Delayed for years by environmental activists and nuclear safety concerns, arguments for ship-mountable nuclear reactors on surface-capable ships had finally won, and a prototype was almost ready.
Estimating the final adjustments would be finalized between April and June 2140, the first ships would begin construction within thirty months. Agreeing that the new
'Montaro'-class escort ships would suffice for extra-planetary protection, there would be a decline in production of the the far larger
'Nelson' class, with the signing of production contracts to fall for the first time in history.
Febuary 14 2139 - Four years on from the Valentines Armistice and its' associated treaties, the Premier of Ukraine and the President of Romania gave a dual address to the Hall of Representatives. The post-war period had seen a great economic boon, with the books of the Union balanced to deliver a small monthly surplus, and damage from the Christmas war now considered almost entirely rectified. Scars still existed in riparian zones adjacent to the Dneiper river, but the deepest craters had become welcome wetland habitat, and were considered acceptable reminders of the war. Hearing this speech of peace and reconciliation were non-member states, all believing that these subjugated nations were no longer acting upon their own interest and were opinion-less protectorates, nothing more.
Expansion of the armies had been ongoing, and there were now a half-dozen new military bases; one in each continent and with more being trained. The free nations of Earth were growing stifled while adjacent to what they each believed to be an Empire in all but name. Above it all, the shipyards of the UNSC were churning out warships, while renovation of the sites that used to construct and launch the Lloyd-class geosurvey launch platforms would see them soon launching multitudes of warships allegedly to "Protect Union Shipping". Without access to the materials or sciences the Union had, these conventional nations could do little but watch the disparity between the GUN and themselves grow with increasing contempt.
The Electors of the Union had another year to decide who would steer the Union for the next decade, and there were several candidates considered likely to take the position. After such a dramatic decade, there was no shortage of candidates taking up a multitude of positions and offering to solve a plethora of problems they considered of utmost importance.
Remember you're an elector! The poll should be on top of the page from posting til I start next decade.1. Markus Zimmermann.
The first was as always, Markus Zimmermann. One of the first Union Administrators, Zimmermann had spent decades addressing the need for a Lunar and Martian voting presence within the Hall of Representatives. Alongside campaigns for extraterrestrial rights, he had a longstanding reputation of being a competent if contrarian leader. Attracting the votes of the farthest-left electors, Zimmermann had either continued either drive the Union to be its' best, or sat stubbornly as a thorn in its' side - Depending on who you asked.
The arguments against him ranged from that suffraging less than a hundred thousand colonists would effectively disenfranchise billions of Earth-dwellers by diluting their voting rights - as well as that he was an extremist, a weak-stomached vegetarian and quite possibly a communist, though the latter allegation was yet unproven.
2. Donna Spada.
Appealing to the more moderate-left electors was Donna Spada making her second election appearance. Ever charismatic, Mrs. Spada had endeared herself during the Christmas war by leading relief efforts and charity drives. Passionate and friendly, she advocated for a trend towards keeping military strength and international cooperation high, while setting groundwork for eventual extraterrestrial rights without prematurely granting elector status. Ever known for her cheery and flexible nature, Donna Spada was considered a genuinely cooperative leader, moreso than any of the other candidates.
Detractors considered her to be an inexperienced and ineffective leader - Having not acted as an administrator for Earth or its' growing list of colonies, it would be difficult to gauge her effectiveness on the job. Against this argument was that she mirrored Evie Lloyd in passion and starting experience. With tiredness of the Unions' established path growing, Administrator Spada's open-mindedness would make peace a likely possibility.
3. Topi Manninen.
Having gone viral online for looking perpetually miserable, the Finnish candidate Topi Manninen had secured Nordic support of his current campaign following his tenure at Parliament House in Helsinki. The internet had become enamoured by his gloomy and depressing personality and looks - much like was common for grumpy or sad-looking cats during the 21st century. Though former Minister Manninen had enjoyed his time as a Finnish minister, he had never understood the internets' obsession with him and stereotypical of most Finns largely desired a life of service out of the spotlight.
Campaigning for modest yet effective Union expenditure, most centerists considered Mister Manninen to be an ideal and proven if mundane leader. The internet had already began trending petitions regarding the miser becoming Administrator of Earth, with his endearing similarity to Eeyore continued to bolster his otherwise inexplicable popularity.
4. Christopher Gardiner.
Having moved towards a slight nationalistic tendency over the last decade, Gardiner was the the third of three repeat candidates and the only of the three to have formerly been an Administrator of Earth. Manning the Aten deep space tracking station, Gardiner had watched the war from afar and determined that the best way to continue peace was through increasing Union strength. Unknowingly Gardiner had become an ideological clone of Tereshchenko, and attracted the same voter base that had seen the outgoing Administrator elected in the first place.
Popular during his tenure in the 20's, his existing supporters would vote for him without much argument, while his detractors discussed whether his previous inaction had caused the conditions leading to the Christmas war.
5. Aja Upadhya.
The candidate most appealing to conservative-leaning electors of the Union was Aja Upadhya. Migrating to the US as an adult, Aja was raised in a somewhat strict, traditional Indian household that saw her valuing both traditional ideology and the delicate environment with equal parts. Having been selected as Administrator of the US-lead civilian mining complex on Halley's Comet, Aja loved nature, tradition, and astronomy to the utmost.
Administrator Upadhya resists the notion of foreign influence and would see the Union not only strengthened militarily, but would go so far as to ensure the colonies of Earth remain just that - colonies, nothing more. Non-union mining colonies would be heavily taxed and Union dominion over international affairs would be paramount. Her strong-armed stance made her an extremely attractive candidate to those who felt Union weakness caused the Christmas war, especially amongst the European nations who had lost so much during the PRRU invasion.
And finally, a farewell to the outbound Tereshchenko, the luckiest (evillest?) leader to grace my gameplay - I've never had someone so old and so injured come back so many times from the dead. I'm starting to think all the error-related reloads are due to him and his magic. I'd RP his retirement ceremony, but honestly the lich probably just crumbled to dust.