Unprincipled Principles (Echoes)

This article (Unprincipled Principles (Echoes)), is unfinished in many areas so that anyone can come in and fill the missing information!
Due to the nature of this page, it requires many smaller sections done separately, instead of one arcing vision. Themes, writing styles, and different viewpoints can all be had here. Let your imagination run wild!

Politics are the art of, "Looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." At the same time, it can also mean compromising what you consider essential. Even your own ideals.

## The Carrion Birds

*"Take up the White Man's burden, send forth the best ye breed*
*Go bind your sons to exile, to serve your captives' need;*

*To wait in heavy harness, on fluttered folk and wild—*

*Your new-caught, sullen peoples, half-devil and half-child.*

*Take up the White Man's burden, in patience to abide,*

*To veil the threat of terror and check the show of pride;*

*By open speech and simple, an hundred times made plain*

*To seek another's profit, and work another's gain."*

-  "White Man's Burden", by Rudyard Kipling
The Allied Nations were originally formed by the most powerful nations in Europe, which meant that they all had overseas colonies prior to the start of WWII. Britain, France, Belgium, Portugal, and Holland all had colonies stretching from the jungles of South America to the ports of Southeast Asia. Of course, being a member of the Allied Nations and being a leading exemplar of human rights apparently don't go hand in hand.

### United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was once the largest empire in the world. The sun truly never set, from the British Raj to the Bahamas. Yet to say Britain was a benevolent power is giving it too much credit. England soon became notorious for the efforts it put into crushing potential rebellion, annihilating uprisings in Ireland, India, and in African colonies from the American Revolution to the separation of India in 1947.

Originally, England's process of colonization started with direct rule over the region. Over time, they decided that letting local rulers who were willing to play ball rule in their stead. Supporting these local rulers with weapons, money, and trade, Britain could use these indirect methods to save their military and government from being stretched to breaking point, until the rise of nationalist movements worldwide.

By 1920, England's "loyal" colonies had decided that enough was enough. Losing their young men to the horrors of WWI, the nationalists renewed their campaigns against British colonial rule. Ireland was at war, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was fighting for India's right to self-rule, and Africa was rising. At first, the British were incredibly heavy handed. Civilian massacres were common during the rising of these nations, especially in India. Thankfully for these civilians, the British eventually realized that with the Soviets knocking on the door, they needed as much of their military on call as possible. Putting out colonial brushfire wars wasn't doing them any favors, and by the 1940s it was decided that these nations needed their personal rights given to them. Slowly, England started reforming their empire as, "The Commonwealth of Nations". When India was finally partitioned, the Empire essentially crumbled without the crown jewel to hold it together. Now, England has a rocky relationship with the former colonies. Politically, the leaders of these new nations are in the unenviable position of holding the British-made artificial borders together knowing that these were drawn up to appease the European power holders, not to reflect the realities of the often disparate groups inside these lands. Coupled with the need to appease the new people of these nations with anti-British rhetoric, and suddenly the British were faced with the reality that their former colonies could drift dangerously close to communism.

At present, however, the bigger former colonial players like India and Egypt have decided that forming their own power blocs is more convenient to their needs than falling to communism. The Godly Kingdom of Palestine, a strange little Catholic country, seems to be entirely uninterested in foreign politics and content in engaging in navel gazing policies, leading it to be regarded as the world's most ignored nation. The greater concerns are the rest of the Middle East. Iraq is already a key member of the Communist bloc in the northern Middle East, and even worse, the GLA has overrun the coastal area of Saudi Arabia and continues to push deeper. Which is why the U.K. has decided to throw the majority of their backing behind the Arabian Coalition to prevent these forces from overrunning the most vital part of the Allies' Middle East strategy: securing the oil deposits in the Arabian Peninsula and in the Persian Gulf. But what is of lesser concern for the U.K. are the fates of Guyana and the British Falklands, perhaps better off discussed at a Y File.

### France

France had a much different approach to the British when it came to their empire. Simultaneously they worked through local kings and princes, but were not afraid to utilize direct rule when it was necessary by appointing their own governors and taking on local officials to assist in the efficient rule of the regions they took on. While the British are often seen as the world's greatest empire, the French had many colonies in similar regions of the world, stretching from what was once Indochina to Morocco in North Africa.

Like the British, the French tried dearly to hold their possessions during the rise of nationalism in the 1920s. Unlike the British, the French had the men to spare in their military holdings compared to the British, in North Africa primarily thanks to the aid of the French Foreign Legion. For the French, that was the reality that their colonial holdings had revolutions being led by two primary groups; nationalist movements, and communist insurgents.

The biggest impact is still being felt in Vietnam. Instead of granting clear nationalist rule to the Vietnamese people, the reality of Ho Chi Minh's communist alliance made the French decide that fighting was the most important factor for preserving their power. The fact that France was able to fight these smaller colonial wars simultaneously when holding their borders against the Soviets was held by many as a testament to their military skills, yet the French still steadily lose their own holdings. While able to easily crush communist rebels in Morocco (with the aid of Gen. George S. Patton), the Viet Minh proved more resilient during battles such as Điện Biên Phủ. Their most costly defeat was Algeria, where the French realized that the tactics used against them in Vietnam was now spreading worldwide; this was made frighteningly clear in the Philippeville massacre, where over a hundred French civilians were massacred by nationalist rebels. Unfortunately for the nationalists, this only hardened French resolve against them. Yet as the world slowly turned, the French realized that if they were going to survive the soon to occur Third World War. Knowing that they couldn't afford to hold on to their holdings *and* face Cherdenko's armies, the French withdrew their forces, rationalizing that protecting their homeland was more vital than their colonial holdings.

Currently, France's colonial legacy is even worse than Britain's, and that's saying a *lot*. North Africa has been swept either by nationalistic fervor or the hand of the Syndicate, and Vietnam is proving to be the biggest flashpoint in the war against communism. Syria, like Iraq, is a bedrock of communist movements in the Middle East. The only place France hasn't fully turned ambivalent against the Allied cause is French Guyana; the capital has repeatedly broadcast that they are forever loyal to the Allied cause. And Madagascar, which went utterly silent in the last days of 1968.

### Belgium

Despite being such a small cultural force, Belgium's colonial legacy has become one of the darkest stains on the morality of Western Europe in the 19th and 20th century, a scar in the form on Africa's central nations.

The primary territory of Belgium's small colonial empire was larger than Belgium's total landmass; the Congo. Creating the Congo Free State in 1885, the region was not a national holding. Instead, it was the personal colony of Leopold II. From there began a policy of colonial rule so brutally direct that in an age when other nations were colonizing Africa by simply bulldozing through native populations, much of Europe was in fact appalled by what was happening in the Congo to extract the natural resources inside as half of the native population died brutally. Pressured by the international community, Belgium's leaders soon created the nationalized Belgian Congo in 1908. Despite this, the Congo remained an incredibly segregated state well into the 1950s.

The final straw was when Congolese soldiers mutinied in 1960, creating was was essentially a free-for-all in the mineral-rich center of Africa. Desperate for experienced manpower, all sides found themselves hiring mercenaries. The eventual victors had decided to hire Legion Security. The Belgians, for their part, tried to intervene on behalf of the civilians they found important rather than for the whole of the Congo. The Peacekeepers were soon sent in, but on the orders of Minister Hammersford remained an impartial peacekeeping operation. Desperate, Patrice Lamumba called on the Soviets for assistance. This quickly soured relations between Lamumba's faction and the rest of the world, and he was quickly caught and sentenced to a lengthy cryoprison sentence.

Despite being such a relatively small empire, the Belgian legacy of colonialism has scarred Africa. The actions of the Belgian colonial rulers has left such an impression on the world that even Crystal Mountain Metals has sworn to, and actually held it words on, the avoidance of using the same techniques in their own operations. Despite these progressive moments, the Congo remains a divisive flashpoint in the world. The volatile mixture of Legion Security, foreign mercenaries, nationalist rebels and communist insurgents marks the Congo as a potential second flashpoint in the world should open conflict erupt again.

### United States

*"Mine eyes have seen the orgy of the launching of the Sword;*
*He is searching out the hoardings where the stranger's wealth is stored;*

*He hath loosed his fateful lightnings, and with woe and death has scored;*

*His lust is marching on."*

-"The Battle Hymn of the Republic, Updated" by Mark Twain, as a parody of American imperalism.
Though never claiming itself to be an "empire", the United States' colonial legacy had no less impact on the world than the empires of Great Britain or France.

While the United States never joined the European powers in colonizing Africa, the United States was heavily involved in the Pacific. It was the black ships of Commodore Perry that forced the Japanese to open their trade to the world, as the US Cavalry divisions swept the Great Plains of the tribes already living in the area. It was primarily after the Spanish-American War that the US gained colonies of its own overseas. While able to function without them, these colonies did give the US an economic boost thanks to their trade relationships.

The US preferred a relatively direct rule over its colonies, focused on trying to impart American ideals into the people living there at the time. Unfortunately these ideals took ready root, and eventually the United States found itself acting like the same colonial powers it claimed to oppose on principle. Eventually the Americans decided that their economic foothold in the world was more than enough to live off, and soon granted self-rule to the Philippines, Cuba, and the numerous Pacific Islands it controlled. All of these territories were soon swallowed up by the Empire of the Rising Sun, which soon found that these peoples would be willing to take any means to fight foreign occupiers; a lesson learned from their time as American colonies. Both the Hawaiian and the Aleutian Islands were sold off to the Empire to gain their allegiance in WW2, a decision that many Americans now deeply regret.

At present, America's colonial legacy is being mostly felt by the Empire of the Rising Sun in the Philippines. The Filipino people have become the leading rebels against the Empire, claiming constantly that they are always supported by a covert American operation (Which the Americans, of course, constantly deny). Cuba, however, has become a willing partner of the United States in the Caribbean post-Castro. Despite this, America's real power is in its ability to crush (almost) any opposing country economically; even in the middle of civil war, Wall St. can annihilate a country's credit rating in seconds. This makes many see the US as a new breed of colonial ruler; the ruler of the purse strings.

### Spain

Spanish colonialism has, in great part, resulted in the near-total annihilation of native peoples and the demise of several empires. Nowadays, though, the scars they've inflicted have healed, due to the successes of nationalist movements against them during the past two centuries. It's also because Spain is in the process of lacerating new ones, with the physician obliging to look the other way.

Following three decades of decline Spain has faced, its disastrous loss in the Battle of Annual was one of the many factors in Don Miguel Primo de Rivera's ouster of King Alfonso XIII in 1923. Stability was somewhat reached until Spain's (and later, the world's) economic crises to his resignation six years later and death in March 1930. As soon as democracy was reinstated, both communist and reactionary ideas started to take hold in many sectors of Spanish society - something that would lead to Gen. José Sanjurjo's *pronunciamiento* against the Second Spanish Republic, kick-starting a civil war.

In 1936, left-wing revolutionaries clashed with the right-wing coalition in many parts of Spain, polarizing communities against each other in the ideological battlefield. Atrocities spearheaded by both sides occurred, with the Republicans' killings of the faithful (exemplified by a firing squad 'executing' the Sacred Heart of Jesus), and the equally-brutal purges of loyalists and Popular Front adherents the Nationalists were in charge of. Even as multiple International Brigades fought alongside the Republic, the nationalists, now commanded by Gen. Francisco Franco, became victorious after the flattening of Revolutionary Catalonia.

Immediately after taking power, Generalissimo Franco ordered the eradication of any trace of 'leftism' from Spain. Perhaps spawned from the culture of violence the previous war gave birth to, the idea of *limpieza* (cleansing) became Nationalist Spain's by-word for the White Terror, where Republicans and their supporters were exiled and massacred by tens of thousands. Francoist repression went unabated even during the beginnings of WWII, where his extremely anti-communist views made him a valuable ally against the Soviets.

WWII ended, but not the purging of 'subversives'. Hiring the help of PR firms from Allied countries, Spain's official stance was that it was "taking its first steps into a constitutional monarchy based on the principles drafted by the Allied Nations". This was *far* from the truth, as Franco went further into suppressing opponents across the political spectrum, especially trade unions and separatist movements. Geneva's silence on the matter was an indication of its tacit approval of the regime, going so far as to extol Spain's devotion on the fight against communism while bodies kept piling up in mass graves, all concealed by ACIN operatives. Human rights watchdogs were either bribed or threatened to silence their lips on the entire ordeal, stating that they would easily be marked as those in the payroll of the KGB. Complicating further was Franco's devout Catholicism, with mostly liberation theologians speaking out compared to the conservatives approving of his accordance to the faith.

However, anti-Franco groups blossomed during WWIII, which had the most growth during the Soviet occupation of Barcelona, where revitalized resistance members jubilantly greeted Cherdenko's troops as they drove Franco to England. When he came back post-war, he engaged in yet another White Terror, complete with Allied support as gratitude for their victory. Thousands more 'traitors' and 'fifth-columnists' were lined up against walls by *grises* (grey cops) and shot, and other mass killings written off as counter-partisan measures. Only then were knowledge of these spread like wildfire when a Nemo squad hacked a news channel, millions of TV sets showing thousands tortured and slaughtered in Valencia alone. With Franco's victims estimated to be in the millions, many anti-Allied forces in the world view Geneva as the ultimate instigator of 'atrocities', stating that, "once they've had their way, we would have our own Francos installed by them". In a classified report by an agent from what was once Wuhan, the Atomic Chinese's opinion was, to quote, "yet another of the West's many depravities, parading 'the people's will' by slaughtering their own people and declaring the butchery as for their own good". The 'Franco Question' is a hotly-debated topic even among members of the Allied parliament; while both sides differ in whether Franco was justified in all this, they all agree that his contributions to the war effort are far too numerous to warrant an impeachment. Therefore, the unanimous decision is to let nature take care of Franco, with his successor to be debated once he croaks. The anti-Franco groups, nonetheless, refuse to rest until the general's head is severed from his body, as violent skirmishes with *grises* mostly by the ETA and the PSAN's military wing ignite the embers to another civil war in the near future.

## Hammer and Sickle, Food Lines and State Control

*"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."*

- C. S. Lewis
"All animals are equal. But some are more equal than others". Clearly George Orwell was some kind of prophet, because he was able to unerringly see the Soviets as they became post-Lenin. For a nation that claims to be the champion of the people, a lot of time and effort is spent making sure the people follow the State. Or else.

### Omnipresent Surveillance

They lay still at almost every nook and cranny of your town, observing the gestures you make and the words you say. Located everywhere from the nearby alley to the local factory and even your own bathroom, these hidden video cameras silently police your every actions for possible dissent against the way of the Party. And all of this can be explained by the fact that the current Premier Davidova wants to unite the Soviet peoples into one nation. A nation under closed-circuit television.

But this fad was not without justifications, though. Even before she took office, Davidova faced by far the *biggest* opposition of any Soviet leader in the history if the Union. Cherdenko loyalists within the Politburo and the Red Army regularly forge plans behind her back, and angered workers frequently go strike more now than ever before. Eastern European resistance movements strike harder to gain their desired liberty by any cost, and ACIN plants on Radio Free Europe have been agitating other Soviet-occupied countries to do the same thing. While there aren't any united opposition against her yet, even the most innocuous of civilians are starting to take part in backroom meetings about how they can depose the current Premier.

These prospects are starting to frighten Davidova. Yes, her enemies in high places can easily be removed from power, but not when they are slowly winning the hearts and minds of common men. Especially when those same common men are actively (and secretly) taking part in conspiracies directed against her, and at a time when the Soviet Union is still barely reeling itself after the Third World War. Indeed, in order to suppress any type of rebellion directly at their roots before they grow too tall and chaotic, Davidova took steps in policing her population directly - in terms of universal surveillance.

At first - cameras were installed at public places suck as street corners, alleyways, and public buildings under the logic that "if those people have nothing to hide, then they have nothing to worry about." Those cameras have video screens that project what is happening to the nearest KGB field post, and built-in speakers that blare out propaganda in hopes of instilling patriotism to the Kremlin as well. Fortunately, the Soviet people were less than impressed, with most just simply moving furniture or decor to block out those screens (and the annoying, droning sound on how Soviet firepower is 'real'). Those in public were treated far worse, as evidence by a notable case of a small child intentionally showing off his buttocks in front of the camera as a sign of defiance.

The justification is pretty simple, they do not care. From the Tsar's secret police

## The Sun Always Rises, and Always Burns

The code of Bushido: An ancient tenet of war passed down through the centuries. And about as fact-based as the code of chivalry was in Europe. Truth be told the Empire of the Rising Sun is no better than the powers it claims to be better than. If anything, they have those cultures beat by the length of a katana.

### Corporate Culture

Syndicate executives cringe at the thought that almost every technology that the company has done, Japan has done it first with it being better than the Syndicate's. There's some truth in that statement; when the Syndicate has finally took control of the market for integrated circuits, the Empire has already started to develop even more advanced electronics. When Syndicate-aligned corporations have started to beat up each other with contracted thugs, feuding Japanese families and corporations in each other's throats were already wrapped up in their squabbles even before the Syndicate was even formed. **WIP**

### An Eight, a Nine, and a Three

For all of Emperor Yoshiro's talk about honor, tradition and wisdom, he certainly is willing to go under the belt for Japan's interests. Even if these includes giving the local criminals some power over the country. **WIP**

### The Imperial Colonization Corps

Some men wear the uniform of a military unit, but pursue duties so heinous a Cosa Nostra cleaner would be sickened. Of all the units that are guilty of such crimes, one stands above the rest in the worst possible way. They are the member of the Imperial Japanese Army Special Engineering Corps. Worldwide, the Imperial Colonization Corps.

When the ICC was first reorganized, it was suggested to Emperor Yoshiro that to fill the ranks, he would offer second-class (mixed race) families a chance to earn full government rights; send at least one able-bodied man to join this upcoming special military unit. Eventually, this eventually expanded to single people looking for work, leading to a massive turnout that delighted even the Emperor. Officially, the Imperial Colonization Corps would act as a rear line support unit, typically responsible for "land reclamation" and "relocation services". When one looks deeper into their form operations, however, they would squirm at what they have just witnessed.

The first reports sadly went unheeded. Stories started to drift from the Philippines of entire villages razed and the residents forced into slavery, or worse. But the world kept turning, and through World War II there were apparently bigger issues to worry about. This only gave the ICC time to "refine" their horrifying techniques, from the simply barbaric (murdering half of a village population, targeting only a specific gender or extended family) to the horrifying (the kidnapping of young women for unknown purposes).

By World War III, the ICC had honed their sickening art to the level of mastery. When they finally arrived in Siberia the true horrors of the Imperial Army were revealed as "Yoshiro's Butchers" essentially destroyed every village they came across. At first, it was claimed that it was for military reasons. The Corps was shown in propaganda footage turning neighborhoods into military camps and facilities, destroying entire city blocks for better positions. While terrible, many nations could understand the reasoning that it was a necessity to to reinforce the Japanese positions. Only midway through the war did Soviet partisans behind the lines reveal the truth; the positions were just a show. Proper analysis revealed that the ICC's actions were never military in nature at all. As the Soviets started to push back they found dozens of mass graves across their advance, filled with young and old alike. Mothers were found clutching their children to their chests, shot with the same round. While many in the Allied Nations secretly felt this was fitting punishment for Stalin's own sins (only for these sentiments to die when the policies were enacted in Allied territory), the Union was outraged beyond simple words. Post-War, they revealed the true horrors of the ICC to the world. And the world took notice. And that was when the most painful blow hit home. The Japanese people never even knew the Colonization Corps existed. They were told that the civilians of the regions they invaded had stood, fought, and died to the last. When the truth (and executions of convicted personnel) was finally broadcast for all to finally see, many Allied personnel in Japan noticed that some openly wept in the streets not for the victims, but for their tarnished "honor" as a nation.

While the Empire publicly claims that is has handed over as many members of the ICC that it could find that survived the war, rumors persist that others still roam the planet. INTERPOL, the KGB, ACIN, CBURA and others all consider escaped ICC members to be high-value individuals, to be turned over to The Hague and tried for war crimes. SPIDER reportedly also has a noted interest in such men, but no one can fathom why such a group would be concerned with hunting down such men. Others more accurately state that no one wants to fathom it.

## Houses Divided

*"Come gather 'round people*

*Wherever you roam*

*And admit that the waters*

*Around you have grown*

*And accept it that soon*

*You'll be drenched to the bone.*

*If your time to you*

*Is worth savin'*

*Then you better start swimmin'*

*Or you'll sink like a stone*

*For the times they are a-changin'."*

- "The Times They are a-Changin'" by Bob Dylan, commonly played by Continental sympathizers.
The United States is more than a nation at civil war. It is a nation trying to find itself after losing what many consider its innocence. It is simultaneously the youngest nation on Earth, and the longest-lived government in history. Yet with so many people talking about the "American Dream", some are wondering whether it's becoming a nightmare.

### The Federalist Party, the Continental Army, and the Freedom Guard

The leading triumvirate of the Confederacy, the Federalist Party in Dallas claim that they guide the movement on a political level. The Continental Army claims that it has held the Allies in the Midwest, West Coast, and the Texas-Mexico Border. The Freedom Guard are the last free Europeans come to aid the Continentals in the hour of greatest need. Yeah right.

The Federalists are actually a shell of the political party they once were. Ackerman's increasing instability late in his presidency drove many supporters away, sapping vital manpower and capital, political and monetary. Post-Rushmore was considered a disaster, the people shocked that the government had, in secret, built such a dangerous weapon and then tried to use it on civilians instead of strictly military targets. Despite public support later building thanks to the Allies' heavy handedness, Hoffhassle and other leading Federalists are now trying to shore up their flagging public image. Being able to afford living space in Dallas while cities like Boise struggle to even keep up basic water pipes, the "Dallas Dealers" are starting to become an albatross around the party's neck that it can't live without. These are the men who keep the channels of communication open to willing parties in Ireland, South America, even Australia. They know the corporate suits that allow the Continentals to actually collect real taxes instead of just being glorified highwaymen. Unfortunately for them, this has also created rifts in Continental civilian supporters who somehow believed that the changes would mean a tax break forever.

The Continental Army has similar problems. Made up of actual soldiers and veterans, the Army and Gen. Carville are playing hell with the various militia groups operating across the country. Beholden to no command structure, these militia claim to act in the stead of the Army. So when an Allied-affiliated hospital is firebombed, or a cell in New York decides to kill a few peacekeepers on leave, these actions immediately reflect back on the Continental Army. Indeed, a good portion of the Army of the San Joaquin Valley has been forced to fight the Allies *and* pro-Allied militias in Washington state and a good portion of the West Coast. Meanwhile the Army of the Rio Grande has to constantly play border patrol against their own people, to keep the militia from launching an assault against Technate Mexico. The Army of the Sawtooth Range is the most troubled, staring down the barrel of everything from Allied assaults from Canada and the East Coast to rogue militia egging on their enemies to stray Chinese OCVs crashing into a poor farmer's field. Casualties are mounting for the Continental Army, but training takes time and effort. Time and effort many young men feel can instead be used fighting in the militia in under an hour.

The Freedom Guard are currently the Continental's most divided faction, which should tell anyone more than enough about the Confederacy's situation. The most obvious problem has been the coastal separation of the Republican and Unionist members from Ireland. Col. Krause has literally had to put an entire continent between the two groups, who so far have not come together like the Phoenix Front. If anything, both groups plan to use the experience in the United States for when they return to Ireland at long last. Meanwhile, the Greek, Italian, and African fighters are constantly trying to destroy Las Vegas and Silicon Valley out of blind anger against the slavers of their countries. Eastern European forces argue that the Continentals aren't doing enough against communists in their own country, and have so far racked up an impressive string of on-campus brawls in Continental territory. Krause and his staff are stretched to the breaking point, unable to focus this anger effectively enough for any time longer than a single battle before the individual groups within start beating their drums for their own causes.

### The New South Party, The Environmental Liberation Party, Gold Panthers

Made up of money men, tree hugging kids, and men who seek equality, the New South Party, Environmental Liberation Party, and Gold Panthers stray from the middle path followed by the first three factions.

The New South Party are what could charitably be called the remains of the Democratic Party resurrected when the Allies took Hoffhassle prisoner. Of course George Wallace and his supporters would have everyone be reminded that the Democrats essentially folded in on themselves and reformed as the Union Party. Despite these claims, the New South carries a lot of old baggage. It can never be forgotten that, when much of America had in effect abolished slavery, the South clung to its "peculiar institution". More contemporary commenters point out that the South's state governors were often heavily opposed to the civil rights marchers and organizers before the Allies started heavily pointing out that equality was the rule, not the exception to their member states. Wallace would like to push that aside however. Their mission is to rally the South against the Allies and provide manpower and money. Of course money is no problem to the New South Party. Manpower is a different story. While there are many militias, plans to create the Army of the Ozark Plateau are continually stymied by a lack of manpower. Yet dark rumors have started to swirl that the New South Party would use this force as their own personal military, following Continental policy only until they see the time to seize power. Whether these rumors are false or not, Gen. Carville has seemed incredibly reluctant to form this new army, despite the operation advantage of having a force threatening Washington, DC from another front.

The Environmental Liberation Party considers itself more concerned with nature than man, but to an almost frightening degree. During the Battle of the Holter Dam, members of the party involved in the fighting would literally wait until Allied Riptides had come onto the opposite bank before firing to, "Ensure the lake would not be polluted". They then fired on the dam itself, claiming that this was what the natural ecosystem was supposed to be like. This ignores the delicate balance post-dam that now had to readjust to a falling water level behind the dam and a rising one after it. The Battle of Holter Dam is only one example as well, there are numerous small incidents of Environmental Party members holding Continental soldiers at gunpoint for everything from littering to cutting down trees to use as camp firewood. The Sierra Nevada has essentially become their personal playground, with unofficial laws on everything from car exhaust to power generation; cars should not produce exhaust, and neither should any potential power. While this should have created a thriving horse trade, the party also considers protecting animals their personal priority. Again, at the Battle of Holter Dam Allied attack dogs mauled several Continentals due to the Party's policy on never harming a single animal. This does not apply to humans, interestingly, many farmers having been severely beaten and losing their stock from the Party's vigilante "liberation".

The Gold Panthers can be said to directly oppose the New South Party on principle; they believe that the principle of the New South Party is to essentially turn back the civil right's clock to the point where they have none. Of all the Continental factions, the Gold Panthers also believe that perhaps the Allies are not the greatest evil in the world. Often they've actually stepped in to note that Continental leadership has not tried to ensure the rights of all within the movement whether by law or example. The New South Party has so far tried to paint the Gold Panthers are soft-willed cowards trying to weasel out of the Confederacy because there's fighting involved. The Panther's policy of non-violence hasn't helped this image. Yet when the rare Gold Panther does decide to fight, they're considered a violent fringe movement by the New South Party biding their time until Malcolm Little can try to seize control over America. Such dispersions are not building any bridges between the Panthers and the rest of the Confederacy, with many in Dallas fearfully commenting that losing their support would strip the Confederacy of vital urban manpower.

### The Objectivist Coalition, the Dominionist Movement, and the Industrial Party

All for Me, All for God, and All for All, it's not uncommon for these factions to cross swords with each other as the enemy.

The Objectivists, "Randroids" hanging on every word of Ayn Rand, have become the most hated ally of the Confederacy. Of all the factions involved in the movement, the Objectivists have become the source of everything from advanced optics to boxes on boxes of ammunition. They're the connection to the criminal underworld that the Continentals don't realize they need more than anything, and the smuggling experts that allow the Continentals to link to the wider world market. Naval raiding can only bring so much to Galveston, and the Continentals need more than scrap or the odd seized Allied freighter. Which is why the Federalists must turn a blind eye to incidents involving Objectivists taking illegal drugs into Continental camps. Why militia find themselves bound when a Randroid decides to strip a dead peacekeeper of everything, down to the wedding ring and family pocketwatch. Most of the Continentals find that their constant "preaching" about how America hasn't gone far enough in its freedoms, that it's a socialist nation parading around as a free market to be highly annoying. They point to natural monopolies nationwide, in every industry from telecommunications to insurance to the rail network, and state that in any "true" free market, there would be dozens of national competitors in every market. That the American people are so concerned with morality, that they arrest innocent people who just want to make money any way they can. Whether using drugs, or themselves, the Randroids claim that this is all an act to try and play at being "better" than how many Americans truly want to live, and that they should just do it already. Which is why many Continentals have to nod and go along as the Randroids unload the starlight scopes from the back of the truck.

The Dominionists are the polar opposite of the Objectivists in terms of what they want. With the mouthpiece of Samuel Morrow, they preach that America has lost its morality due to usury and godlessness, and needs to rebuild it before it can retake its rightful place as "the shining city on the hill". The Movement's goal is to eradicate everything from poverty to disease to crime. and in order to do so, people must return to God. "Morality and personal health are interlinked", says Ronald Reagan. This means that sins must be punished. Any sin. The Dominionists have held public rallies decrying the Continentals' acceptance of the Objectivists, of their willingness to not take greater steps at enforcing morality among the people under Continental control. They claim that the Continentals are too willing to leave crimes like racism, sexism, and unwanted violence unpunished. More radically, they claim that capitalism is itself a sin, and that any economic system that is not remotely socialist must be abolished for furthering man's temptation to greed. Like the Objectivists, the Confederacy must tolerate them for their willingness to act as a fighting force on the lines and in the militia, and their leaders' ability to sway many civilians to their side. They ignore the strange faith tent revivals where people are miraculously healed for exorbitant donations (and convinced to shun unbelieving loved ones afterward). In Utah, they have to hold their tongues and keep their fingers off their triggers as they watch teen girls married off to men three times their age. Continentals of various faiths and opinions need to often remove themselves from rooms where Dominionists speak that only Morrow, the "ultimate egalitarian", and how his communal sanctuary will be America's only safe haven when WWIV inevitably brings about the Apocalypse, which is why the rest of "imperialist influence" must be eradicated. Such would be life under their United States.

The Industrial Party is seen as a possible fifth column in the Confederacy. Of all the Continentals, the workers are the most left-leaning members of the movement. To them, America run by the Federalist Party, or anyone else for that matter, is an America that would see the worker subjugated under an iron gauntlet. They have started strikes at Allied-contracted factories nationwide, and are constant agitators with workers in the Ford plants in Michigan. They are slowly, surely moving into the sprawls to try and organize labor inside, sparking conflict with the Objectivists over who deserves what rights. This has made them a target of the fringer Dominionists and the aforementioned Objectivists for the same reasons; the workers will be just be shackled to their worldly routine of work and more work, and they already have rights, but they wouldn't know what to do with them. Better to have someone on high make the decisions than blow out the fuses of a lower-waged prole. Yet when the Industrialists are seen speaking with strange men with funny accents, or spreading out flyers about "union meetings", they deflect accusations with the claim that they're only trying to advance the worker's cause with syndicalism, not communism. Still, with each strike and damaged production schedule, the Allies seem to fall further behind on their tank and ship production. Drops the Soviets have surely noticed.

### Sons of Liberty, National Rifle Association, Free Transport Party, Cell 60

The scattered leavings of a civil war that's become frighteningly uncivil, the remaining "factions" of the Confederacy can at best be described as useful.

The Sons of Liberty claim that they've taken up the same mantle as great patriots like John and Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, etc, and in a sense they're not off the mark. Like the original Sons of Liberty they've decided to take on one of the most powerful military forces on the planet with disorganized militia who try to make themselves bigger than what they are. Unlike the original Sons of Liberty, this new breed profess no loyalty to the idea of the Allied Nations as a whole. They believe that America should be first and foremost concerned about herself and herself alone. Operating primarily as militia in the middle class neighborhoods of New England and Mid-Atlantic, the Sons believe that they can rally the people against both the Allies and Unionists in order to secure Continental support. This can put them at odds with more violent militia groups, since the Sons believe in political and social action against the Allies before resorting to violence. They believe that tax protests and boycotts can force the Allies to listen, or at least get the Unionists to back off. More militant militia believe they're just putting on the act of being Continental supporters, playing their best hand so that, in any victory for whatever side, they can easily slip back into their comfortable middle class lives.

Members of the National Rifle Association make up another third of the middle class members of the militia, who at least have a healthy knowledge of firearms and their dangers. In fact, they've been campaigning for some time to get reasonable legislation on firearm restrictions for a while now. This has been upended by the Unionists, who have been encouraging, nay going out of their way to have anyone in their areas of control buying as many personal weapons as the gun shops can provide. While the Continental militia are just as keen to get their hands on weapons, the NRA are apprehensive. Unlike the Continental Army, militia members come from any background and can have little to no experience with firearms. It's gotten to the point where the NRA have been forced to distribute underground leaflets on the three most basic tenets of gun safety; Treat all guns as if they're loaded, keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to fire, and never point it any anything you can't stand losing. Yet with the Unionists making major inroads against the Continentals, the Continentals are leaning heavily on the NRA to start being more relaxed with their improvised training.

The Free Transport Party are little more than a loose collection of car-obsessed men and women who think they're contributing to the war effort by acting as messengers and transporters for the Confederacy. This means the Continentals are ignoring the sheer uselessness of the Free Transport Party. The membership of the party only cares for their own needs, trying to desperately hold onto the cars they love in direct opposition to the smaller, more fuel-efficient models coming out worldwide. The Continentals actually don't need military vehicles too badly since the Boneyard and shipyard raids, yet the Free Transport Party has essentially shoved themselves into the revolution under the illusion that they can do something more.

Cell 60 are in a way the most valuable part of the Confederacy, and the most pathetic. They're pathetic in that they think they can dictate Continental policy simply by taking part in combat. They claim they're fighting for female equality when they go out of their way to claim everything, from marriage to miniskirts are a tool used by the "patriarchy" to oppress womenkind. Extreme members claim that men should be used only for breeding and little else. They shout down their opponents whenever they're criticized, or claim that they shouldn't be criticized because, "They're women." So how can they be valuable? They're the only ones willing to call out the Randroids for allowing prostitution of "less than willing" women. They decry the Dominionists for how strange their morality is when compared to the rest of the American public. They cast dispersions on every single solitary part of the Confederacy. Meaning that they're the only members of the Confederacy watching and waiting to launch against their new "enemies".

## Semper Eradere

*"Don't fool yourself into thinking corporations aren't above doing dirty deals, they all are. FutureTech is only the very tip of what some companies are capable of with the incidents with Thornley. Ambrosia bottling plants have coincided with a drop in the quality of local groundwater. Donaldo's pizza has been consistently been linked to the decline in local food businesses, and also with a possible link to unsanitary food preparation conditions in order to cut costs for more profit. I can't even begin to inform you on the horror stories I've heard from the ocean sprawls or Greece. Whatever these corporations, it all ties back to Romulus. And what's a more illegal operation than the criminal empire?"*

- Prof. Franklin Meyers, Harvard economist.
It's been said that money makes the world go round. The Mediterranean Syndicate, however, wants to give this idiom an entirely new meaning. Money can now hold up the sky, change the seasons, do your laundry, flout international laws and lead astray the hearts and souls of men to make them yearn for more. And of course, all of these beg the question: how far will man go just to earn money?

### Wars for Fun and Profit (Mostly Profit)

"*You that never done nuthin'*

*But build to destroy*

*You play with my world*

*Like it's your little toy'*
*You put a gun in my hand*

*And you hide from my eyes*

*And you turn and run farther*

*When the fast bullets fly"*

- "Masters of War" by Bob Dylan.

## The Golden Rule: Just Gold-Plated

*"Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet. Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."*

- Napoleon Bonaparte, reportedly after the destruction of the Talon headquarters in Spain

## Tecnocracia es Todo, Todo es Tecnocracia

*"The things they do for **love**"*

- An anti-Combine tract sharing the atrocities its writers have witnessed.
How far would you go to ensure the disappearance of hunger? Of poverty? Of war? Of ignorance? Of fear? The Technocracy would go far to end these things, one way or another. They would go the distance, ascend the heavens, drain the seas, and crack open existence to prove their love for humanity and its children.

But love, as they say, can make one do stupid things. VERY stupid things.

### Lament of the Enlightened

The Combine claim to be the greatest supporters of independent invention like the world had never seen. They throw thousands of dollars at every new inventor that comes their way that claims they can give the world the next great lifesaver for mankind. They say their genetically engineered crops will feed the world for centuries. Their automata will render menial and life-numbing labor a thing of the past. They can open entire worlds to mankind with only a few computer calculations, and the depths of the sea are nothing to their all-seeing eyes.

But invention doesn't translate to success. Every day, across every country flying the banner of the Technocracy, thousands of would be inventors slave in their private workshops to try and create the next world-saving creation. Of course the first step is to have a good idea. That's followed by months, years of rigorous testing to ensure you can personally replicate your successful results. Often this requires extensive modifications to whatever the original idea might have been. Then, when the inventor is confident that they might have something ready to present to the Combine as a whole, they must actually get funding to bring their creation to a presentable stage on a local level, then national, then international. You can count these successful inventors without moving to your toes depending on how charitable you're feeling. If you want to be exceptionally kind, you can count all the people who *haven't* died when their creation lit up their house in a fireball or ran them down in a field.

This ignores the Combine's tendency to try and make the world of discovery romantically daring and wrought with sensual new experiences brought on by foreign customs. Every day young men and women try to take up the Combine's call to continue pushing on, to keep discovering those last few frontiers. Lost cities waiting to be revealed again to the light of day, or isolated Amazonian tribes holding on to their untouched cultures. Dark conspiracies that lurk in the shadows don't put up a fight in a dramatic fashion, they shoot the discoverer and move their operations elsewhere. Even if they aren't officially Combine-sponsored, so many of these would-be adventurers have been lost that the families have started a sort of grapevine on the down low, trying to keep others from suffering the same fates as the people they love.

For the United Technate, however, such is the price they pay for scientific advancement. Did scientists and explorers in the past not risk their reputations, riches, and most of all, lives trying to bring their dreams to fruition? And if they do perish in the line of duty, are they not remembered as heroes and heroines for scientific progress, grisly their deaths may be? And would their inventions not be used for the greater good of man, legacies to be left behind? Such queries to the contrary are either ignored or shot down, as they provide funds for the next great inventor's plans for a portal that will revolutionize human transport. If it would.

## Southern Cone: Problematic and Feverish

*"What disrespect, what disregard for reason past belief!*

*Now anyone’s a chief!*

*And anyone’s a thief!*

*Mixed up with old Stavisky,*

*Come Don Bosco and the Tart,*

*Don Chicho, Bonaparte,*

*Carnera, San Martin...*

*Yes, just as in the junk-shop windows that show*

*No respect for order,*

*Life is in confusion,*

*And you’ll see, wounded by a rusty sword, a*

*Bible crying right up ’gainst a shopping cart!"*

-"Cambalache" by Enrique Santos Discepolo, banned throughout America.
## The Inevitability of Meritocracy and Supremacy

The Ecumene is set up to be an egalitarian society where everyone is where they deserve to be. Everybody is supposed to be in the positions that best fit their wants and abilities as determined by impartial computers. Everything is run efficiently and public transportation runs on time.

Unless if you're not of the in-group, in which case you'll be subjugated and have your weakness flayed out of you before you enjoy what's mentioned above.

### Blatant Imperialism

*"Self-Determination? Utter nonsense. What does Self-Determination brings other than tiny, decaying states bereft of the might needed to enact action? Of the power to truly prosper? Let there be one nation, one universal order. An Ecumenical order for all civilized peoples, and all soon to be civilized peoples. We bring you, in this order, strength, honor, stability, prosperity, and pride, and is that not worth more than false independence, a fate of being the abused puppets of greater powers?"*

- -Nxikala Trivix
The Ecumene doesn't hide its expansionist nature from much of anyone. It is not content to be a hermit kingdom, it will not settle for what it has. It must, and shall have more than what it already possesses. If some peacefully turn to Ecumenical Meritocratism (under the Ecumene of course), all the better. But the Ecumene rejects the idea that word and debate alone can spread the light of the Ecumene. Others will fear the proper path of the Ecumene, they'll cling to barbarism, to ideas unworthy of continued existence. So they will be dragged into the house of enlightenment and order kicking and screaming and then clubbed into accepting their new regime if they try to resist.

### Entrenched corporatism

The Ecumene practices strongly corporatist economics, with a powerful marriage of state and corporate power entrenching the economy. Enormous corporations are aided and abetted by the Ecumenical government which in turn, aids and abets these vast corporations. Labor unions are strictly prohibited into a narrow range of acceptable patriotic unions that are generally shills for the state and the corporations. Some degree of populist welfare is enacted as part of a system of bread and circuses, but everyone is expected to do the work assigned to them happily, and if you aren't happy; then shut up. .