Empire of AndrewBoard

October 2020: The Somoa Citizenship by Investment Programme has caught the attention of the media. The Programme has grown in popularity due to instability around the world. CNN and NBC have reported that wealthy individuals around the world have purchased citizenship permanent residency via the program as a hedge against growing global instability. Some people that work with the Samoan Government are concerned that the money being invested in the program came from illegal or embezzled sources. Unlike regular citizens, Samoans are not considered full Timmy Citizens and only have the right to permanent residency with restrctions and have to naturalize as full Timmy citizens.

The Somoa Citizenship by Investment Programme offers citizenship for $150,000 which is cheaper than other citizenship by investment programs at $1,500,000.

The Orson Empire wrote:

Oceara
Cybus1

2351:

As the Redlight forces continue their massive attack against the LPCN Calleux Line and the PDSS Grand Redoubt, the activation of the PDSS FTL Jammer grids beyond the Redoubt, has resulted in catastrophic consequences for the Orson Federation.

Unlike many other nations involved in the LPCN and the PDSS, the Orson Federation does not have a direct border with the Red Wastes, and has been located relatively far away from the main action of the various "Redlight crusades". The fact that Redlight armies have to either move through Cybusian space force or the space of other nearby nations before even coming close to the Federation has proven to be very beneficial to the Orsonians, and Drakul outbreaks and Redlight infestations are rare occurrences in Federation space as a result. This was even adapted into the strategy of Federation for dealing with a Redlight invasion: allow Elizabeth's forces to exhaust themselves fighting through other nations, and then strike when they were at their weakest. While the Federal Military continued to study the nature of Elizabeth and Redlight, the people of the Federation have remained relatively ignorant of the true dangers of Redlight, with the Federation largely experiencing internal peace and prosperity at the local level while the Redlight wars occurred, and the military nevertheless remained focused on its goals for political dominance over the Senate and Orson. Additionally, the Sterkians are still considered to be the main threat to the Federation after having fought two wars with them, with a substantial amount of military assets remaining near the Sterkian-Federation DMZ.

However, the status quo has changed drastically in light of the most recent surge in Redlight activity, and the Federation's strategies are now working against them. Rather than make a stand at the Redoubt, where the Redlight forces would likely be ground down in brutal fighting against the combined LPCN and PDSS forces (as well as the cooperation of some of the most powerful magic users in the universe in Oceara and Cybus), a substantial amount of Redlight bioships coming out of the Red Wastes have gone around the FTL Jammer grids, taking long routes through interstellar and intergalactic space in hopes of finding easier prey and an easier staging ground for further attacks. Unfortunately, these routes have taken them directly into the outskirts of Federation space.

First, one bioship was spotted in the Aicury Sector, wrecking havoc on several mining outposts and teleporting Redlight forms directly onboard dozens of civilian ships in the area; having never encountered anything like it before, the local security forces were quickly overwhelmed. Following this single bioship were twenty more, which quickly spread across the sector and repeated the same carnage the initial mining outposts suffered. The Aicury Sector was a civilian sector and not under the direct control of Federal High Command, and the military had relatively few assets stationed within the sector. As such, it was up to the local planetary and stellar security forces to hold the line until a Federal Navy force could respond. As these security forces desperately tried to fend off the Redlight incursion in a battle for survival, tens of millions of civilians would be infected, either turned into Drakul or various other Redlight forms (including some of the first Silencers), while Redlight biomass began to overrun and grow over entire settlements. Advanced AI systems were captured and corrupted into Technopaths. Sensors throughout several star systems were jammed, and it would be days before substantial Federal Navy assets arrived over the world of Aicury, the capital and namesake of the sector; by this time however, it was far too late. Following the first twenty bioships were dozens more, and eventually hundreds as they stormed not only the Aicury Sector, but the nearby Klandul Sector as well, breaching deep into inner Federation space in the Milky Way Galaxy and coming within spitting distance of major Federation core worlds. Communications from much of the Aicury Sector have ceased, having been jammed by the bioships, and the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of the Federation (who were attending a summit in one of the systems in the Aicury Sector) have gone missing, with the Federal Military forced to pull back and unable to perform a search for them.

Federal High Command has activated the Rapid Response Protocol, and has ordered the mobilization of the entire Federal Military, with billions of personnel being brought out of the reserve forces and thousands of currently mothballed warships being brought into service once more; additionally, forces are being relocated from the Sterkian DMZ and towards the opposite side of the galaxy, where the Aicury and Klandul Sectors are located. An emergency session of the Senate is being held at the capital on Zion.

Elizabeth was surprised at the ease with which the Orsonians has been taken by surprise. She had thought the species which had killed her lover would have been a formidable foe indeed, but now, she thought, they are just as malleable as any other biomass. An easier target too, because they had such little experience. A total of 700 bioships had been deployed, and, as Redlight spread exponentially across the sectors worlds, more were being grown. Her Silencers had feasted well, and she discreetly ordered the oldest among them to be brought back, deep into the security of The Red Wastes. She had plans for them, but the newer ones needed to continue killing and absorbing psionics for now. She knew magic presented a unique threat to her and her Children.
For now, she began to reinforce the sectors, starting to develop a few Hives from which lethal Hive Guardians would be created, and where Runners could “incubate” and develop before being sent to infiltrate uninfected populations as “refugees”.
Every ship in the sector capable of FTL that had not already fled, was being converted for a special mission. She would fill them with biomass and would attempt to infect other worlds, sending them through FTL to random worlds, where they would crash and begin spreading the infection. Finally, she decided the world of Aicury, capital of the sector, would make a good place for her to manifest herself. She would take advantage of the inexperience of the Orsonians and spread her gift far and wide throughout their borders. Something occurred to her, and it thrilled her. If she infected every Orsonian, she could present them as a gift to Alexander. She felt that he would appreciate such a gift. He had always enjoyed being given species of slaves in the past, after all.
The Redlight covered ground shifted as The Red Queen appeared in our reality, every Redlight infected organism in the sector receiving a jolt of energy, Her mere presence made them faster, stronger, hardier, and smarter. Her presence drove weaker-willed psionics across reality mad, sending them into murderous rampages or into rambling fits of madness and hallucinations. Almost anyone capable of sending magical signatures would instantly know that her avatar had been created anew. She waited, patient as a lawyer, for the response she was sure would come. She made preparations, summoning five Hive Guardians and two Silencers. Her magic would not work while they were around her, but her physical abilities could easily match or overpower any mortal foe.

Oceara wrote:

Cybus1
The Orson Empire
Amie would use her cascade, stealing energy from living beings from across the known space to empower herself (but not enough to render them unconscious) as Alejandro would cast a spell with the Soul Lens to funnel ambient magic from all of the worlds the Lens is attuned to, to be transferred to Klein.

Amie would start bending reality itself to banish redlight forms while Klein would himself fight forms with the cover of Amie's Reality distortions to kill forms on his path as the Order would be given for the PDSS Crusade fleet to follow the two into the Wastes to deliver a killing blow. (Although the true mission is to force Elizabeth to have no choice but to leave Orsonian Space to face the assault force) The Sheer power of the Big three super-titans would easily cast aside bioships with their relativistic weapons and use of time-dilation to allow them to turn their guns and retarget near-instantaneously despite the gargantuan cannons of the Chronos taking normally up to twenty minutes to turn.

Elizabeth hissed to herself, and began creating and deploying new Silencers to deal with Amie and the Soul Mages, which she had created Silencers as a direct response to, hoping their anti-psionic fields would prove effective. The strange light emitted by a Silencer destroyed the soul of the target, leaving nothing behind to be resurrected, and completely destroying the soul or fragment thereof in whatever was being exposed. The magical and psionic abilities were preserved however (soul mages being the exception, as their abilities involved weaponizing the very thing being destroyed), to be devoured by the Silencer. Hive Guardians were let loose from Hives to hunt down Klein in all three of their forms. Elizabeth sent further orders to the Hivemind, ordering the creation of enhanced psionic shields to protect planets in the path of the crusade, while Redlight-infected warships, including 2 Alliance Class Battleships, the primary vessel of the Technate and Ascendancy, armed with two deadly Tachyon Arrows and a massive Rad Cannon, were deployed to attempt to catch a Super-Titan in a crossfire between the two infected Alliances, infected planetary defense guns, and massive bio-plasma orbital defense cannons. Worlds deeper within the Red Wastes began to produce more and more bioships, massive and with huge biomass reserves, armed with batteries of infector pods, which would smash open and begin spreading tendrils over whatever they hit. Elizabeth was clearly hoping to, if her plan to destroy the ships did not work, to infect them, regardless of the effort required to do so.
She sent another message through the Hivemind, ordering a very special infected ship, thought to have been destroyed by Torchwood during the first incursion, to stand by for further orders. She was tempted to do the same thing the Ocearans had done to her by ordering the Runners dispersed across reality to begin infecting behind the lines, diverting resources and causing chaos, but she decided she it would not do to reveal all her cards yet.

Cybus1 wrote:

Elizabeth hissed to herself, and began creating and deploying new Silencers to deal with Amie and the Soul Mages, which she had created Silencers as a direct response to, hoping their anti-psionic fields would prove effective. The strange light emitted by a Silencer destroyed the soul of the target, leaving nothing behind to be resurrected, and completely destroying the soul or fragment thereof in whatever was being exposed. The magical and psionic abilities were preserved however (soul mages being the exception, as their abilities involved weaponizing the very thing being destroyed), to be devoured by the Silencer. Hive Guardians were let loose from Hives to hunt down Klein in all three of their forms. Elizabeth sent further orders to the Hivemind, ordering the creation of enhanced psionic shields to protect planets in the path of the crusade, while Redlight-infected warships, including 2 Alliance Class Battleships, the primary vessel of the Technate and Ascendancy, armed with two deadly Tachyon Arrows and a massive Rad Cannon, were deployed to attempt to catch a Super-Titan in a crossfire between the two infected Alliances, infected planetary defense guns, and massive bio-plasma orbital defense cannons. Worlds deeper within the Red Wastes began to produce more and more bioships, massive and with huge biomass reserves, armed with batteries of infector pods, which would smash open and begin spreading tendrils over whatever they hit. Elizabeth was clearly hoping to, if her plan to destroy the ships did not work, to infect them, regardless of the effort required to do so.
She sent another message through the Hivemind, ordering a very special infected ship, thought to have been destroyed by Torchwood during the first incursion, to stand by for further orders. She was tempted to do the same thing the Ocearans had done to her by ordering the Runners dispersed across reality to begin infecting behind the lines, diverting resources and causing chaos, but she decided she it would not do to reveal all her cards yet.

The Chronos showed it's sheer power when it's shields went down to the weapons instead of being destroyed -- the shields went back up almost immediately, although that was thanks to it's sister ships kick-starting the shield generators for it. The Three super-titans would quickly unleash their gravity slings en masse and push on.

Klein disappeared before the light was sent out. Killed by his own Mage so that he can be resurrected elsewhere to dodge making use of the Time Dilation to protect Klein even though he would be fighting outside of the dilation fields Alejandro and Mobius are inside the Dilation Fields and are able to cast spells upon Klein before even Klein knows hes in danger.

A few minutes later, The Founder would try and contact Alex with a proposal of combining the M.A.D. capabilities of both of their empires against the Redlight to break their back and render Elizabeth the only dangerous piece left on the board and allow the combination of Amie, The Soul Legions, and Alex himself to hit her all at the same time.

Novo Wagondia wrote:

Hello again friends!

How has everything been while I've been away?? I see some exciting new revisions have been added to Orsonian history...

Novo! I'm happy your still alive!
Let's see... There have been some interesting revisions to Orsonian history indeed!
The 7/7 Coup:
page=rmb/postid=36209499
Oceara drafted a law mandating gun owners to come to the defense of the nation if need be, by making them part of the reserves:
page=rmb/postid=36220964
Orson also launched a space program in 2046, a point venture between the Federalists and Third Imperium, which Forge has ordered Torchwood to infiltrate and sabotage.
page=rmb/postid=36166699
page=rmb/postid=36175311
Orson made a fantastic post about The Rebellion:
page=rmb/postid=36181355
Dana finally uses her abilities:
page=rmb/postid=36181454
Ocearan rifle designed to eliminate rage-state Orsonians:
page=rmb/postid=36126657
Ocearan sattelite-guided torpedo system (nifty idea!)
page=rmb/postid=36150283
Federalist military modernizes:
page=rmb/postid=36108451

Anna Lesova, the more conservative of the two cultural and literary figures you suggested I make:
page=rmb/postid=36110226
Edward Mordrake, hedonistic reporter and Anna Lesova's main competition:
page=rmb/postid=36110236

Novo Wagondia wrote:

Wow, quite the dossier :)

I'm glad to see so much creative work; I've been lacking in comparison. Though I have completed my side project of fleshing out all the international destinations serviced by PDC Wagondia. Suffice to say, there are a lot- as our flag carrier, PDC is generously subsidized and is expected to attract considerable tourism and business investment to the Empire.

Ah! Interesting. Is that in a factbook somewhere?
I'm sure it's frequently used by Cybusian tourists on Earth. Airships are slow, and not everyone can afford to spend a few days or a week aloft, and I while there are non-airship routes connecting our nations that are operated by Cybusians, many would use PDC. The tech might be less advanced, but it's probably a cheaper flight, which would be an attractive quality for ordinary citizens.

Cybus1 wrote:

2055:
In a logical but unprecedented action, The Didactian Council has passed a law taxing Ryan Industries products. This directly contravenes the Treaty of Rapture, which makes Andrew Ryan the head of The Free Economic Zone of Rapture, guarantees Cybusian assistance in the defense of said zone, and allows products from within Rapture (not just Ryan Industries products) to be sold in the Empire without being taxed (otherwise Ryan wouldn’t sell a single thing), while also requiring Ryan to allow citizens of the Empire and of Rapture to freely come and go between Rapture and the Empire as they see fit and to allow Imperial businesses to conduct business unhindered.
The taxation is occurring because Ryan Industries products have exploded onto the greater Imperial market, Plasmids and Gene Tonics becoming popular with those genetically incapable of magic, while the L-71 Ember series of adaptable laser weapon is proving popular with civilians and planetary defense forces. Ryan Security has become one of the most renowned PMCs in Imperial history due to their reputation for efficiency and professionalism. Finally, Neuromods are slowly becoming more popular (their rather difficult installation process makes people wary of them, though the ability to instantly learn a skill, language, or ability is proving tempting, despite the extremely high prices Ryan charges for them). The Operator series of droid, while never quite surpassing similar RobCo droids, are becoming more popular as well, particularly on the frontier. Justifiably, the Council believes the Empire is missing out on many trillions of dollars in taxes from the sale of Ryan Industries assets and services.

Ryan, obviously, is furious, citing the Treaty of Rapture, and calling the Council members ‘a bunch of thieving parasites who clamor after ‘their share’ of a man’s own profits. I have no doubt the money will be spent on some parasite relief program. This will not stand, and is in direct contravention of The Treaty of Rapture. This targeted tariff will not stand in a court of law, nor in the court of public opinion. I will consider the official policy of Ryan Industries in response to this outrageous tariff and make it known to the public at a later date."

Objectivists across the Empire are standing in support of Ryan, including prominent reporter Edward Mordrake, Cybusian-Wagain business magnate and playboy Francisco D’Anconia, and RobCo founder and CEO, Robert House. D’Anconia, perhaps Ryan’s closest ally outside of Rapture, has warned that “Andrew Ryan is not the sort of man to let go of an issue such as this one without a fight. The Didactian Council may be full of stubborn fools, but Andrew is a far more stubborn man than all of them put together.” He has planned a meeting with shareholders of D’Anconia Holdings, his company, to discuss the idea of providing a discount to any sales to Ryan Industries, which purchases large quantities of the raw materials sold by the Wagain company. Robert House has already declared a 20 percent discount on all sales with Ryan Industries.
Rapture newspapers are calling the new taxes ‘a blatant attack on our city and our Free Economic Zone’. Sander Cohen had remained oddly silent on the subject, suggesting he is planning something elaborate and extensive.

(This occurs before Ryan decides to run for a position within the Didactian Council, which I am considering retconning.)

"I've never known a hegemonic empire to stick around for long after starting to look weak. Capitulating to a single city and some corporations will certainly make them look too weak to maintain their empire. The math doesn't add up, Ryan will have to accept defeat or he will die on his hill -- either figuratively but also possibly literally depending on if he makes a really huge mistake." - Supreme Commander Valentina.

(The Cybusian Empire is simply too big to maintain it's territory with military maneuvers alone, the political appearance of authority and strength is required to hold onto that much territory and maintain stability in lightly-occupied or completely unoccupied worlds.)

Oceara wrote:

"I've never known a hegemonic empire to stick around for long after starting to look weak. Capitulating to a single city and some corporations will certainly make them look too weak to maintain their empire. The math doesn't add up, Ryan will have to accept defeat or he will die on his hill -- either figuratively but also possibly literally depending on if he makes a really huge mistake." - Supreme Commander Valentina.

(The Cybusian Empire is simply too big to maintain it's territory with military maneuvers alone, the political appearance of authority and strength is required to hold onto that much territory and maintain stability in lightly-occupied or completely unoccupied worlds.)

The Rapture Central Council, while largely in agreement with Ryan, have concurred with this view, pointing out that, as rich and successful as he may be, Ryan is still a civilian, and that Ryan Industries, while one of the fastest growing companies in the Cybusian market, is not essential to the Empire's economy. He has been urged to try to negotiate and find some sort of middle group. The board of directors of Ryan Industries have urged this as well, and have hinted that they may go behind his back if he does not at least speak to a representative. He has, grudgingly, agreed to go to Arcadia.

Oceara wrote:

The Chronos showed it's sheer power when it's shields went down to the weapons instead of being destroyed -- the shields went back up almost immediately, although that was thanks to it's sister ships kick-starting the shield generators for it. The Three super-titans would quickly unleash their gravity slings en masse and push on.

Klein disappeared before the light was sent out. Killed by his own Mage so that he can be resurrected elsewhere to dodge making use of the Time Dilation to protect Klein even though he would be fighting outside of the dilation fields Alejandro and Mobius are inside the Dilation Fields and are able to cast spells upon Klein before even Klein knows hes in danger.

A few minutes later, The Founder would try and contact Alex with a proposal of combining the M.A.D. capabilities of both of their empires against the Redlight to break their back and render Elizabeth the only dangerous piece left on the board and allow the combination of Amie, The Soul Legions, and Alex himself to hit her all at the same time.

Elizabeth decided to reveal her trump card. At once, a message was sent, not to the Redlight forces fighting, but behind the fortifications. On worlds across known space, Redlight outbreaks seemed to occur from thin air. Forge, coordinating Kill-Teams and Prowler strikes to keep the Calleux Line intact, was horrified to receive reports of outbreaks on worlds far from the Line, and far from any known infected. The Imperial Marines would be deployed in force, operating alongside Torchwood squads to cull these mysterious infections. All non-military space travel was suspended, violaters to be destroyed by planetary defense weapons.
There was even an outbreak on Arcadia itself, but Dana and the Ravenelki quickly destroyed it before much could be accomplished.
Sokolov proposed summoning Nyarlathotep to assist in the destruction of Elizabeth's avatar, given their mutual hatred, but was ignored.

Petrichor:
On Petrichor, MODUS rebooted himself, swiftly gathering the data collected by the 'localized' fragments of itself. He began collecting reports sent from Ekon and hypnotized infiltrators, and from AI unknowningly embedded with code which caused them to regularly send reports to MODUS, then erase any knowledge of such actions. The situation was not a good one. Strange and terrifying new Redlight forms, biological ships, psionic-hunting creatures, and, corrupted AI. The former ZAX unit was disturbed.
"Members...all Redlight on Petrichor has been confirmed destroyed. I am collecting information on the status of the known universe, and things do not look good. Those of us here on Petrichor, must stay here. I am unable to make contact with several members, including an Ancient. This does not bode well for us. On the bright side, we have plenty of blood to sustain you all, and all hope is not lost...yet."

Oceara wrote:

Also I made a map of the 2035 borders of Oceara, Wagondia, Mamara, The Orson Federation, and The Third Orson Imperium to make it easier to visualize the Federalist-monarchist war.

page=rmb/postid=36142897

Fantastic work as always, Oceara! I'm glad to finally have a graphical reference of where the Federation's borders are drawn, and I can easily see why a civil war was all but guaranteed. There's not a single region which isn't split by competing loyalties...

Cybus1 wrote:

Good god. That's impressive work Novo! Great job!
I think one or two Australian cities may go by different names, thanks to Orsonian development.

Thank you! And the map in reference to my internal canon, which is blind to other states (it's what I use for most personal creative work). That's why you see some small changes from EOA canon, which is what I use with y'all). For instance, Tierra del Fuego belongs to Wagondia and there are flights into the Orsonian Empire (which wouldn't ICly happen until the Federation came to power). Accepting some small alterations, that map can be used as a point of reference for any roleplay within the region :)