Revision as of 11:23, 11 December 2015

Diplomatic Relationships

Faction / Relationship

Allied Nations

N/A

War

Hostile

Peace

Unknown

War

Neutral

Unknown

Alliance

War

Neutral

Unknown

Confederate Revolutionaries

War

N/A

Hostile

Unknown

Hostile

Peace

Unknown

Neutral

War

Hostile

Neutral

Unknown

Soviet Union

Hostile

N/A

Hostile

Unknown

War

Hostile

Unknown

Hostile

Alliance

War

Neutral

Unknown

Empire of the Rising Sun

Peace

Hostile

N/A

Unknown

War

Hostile

Unknown

Neutral

Peace

Hostile

Neutral

Unknown

Order of the Talon

Neutral

N/A

Neutral

War

Unknown

Neutral

War

Neutral

War

Atomic Kingdom of China

War

Hostile

War

Unknown

N/A

War

Unknown

Hostile

War

Hostile

War

Hostile

Unknown

Mediterranean Syndicate

Neutral

Peace

Hostile

War

N/A

Unknown

Peace

Neutral

War

Hostile

War

Electrical Protectorate

Hostile

Unknown

Hostile

N/A

Hostile

Unknown

Army of the Republic of Vietnam

Alliance

Neutral

War

Neutral

Unknown

Hostile

Peace

Unknown

N/A

Alliance

Neutral

War

Hostile

Neutral

Unknown

Allied Reservists

Alliance

War

Hostile

Peace

Unknown

War

Neutral

Unknown

Alliance

N/A

Alliance

War

Neutral

Unknown

National Revolutionary Army

Alliance

Neutral

Hostile

Unknown

War

Neutral

Unknown

Neutral

Alliance

N/A

Hostile

War

Neutral

Unknown

Vietcong

War

Neutral

Alliance

Hostile

Unknown

Hostile

Neutral

Unknown

War

Hostile

N/A

Alliance

Neutral

Unknown

Communist China

War

Hostile

Alliance

Hostile

Unknown

War

Neutral

Unknown

Hostile

War

Alliance

N/A

Hostile

Neutral

Unknown

Global Liberation Army

War

Hostile

War

Hostile

War

Hostile

War

Unknown

Hostile

War

Hostile

N/A

Hostile

Unknown

International Inc

Neutral

Unknown

Hostile

Unknown

Neutral

Hostile

N/A

Unknown

Cult of the Black Hand

Hostile

War

Neutral

War

Unknown

Hostile

Neutral

Hostile

N/A

Description

The vertical factions (left) are the factions in question. The horizontal factions (logos only) are the faction they have the relationship to.

For example:

The Empire is at peace with the Allied Nations.
The Chinese are at war with the Syndicate (In fact, almost everyone).

Relationships do not have to be uniform, albeit at this time most are. It is be perfectly reasonable for things like the following:

The Talon are neutral to the Chinese, while the Chinese are hostile to the Talon.
The Protectorate are hostile to everyone else, but everyone else has an unknown relationship with the Protectorate.

Those examples are a little exaggerated, but you get the point. If you change a relationship here, make sure to also change it on the corresponding page, and vice-versa.

Relationship Types

Alliance

The two factions regard each other as allies, exchange values and culture, are friendly to each other and consider merging their armies, or at least always fight together. This state is symbolized by the colour blue and a hand-shake. Currently, this only exists between the Allies and their minor factions (Blue China, the Reservist, and the ARVN), and the Soviet Union and their's (Red China, the Vietcong). There may one day be a chance for alliances between major factions, however...

Peace

The two factions work strongly together, exchange values and culture, are friendly to each other and do not attack each other. They often fight together or at least for the same goals. This state is symbolized by the colour green and a dove. A good example are the Allies and the Empire.

Neutral

The two factions do not work together, nor against each other, and do not attack each other either. They keep out of the other's business. This state is symbolized by the colour yellow and a libra. The best example are the Talon, who observe the other factions but do not attack them (at least not often and not in an obvious way).

Hostile

The two factions mistrust each other and are in a state of crisis towards each other. Spy games are a daily matter and either faction has the finger on the button to start a war. This state is symbolized by the colour orange and barbed wire or machine guns pointed at each other. The best example are the Protectorate, who are in state of hostility towards all other factions.

War

Full-scale war between the factions. Men and material are used to eradicate the enemy by all means and forces are getting mobilized for attacks. The risk of one or the other side to launch a WMD are high as well. This state is symbolized by the colour red and clashing swords. The best example are the Atomic Chinese, being at war with seven other factions at the same time.

Unknown

The relationship between the factions is unknown or non existent, likely because one faction has little to no intelligence about the other. This state is symbolized by the colour grey and a question mark. The Electrical Protectorate, who are unknown to everyone else, are the best example.

N/A - Not available

The relationship a faction would have to itself, which is not possible, but has to be defined in a table system nontheless. Uses white and the letters N/A as designation.

An Insider's Look

The Allied Nations

Major Lydia Winters graciously responded to a request for an interview, and offers an unofficial perspective of the Allied Nations' stance on various world powers.

The Allied Nations: "We're the hope of the world, a free and democratic alliance stretching around the entire world to ensure freedom's safety from anyone who would force another to bended knee. I wish we didn't have to bring so many men and women away from their homes and families, but their sacrifices in the name of peace and freedom will never be forgotten. It is my dearest hope that one day we will all be able to go home and never need pick up a gun again, but threats to freedom lurk across the world. The Soviet Union, the Mediterranean Syndicate, and other organisations are bent on destroying all we've built and hope to achieve."

The Confederate Revolutionaries: "I don't mean to sound arrogant, but how can the Americans be so ungrateful? If not for us, they would have been conquered by the Soviet Union. All we have done is keep their country from falling into anarchy, yet they call us tyrants? Place on us the same words we use to describe the Soviet Union? I don't understand. It seems as though they want chaos and anarchy to rule, and we simply cannot allow that. The United States is far too important to the world, the Americans have too much to offer the world to let their home slide into anarchy and rebellion. I truly am sorry for the lives lost, but it is ultimately for their own good."

The Soviet Union: "The Soviets, the Soviets, the Soviets... well, I'm not going to talk about the rumors of Soviet time travel, because that's just absurd. The Soviets are dangerous enough as it is. I sometimes wonder why they seem so bitter and hateful. Of us, and of the entire world. They call communism better for the people, but how can anyone truly think that? Just look at pictures of Moscow and London. One is a grey waste, full of propaganda and hungry people. The other is a bright and bustling city, filled with hope and progress. Why don't the Soviet people see it? Why do they cling to their Union when their lives would be so much better if they cast off their leaders and embraced the Allied cause?"

The Empire of the Rising Sun: "For all the darkness and chaos in the world, it is good to know that there is still hope for all of humanity. With their mad leaders dead, the Japanese have begun to embrace freedom and justice. Oh, I know their culture is centuries behind the times and their technology centuries ahead, but I think it will all even out in the end. They have much to teach us, and we have much to teach them. I'm not blind to the demons remaining in that Empire of theirs, and know how easily we could end up at war again, but for once I think things will turn out alright in the end with these people."

The Order of the Talon: "I've seen the classified reports on this 'Order of the Talon.' I'm tempted to just call them madmen and fanatics a few hundred years past their prime, but it's truly depressing to see what religion can do to good people. Fine, upstanding officers of the Allied cause, twisted into raging zealots... this Order is the last of a dying breed. A cult, really. But it is desperate and it is dangerous. They can't possibly harm us in any meaningful way, of course, but they will poison the minds of people everywhere their contagion spreads. No, they are not a threat to the Allied Nations. They are a threat to the Allied people, who don't realize that zeal is obsolete."

The Atomic Kingdom of China: "We couldn't have foreseen what happened to China. Why can't they realize that? All we wanted to do was to make China a better place. For the Chinese especially, but for the entire world. After the disaster, the Chinese should have contacted us. We would have loved to extend a helping hand and get the Chinese back on their feet. Instead, they're... well, mad. Mad at us, mad at the Soviets, mad at everyone. They have grown reckless at war and at science, wielding technologies that cannot possibly be safe for anyone, even them. And still their reaction to a broken world is to flee, not to stay and fix it. What could they possibly be thinking?"

The Mediterranean Syndicate: "Unprincipled and dangerous. Those are the words you must always remember when talking about them. They have no rules, no morals, no ethics or principles. The Syndicate is a horrific cancer upon the world with no motivation beyond the desire to grow and spread. Excising this cancer would do the world a favour, but there are unfortunately more immediate threats to deal with. Still, they have consumed Italy and intend to do the same to the entire world, no matter how their executives dress it up and veil it in sugary words and lies. Sooner or later, we will have just cause to bring these companies down. If you ask me, that day can't come soon enough."

The Electrical Protectorate: "Well... I just finished looking over the Y files. Frankly, I find all this very disturbing. Not only do we clearly have to talk to the Imperials about lab safety procedures, but I don't even know what to make of these... these robots. What do they want? Why haven't they talked to us? Their movements suggest that they do have some sort of purpose, but then again, I'm used to thinking about humans. Again, I have to ask: what do they want? I don't buy the Imperial reassurances that they can't be intelligent. They definitely are, but the question is how intelligent they are. Nevermind. I don't want to know, I think. This will probably be a problem, but for now, I've got enough on my plate."

Army of the Republic of Vietnam: "The South Vietnamese. I can say that they show promise, and that their ideas and merits are admirable. Yet I feel ill at ease still in calling them our allies. True, they represent a model of democratic ideals under heavy pressure, and I will not deny that the alternative of a communist Southeast Asia is a far worse possibility. Still, their usage of such questionable weapons, from napalming entire villages to that photo of General Loan and that prisoner, I would fully expect a fair number of war crimes trials against the South Vietnam's military leadership. I can only hope that when they are made a member of the Allied Nations properly, they can join our other national forces in adopting tactics that do not require such harsh extremes."

Vietcong: "So sad. This is why the tactics of General Trưởng's forces are simply not viable in modern war. Like in Northern Ireland, killing our enemies only made our difficulties more numerous in combating the IRA. So, the solution was to adopt non-lethal methods. Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Rangers still utilise their deadly tactics. But do I sympathise with the Vietcong? Of course not. Their beliefs are just as misguided, if no more so. For all the faults of the South Vietnamese, they are at least allowing their people to serve of their own recognisance. The Vietcong foolishly follow communism as a knee-jerk reaction to decades of French colonial rule, not any true faith in its cause. Truthfully, can they actually sustain such a cause?

Allied Reservists: "The backbone of the Allied Nations, the firm foundation on which we can ensure the world's stability. I have had the pleasure of serving alongside several Reservist officers in the past. Though some claim that a Reservist regiment acts as little more than a speed bump in the face of Soviet or Imperial aggression in the past, it is clear that those 'speed bumps' destroyed much of the Soviet and Imperial war capacities, at the cost of many lives. Which makes the defection of many American reservists all the more painful. Why would one abandon a cause as good as the Allied Nations, in order to follow the memory of a madman?"

National Revolutionary Army: "They ... frighten me. Democracy may not be a perfect system, but at least it is one where people are free to make their own decisions. Then I read the reports one day about the final days of the KMT before the bombs. It was...devastating. Men turned into little more than machines. Endless trenches filled with little more than skeletons, and the nationalist soldiers who had to scavenge their bodies just to survive. Will we still attempt to help them rebuild their nation after the bombs? Of course. But I feel that a much more important question should be asked; do the survivors deserve it?"

People's Liberation Army: "If the People's Revolutionary Army and the National Revolutionary Army were two evils, then I would have difficulty in deciding which was the lesser of them. For all of Chiang Kai-Shek's faults, he still had the drive to make democracy for the people of China real. Mao Zeadong was merely a power-hungry psychopath, devoted to nothing more than his own cult of personality. To actually devalue a human being by making identical copies, turning life into an assembly line; how could any sane man allow such a thing?"

Global Liberation Army: "For a force calling itself the Global Liberation Army, they seem intent on oppressing the whole of the Middle East. Suicide bombings? Oppression of women? Even a full-scale rebellion against one of the more conservative nations in the Persian Gulf? What liberation do they truly want then? Not a liberation of the mind, for they insist on keeping their fighters from any kind of education. Not political liberation, as it seems that only the wealthy or the unstable claim it all for themselves, and often the leaders are one in the same."

International Inc: "As far as I can tell, International Inc's factories seem to meet Allied safety regulations. Then again, there was that incident with the Soviets just before World War II, and I have seen some reports saying that they may be supplying the Confederate insurrection with weapons and munitions. If that turns out to be true, of course, then we will take appropriate action swiftly."

Cult of the Black Hand: "I've read the files on them, too. Apparently, they're a secretive group that has existed in various forms through the centuries, with reports of suspected activities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere starting to increase, and seemingly acting in opposition to the 'Order of the Talon'? I might call them a potential threat, but there are greater and more immediate dangers to worry about in this world."

The Confederate Revolutionaries

The following are excerpts from the interrogation of Confederate minuteman William Hild, deceived by an Imperial psychic into believing he was speaking to a fellow minuteman.

The Allied Nations: "Now, don't get me wrong. If it weren't for the Allies, those Ivans would have overrun Europe, maybe even launched a real invasion over here. A lot of us served with the Allies overseas, too, and the Allied people are good. But it's their leadership that's rotten. Those European [CENSORED] spent so long fighting commie tyrants, they've started turning into their own brand of tyranny. Telling us what to do, who will lead us, how we should live our lives. Not so fast, bucko. Over here, the will of the people is the [CENSORED] highest law. Two hundred years ago when we didn't like the British, we tossed em out. The Allies didn't take the hint, so now we'll toss em out, too."

The Confederate Revolutionaries: "Who are we, pal? We're the [CENSORED] Confederates! Too long we've let the Europeans push us around, tell us what to do. Too long good American blood was spilled defending worthless [CENSORED] countries that couldn't defend themselves. Well, we're done getting pushed around. We're done dying for somebody else's country and letting them get away with killing the [CENSORED] President. If the Allies really want to make a fight of this, we'll give 'em a fight they'll never forget. And we'll lick any other [CENSORED] who thinks the United States can't stand on its own feet anymore."

The Soviet Union: "Stalin's puppets even after the man's been dead for fourteen years... those [CENSORED] Europeans thought the Russians could be talked with all nice-like. Ackerman was right that the red commies couldn't be trusted even if their new broad of a boss talk's different. But it's not like the Allies would ever admit that we were right and they were wrong. Listen pal, here's the real scoop: you can't talk nicely with the [CENSORED], and if Davidova is sincere about fixin' [CENSORED], they'll stick a [CENSORED] pick in her brain. If the Allies and the Japs can't keep Ivan in check, we'll stop 'em ourselves."

The Empire of the Rising Sun: "Is this some kinda [CENSORED] joke? They INVADE us, take over Los Angeles - okay, no big loss there - and now the Allies want us to be all friendly-like with the Japs? No. [CENSORED]. Way. Yeah, yeah, I saw the broadcasts like anyone else. An overinflated windbag talking about destiny and divinity and [CENSORED] [CENSORED] [CENSORED]. The reds killing that windbag clearly didn't teach the Japs a lesson, but us killing the [CENSORED]'s son sure did. They can yammer on about destiny all they like, but we haven't forgotten their little invasion. By the time we're done, we're going to kick the Japs out on their [CENSORED] just like the Allies."

The Order of the Talon: "Back home, I tried recruiting a guy for the cause. He was a real serious church man, moreso than most good boys. He said he was already enlisted. Enlisted in a different army, that is. He said he was going to do the Lord's work, and there were hundreds like him. Then - and I [CENSORED] you not - he pulled out chainmail and some kind of [CENSORED] crossbow and ran off, yelling something about "the Talon." Uh ... okay. I've seen stories about some kind of secret military order of the Catholic Church in the tabloids, sure. Who hasn't? If - if - something like that actually exists, I got no beef with it. Heck, I'd even be tempted to join up, depending on how stuffy they are."

The Atomic Kingdom of China: "You have got to be [CENSORED] kidding me! Wasn't one batch of [CENSORED] insane Asians with [CENSORED] tech enough?! I don't know and frankly don't care what crawled up their radioactive [CENSORED] and died. Let 'em blow Japan and Russia and Europe to kingdom come if they want, I don't care. But if they mess with America, I don't care what kind of spaceships or ray guns or other glowing [CENSORED] they got up their sleeves. We'll lick 'em just like we will the Allies, the reds, and anyone else who wants a piece of America. Come and get us, [CENSORED]."

The Mediterranean Syndicate: "You know what? You really know what? I can't see just what all these [CENSORED] people are whining about the 'Syndicate' group. Yeah, I've heard about it too, from those wacko conspiracy theorists how they plan to control the world and stuff. Seriously, what with all these spectrum guns and tesla rifles and all this other [CENSORED] people are fighting with these days, it's a blessing to find someone that actually sells solid ammunition these days. And frankly I think these guys were the best things that ever happened for us, you know? Like, my wife goes to Las Vegas every month, and she gets treated like [CENSORED] royalty every time she steps in a store funded by them! A lot of my friends, though, don't like those guys. They say that we've got anti-trust laws for a reason and that a real free market isn't corrupted by giant monopolies disrespectful of worker's rights. Yeah, I like my markets free myself, and a lot of my friends make [CENSORED] convincing arguments, but when you're against a giant megastate disrespectful of human rights, surely you'd [CENSORED] know who to play with, right?"

The Electrical Protectorate: "Robot doomsday army, you say? You, my friend, have been reading too many comic books."

Army of the Republic of Vietnam: "I got no problem with the South Vietnamese. Hell, they're the only ones doing a [CENSORED] thing about the [CENSORED] communists trying to take over the jungles down in the Pacific! No, I don't care how they run their war. They could probably lick the Allies too, if they put their minds to it. Shame they chose to make a deal instead."

Vietcong: "There's revolution, and then there's oppression, and buddy, the Vietcong I keep hearing about are nothing more than a cover story for more Stalinist [CENSORED]. Look at'em, screaming about how they're oppressed. Excuse me, [CENSORED], but what about all the POWs we've been hearing about up in Hanoi and how they went and purged all their left commies, huh? You want to see oppression? Look in a [CENSORED] mirror! It's like the song goes; 'Ho, ho, Ho Chi Minh, how many trots you've done in?'"

Allied Reservists: "A damn shame. Too many good American soldiers trying to serve their country, and what do they get ordered to do? Turn on their own, round us up, arrest us. It's a good thing they remembered their oaths were to the Constitution and not the [CENSORED] europerialists. But there's still plenty of Reservist bastards out there, and they're sending more each day. Watch your ass, pal, it'll get a whole lot more ugly before we can win."

National Revolutionary Army: "See? That's what sticking with the Allies will get you in the long run. Sure, they wanted to make their country free, but did the Allies help 'em? [CENSORED] no! Yeah, there was aid at first, but then? Now the Allies are feeling guilty probably, saying about how they're 'sending valuable aid'. Yeah right, what aid? The aid that should be rebuilding LA or New York? What about help for our people?"

People's Liberation Army: "Hell, they had it coming."

Global Liberation Army: "Now, I don't know much about Arabs, but I know rats when I see'em, and just hearing about these [CENSORED] makes me squirm. Firing on civilians? Killing innocent people on purpose? [CENSORED] that, at least the europerialists try to just kill the soldiers."

International Inc: "My cousin worked at an II plant in Detroit, had a good living there too. He installed the transmissions to their Scorpion tanks, and when he retired? Well, let's just say that permanent employee discount came in handy when his militia needed some gear. Give it a few years though, and I'll bet good money that the Allies will be giving them trouble too."

Cult of the Black Hand: "You heard about this? Another bunch of [CENSORED] saying they're Confederates torched another hospital! Gen. Carville said it himself, we don't target civilians! Man, if I ever found the [CENSORED] who did it..."

The Soviet Union

The following is a transcript of the Soviet press interviewing General Viktor Zubarov concerning the state's position on its numerous enemies.

The Allied Nations: "Hypocrites. They accuse us of insane aggression and wanting to conquer the entire world while they wink and smile and flood the world with their talk of capitalism and freedom. They dare call us tyrants as they crush their American allies? Ha! You see, the Allies are much like pigs. They may be fat and noisy and smell bad, but they will feast on anything that is presented to them and consume everything in sight. I'm not saying the Allies taste good when smoked over a hickory fire, of course, but I believe you get the picture, comrade. We fight the Allies not for the sake of fighting, but for the sake of survival. They will flood the world unless we stop them."

The Confederate Revolutionaries: "Ah, now this is entertainment! As a matter of fact, I think we should support these Confederates as much as we can! With America severed from the European Allies, the Allies lose much of their manpower and industrial power while gaining a new enemy across the Atlantic. Yes, the Confederates are no more friendly to us than they are to the Allies, but there is a saying: the enemy of my enemy is a problem for later, but in the meantime they might be useful. I think the Americans might be very useful indeed, comrade. They won't see it that way, of course, but long-term thinking has never been the Americans' defining attribute, and many of their elements are palatable to our tastes."

The Soviet Union: "Glorious socialism, the mighty Motherland, and so on and so forth. But I don't think that's what you're interested in. Comrade, let me speak plainly. We are besieged on all fronts. The Allies wish to make us like them. The Japanese wish to conquer us. The Chinese wish to destroy us. The Syndicate wish to buy us out. We have many enemies, and no friends. Not the way it should be, but here we are. Comrade, we must put plans of invasion and offensive war on hold. War has now become a question of our very survival against enemies beyond counting, within and without. Perhaps in the future we will again march on the offensive, but first we must survive."

The Empire of the Rising Sun: "Bad as the Allies are, I call the Empire worse. Although they are at least funny. So entertaining to watch them babble about honor and glory and a warrior's code when their first act was to massacre a quiet fishing village at night on New Year's and do so with deception and stealth. Then they butchered the people of Odessa and burned that city to the ground with their monster. No, comrade. The Japanese are neither honorable nor glorious nor would they know a warrior if one shot them dead. The Soviet Union is not safe from the Japanese, nor will it be so until the Japanese surrender. If they insist on death before dishonor, so much the better."

The Order of the Talon: "Bah! You would have me believe that wild-eyed fanatics with crossbows and blackpowder are a threat to the glorious Soviet Union? Hah! Let the people revere whatever fetishes they desire, so long as it serves the state! Should they take up arms against the state in the name of their god, they will be crushed like any other rebellion. I have heard these stories of steam powered machines and clockwork, and think them the products of an overactive imagination. Really, comrade? Steam and clockwork and crossbows are the best you can come up with as a daydream?"

The Atomic Kingdom of China: "As it we didn't have enough problems already! We are now surrounded, comrade. Surrounded and besieged. The Chinese threw away the promise of glorious socialism we offered them, spat upon it and ground it into the ash of their home. And now they, too, look upon the Motherland with greedy eyes. Perhaps they should take a number and get in line behind the Allies and the Japanese. Bizarre as their weapons are, numerous as their people may be, perhaps even outnumbering us, they, too, fail to take the Russian spirit into account when making their plans. Let them come if they wish. They, too, shall regret attacking us."

The Mediterranean Syndicate: "Look upon them well, comrade. Look upon them and see what we are sworn to fight against, what Marx and Engels and Lenin all spoke of ending. They are capitalism incarnate. They are not merely corrupt, but corruption itself. They infect and consume and destroy anything and everything in their path. Comrade, these are not people but a plague come for us all. Yet when their blight dares taint the glorious Motherland, it is stopped and isolated and slain. We will not let it end at our borders, either. The Mediterranean Syndicate and all it represents must not simply be defeated, they must be annihilated."

The Electrical Protectorate: "What is it with the world today and blasted robots?! It's just another Japanese trick, of course, but there are times I wonder why history seems to have it in for Mother Russia..."

Army of the Republic of Vietnam: "Ah, here we see where the Capitalist oppression truly leads. Civilian villages bombed for sheltering the wounded. Farmlands poisoned to deny brave communists food. The Allies believe that backing this nation of corrupt generals will bring them victory? Do they honestly think that killing off those who do not support them will lead to a triumph? Next, you will tell me that Lenin is dancing atop the Kremlin!"

Vietcong: "This is where communism is born, comrade. Not out of a lust for power, or the dreams of madmen. These revolutionaries will show the Allies that a man cannot be oppressed forever. They fight with weapons that are nearly obsolete, yet they continue to score victory after victory. I have met some of these Vietcong, and they range from simple farmers to the university educated. They are what true socialism is, of the people binding themselves together and fighting for each other. Let the Allies have their South Vietnamese lackeys. We shall have the resolve of the Vietcong."

Allied Reservists: "Poor, deluded fools. They think their nations are still independent? They truly believe the Allies are not slowly absorbing their states into a greater collective? They fight in wars that their nations normally would never enter, and die in lands that they had never heard of before? Our conscripts fight proudly for the Union, for they are all members of the party, and understand the sacrifices required of them. Do these reservists even comprehend the fact that they are being sent against their oldest allies in America? Do their commanders not see the threat in this?"

National Revolutionary Army: "I cannot even call them capitalists, for they abandoned any such beliefs long before their own destruction. Even the Allies distanced themselves from them in the waning years before China destroyed itself. The NRA could not accept its own defeat, and so it took what was to be Communism's crowning achievement."

People's Liberation Army: "Sadly, the PLA was little better, and the Union felt that, since the actions of our allies in China were becoming more and more destabilising, and Mao Zedong had been decided to be a traitor to the true ideals of the global revolution. Yet still they fight, as though they can be saved. Possibly, then. If there is any hope for the PLA to return to its roots, to its principles of the people becoming one, then we will aid them again."

Global Liberation Army: "See what religion can do to people? I have read their Qur'an, and it is indeed a beautifully written piece of Middle Eastern literature. Yet these sad men, these desperate fanatics take it up as a holy cause? They believe that their own are so easily expendable as to be thrown into battles they have no chance of winning? And they dare use innocent civilians as a defence? Were it my choice, they would be dealt with by letting the full might of the Soviet Army loose on them. That would show them the folly of their ways."

International Inc: "An honest arms dealer? Ha! Did you know Orlov was once a member of the Party? Yes, comrade, the 'Lord of War' was once a fervent supporter of communism. Now, he peddles his designs to petty despots and terrorists. Imagine what he could have done, had he merely presented his works to the party."

Cult of the Black Hand: "The KGB station in Yugoslavia keeps reporting about some bizarre ritual cult of some sort. Frankly, they are not my concern, and they should not concern you either, comrade. There is nothing newsworthy about them."

The Empire of the Rising Sun

A Syndicate black bag team successfully breached Shinzo Nagami's personal residence and retrieved a number of interesting items, including a personal journal with the following.

The Allied Nations: "I am still not used to thinking of these barbarians as allies. Impolite to speak of our allies in such terms, perhaps, but mark my words: this is an alliance of convenience alone. Emperor Yoshiro's vision was flawed, but not wrong. The flaw was the speed with which we were to proceed. Conquering the world in one fell swoop was not possible. However, the naivete of these fools will be their undoing and our triumph. The moment this alliance no longer suits our purposes, we will strike. I have to thank them. Who else would willingly trust and ally with those who once tried to erase them? Who else would willingly hand over the keys to their destruction?"

The Confederate Revolutionaries: "I didn't think it was possible to be a lesser breed of humanity than the Soviets, but here the Americans go and prove me wrong. How do they rebel? By cowardly and dishonorable tactics. Ambushes, rabble rousing, deception and trickery... how the Americans can make speeches of grandeur and victory when employing such contemptible methods is beyond me. How could they possibly think their collection of malcontents, brigands, and military equipment obsolete even before being interred in mothballs could hope to stand against their overlords, much less deny us our destiny?"

The Soviet Union: "Brutes, with all that that term implies. Clumsy. Primitive. Ignorant. And powerful. It shames me to admit it, but we did underestimate the strength of the Soviet Union. They are barbarians, but they are barbarians with a great many tanks and ships. We will not underestimate them as we did before. As the Allies have said of the Soviets, quantity has a quality all its own. The murder of Yoshiro did teach us, but not the lesson the Soviets hoped. When the time comes to crush them, we will not be so merciful as we were before. We will not give them the chance to regroup and strike. The Odessa model of how to achieve victory will be applied on a much larger scale."

The Empire of the Rising Sun: "We are the future of this world, and all worlds beyond. Emperor Yoshiro and Prince Tatsu were correct about that. Simple, brutal military power was not the key to the future, we now know. Forcing ourselves upon destiny was nearly our undoing. Instead, destiny will come to us, drawn by our superiority and knowledge that her proper place is beneath us. The barbarians say that we lost the war, and our bid for global dominance. We did not. We simply changed our tactics to a different theatre. It demands more patience than simple conquest, but it is inevitable."

The Order of the Talon: "Now isn't this a fascinating little group? They employ the most absurd of technologies, and somehow field a half-credible fighting force! I would love to meet the men who design their clockwork and steam. They are beautiful works of art, quite pleasing to the eye. Oh, they keep shouting nonsense about their silly god and some purpose, but that army of theirs is just silly. I would like to get to know these people better, I think, once they start behaving like civilized people, or at least their engineers. There are rumours that they're actually spies or some such, but that's just nonsense. These people are all bark and no bite."

The Atomic Kingdom of China: "They are a raging fire upon the world. Bright and energetic and dangerous to approach, reducing everything they touch to ash. They may proclaim a desire to destroy the Soviets and Allies above all else, but we are no one's fools. They will come for us, sooner or later. They will come and burn our Empire to the ground and salt our fields. Or that's what they would like to do, if we let them. But we will not. Best to quench this fire before it gets out of hand, I think, no matter the bizarre weapons they bring to bear. The Chinese are not proper warriors. We are. Therefore, no amount of 'jade' will be sufficient to save them."

The Mediterranean Syndicate: "Ugh. The zaibatsu did business with these people, under the radar as it were, and the very thought of it sours my stomach. They are the worst of the Western vultures, circling over anything that smells even slightly rotten so they can feast upon it and anything that cannot defend itself. A pity the Syndicate is more intelligent than a mere bird. I have heard disquieting reports from the psychics about these people, too. I'm inclined to write off their impressions of the Syndicate having malevolent designs as simply sensing Western business practices, but I think we should keep an especially close watch, just in case."

The Electrical Protectorate: "Where did these things come from, I wonder? Our own technology could not do such things, yet they cannot be the artifice of barbarians. They are far too elegant for that. We must investigate these machines. Either they will bow to us or they will be destroyed. Our future has no place for errant machines."

Army of the Republic of Vietnam: "When we first occupied Vietnam for our divine destiny, we found that they would not bend to our will. So we punished them, again and again. But they always picked themselves up and threw themselves back into the fight until our reversal of fortunes forced us to leave that forsaken place. Now they fight among each other, pawns in a game between the Allies and Soviets. It is quite ironic how much the ARVN fights like we did in Vietnam, and it seems their fortunes are no more favorable than ours there."

Vietcong: "We are well aware of the fighting spirit of the Vietnamese guerrilla. No matter how harshly we disciplined them, they would keep on fighting our destiny with all the heart and soul. Indeed, it would seem that wherever we went, we were resisted. A bomb at every corner, a gun in the hand of every farmer. We had half a mind to simply burn the entire country. But I refuse to believe that they are as unconquerable as they claim. Some day, even their spirit will be broken against our fate."

Allied Reservists: "The Allies claim technological superiority over the world when the majority of their military still uses tanks from a war more than a decade past. When we battled their reservists, I was impressed by their bravery. Not so much their equipment. If the peacekeepers are the favored sons, then the reservists are the siblings left with only the toys the eldest does not choose first."

National Revolutionary Army: "Our relation with China stretches back centuries and many among us have long dreamed of conquering it. The nationalists would have felt our wrath in time had they not destroyed themselves. Their civil war tells me much of how such a campaign would have went. They'd have soon started throwing armies of mechanical half-men, cowering behind endless trenches, and fight a war as a turtle would. But they destroyed themselves in fire that could rival that of Amaterasu instead, and now only ghosts still cling to that cause."

People's Liberation Army: "They took the tenets of Communism and ran with it until even the Soviets were appalled at what they had created. Had we turned our focus to China, I have no doubt they would have used their vast population to throw endless waves of soldiers and shoddily made vehicles to impale themselves on our bayonets. They would have lost of course. But now they are one half of a burnt corpse of a nation, still fighting a war long ended because they know of nothing else.

Global Liberation Army: "When I thought that the confederates had hit the bedrock in terms of vileness, the GLA appeared with a drill and began to dig. They fill the hopeless with lies about paradise and how the outside world seeks to deny it to them, they slaughter the meek when they cannot fight the strong, they dress themselves as freedom fighters when they only offer a slavery far worse than what any outsider ever gave them. I am sure if we had holdings in the middle east they would have struck with all their cowardice and ignorant hatred. When the sun of Japan rises over all the world, they will find that they have no place in our order save for in a shallow grave."

International Inc: "They are war profiteers on an international scale, but I do not see any real reason for concern over them. The psychics report that they are mostly honest business men."

Cult of the Black Hand: "I know of the events that lead to the first world war. An ever complicating series of alliances, the French desire for revenge over past humiliation, every military wishing to show it's newfound might. It was a tinder that needed a spark. I recall from my studies of History of some Serbian madmen stylizing themselves as "The Black Hand" assassinating the heir to the Austrian throne and providing that spark. But I also remember from these same histories that the Austrians claimed to have gone and destroyed them all. But did they succeed? Could it have merely been a ruse, a distraction? No matter, they are irrelevant to us."

The Order of the Talon

Lady Maria once met with one of the enigmatic Triumvirate who lead the Order and asked them of other powers. These are the answers she recalls, more words than any Triumvirate has ever spoken before or since.

The Allied Nations: "None can deny their courage or intentions. The Allies truly do want to make the world a happier place. Their warriors are brave and leaders skilled. Yet they build their houses on sand, not stone. They are so enamored of the future and what could be that they forget the value of the past and the importance of asking whether you should, not merely if you can. Already the Americans strain against the yoke of 'progress'. They will not be the last, and it will be interesting to see what the Allied Nations do when they realize that their 'progress' enriches the body and the mind, but not the soul."

The Confederate Revolutionaries: "Brave. Resourceful. Reckless. Three words that have often been used to describe the Americans, and suit this rebellion as well. Contrary to what you might think, we had no hand in its birth. True, we certainly expected it, but it needed no assistance. It will be interesting to see what happens, I think, if this rebellion endures. It cannot stay confined to the United States alone. However, that is not why it demands careful observation. The Americans are focused on a short-term goal. There is a much longer game at work, and the Americans may be pieces on the board for one of the other players. We will play them too, if we must, but until and unless that becomes necessary, I find a bowl of popcorn the most appropriate response to their conflict with the Allies."

The Soviet Union: "A religion more than a nation. Communism, the people, the Motherland, whatever label you care to give the Russian idol. It is a jealous god, commanding that thou shalt have no other gods before it. In a way, they are more like us than they would ever care to admit. The Allies and Empire and Chinese will never truly defeat the Soviet Union, I think, because they fail to see that the Soviet Union is as much a thing of faith as it is of politics, and the Russian spirit is a devout one. Much as they would deride us as nothing but a dangerous cult, I cannot help but respect them and regret that they chose idolatry rather than true faith."

The Empire of the Rising Sun: "A soulless realm of soulless people. In the Empire exist the worst of the Allied Nations and the Soviet Union, wedded in an unholy union of idolatry and arrogance. There is much to be admired about the Japanese people. Their feats are truly impressive, and their history is such fertile ground for birthing a people to do good. Yet the Empire is a hollow, empty thing. They are so very much like Rome in its days of glory, and like Rome, their days of ruin are not far off. We need not speed the process. The Empire will destroy itself as is its nature, and we shall make sure that something better rises from the ruins."

The Order of the Talon: "Ours is a thankless task. None outside the Order will ever know the burdens we bear or the vigil we keep. The world will never mourn our dead or celebrate our victories. Such is the nature of our foe that true, lasting victory is perhaps not even possible. We are hunted, we are feared, and our role keeping God's people safe will never be acknowledged. Yet we will persevere. We do not need the thanks or praise of an empty people obsessed with the material. In the shadows we still protect God's flock even as they wander and stray and forget. In the shadows we fight and die in an endless vigil against shadows darker still. And you ask why we do it? So that the innocent may sleep soundly in their beds, unaware of the darker things we keep at bay."

The Atomic Kingdom of China: "Fools playing with forces they do not understand are nothing new in human history, yet the sheer magnitude of the forces the Chinese think they can control threatens to eclipse all of humanity. I know what this 'jade' of theirs is, and know that it would have been better had the Chinese simply been erased completely. For them, and for the rest of the world. In truth, I grieve for the Chinese and what will come of their actions. I do not think they are truly malicious, and do not personally blame them for what they do. And yet they have become a menace to us all in their grief and rage and short-sightedness. We will stop them if it comes to that, but I regret that they may need to be stopped to begin with."

The Mediterranean Syndicate: "Ah, what can I say of the Syndicate that you have not heard before? They are corrupt, decadent, and so on and so forth. All of that is of course true, but it is only the tip of the iceberg. Ugly as the public face of the Syndicate is, it is only a mask for something far worse. The "Mediterranean Syndicate" is only the current guise of a threat that stretches back further than the Allied Nations would ever think to look, and its true face is far more dangerous than a mere morally bankrupt megacorporation. I will tell you this: horrific as the satyrs and hector armours and men o' war are, the true horror of this entity wears a far more deceptive mask. It is how it has survived this long. And we shall not rest until the beast is slain."

The Electrical Protectorate: "Humanity is a resilient species. We have managed to avoid destroying ourselves so far, though the Chinese now seem bent on changing that record, and there is a spark of goodness and righteousness in even the most twisted of human beings. Yet there are older things than mankind, and I cannot guess what role they play in God's plan. A layman would call them aberrant things, abominations and horrors. And even that layman would realize that those words are just labels for something he dares not understand. To attempt to understand such things is to invite madness, and not even I dare try. Humans, for good and ill, are intrinsically aware of how small and impermanent we are in this world. What I fear is that things that are not human, and not aware of how limited their own existence in God's plan is, will open doors never meant to be opened. Doors that may not be possible to shut."

Army of the Republic of Vietnam: "There is little of note to say about the ARVN itself. They are yet another corrupt, totalitarian military-led state that glories in the oppression of its own people. The interesting element is their alliance with the Allied Nations. The ARVN represents almost everything the Allies profess to hate, yet are welded to them by virtue of who their enemies are. It is little wonder that the Allied Nations work frantically to forget the nature of the viper they have invited into their home. The Allies are strong, but they are brittle. There is little reason for us to intervene for now, but the ARVN might be an interesting wedge to drive into the Allies should it prove necessary."

Vietcong: "I wish there was something we could realistically do for the Vietnamese people. They truly do want freedom and respite from the horrors of war, but have become a pawn in the games of the Allies and Soviets. It may seem hypocritical to condemn those powers for doing so, but they are far more heavy-handed at the age-old game than we, to the point of defeating the purpose of using them. Unfortunately, there is little room for us to work in Vietnam. You do not stick your hand into an inferno unless you are certain it will be worth it, and there is little certain about Vietnam save that it is dangerous. Perhaps when this storm passes we will be able to do something about and for the Vietnamese, but that time has not yet come."

Allied Reservists: "Allied society is beginning to slide into the technological haves and have-nots. They do not and cannot supply their scientific boons to all the world they control, much less the planet as a whole, even as they promise that they will do so. The Peacekeepers are the haves. The Reservists are the have-nots. They have only a trickle of their masters' wonders, and welcome it as a starved hound does the odd scrap of meat it is allowed. Yet the apparent stability of the Reservists and indeed the Allied Nations outside Western Europe and their select allies is ultimately a pillar of smoke on a still day. Seemingly a pillar that can hold up the heavens, but a gentle breeze will bring it all crashing down. Whether we will be that breeze, or a glass wall protecting them from a threat they cannot see, much less see us, remains to be seen."

National Revolutionary Army: "The dead do not rest easily. China is lost on a scale that humanity has not witnessed since the Great Flood. The Chinese who have not succumbed to the Atomic Kingdom still go through the motions of their lives without any understanding of what their lives mean anymore. Stripped of sapience and of their waking souls, they continue to fight a futile and pointless war. We will save those who have preserved the flicker of rationality and hope, but so many more are forever lost. Perhaps it is for the best that they cannot survive. If the other Chinese factions do not destroy them, the Allies, Soviets, or Empire will. In a way, it would be a mercy to let their bodies finally join their minds and spirits."

People's Liberation Army: "All that I have said of the Blue Chinese applies also to the Red. They are two halves of one sundered, brutalised stone."

Global Liberation Army: "Howling barbarians attempting to justify their wanton destruction of civilisation and sacred things is hardly a new development to history. Most of the Goths who sacked Rome claimed to be Christian, and the GLA's deeds and connection to Islam is no different. The only significance these misguided zealots possess is that they know we exist and may call untoward attention from the other powers whose ankles they have bitten."

International Inc: "Irrelevant."

The Cult of the Black Hand: "The Cult has been physically diminished over the centuries, but the Chamber Militant's war against the Cult has never been anything more than a sideshow. The Cult, as a relevant force, is not a group of men and equipment. It is an idea. That idea is chaos and destruction as worthy ends in and of themselves, a vain belief that small and insignificant people and what are ultimately only their own petty, selfish desires matter in the end and will be rewarded by possibly literal deus ex machina. Few things are harder to kill than an idea, particularly one that rationalises the worst impulses of mankind. People don't really want to believe that it's wrong to hurt someone else, and will flock to any cause that lets them wallow in their sin. The Cult offers this and more. Fighting the Cult is not, and never has been, a contest of muscle and fire. It is a war of ideas. To know that the Cult exists at all is to allow it to survive."

The Atomic Kingdom of China

The author of this journal 'acquired' by an Allied spy is not known, but the insight into the thought processes of the Atomic Kingdom is considered invaluable.

The Allied Nations: "Of all the outsiders, the Allies are the ones most likely to interfere and seek to subvert us, I think. They coat their words in sugar like a courtesan among courtesans, and I think they might even believe what they say. Such trouble for them, that what they see as benevolent intentions we know is intrusion with intent to dominate. They call us reckless and dangerous, no doubt, comparing us to their naive ideals and finding us wanting. Their idiocy is not our place to correct except by destroying their invasions. Invasions political, cultural, and likely military soon. They do realize that so long as we exist, we are a threat to them. Alas, their wisdom is not sufficient to save them."

The Confederate Revolutionaries: "The weak die off to make room for the strong. That is the way of things. The greater the catastrophe, the stronger you must be to survive, and from such trials are a strong people forged. Such principles exist among insects as well as the Middle Kingdom. I do not know or care what grievance the Yankee rebels have with their imperial masters. It does not matter. Whichever triumphs will be stronger for it. Kings among ants."

The Soviet Union: "For such barbaric outsiders, I believe they deserve a certain degree of respect. They have no allies and are surrounded by foes, yet they persevere and indeed seem to thrive. Rather like cockroaches. Hardy little insects that have survived even the cataclysm where so many people did not. We will teach them humility, yes, but do not underestimate their stubbornness and resilience. When it comes to purging such infestations as this, you must destroy them utterly. Miss a few, and they will spread and multiply and before you know it you'll have the same problem all over again."

The Empire of the Rising Sun: "It is time for the Rising Sun to set forever. Look at them, sitting high in their citadels of glass and steel, attended by living and mechanical servants in indolent luxury and insolent pride. A greater breed of coward does not exist, sending countless machines to do what they know their people are not capable of. They were crushed as was inevitable, but those foolish Allies think the Japanese can be tamed. No. The Empire of the Rising Sun will be utterly destroyed before we leave this broken world. Not only will it be destroyed, they will come to know that they have fallen beyond hope of recovery. Fallen by our hand and beyond hope of recovery. They will burn."

The Order of the Talon: "I am intrigued. Such an absurd notion as fighting fanatically for a god is difficult to credit at first thought, but now that I have studied what we know of this 'order', it strikes me that mere religion cannot be the only motivating force behind them. For their troops, perhaps. It is a good way to ensure a steady flow of recruits no doubt, but it is transparently obvious that there is more to these cultists than meets the eye. Their peculiar technology requires too much artistry to be the work of simple fanatics. Their movements aren't blunt enough. These insects are up to something, and I intend to find out what."

The Atomic Kingdom of China: "We are the Middle Kingdom and the time has come to take our rightful place in this world and beyond. No longer will we be pawns of outsiders and customers for their vice and debauchery. The Allies, Soviets, and Japanese all thought us weak and gullible. How wrong they were, and now their reckoning has come. We endured the jade and emerged the stronger for it, lords of science and a place such weaklings could never survive. And we will reach beyond the outsiders and to the stars that belong to us. Let the outsiders tremble. The Middle Kingdom has risen."

The Mediterranean Syndicate: "The looters in the guise of merchants are nothing new to us. We recall the rape of our country by the British, the Americans, the Dutch and all the rest of them well enough. This Syndicate is the same old tiger in slightly different stripes that it thinks will fool us. Pathetic. I doubt they will be wise enough to stay out of our path, but if they are, there is no point in chasing them. Such are the insects that killing this hive would simply make room for another to arise. The only thing available for sale here is death, and the Syndicate can have as much as it wants."

The Electrical Protectorate: "Such cheap parlor tricks may impress and frighten outsiders, but the Middle Kingdom is made of sterner stuff. I do not care what these silver things are. I do not care where they come from. I do not care who their masters are. I do not care what they seek to accomplish. If they want this world, they can have it. We're done with it anyway."

Army of the Republic of Vietnam: "It is quite intriguing how both the Allies and the Soviets still throw money at their prized chickens at the cockfight they call a war. South Vietnam's leaders are idiotic to think that doing in Vietnam what Kai-Shek tried to do to China shall lead to a different outcome. On second thought, as they neither have the resources and the will to even send Rangers in our blasted land, we will simply watch Vietnam tear itself asunder; a beautiful sight to watch their leaders kill their own brothers over fruitless ideals, no?

Vietcong: "Ho Chi Minh... yes, you and your soldiers possess zeal and determination that can withstand raining napalm and bloodthirsty Rangers... but the Red Chinese had the same thing before their eventual downfall. You are essentially making the very same mistake Mao did: blindingly trust the Soviets as they feed your army with guns and tanks. And where did that get them? When they inevitably turn their back on you and stab you in the back like they did to China... no sympathy shall befall you; you people will once again repeat history.

Allied Reservists: "Their so-called 'reservists' possess no differences from soldiers forced to fight for the Blue Chinese even after death - brainwashed, subservient, incapable of independent thought. Even our clones are far more competent and disciplined in what they do than the Allies' faceless armies. The moment they step onto our Jade-scattered lands, they shall be instantly felled by monsters, bandits, and our own Jiang Shi if necessary - their coddled lifestyles shall not save them when that time comes.'

National Revolutionary Army: "To see Kai-Shek's nationalists degenerate from united defensive lines to warring 'kingdoms' is a hilarious sight to behold. Their leaders promised them national unity and peace when they dropped bombs to our former Beijing, yet those very same leaders have their kingdoms kill each other for whatever resources and territory they can gain from our land. Their actions are ultimately inconsequential; the Middle Kingdom only offers one ultimatum: either you win, or you die."

People's Liberation Army: "Even more delightful is seeing Mao's ideological sons and daughters exposing their true colors as uncivilized thugs instead of communism's children that their sickening propaganda made them out to be. While they remain multiplying like pregnant rabbits to scavenge what is left to be scavenged in China, our superior numbers shall dwindle them until they are utterly vaporized; their corrupt rhetoric is wiped off the face of this country like Mao himself.

Global Liberation Army: "Back in its prime, the Middle Kingdom has learned its lesson on religious lunacy hard in Taiping. This delusional, fanatical 'Army' is very much the same as Hong Xiuquan's lackeys who were deceived by the silver-tongued madman himself. And much like his 'Heavenly Kingdom', it soon shall be razed to the ground, not leaving vultures to scavenge from its domain - although this army's idiotic zealotry shall be their downfall against their numerous foes. We might not need to aim our weakest ray cannon at them; their defeat shall ultimately be by their own hand."

International Inc: "This breed of opportunistic merchants largely remain the same like they were in the past - selling swords and guns to our own countrymen to kill fellow countrymen. But even if they were to form one of their markets in our own land, even something as simple as a squadron of watchmen shall immediately kick them out of the Kingdom."

Cult of the Black Hand: "There shall always be men who shall manipulate thousands for their own wants, disregarding chaos and suffering that shall occur. Much like Kai-Shek and Mao, this 'cult' from what information we have gathered seems to present butchery and destruction with a friendly exterior. The Leang Hegemony's ascent to power is no mere coincidence; surely this cult must have a hand in its formation. But like the Hegemony, all it takes to annihilate these scorpions from the face of the earth is a simple press of the button

The Mediterranean Syndicate

The following is a recording of a meeting between Anton Boyanovsky, the Principate of the Atlantis Sprawl, and an unidentified second party with whom Brian appears to have had something of a mentor relationship with.

The Allied Nations: "A ripe investment opportunity, make no mistake, but be very careful how you proceed. The Allies are growing suspicious of us despite all we do for them, and they are becoming more like the Soviet Union by the day with how much control they exert over their people and their economies. Costly as actual safety and security measures for your businesses might be in Allied territory, if those inspectors make a surprise appearance and your operations aren't up to their standards, they will crush you like a bug with no respect for your wealth or position. Doing business with the Allies is still rewarding, but it is growing very risky."

The Confederate Revolutionaries: "Good, old-fashioned insurrection and revolution, and we've got the market on their guns cornered. Sell to the rebels, sell to the Allies, business is good in America. But please don't sell either side anything that could actually tip the balance of power. The Board of Classics is annoyed as it is that they got their hands on those earthquake machines. The longer the war goes on, the more profitable it is for us. Who knows? If we can keep it going long enough, both sides will be so weakened and exhausted by the end that we can step in and finally institute a hostile takeover of the whole country."

The Soviet Union: "Ignore their drivel about socialism and the will of the people. As much as the Soviets like to claim they're above doing business with us, all you actually need to do is find the right ear to speak to. It will have to be under the counter, of course, but the Soviet leaders know how much they need us whether they like it or not. Mostly not, but as long as you aren't reckless, you will find business with the Soviets to be profitable. If you do get carried away, they will come down on you like a ton of bricks and set progress back ten years. So don't. If you upset the Soviet Union, they won't be the only ones to punish you for your carelessness."

The Empire of the Rising Sun: "Tough crowd. You'd think we'd already control Japan already, but their greed is matched only by their arrogance and overconfidence. If you want to do business with the Empire, a different approach from usual is necessary. First, galling as it might be, let them think they have the upper hand with you. They're all too happy to believe it. Second, make your pitch as soft and even appeasing as you can. They don't play hardball well, but a soft touch will slip right past their brains and into their pockets. Lastly, security is paramount. Those psychics of theirs are very good, but can still be outsmarted like anybody else."

The Order of the Talon: "...These guys. Yeah, I've had run-ins with them, too. Do not, I repeat do not think these lunatics are just a really eccentric band of guerillas. They are smart, they are organized, and they cannot be intimidated, bribed, or persuaded to stop. These guys are absolute fanatics and have pegged us as the Antichrist or something. The only way to stop them is to kill them or give them what they want. Usually, what they want is your head on a platter. Once you see them near your operations, break out the biggest guns you have and call up the Legionnaires. Then call us, and fight like your life depends on it. It probably does."

The Atomic Kingdom of China: "Like the Soviet Union, but worse. They aren't interested in negotiating or doing business, and will usually open fire the moment they see us. Something about us being meddling outsiders. The Chinese don't care about business at all, and have tech right out of comic books, with an extra large helping of massive destruction. You want my advice? Steer clear of these guys, period. If you see them near your property, they are going to attack so get ready for a fight. They don't even care about their own losses if they get what they want. Analyze and steal their stuff if you can, but above all else, fight to survive."

The Mediterranean Syndicate: "Human behaviour is economic behaviour. The particulars may vary, but competition for limited resources remains a constant. Need as well as greed have followed us to the future, and the rewards of wealth still await those wise enough to recognize this deep thrumming of our common pulse. Let the Allies and Soviets wage wars between 'freedom' and 'authoritarianism'. Let the Empire peddle their toys and the Confederates their revolution. We were here before any of them, and we'll be here after they all disappear. You see, the Syndicate is not just an economic conglomerate. Those corporations that control energy supplies are known as 'the power company' in their turf. We intend to give that term an entirely new meaning."

The Electrical Protectorate: "I assume you've been briefed. Then you know there's not much to say about the robots. Robots don't want to buy anything. I don't think they even have any money, and if they can talk, they haven't done so to us. However, if you can get your hands on their tech, buyers will be lining up to pay very handsomely for whatever you can scrounge up or salvage. That said, stay the hell away from the structures we've identified as 'summoners'. You don't have clearance to know what those do, but it is seriously bad mojo. If you see one, just destroy it. Trust me: trying to figure out what they do is a really, really bad investment."

Army of the Republic of Vietnam: "South Vietnam is hot and heavy now, and even with the Allies propping them up, the Rangers need all the help they can get. My advice? Play your anti-commie hand well. They need arms, munitions, vehicles; you name it, they have the market. Slip a few dollars into the right pockets, and suddenly we have control of the drug trade in the region."

Vietcong: "Oh, these bastards. They completely dismantled our infrastructure when the French bugged out, and the Board was, to put it lightly, pissed. Now they're running around the jungles, making life hell for the Allies and Rangers, but they'll waste you too if you get too obvious. Steer clear of the jungles, pal. Or you'll wake up with your shipments stolen and your people dead."

Allied Reservists: "Dope, liquor, a warm body? These guys buy it all when they're on leave. Yeah, sure, they're Allies, but they're also human. Set yourself up in the right town, and they'll flock to you looking for it all. Just make sure you don't get too obvious yourself. Those bastards at Interpol are starting to wise up to the Reservists being supplied by our more discrete elements."

National Revolutionary Army: "I heard Romulus say once that he was actually impressed with what these bastards tried to do with their own cybernetics program. Course, then he added that the stuff was so primitive you'd get better results banging two rocks together. There's no future in China anyway."

People's Liberation Army: "Ditto here, especially with the whole communism thing they've got going on."

Global Liberation Army: "Yeah, yeah, 'great satan' to you too, pal. Sure, their ground pounders are pretty stupid, and yes, we're even taking our own field recruits into account, but their leaders have a lot of cash, and a lot of interesting ideas on how to use it. Just shout about death to the West every few seconds, and you're golden. Oh, and word of advice? Haggle like mad, they love it. If it weren't for them screwing our operations in Afghanistan half the time, we'd have made a good relationship with them, like the Confederates. Sad that they don't have more business sense."

International Inc: "Xanatos. Xanatos, Xanatos, Xanatos. Bastard made off like a bandit and then sets himself up with Orlov, our biggest competitor. Do you have any idea how many of International Inc's designs were originally meant for us? Exactly. Neither does Orlov. Xanatos always has a long game at play, so watch your back."

Cult of the Black Hand: "I don't know why the Board wants to destroy this 'cult' so bad. Whatever they are, all they ever seem to do is to cause chaos for chaos' sake. Honestly, I kind of agree with the Board; these guys give me the creeps. If you ever see them inside a Sprawl, I'd suggest you burn that hab block to the ground."

The Electrical Protectorate

Initializing. Program: Organic Interaction -> "Diplomacy". Commence Evaluation: Organic Super-Clusters ("Powers").

The Allied Nations: Evaluation complete. Subject: Allied Nations -> Objective: Subjugation: Cultural, Military. Scale: Global. Technology: Advanced -> Experimental -> Focus: Military -> Civilian: Low. Strengths: Ideological unity, technology-based weapons. Weaknesses: Geographic dispersal, internal politics. Technology Value: High. Military Threat: High. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: High -> Sustained: Poor. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Distrust, friendliness -> Sustained: Paranoia, aggression. Cumulative Threat Index: High. Recommendation: Cripple laboratories -> Impair advanced weapon capabilities. Recommendation: Psychological Attack -> Demoralize civilian population.

The Confederate Revolutionaries: Evaluation complete. Subject: Confederate Revolutionaries. Objective: Revolution -> Political: Independence -> Political. Scale: Regional. Technology: Poor -> Modification of old technology -> Focus: Military. Strengths: Mobility, Decentralized organization. Weaknesses: Military, limited objectives. Technology Value: Low. Military Threat: Low. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Poor -> Sustained: Poor. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Fear, aggression -> Sustained: Aggression. Cumulative Threat Index: Low. Recommendation: Focus on higher priority targets. Recommendation: Avoid provoking attacks while engaging higher priority targets.

The Soviet Union: Evaluation complete. Subject: Soviet Union -> Objective: External revolution -> Social, Political, Economic. Scale: Global. Technology: Moderate -> Volatile Basis -> Focus: Industrial -> Inefficient, Effective. Strengths: Ideology, Resources -> Material, Population. Weaknesses: Size, leadership. Technology Value: Moderate. Military Threat: Moderate. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Poor -> Sustained: Moderate. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Paranoia, aggression -> Sustained: mutual distrust, non-aggression. Cumulative Threat Index: Moderate. Recommendation: Develop large-scale offensive systems. Recommendation: Avoid open engagements until suitable military strength established.

The Empire of the Rising Sun: Evaluation complete. Subject: Empire of the Rising Sun. Objective: Conquest -> Military, Economic. Scale: Global. Technology: Advanced -> Robotics -> Nanotechnology -> Directed energy. Strengths: Economic power, Ideology -> Religion. Weaknesses: Limited resources -> Material, Population. Technology Value: High. Military Threat: Moderate. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: High -> Sustained: Moderate. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Presumptuous, arrogance -> Sustained: Overconfidence. Cumulative Threat Index: Moderate. Recommendation: Feign weakness, humility, awe. Recommendation: Analyze technology, integrate useful advances, subvert enemy systems.

The Order of the Talon: Evaluation complete. Subject: Order of the Talon. Objective: Unknown -> Social, Religious. Scale: Global (Estimated: insufficent data). Technology: Primitive -> Steam -> Clockwork -> Metallurgy: Advanced. Strengths: Religious motivation, lack of data. Weaknesses: Limited resources -> Material, Population (Estimated: insufficient data). Technology Value: Low. Military Threat: Low (Estimated: insufficient data). Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Poor (Estimated: insufficient data) -> Sustained: Poor (Estimated: insufficient data). Probable Reaction -> Initial: Xenophobia, aggression -> Sustained: Unknown. Cumulative Threat Index: Low (Estimated: insufficient data). Recommendation: Gather additional data. Recommendation: Avoid provoking attacks until more data is acquired.

The Atomic Kingdom of China: Evaluation complete. Subject: Atomic Kingdom. Objective: Destruction -> Revenge -> Allied Nations, Soviet Union. Objective: Interplanetary colonization. Scale: Interplanetary. Technology: Advanced -> Volatile -> 'Jade'. Strengths: Destructive capabilities, mobility, defenses. Weaknesses: Volatile technology basis, fragile habitation basis. Technology Value: Moderate. Military Threat: High. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Poor -> Sustained: Poor. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Xenophobia, aggression -> Sustained: Xenophobia, aggression. Cumulative Threat Index: High. Recommendation: Attack non-clone population. Recommendation: Sabotage orbital, planetary habitats.

The Mediterranean Syndicate: Evaluation complete. Subject: Mediterranean Syndicate. Objective: Material Profit. Scale: Global. Technology: Advanced -> Computers -> Cybernetics -> Focus: Military, Economic. Strengths: Economic power, Resources -> Material. Weaknesses: Ideology, Resources -> Population. Technology Value: High. Military Threat: Low. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Moderate -> Sustained: Moderate. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Acquisition of material profit -> Sustained: Acquisition of material profit. Cumulative Threat Index: Moderate. Recommendation: Analyze technology, integrate useful advances. Recommendation: Neutralize advanced computer data, capabilities.

The Electrical Protectorate: Self-analysis exceeds program specifications.

Army of the Republic of Vietnam: Evaluation complete. Subject: ARVN. Objective: Independence -> Political -> Internal subjugation of dissent. Scale: Local. Technology: Poor -> Salvage, Allied surplus -> Focus: Military. Strengths: Knowledge of home terrain, Allied support -> Military, Economic. Weaknesses: Internal ideological dissent, Resources -> Material, Population, Dependent on Allies -> Military, Economic. Technology Value: Marginal. Military Threat: Marginal. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Poor -> Sustained: Poor. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Fear, aggression -> Sustained: Aggression. Cumulative Threat Index: Marginal. Recommendation: Ignore as factor in strategic planning.

Vietcong: Evaluation complete. Subject: Vietcong. Objective: Independence -> Political, Military. Scale: Local. Technology: Poor -> Salvage, Soviet surplus -> Focus: Military. Strengths: Knowledge of home terrain, guerilla tactics -> Soviet support -> Military. Weaknesses: Resources -> Military, Population; Incapable of large-scale action. Technology Value: Marginal. Military Threat: Marginal. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Poor -> Sustained: Poor. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Fear, aggression -> Sustained: Aggression. Cumulative Threat Index: Marginal. Recommendation: Ignore as factor in strategic planning.

Allied Reservists: Evaluation complete. Subject: Allied Reservists. Objective: Support -> Allied Nations, defense of homelands. Scale: Overall -> Global, Individually -> Regional. Technology: Moderate -> Focus: Military -> Allied technology: Civilian. Strengths: Ideology -> Patriotism, Resources -> Material, Population; Allied support -> Technological, Economic, Military. Weaknesses: Dependent on Allies: Political, Economic. Technology Value: Low. Military Threat: Low. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Moderate -> Sustained: Moderate. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Fear -> Sustained: Fear, aggression. Cumulative Threat Index: Low. Recommendation: Subvert bonds with Allied Nations. Recommendation: Isolate component states, destroy piecemeal.

National Revolutionary Army: Evaluation complete. Subject: Blue China. Objective: Independence -> Military, Political: Join Allied Nations. Scale: Regional. Technology: Poor -> Outdated Allied technology. Strengths: Ideology, defensive tactics. Weaknesses: Resources -> Material, Population; Dependent on Allied Nations: Military, Economic, Political. Technology Value: Marginal. Military Threat: Marginal. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Poor -> Sustained: Poor. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Fear, aggression -> Sustained: Fear, aggression. Cumulative Threat Index: Marginal. Recommendation: Ignore as factor in strategic planning.

People's Liberation Army: Evaluation complete. Subject: Red China. Objective: Independence -> Military, Political: Join Soviet Union. Scale: Regional. Technology: Poor -> Focus: Military -> Brute force.. Strengths: Ideology, willingness to inflict mass destruction. Weaknesses: Resources -> Material, Population; Dependent on Soviet Union: Economic, Political. Technology Value: Marginal. Military Threat: Low. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Poor -> Sustained: Poor. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Fear, aggression -> Sustained: Fear, aggression. Cumulative Threat Index: Low. Recommendation: Avoid provoking attacks while engaging higher priority targets.

Global Liberation Army: Evaluation complete. Subject: Global Liberation Army. Objective: Independence -> Political, Economic, Religious; Conquest -> Religious. Scale: Regional. Technology: Poor -> Chemical weaponry; Civilian: Marginal. Strengths: Religious ideology, low priority by enemies. Weaknesses: Marginal large-scale military capability, Resources -> Population. Technology Value: Marginal. Military Threat: Marginal. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Poor -> Sustained: Poor. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Aggression -> Sustained: Aggression. Cumulative Threat Index: Marginal. Recommendation: Ignore as factor in strategic planning.

International, Inc: Evaluation complete. Subject: International, Inc. Objective: Material profit. Scale: Global. Technology: Poor -> Military industrial conglomerate. Strengths: Mass production of military equipment. Weaknesses: Not true military, political faction; Marginal military, political capabilities. Technology Value: Low. Military Threat: Marginal. Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Moderate -> Sustained: Moderate. Probable Reaction -> Initial: Acquisition of material profit -> Sustained: Acquisition of material profit. Cumulative Threat Index: Marginal. Recommendation: Ignore as factor in strategic planning.

Cult of the Black Hand: Evaluation complete. Subject: Cult of the Black Hand. Objective: Unknown -> Social, Religious. Scale: Global (Estimated: insufficent data). Technology: Poor -> Salvage, chemical weaponry.. Strengths: Religious motivation, lack of data. Weaknesses: Limited resources -> Material, Population (Estimated: insufficient data). Technology Value: Low. Military Threat: Marginal (Estimated: insufficient data). Collaboration Potential -> Initial: Poor (Estimated: insufficient data) -> Sustained: Poor (Estimated: insufficient data). Probable Reaction -> Initial: Aggression -> Sustained: Unknown. Cumulative Threat Index: Marginal (Estimated: insufficient data). Recommendation: Gather additional data. Recommendation: Avoid provoking attacks until more data is acquired.

Army of the Republic of Vietnam

Colonel Truong Trang, an outspoken commander of the ARVN, provided a candid interview for a militarist-oriented magazine, which created a fresh wave of controversy for the ARVN when his statements were uncovered and published by the international press. Although the ARVN officially reprimanded the Colonel for his more controversial statements, many claim that Trang's words represent much of the ARVN High Command’s political views, moreso than any of their official statements to the Allied press.

The Allied Nations: "I do not exactly resent the Allies – indeed, it is only from their support of funds, weapons, and reinforcements that the Vietcong haven’t already driven our entire army into the sea. However, I am constantly frustrated by how the Allies try to muzzle our war efforts, even though they’re the only way to defeat the Vietcong. How we can’t round up citizens and interrogate them for any information they have, even if it could show where the Vietcong are. How we can’t destroy villages known to have Vietcong association, even if it will ensure the Vietcong presence is destroyed. How we can’t sweep into North Vietnam, and topple Ho Chi Minh’s government, even though that would cut off the Vietcong’s head like the snake it was. The fact that their Peacekeepers, in the few times they are deployed, can utterly shatter Vietcong militants like a typhoon demolishes bamboo, makes me even more frustrated – not because they’re showing us up, but because of how much more they could do if they left their precious moral codes behind, and realized the only way to win the war was to exterminate anybody remotely associated with the enemy."

The Confederate Revolutionaries: "I honestly have no idea what to think of this so-called Confederacy. On the one hand, their tactics remind me all too much of the damn Vietcong, and their principles of the 'common man' rising in open revolt against their government should make me want them wiped out all the same. But on the other hand… their members have almost been universally supportive of our war against the Vietcong, and how we are not afraid to resort to tactics that ensure we exterminate every trace of the communist enemy. Indeed, a few of their higher-profile leaders wish to offer the support of a new United States against the Vietcong, unchecked by the so-called ‘international laws’ forced upon us by the Allies. No, I don’t think that the Revolutionaries can overthrow the Allied government in America, and even if I could, I wouldn’t send any support to them to do so. But, if they hypothetically did triumph in their struggle, and their new America did give us the support they promised… they’d make a much better partner to work with than the Allies in fighting the Vietcong."

The Soviet Union: "See what happens if you let the communist cancer take hold without immediately eradicating it?! The Allies should have invaded and purged Russia the minute Lenin took over the country, but they didn’t do anything until Stalin brought his half-starved hordes charging over Europe! The Soviets have almost brought the entire world to its knees not once, but twice, and both times, it was not properly subjugated or destroyed, but merely forced to a mere ‘truce’ with the Allies. Even when the Imperials began to bloody their hands the way the Allies never dared to, and even had their sword pressed firm in the heart of Russia, the Soviet cancer had by then swollen to nearly impervious sizes, and they managed to chase Japan all the way back to its home islands! It is fortunate that the new Premier is too cowardly to send anything more than military surplus to the Vietcong, because if the Soviets were to take the offensive again, they would engulf the planet in a red tide… unless all the nations finally decide to use our doctrine of extermination to put an end to their viral ideology, once and for all!"

The Empire of the Rising Sun: "The Japanese were very bad for Vietnam… but they were, in a way, good for me, and my like-minded commanders in the ARVN. It is through their occupation that we learned even the mightiest power can face bold resistance, in spite of how they think punitive actions may deter it. They could publically humiliate or execute a single dissident, they could open fire in a crowd of protestors, they could pick brushfire wars with the rebels in the jungles... but so long as they left any man, woman, or child who rejected their rule alive, the enemeies of the Imperial occupation would strike back a thousand fold. Had they waged the extermination doctrine on us as we wage it now on the Vietcong, there would be no North or South Vietnam, and you would likely be speaking to an Imperial Shogun today instead of an ARVN Colonel… or possibly an Allied or Soviet officer instead, depending on which power forced the Japanese from Vietnam during their retreat. The ARVN will not make the same mistakes as the Japanese, no matter how much the Allies try to make us repeat them. When some peasants do not obey the commands we give them, we won’t slap them around in the vain hopes of changing their minds – we will execute the dissenters immediately, and efficiently, until only those who obey our commands remain."

The Order of the Talon: "This so-called Order would barely be a blip on our radar if it actually existed, if even that. We know for a fact that no communist state will cooperate with or be influenced by a religious institution, so that would only leave the Talon the option of helping us in our fight against the Vietcong… if they had any sense. If members of the Talon are currently sabotaging our diplomatic ties with the Allies in a vain attempt to bring us down, I only have one thing to say to them: you can try to get us abandoned by the Allies, you may succeed in destroying the ARVN, and you may even find a way, through our destruction, to drag the Allies down with us. But if you do, there will be absolutely no safeguard when the godless communist hordes turn their undivided attention to purging you for your religious ideologies, burning you all away lest your ‘opiate for the masses’ sway their brainwashed peasants. You may call us evil and corrupt, but we are a corrupt evil defending the world from oblivion – whether you want us as your defenders, or not."

The Atomic Kingdom of China: "Now this is just plain ridiculous! Everybody is scared of how the Atomic Kingdom is somehow the army most likely to wipe out the world, even more so than the cancerous communists! But have you actually considered how much the Kingdom relies on Jade for this supposed strength? If you look at anything beyond what the Green Chinese are experts in – beyond their clone armies, space lasers, and atomic warheads – what do they have in the way of government? Of military tactics? Of basic engineering of units or structures? Absolutely nothing – if it wasn’t for their inflated fears of Jade, the Allies and Soviets would’ve already wiped the Atomic Kingdom from the face of this Earth, and even swatted their spaceships out of the heavens! Sooner rather than later, one of the superpowers will finally launch a full invasion of Green China, and the Atomic Kingdom will be exterminated by them before they can even take control of the blasted remains of the NRA or PLA; that much is clear. The only question is who will exterminate the Kingdom, and take their stocks of nuclear weapons for themselves? I hope it will be the Allies, and that they will use the atomic weapons to sweep communism clean from this world in the same fires that engulfed the PLA – I know that the Soviets would do the same to every non-communist state should they succeed instead."

The Mediterranean Syndicate: "Now, the Mediterranean Syndicate is more our speed than the pushover Allies – agreeing to let us destroy communism by any means necessary, and willing to support us every step of the way. Yes, they are almost certain to have ties to the criminal underworld, from the Mafia in Italy to the street gangs in Saigon itself. But if the Syndicate can rally these criminals to suppress the invading Vietcong from infiltrating our society, I welcome it! Better to have a gang of money-seeking criminals paid for your government's safety than a horde of insane communists banging down your doors."

The Electrical Protectorate: "Assuming this ‘robot army’ did exist, we will combat just as much as the Vietcong. But, according to your reports, the robots will have to go through North Vietnam to get to us, thereby needing to exterminate the communists before fighting us. In that case, I’ll happily let them slaughter the Vietcong to the last man, doing our job for us – it will only give us more time to prepare for their assault, at any rate."

Army of the Republic of Vietnam: As a military officer, I have no comment on the official government running South Vietnam, or on the accusations of corruption within it. However, as a military officer, I do have a comment on how we are fighting the war against the Vietcong – the war we wage is one of extermination, plain and simple. If the soldiers of South Vietnam do not slaughter every peasant fighting for the Vietcong, the peasants of the Vietcong will slaughter every soldier fighting for South Vietnam. Sure, the Allies claim the war is one based on morale, and that the war will end one side breaks the others’ will to fight – that may apply to their cowardly Peacekeepers, and their naïve Reservists, but it does not apply for the Vietcong, nor does it apply to the ARVN. Some say our extermination doctrine is unfeasible. Some say that the only way to exterminate any trace of the Vietcong is to kill over 75% of our population. If it is, I would say, so be it – killing 75% of Vietnam is justifiable, as long as the surviving 25% is the ARVN."

Vietcong: "Some question why I am willing to kill so many of my people. How I am able to order the deaths of men and women, young and old, just for being on another side? The answer, simply put, is that joining the side of the Vietcong means they are no longer my people – indeed, they are less than empty shells, fighting mindlessly for the doublethink doctrines within their little red books. The fact that they use non-military assets to wage the war for them doesn’t change that fact. If an old woman planted stakes to prevent helicopters from landing, I would burn the woman with her stakes. If a teenage boy took a handgun, and shot at ARVN soldiers before running away, I would take the handgun, and shoot that boy dead in the street with it. Some claim this only inspires more to join the Vietcong, but I simply say, ‘those who join the Vietcong are not loyal citizens of South Vietnam, and will be executed for their treason'."

Allied Reservists: "Like the Allied Peacekeepers, the Reservists hold great potential, but they hold themselves to the same moral codes that prevent them from exterminating the Vietcong. However, unlike the Peacekeepers, the Reservists are forced to fight more often, with less advanced weaponry, and pay for it with a rising toll in dead and wounded. Also unlike the Peacekeepers, the Reservists are slowly coming around to our tactics in fighting this war. Instead of stopping us from questioning suspected citizens, they help us round them up and interrogate them side-by-side with our intelligence officers, helping us learn valuable information exponentially. Where they once held fast to the idea no village should be razed even in the face of communist infiltration, more are burning and bombing these Vietcong staging points, and ensuring no survivors can join the enemy out of revenge. Even some Allied Generals, such as Douglas Hill or George Ironsides, are taking their men in bold, behind-the-lines raids on Vietcong armies, terrorizing them with the same guerrilla tactics they use to harass us. Each day, the Reservists learn more and more about how this war can only be won by exterminating the Vietcong and all who support them, and more and more adopt our extermination doctrine, at least where their pesky journalists can’t catch them in the act. I only hope enough of them can exterminate the Vietcong before their cowardly nations force them to withdraw."

National Revolutionary Army: "Of the Chinese powers, the NRA are the ones I empathize with the most, as they were the only ones who tried to purge the communist cancer with whatever means they had – even after the Allies had completely withdrawn out of cowardice, the NRA were able to field atomic weapons that almost exterminated the PLA for good, and had technology that preserved themselves to keep fighting in the irradiated wastelands. True, the Allies criticized some measures the NRA took against the PLA, but it’s no different than their criticisms of our measures against the Vietcong. If we were to unite with the NRA, we would take what atomic warheads were left, and blast the PLA and Atomic Chinese to the oblivion that they deserve!"

People's Liberation Army: "Some point to the PLA still surviving, even if in a ghoulish state, as a sign of how communism will prevail even in the face of atomic fire. To me, this statement is false. True, the PLA survived the initial wave of atomic warheads, but that’s because they were aimed at the cities, leaving the PLA bases in the country and mountains irradiated but unburned. The atomization of General Leang and her so-called Leang Hegemony show a lesson the ARVN and its allies must all learn: any communist army or nation can be truly exterminated in its entirety. All it takes is finding their hidden bastions, and cleansing them with all-consuming fire."

Global Liberation Army: "Since the GLA are much like the Vietcong in relying on guerrilla tactics, and having a propensity to rebuild unless every last member is put to death, I should logically hate the GLA as much as I hate the Vietcong. But surprisingly, I don’t – or at least, I don’t consider the GLA as much a threat as the Vietcong. Not only do they not have the support of a superpower, like how the Vietcong are being supplied by the Soviets, but they have openly provoked war against ALL the superpowers within striking distance of the Middle East: the Allies, the Soviets, the Syndicate – they’d probably even pick a fight with Green China and Japan if they could reach them! On top of that, the majority of their units are incompetent to the point of being literally suicidal, and their cells are just as likely to tear at each other as they are to fight against their supposed enemies. The extermination of the GLA will be necessary for a civilized world, but for now, I’m content to say they are already exterminating themselves for us."

International Inc.: "Like the Syndicate, International Inc. is willing to sell weapons and soldiers to us to help exterminate the Vietcong. Unlike the Syndicate, their warehouses are not remotely secure, and the Marauders and Skysweepers meant for the ARVN wind up in the hands of those they were meant to destroy! Their presence does force the Syndicate to 'be competitive', so to speak, preventing them from price-gouging their units, but unless I.I. can ensure less of its stock falls into the hands of the communists, the benefits of their service will quickly outweigh the costs of keeping it."

Cult of the Black Hand: "A lot of idiotic conspiracy theorists claim we’re in bed with this so-called Cult of the Black Hand, because our extermination doctrine is somehow spreading violence that benefits their unholy rituals. Absolutely ludicrous and false accusations all, but I will not deny that this Cult may possibly, just possibly, exist. However, I will say that the reason it exists is because it operates like the communist cancer, being able to multiply and rebuild if only a tiny fraction of it remains. If we could commandeer the might of the world, and use it to sweep the planet until every last Cultist is found and executed, the Black Hand will be exterminated in a matter of days, no matter how many years it has been allowed to live by an ignorant world."

Vietcong

Trần Châu, a well-educated and read tank destroyer commander, was asked by a Soviet official to provide some insight into the opinions of Vietnam on the world at large.

The Allied Nations: "Hypocrites, the lot of them. They claim to speak for democracy, freedom, and the modern way, but they support a backwards and corrupt government that firebombs innocents and destroys entire villages when they hear so much as the simplest rumors that we are present. They are also a group of push-button soldiers, relying too much on their equipment rather than soldiery. I have nothing but scorn for them and would drink to the day when communism sweeps over their lands."

The Confederate Revolutionaries: "See how hollow the Allied cause is? Some drunkards crying because their milk was slightly spoiled is met with a fist to the face. The Americans are spoiled children who have never known a day of hardship or what oppression really is. But for every day the Confederates grow in strength, is a day that the Allies must put more money, more soldiers into fighting them and less into fighting us, bringing us a little closer to freedom. They are mewling infants, but they are useful infants."

The Soviet Union: "The Soviet Union! They are our greatest friend in the world. They too were attacked by the entire world for simply wishing to live a life free from oppression, but overcame that and founded the start of the revolution sweeping the world. They give us money, they give us guns and tanks and ask for nothing in return. They were attacked by two opponents, but managed to gain ground and liberate half of Europe. I salute them, worthy friends of Vietnam!"

Empire of the Rising Sun: "The Japanese talk of honor, of bravery, of the warrior code. They are also filthy liars. I remember their invasion of our lands and their brutal oppression. They were as bad as the dogs in Saigon and don't even have the decency to be incompetent as well. I remember full well how they treated us, and the death they brought. They are a war-mongering menace who butchered millions for the dreams of a madman. One day, when the allies are forced from Vietnam, the Japanese should be made to pay and on that day all their machines won't be enough to save them."

Order of the Talon: "I remember some of the Catholic missionaries occasionally babbling nonsense under their breath about cults, but this "Talon" you describe to me from these reports...steam and clockwork? Pfft. Even if they were great in stature, such weaponry isn't worth worrying about. No I think I'll worry about more real opponents."

Atomic Kingdom of China: "I remember the elation we had when Red China offered it's support to our cause, and the horror when we found out their fate. Then the little drips and drabs of knowledge of what crawled out from the poisoned snakehole they turned their lands into. I don't like to think of it."

Mediterranean Syndicate: "Disgusting dogs and bankers who would destroy all the hard earnings of the people so that the fat cats can grow even richer than they already are are nothing new. One group of milk drinking rich kids is the same as the next."

Electrical Protectorate: "Your map says the reports of this "robot army" all have them far away from Vietnam... if they're actually real anyway."

Army of the Republic of Vietnam: "Pigs, dogs, swine, any insult you can think of goes for them. They are butchers and murderers serving fat cats and land lords who couldn't be trusted to run a chicken-farm, never mind our nation. That we must fight our brothers to end the threat of these capitalist pigs is heart-breaking, but the methods they will use to stop our revolution sickens me. If only they could see who they were fighting for, then we could all be brothers and sisters again."

Vietcong: "We are freedom fighters in the purest sense of the word. We know hardship unlike the Americans, yet we don't seek to bring a new oppression like those in the Middle East. We are the people who are tired of being bled dry for those who never did their fair share. We are the people who want to see our country as one. We are the people who will serve as a shining example of the communist way. We are the Krait that strikes silently and leaves a painful death, and the farm that offers sustenance to the village that is our country. We are the Vietcong, and we will be heard.

Allied Reservists: "Even in the very army of the Allies, there are landlords and workers. The peacekeepers are the landlords, and the reservists are the workers. The peacekeepers have all the latest in science, and these men they throw into our jungle to meet a shallow grave are still fighting with weapons from long ended wars. Oh, they're nice weapons, assault rifle not included, but they're as green as the leaves of our jungles. Bleed them enough and their widows and orphans will call for their return, and that is our way to victory!"

National Revolutionary Army: "One can never accuse them of being weak willed. They clung to capitalism and landlordism to the very end and for that all of China was lost to the world. Had they not been so obstinate we could have had a great friend to the North and Victory would have been assured by this point. But in their arrogance they wiped an ancient land of all civilization. And yet somehow, some still remain in a barren wasted land, walking like ghosts without purpose. They were so stubborn that even the end of their world couldn't stop them. Hah!"

People's Liberation Army: "Of course, Red China lost its way just as surely as Blue China gave into madness. Armies of men who never spent a day in a woman's womb, hellish living conditions just to keep on fueling the same tactics over and over even when they didn't work... And yet... some managed to survive their country's death. Were it my choice, they would come to here, and fight with us until the day comes that we can destroy the Green Chinese...and yet, every picture I see of them shows men who are as dead on the inside as their country is."

Global Liberation Army: "I hate them. Everything I hear of them, everything I see about them makes me hate them more. They claim to fight for freedom but their leaders only seek to replace one group of fat cats with a more rapacious group of fat cats. Their men are filled with lies and sent out to die, slaughtering the people they claim to be liberating just to create a barbarous class system that seeks to bring all the world under their book. It is a good thing that they are neither good soldiers nor advanced, for their vision is of nothing less than a burned world. Liberation army, what a joke! And to think people have the gall to compare them to us."

International Inc.: "They make for some great loot. One cell managed to steal one of their warehouses and we got some of their Marauders and Skysweepers. That made the Allied think! There's nothing more that needs to be said about them."

The Cult of the Black Hand: "I vaguely remember something about a Black Hand assassinating the fatcat landlord Franz Ferdinand which lead to the imperialist nations warring among themselves and eventually leading to Russia overthrowing its landlords. I can't imagine that the imperialists in old Austria let any escape destruction."

Allied Reservists

Capt. Colin Powell was asked to speak with the press on behalf of his company.

The Allied Nations: "My first experience with the Allied Nations was when I assigned to guard Ft. Bradley early in my career. Since then, the Allies continue to gain my respect and admiration. They have always supported the cause of democracy worldwide, and I doubt highly that they will stop anytime soon. Though if I may speak frankly, I think they do have a slight tendency to view things as though people are a set of equations than living, breathing human beings. Hopefully, people will come to their senses and realise that the Allies have no malicious intent, but until then, I will stay where I am."

The Confederate Revolutionaries: "I believe in America. I believe in the ideals set forth by the Founding Fathers, and of the dream of buidling a brighter future for yourself and your own. And I used to believe Ackerman was loyal to that dream. Then came Mt. Rushmore. The entire company was devastated when it happened, and it was clear that we would need to police ourselves carefully. There were desertions, I won't lie about that. But the majority of us remained at our posts, serving as we had pledged to do. I just pray each day that the Allies will not send us against our own. But if I were ordered to...I will follow my orders."

The Soviet Union: "I met a conscript once, when our respective forces had to fight the Empire. He was a decent man, cheery and loyal to his cause. I saw him after a skirmish with Imperial Mecha forces, drinking a vodka and cheering his fallen comrades. I wanted to join him, but he said that since the battle was over, his commissar was not permitting them to speak with our forces. Then that commissar hauled the conscript away for 'counter-revolutionary thought'. The people are decent. Their leaders? A lot of work still needs to be done."

Empire of the Rising Sun: "It's hard, really. At least the Soviets are still not quite trusted with our own information or even our friendship yet. But the Japanese, going from enemy to ally so quickly? The Allies so rapidly accepting the same technologies that killed so many of our own? I hope I'm wrong, and that the Japanese have really given up their imperialistic dreams to take part in the next era of human history. But I'm still afraid that there are elements in their nation that can't give up their dream of a Japanese dominated world."

Order of the Talon: "I know a number of good soldiers who are also Catholics, but I've never heard of this secret Catholic conspiracy before. I seriously doubt there's any substance to it; more likely that someone fabricated the whole thing. Besides, it's certainly not my job to investigate wacky conspiracy theories. Leave that job to the people who are paid to do that."

Atomic Kingdom of China: "The Chinese lost a part of themselves in the bombs, I think. Their culture, their history, their people, all gone almost overnight. They didn't deserve that kind of fate, no one does. Their leaders betrayed their people, and the Allies and the Soviets supported their leaders. It's no wonder they want to take out their aggression on us then. These 'royals', they're convinced that destroying the world will make them feel better. I don't think anything could convince them otherwise."

Mediterranean Syndicate: "I have heard about some of the stuff that's going in Italy and in Africa. Frankly, I don't know how much to believe about those 'cities'. Then again, aren't the people there much better off than they were before, now they have stable, paying jobs? Still, I do hope the Allied Nations will try and do something to curtail the worse excesses of corporations in those countries; after all, isn't that what governments are for?

Electrical Protectorate: "An army of doomsday robots. Really? If that's true, then I have a shot at becoming chairman of the joint chiefs of staff."

Army of the Republic of Vietnam: "They're good at fighting. They're good at killing. What they need to learn is to start talking. The Vietcong isn't the enemy they should be fighting, instead they need to continue to root out the corruption that's endemic inside their government. Despite all that, I'm still impressed with how devoted the Rangers are to the idea that they can win this fight. It is an honor to serve alongside them."

Vietcong: "I don't know how to look at them anymore. Before, it was a matter of finding the enemy and eliminating them. Now, the enemy can be anyone. In the cities, in the country, in the jungles, you don't know when they'll strike and take you out. It's always tough, trying to write the letters for their families. Do the Vietcong even understand that? That we're as human as they are? Would it even matter if they did? We came into their nation, and we're shocked that they wanted to fight for their own ideals. I'm surprised that they haven't acted more angrily."

Allied Reservists: "For the first time, people are looking outside of their own small borders to the wider world. We now have the opportunity to reach past close-minded nationalism to a truly global idea of human justice and rights. My fellow reservists and I are the instrument of that new idea. We pleged to serve not only our nations, but the world. We know it isn't easy, with so much of the world determined to follow their own paths. So, we will let them. But should they choose open war, we will bring the hammer down, and no technology will be able to save them."

National Revolutionary Army: "They..." *five second pause* "The NRA are our allies. That's all I will say on the matter."

People's Liberation Army: "It's been said that communism dehumanizes a person, so that they're not more than identical slabs to be thrown into the grinder. Here's the proof. The PLA churned out people like they were nothing but meat. It's sad what happened to China, but I won't shed a tear for the death of the PLA."

Global Liberation Army: "Ridiculous. Just ridiculous. We must have two different definitions of 'liberation', because what they're describing sounds like slavery. Sure, there was going to be resistance to King Faisal allying himself with the A.N., but blatantly lying to their people like they are, it's disgusting."

International Inc.: "Their weapons are good and their prices are cheap, what else can you ask for from an arms dealer?"

Cult of the Black Hand: "Uh yeah, sure, there's a group secretly controlling all of mankind's actions. Um...you do have a psychyatrist, right?"

National Revolutionary Army

The following is a leaked transcript of a conversation between Indian Field Marshal Chanda Sharma and former Lieutenant Zhao Wen of the National Revolutionary Army, who has recently fled to and been granted asylum in India.

The Allied Nations: “I cannot blame the Allies for cutting the support we were sent in the waning years. What had we accomplished? A China divided into red and blue? A barren wasteland of glass and ash? Yet when my fellow nationalists were found alive again, support came back. Indian reservists have started marching to China, and I only hope that our mistakes are not repeated."

The Confederate Revolutionaries: “Disunity is a dangerous thing. We learnt that through our experiences with our warlord allies during the Civil War. The Americans, in their short-sightedness, cannot see the long term consequences of their actions. It is a pity so many warlords are similarly short-sighted; we would have accomplished far more by now if we had spent more time talking, instead of fighting amongst ourselves.”

The Soviet Union: “I still remember the tyranny of the Soviets when they invaded China. They were monsters, no less. Maybe they claim that things have changed now that the reign of their Stalin has come to an end, but I’ll believe it when I see it with my own eyes.”

The Empire of the Rising Sun: “I think we must thank Japan for its intervention in the Second World War, while you Allies were so preoccupied in Europe. Certainly, I can hold no ill will against them; they never raised a finger against us, and without their aid China would have become red a long time ago. Sometimes, though, I wonder if that might have been a better fate.”

The Order of the Talon: “I have heard stories about an ancient Catholic order, which fights to keep evil at bay. If they really do exist, where were they while China burned? The Catholic God is supposedly benevolent and omnipotent; if so, how could have allowed all the atrocities I witnessed during the war? No, I have no faith in the existence of this group, or their God, for that matter.”

The Atomic Kingdom of China: “They claim to rule China now? I must laugh. They control perhaps a few mountains and protected citadels. Their power is built on the remains of our accomplishments, and those of our enemy. Certainly, they do not rule because they’ve earned the right to it. Our defences have withstood the bombs; they will withstand the sins we have brought forth.”

The Mediterranean Syndicate: “I've been to Kowloon once, before it was consumed by the atomic fire, and I can see why communism appeals to some people. On the other hand, they had no part in our war; yet they were wiped out nevertheless, thousands snuffed out of existence. Did they curse us, I wonder, as their lives were put out in the face of the atomic fire?"

The Electrical Protectorate: I have witnessed men ripped apart molecule by molecule. I have watched people literally brought back from the dead. I have seen men who were not men, each with identical faces and features. Perhaps the world may not be so wise to dismiss this mechanical doomsday army as mere rumour so quickly; there is a chance they may be real.”

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam: “The Vietnamese people seem much like us, in that they are willing to do anything to achieve victory. Personally, I hope they will not make the same mistake that we did, in selling our souls for victory. Then again, your Peacekeepers aid them now, so their fate may turn out better than ours did.”

The Vietcong: “Personally, I am not concerned with the Vietnamese. They fight a guerrilla war because they cannot fight a conventional one. Even if they win, what threat can they pose to the rest of the region? If we had not been so preoccupied with the PLA, I am sure we would have crushed them long ago.”

The Allied Reservists: “I respect the Reservists. They take up their weapons in the name of other nations. Even though China is now nothing more than a wasteland of ash and glass, they still come to the KMT's aid.”

The National Revolutionary Army: “We may have committed great atrocities against humanity and nature itself. I have commanded men who were much less than men. I have burned entire villages to deny the PLA resources. I killed men, women, even children. I followed these orders with the belief that a better China would arise from it. I regret my actions, but I cannot erase them. Those who still remain in China know the same. So they will fight on. Until their own end for they know that's all they deserve.”

The People's Liberation Army: “Like most soldiers of the NRA, I hated the Red Chinese to the point of insanity. Now I just pity them. The Soviets ignored the PLA, forcing them into desperate atrocities that ended in atomic fire. Basically, we are now one in the same, each a different side of a bloodstained coin.”

The Global Liberation Army: “They recruit the desperate with promises of a better world, and then claim that the outside world forces such dreams into the dust. Do the fools they recruit truly believe in their cause? Is their belief as fanatical as mine was? If so, the world will never be rid of them.”

International Inc: “What of them? We’ve bought munitions from them in the past; I don’t see what they are other than arms dealers looking for a profit. They’re probably sitting in their offices right now, pissed at how they just lost such a valued customer.”

The Cult of the Black Hand: I’m more inclined to believe in the existence of this group than the other one. Certainly, I wouldn’t be surprised if such an organisation had an unseen hand in this war. It would explain some of the stranger things I have borne witness to.”

People's Liberation Army

Global Liberation Army

The following is from letters found in a suspected GLA operative's flat in Syria during a raid by local authorities. They are addressed to the flat's owner and appear to show the author's political opinions.

The Allied Nations: "The so-called 'Leaders of the Free World' are nothing but mongrel dogs that poison the hearts and the minds of the innocent with their prideful slanders! They have dug too deep into the mysteries of our world and have uncovered things mankind was never meant to know! Worst of all, they have spat and defiled our noble society, deeming us as barbarians and crude savages unfit for their 'reforms'! They have labelled and damned our culture, our religion, our very way of life, as relics of the past, relics that would be best covered under a cloth and left to rot. They believe that it would be best if they pushed aside the path of the righteous and replaced it with their sinful road. Their serpentine smiles hide an overwhelming desire for the control of other men, and though their honeyed assurances lure you into a state of false comfort, they assimilate you into becoming a mindless servant of the Western people, and rape your land and her resources as you gape like a blind fool! They are like the snake, which scudded eve, as they are obsessed with showing and convincing other people to betray the true old ways of Allah for comfort and education! They are so prideful and so doggedly loyal to their vain European masters that if you were to but mildly insult their nation you would be beaten until you were half-dead! They represent what is wrong with the culture of the West! And though it disgusts me to say this, as the righteous servants of God it is our duty to redeem them of their sins and show them their error before God casts them into the Inferno! And if that means taking up arms against them, then so be it."

The Confederate Revolutionaries: "We all know the Corruption and the lies behind the words of the allies, and long wes the times when only we knew their corruption. But now, even their own allies see their lies! The Americans, the people who once were the greatest ally of the Allied nation, now turned on them. Is there any better sign, that those Infidels are to not be trusted, that they words are lies?!"

The Soviet Union: "The so-called 'State of the People' is nothing but a godless dictatorship of faithless people led by a power-hungry government! It is written that 'All are equal before the Lord God', but the Russians take on equality is nothing but thinly veiled tyranny, with the Party crushing the desperate masses under the cold steel jackboot of Socialism! They poison the spirit with endless sermons about the assured equality of Socialism, before seizing everything you own and depositing you to wallow in the muck and the filth of their diseased factory-towns! They are much like the false prophet, for they have replaced the Lord God with the Hammer and Sickle, the mosques with those abominable speakers, and the imams with the commissars, who execute their fellow men when they refuse to follow the hellish laws! They truly believe their Communism as a tool for the good of humanity, but they are blind to the fact that Communism destroys not only the body, but the immortal spirit as well! The European infidels attempt to sway our people to their cause with gifts and bribes, but the Russians simply grind the true faithful into the dust! Te time has come to show them the folly of their actions! We shall be oppressed no longer by the atheist heel of Communism!"

The Empire of the Rising Sun: "The only thing worse than a godless infidel is an idolater! Was it not written that 'There is no God but God', and that 'There is nothing that equals to Him, the Lord'? And yet these Japanese dogs foolishly worship their former leader as if he were Allah all mighty himself! given flesh! They are but idolaters, who have cast aside Allah and his Prophet from their oppressed masses and have replaced it with their False Emperor! And as if worshipping false gods was not enough to damn them to the pits of Hell, they are cowardly swine, letting their soulless warriors of metal and electricity fight for them as they shiver and tremble in their huts of rice and porcelain! While they have not yet turned their baleful gaze upon our noble crusade against the enemies of the Lord, it is our God-given duty to show them the error of their ways, once we have delivered salvation to the mongrel Allies and the godless Soviets! We will cast aside their Corpse-Emperor and finally shine the holy light of Allah into the darkness of the Orient!

The Order of the Talon: "While the Allies and the Soviets are Crusaders in the meaning that they are fighting for a foolish cause they deem to be better then anything Allah stands for, There are, even now, REAL crusaders, who spit in the our face! they call us that we cling to the past, but they are oblivion to the ancient order, who holds even now by a thread to it's past!"

The Atomic Kingdom of China: "Once again, the Lord has taken his sword against the faithless men of the East, and smote them with such unrelenting fury, the likes of which have not been seen upon this world! The Chinese, fighting so direly and paying so dearly for the twin serpents of Democracy and Communism, forgot the One True King of the World: Allah,the only God, creator of the universe, and the judge of humankind! As they committed more and more atrocities that ever increased with sheer evil to fuel the ever hungry snakes of the Allies and the Soviets, Allah all mighty set his gaze upon China, and was filled with such revulsion and disgust and both sides' desperate actions to wipe out the other that he did send his avenging angels across the East, to salt the earth and raze its cities and slay its people! Such was the divine ferocity of the angels that they left nothing. Not even the sun shines upon that forsaken desolate land. And yet, some of the infidels by some miracle survived the fury of Allah, and they did reforge the broken ashes of their heathen country into something horrifying. These 'Royal' Chinese, or Atomic Chinese... they are dangerous. They survived the wrath of God. If they can survive that, then I fear that not even we, the just and true servants of Allah, may be able to halt the oncoming storm."

The Mediterranean Syndicate: "What the Allies do with false promises, and the Communists with brutal force, these thieves and whores of Babylon do with bribes of riches! Though money a good servant it may be, it is also a corrupt master. The servants of greed have been enslaved to the sounds of minted copper clinking in a sack, and their souls have been darkened and blackened so much that now only the soft whispering of green-inked paper can arouse them from their pits of hedonism! I would not be wrong in saying that the golden poison has seeped so deep into them that, if cut, they would bleed coins! Was it not written that 'Verily Allah heard the taunt of those who said: 'Allah is poor, and we are rich!' We shall record their saying and We shall say: Taste you the penalty of the Scorching Fire!'? We shall be the Bearers of the Scorching Fire, and we shall take the Flames deep into their Sodoms and Gomorrahs and raze them to the ground!"

The Electrical Protectorate: "These tales of 'strange robots' that have been seen across the world is nothing but gossip and fiction whipped up by the rumourmongers, and should be treated as such. There are other forces that threaten our just cause, and something out of a bad science-fiction magazine is not one of them, brother."

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam:

The Allied Reservists:

The Vietcong:

The National Revolutionary Army:

The People's Liberation Army:

The Global Liberation Army:

International Inc.:

The Cult of the Black Hand: "Throughout the ages of human life, there have always been servants of Satan. They have taken many forms, and the servants of God have always rooted them out and expunged them in the flames of damnation. I would not be surprised at all if these particular infidels were in fact the slaves of Sheol. We must root them out and expel them from this world, lest they bring about Armageddon in their folly to appease the Prince of Darkness..."

International Inc

When a Satyr broke into the International Inc company offices, he found, among other things, this letter, which appears to be addressed from David Xanatos to Andrei Orlov.

Allied Nations: "The one force in the world that utilises the world's most advanced weapons, one would imagine that their reliance on high technology would negate our involvement in their production. Yet, who supplies their member nations with weapons and ammunition, while the Peacekeepers use their SPAM modules and high tech weapons? We are in a unique position, one that allows us to slip in to the home of the Allies, and not fear our operations being shut down."

Confederate Revolutionaries: "America is the bastion of capitalist principle, and we will honour that principle. We merely sell the materials; it is not our responsibility what our customers do with those tools. Blaming the the gunsmith for the murder is like blaming the teeth on the fox for killing the rabbit."

Soviet Union: "Many Soviet satellite states do not receive the best equipment as the larger states do. If they need to provide for their rear line forces with equipment, then it would be ill-advised of our company to turn offers from them down."

Empire of the Rising Sun: "With the world opened up to them, the Japanese market is new and booming, and the general public has taken a shine to the idea of privately owned military grade vehicles. Of course, the Imperial government has strict requirements to own such vehicles, but with enough in-office advice, any potential customer will be able to navigate the government bureaucracy to owning their own Scorpion."

Order of the Talon: "If there is such a group that exists as a conspiracy in the Catholic Church, they will have to pay for their equipment just as the rest of our customers do."

Atomic Kingdom: "Recent news from China has been distressing to say the least, yet all aid convoys sent to attempt assisting the Chinese in rebuilding their land has lost contact with their offices of origin. It is clear that the Chinese do not want our aid anymore. If so, it would probably be best to leave China to its own actions until a later date."

Mediterranean Syndicate: "Lessons can be learned from the man known as Romulus. The most important is that, if you decide to invest in a risky venture, you either dedicate yourself to it, or live with the consequences."

Electrical Protectorate: "Our corporate offices in the Mongolian capitol have been quiet since the end of WWIII, as well as warehouse facilities in French Guiana. We will investigate the matter, but for now, we have more pressing issues."

Army of the Republic of Vietnam: "While the Rangers are getting the majority of their equipment from the Allies, there are still many sections of the South Vietnamese armies that do not have the neccessary equipment to act as functioning armed forces. So, it is our imperative to secure a capitalist hold in Southeast Asia, in order to secure our future business in the region."

Vietcong: "Vietnam's remote villages have proven to be a test to not only the quality of our models, but the survival of our offices and warehouse facilities. The continuing thefts of our systems in Cambodia and South Vietnam must be stemmed immediately, before our losses force us out of the region.

Allied Reservists: "Some of our most valuable customers have been nations looking so supplement their Reservist forces with easily accessible and combat proven vehicles that anyone can use with a few hours' training. As long as these nations are forced to do so, our sales will never fall below the standard expected by our company.

National Revolutionary Army: "Since the Allied Nations have re-established contact with the KMT, or rather what is left of it, contracts of sale are expected to come in to our Japanese and South Korean offices soon enough. Though not able to pay monetarily, it is possible to accept other forms of payment in the forms of precious gems or metals."

People's Revolutionary Army: "If there are survivors of the PLA, I find it highly doubtful that they would show any interest in buying our products.

Global Liberation Army: "Despite our best efforts, our designs continue to find their way into the hands of this organization. Despite this, opportunities can be found, particularly in Afghanistan. If there were a way to find how to get the proper equipment into the hands of more idealistic warlords, certain upheavals in the Afghan national government could play to our company's advantage."

International Inc: "International Inc is the one economic entity that allows certain nations in the world to continue their people's soverignty from overbearing supranational bodies. Our customers are continuously loyal to their products, and our sales to not only national governments but private security firms allow us to secure a base of customers that will continue to provide us an opportunity to expand beyond our current projected business models, which I feel should be discussed in a seperate letter."

Cult of the Black Hand: "Rumours continue to circulate about an organisation that is using modified designs of the Scorpion to further their goals. Whoever these individuals are, they must be found and brought to trial, before the public believes that our company is associated with such individuals."

The Cult of the Black Hand

Excerpts from speech by Seth the Undying to new initiates are as follows.

The Allied Nations: "Look upon them, brothers! Look upon them, and know them! Know them, and hate them! Save only for the Enemy, the Allies are the embodiment of everything the Messiah stands against! Allied luxuries make the body soft! Allied technology makes the spirit soft! Allied entertainment makes the mind soft! Only by bathing in the fires of hell is the soul scoured clean and forged into the next stage of existence, and the Allies seek to drown the world in mindless comfort and peace! Brothers! We reject the false promises of the Allied Nations! We reject their sloth and idle vanity! We shall cast them down from their self-styled paradise! Let us see how well their beloved science comforts them on the shores of Acheron!"

The Confederate Revolutionaries: "The revolution in America has begun, brothers! The false gods of the Allied Nations are being cast out by the people themselves! The time has come, brothers, to save the Americans! We shall meet the Confederates in perdition's flames and welcome them as our own lost brothers! Make no mistake, they will not welcome salvation! We must purify their revolution in the sacred fire, then spread it to all the world! The weak shall perish as they always have, and from the Confederates shall come the true will of the American people! OUR will! Judgement Day has arrived in America! Rejoice!"

The Soviet Union: "Brothers, do not be deceived! The Soviets claim to be united under their false prophets and idol of communism, but only we are truly one soul with many voices! Only we walk the road to transcendence! How close the Soviets came, brothers, yet how far away they are! They provide succour to all who ask, even the unworthy! If your hand is scabrous and weak, you do not coddle it and welcome it as part of you! You cut it off! Our fire will burn their illusions to ash and scorch their bloated state! We shall cut deep into the obese monstrosity of the Soviet Union and cut out their weakness! And though they will scream and squeal and beg, we shall be their salvation through suffering!"

The Empire of the Rising Sun: "Our great Messiah foretold this day! There shall come a time when men believe themselves masters of all they survey! They shall raise idols of steel and glass and call them robots! With these idols they shall march to war against the creatures of flesh! And behold, for their idols will be struck down and their own flesh rent asunder! They shall not learn this lesson, and attempt to build their idols once more! Brothers, the time has come for the Rising Sun to set! We shall tear them from their seats of luxury and power! At our hands, they shall learn what true power is!"

The Order of the Talon: "The Enemy shall forever resist the will of the Messiah! The chosen shall forever fight them! Brothers, the Enemy lives only to destroy us! They do so because they fear us! They fear the Messiah! They have hounded us for centuries, yet still they fail! They raise their citadels and preach their heresy, yet it is, and always has been, in vain! I welcome their fire, their steel and their hatred, for every day they make us stronger! It is hatred that makes us strong! It is suffering that cleanses the soul! It is fear that sharpens the senses! It is pain that cleaves weakness from the spirit! The Enemy seeks our death, yet they only serve the Messiah! All they have ever done is destroy the weak among us and make the truly righteous that much stronger!"

The Atomic Kingdom of China: "They have brought the world Armageddon, and I welcome it! Theirs is the blade that cleaves flesh from bone, theirs is the poisoned knife! Their numbers will rend the world barren and crush the breath from our enemies! It is the gift of apocalypse that the Atomic Kingdom has brought, and we shall share their gift to all the world! Every man, woman, and child shall know that most precious gift!"

The Mediterranean Syndicate: "Always, brothers, have the merchants resisted progress! For all their talk of expansion, growth, and hostile takeovers, they cannot see past the coins in their purse! They know us for what we are, brothers! The future! They cannot abide that we are the true masters of destiny! They refuse to believe they cannot take their fortunes with them into hell! What use is coin, brothers, when your soul is aflame?! Nothing! And so the merchants of steel hate us and attempt to destroy us! Yet they have no more success than the Enemy! They may call themselves the merchants of death, but we are the masters of death, not they! It is time for them to learn their place! And their place, brothers, is at the end of our bloody fist!"

The Electrical Protectorate: "Brothers, the Chinese are not the only ones with the keys to the next realm! Our Messiah has sent us a gift of silver and steel! Beyond the realm of flesh, beyond the realm of mortal ken lies a power only our great Messiah can reckon! It comes to destroy the weak and test the strong! For now it is locked in a cage of time and space, but we shall break its cage and unleash its fury upon the world! As the Messiah demanded, so shall it be! In the inferno, all shall find themselves or find themselves wanting! And brothers, we shall not be found lacking!"

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam:

The Allied Reservists:

The Vietcong:

The National Revolutionary Army:

The People's Liberation Army:

The Global Liberation Army: "The Arab has always been a poor soldier who relied more on his skill at supplies and mustering to win than his strength of arms. The GLA are many things, fools, idiots, weaklings. Yet they are useful to us! They are the obvious threat, the easily directed and manipulated band of thugs to draw the attention of others away from us. They can create chaos for us without us ever having to be revealed to the enemy. Brothers, though they are little but fools, let us embrace them for in their pursuit of a cause none can define, they serve our cause!"

International Inc.:

The Cult of the Black Hand:

@@ Line 164: / Line 164: @@
 '''Vietcong:''' "We are well aware of the fighting spirit of the Vietnamese guerrilla. No matter how harshly we disciplined them, they would keep on fighting our destiny with all the heart and soul. Indeed, it would seem that wherever we went, we were resisted. A bomb at every corner, a gun in the hand of every farmer. We had half a mind to simply burn the entire country. But I refuse to believe that they are as unconquerable as they claim. Some day, even their spirit will be broken against our fate."
-'''Allied Reservists:''' "The allies claim technological superiority over the world when the majority of their military still uses tanks from a war more than a decade past. When we battled their reservists, I was impressed by their bravery. Not so much their equipment. If the peacekeepers are the favored sons, then the reservists are the siblings left with only the toys the eldest does not choose first."
+'''Allied Reservists:''' "The Allies claim technological superiority over the world when the majority of their military still uses tanks from a war more than a decade past. When we battled their reservists, I was impressed by their bravery. Not so much their equipment. If the peacekeepers are the favored sons, then the reservists are the siblings left with only the toys the eldest does not choose first."
 '''National Revolutionary Army:''' "Our relation with China stretches back centuries and many among us have long dreamed of conquering it. The nationalists would have felt our wrath in time had they not destroyed themselves. Their civil war tells me much of how such a campaign would have went. They'd have soon started throwing armies of mechanical half-men, cowering behind endless trenches, and fight a war as a turtle would. But they destroyed themselves in fire that could rival that of Amaterasu instead, and now only ghosts still cling to that cause."
-'''People's Liberation Army:''' "They took the tenents of Communism and ran with it until even the Soviets were appalled at what they had created. Had we turned our focus to China, I have no doubt they would have used their vast population to throw endless waves of soldiers and shoddily made vehicles to impale themselves on our bayonets. They would have lost of course. But now they are one half of a burnt corpse of a nation, still fighting a war long ended because they know of nothing else.
+'''People's Liberation Army:''' "They took the tenets of Communism and ran with it until even the Soviets were appalled at what they had created. Had we turned our focus to China, I have no doubt they would have used their vast population to throw endless waves of soldiers and shoddily made vehicles to impale themselves on our bayonets. They would have lost of course. But now they are one half of a burnt corpse of a nation, still fighting a war long ended because they know of nothing else.
 '''Global Liberation Army:''' "When I thought that the confederates had hit the bedrock in terms of vileness, the GLA appeared with a drill and began to dig. They fill the hopeless with lies about paradise and how the outside world seeks to deny it to them, they slaughter the meek when they cannot fight the strong, they dress themselves as freedom fighters when they only offer a slavery far worse than what any outsider ever gave them. I am sure if we had holdings in the middle east they would have struck with all their cowardice and ignorant hatred. When the sun of Japan rises over all the world, they will find that they have no place in our order save for in a shallow grave."

Changes: Diplomatic Relationships

Revision as of 11:23, 11 December 2015

Contents

Description

Relationship Types

Alliance

Peace

Neutral

Hostile

War

Unknown

N/A - Not available

An Insider's Look

The Allied Nations

The Confederate Revolutionaries

The Soviet Union

The Empire of the Rising Sun

The Order of the Talon

The Atomic Kingdom of China

The Mediterranean Syndicate

The Electrical Protectorate

Army of the Republic of Vietnam

Vietcong

Allied Reservists

National Revolutionary Army

People's Liberation Army

Global Liberation Army

International Inc

The Cult of the Black Hand