Alliance Triumphant

Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM

Alliance Triumphant

by David bar Elias

The Triumph of Democracy

Part One:

An ASB, stumbling on the Drakaverse in the 1930s, changes the dynamics of how that universe work. Rather than it being anything goes for the Draka, things are now more biased towards the "Maniacally depraved evil maniacs don't get everything their secret greasy hearts desire."

1930: A mild but chronic recession is caused by the slowing down of the U.S. stock market from the Coolidge years. This, however, causes great disruption in the U.S. auto-steamer market and steel industries, causing a rise in unemployment.

1932-1939: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president promising a "New Deal for the American people." It should be mentioned that the FDR of the Drakaverse (like the Drakaverse's version of Hitler), is physically different than his OTL counterpart. This FDR never went for a fatal swim in the 1920s.

Roosevelt promises to lift the nation's vast Hispanic and black populations out of poverty.

By 1934, the policies of the New Deal start to pay off. From the vast irrigation projects in the Mexican states and Rocky Mountain West to the large-scale urban improvement projects in the big cities, America is starting to get back on track. The Democrats maintain a sizeable majority in Congress.

The increase in arable land leads to America becoming a net food exporter by late 1930s. Australasia, Grand Colombia, Chile, Great Britain, and Ireland become the biggest customers.

FDR views the oversees situation as extremely precarious. With the rise of Nazism in Germany, Militarism in Japan, and the presence of the leviathan Domination, Roosevelt begins to rearm the USA. Conscription is introduced in 1936. Bills creating the Two Ocean Navy and a separate Air Corps become a reality by 1937.

The healthy economic environment means that the isolationists are weaker than in OTL. As unemployment shrinks, new pools of labour are needed. Guest worker programs with Grand Colombia and Brazil are supplemented by the end of the Coolidge-era restrictions on immigration. Austrian and German Social Democrats and Jews become the first wave of immigrants. The Wagner Act of 1938 settles many Jewish immigrants in Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories.

Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, Neils Bohr, Edward Teller, Leo Salizard, Salvador Dali, Erich Maria Remarque, Hannah Arendt, Hans Bethe, James Franck, Igor Stravinsky, and Saul Steinberg are only a few of the legions of artists, writers, scientists, and scholars who greatly enrich American cultural life.

Despite an anti-immigrant movement fostered by aviator Charles Lindbergh and Catholic Priest Charles Coughlin, most Americans, buoyed by the improving social conditions and economy, are generally tolerant of the new wave of immigrants.

In 1937, Enrico Fermi drafts a letter to FDR, and has Einstein sign it. The letter details how atomic fission could lead to a weapon of extraordinary power. The letter also details how the Germans now have access to Czech uranium (through trade deals), and how the Domination began a long-term project regarding atomic power in 1933. The Taos Project is born from this, as America races to build the ultimate weapon.

The Philippines, Hawaii, Dutch Harbour, and Wake are fortified. Although the Japanese have even less of an incentive to attack the USA than in OTL, America is still viewed negatively, not least due to it being one of the biggest impediments to Japanese superiority in the Pacific.

In 1938, after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, hundreds of thousands of Czechs are granted visas. Those with vital skills are given priority. The entire staff for the Stodka are evacuated to Chicago. The Jews of Czechoslovakia (and increasingly, of Poland), are granted immigration visas. Many are granted land in the new agricultural projects in the West and old Mexico, along with the poor from America's cities.

By 1939, war clouds are now on the horizon. The notorious Eurasian War erupts with the German attack on Poland.....

1940-1943

The "Phoney War," ended in Europe as Germany went on a romp through Denmark, Norway, the Low Countries, and France. Britain and its Commonwealth stand alone. Australasian, West Indian, and Indian troops are deployed to the Mother Country. British forces occupy Iceland, while American troops are deployed to Greenland.

Nazi submarines begin the process of closing off the Atlantic to Commonwealth shipping. After several American merchant ships are sunk, FDR angrily warns Germany that further attacks will bring the wrath of the USA down upon the Reich. U-Boat activity is lessened. Food from Argentina and the USA continues to sail into both British and Irish ports.

In March of 1940, with British permission, American Marines are deployed to Iceland. This lessens the strain of the British, and secures the important junction as crucial Allied base.

Soon afterwards, Greenland the Danish VIs are annexed fully by the USA. As part of his Lend-Lease deals with the British, America secures bases in the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, and Bermuda.

American destroyers are deployed to assist the convoys. They are authorized to defend themselves if attacked.

Japanese forces take the opportunity to occupy French Indochina. FDR coldly warns them that an economic embargo will be launched if they move into the Dutch East Indies. Tensions rise between the Japanese on one side and the USA and Australasian Federation on the other side.

In 1941, German forces storm into the Balkans to rescue Mussolini's beleaguered troops in Greece. Italy itself is soon occupied to pre-empt a planned Draka attack on the Boot. Stymied, the Draka begin planning attacks against the Soviet Union, Japan, and Germany.

June of 1941 saw Germany easily crush the Soviet Red Army (effectively gutted in Stalin's purges). A rump Soviet state is organized in Omsk under Marshals Koniev and Timoshenko. By first snow, German forces reach the Urals and the Caucuses.

The remnants of the Soviet Pacific Fleet take the opportunity to defect the United States. An American task force occupies Wrangal Island. British Commandos, in a daring operation, attack and destroy a German weather station on Spitzbergen.

The Draka begin planning for a full scale assault against the Reich, which is viewed as the worst threat.

In December 1941, Japan, fearing an Anglo-American encirclement and possible economic boycott, launch surprise attacks against the Philippines, Hawaii, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies.

However, the Japanese attack forces are mauled in air battles above Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, and Clark Air Force Base, in the Philippines. The horrific losses in Hawaii forces Yamamoto to scrap plans to launch an invasion force.

Roosevelt angrily asks for a Declaration of War. Germany declares war soon afterwards. American destroyers, launched from Keflavik, begin hunting German submarines. In one of the first American operations of the Eurasian War, US Marines seize Spitzbegen from the Germans.

Japan seizes Thailand (already a de facto puppet state), Malaysia, and Singapore from late 1941 to early 1942. However, extensive American resistance in the Philippines continues to consume Japanese manpower. Mass production in the US will soon bury all other powers across the World Stage.

Iceland becomes a full American possession in February 1942. By that time, Japan has advanced onto Borneo, Sumatra, and Java, but is still engaged in bloody battles all over the Philippines.

With American aid, Australasian forces defeat a Japanese attempt to land on New Guinea. A second Japanese attempt, however, drives the Allied forces off of the island. After the last major resistance in the Philippines has been neutralized, plans are drafted to land in Hawaii and Australia.

With full cooperation from the nations of South America, the US Atlantic Fleet gradually gains an upper hand against the German U-Boats.

In April 1942, the Draka make their move against the Germans in occupied Georgia. The Sixth Airborne Legion is brutally mauled in engagements with German forces. Eric von Shrackenburg is one of the countless Draka casualties in the battle.

Unfortunately for the Germans, the Draka attacks out of Kazakhstan are far more successful. Leapfrogging attacks decimate German Army Group South. Another Draka force out of Thrace Province opens another front in the Balkans. The Partisans, Chetniks, and Germans use a scorched earth policy, and inflict massive losses on the Draka, whose advance is reduced to a crawl.

While all this is going on, US forces land in Siberia, with tacit permission from the Koniev-Timoshenko junta. Magadan is secured by late June. The Battle of the Sea of Okhosk (actually three separate engagements), blunt Japanese attempts to seize Magadan (and by extension, to launch a campaign against the Aleutians).

The new American Organization of Strategic Services (OSS), begins gun running operations to Japanese occupied China and Indochina. Wainright's guerrillas in the Philippines cause untold havoc with the occupation authorities.

In two separate engagements near Midway, the Japanese carrier fleet is annihilated. Admiral Nagumo commits seppeku over his failure.

In November 1942, well prepared German defences at Sevastopol and Odessa turn back a Drakan attempt to land major armies in the Ukraine. This latest failure exposes the Drakan weakness when it comes to naval operations.

In India, Commonwealth forces under Sir William Slim begin a drive in Japanese occupied Burma.

On December 15, Hitler is poisoned by agents of Admiral Canaris. The Germans begin to send peace feelers to the Allies. The Draka threaten to ally with Japan if a separate peace is made. In the end, as part of an informal agreement, the Germans agree to halt persecution of the Jews and Slavs, and to call back their remaining U-Boats. In other words, there's no war between the Germans and Allies, but there's no real peace either. America begins concentrating their full fury on Japan. Germany quietly allows the Jews to depart for Britain (and from there, to the US). Autonomy for Western Europe is granted, in exchange for more men to fight the Domination. Scores of new French, Belgian, Swedish, Norwegian, Swiss, and Finnish divisions are raised. Draka forces advancing from Kazakhstan manage to take Astrakhan, but are then defeated by the new Army Group Centre under Erwin Rommel. A stalemate ensues, as the Draka have failed to make rapid progress and the Germans have taken heavy casualties.

In January, 1943, the Treaty of Bogotá formalizes economic cooperation between the USA, Grand Colombia, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. This is followed by the Rio Accord of March 1943, which establishes the Alliance for Democracy (AFD). This federated union between the USA, South America, and the British Commonwealth creates a climate of free trade, joint-currency, coordinated military efforts, and a Senate, based in New York, where four representatives from each nation will vote on vital matters. Production throughout the Alliance easily outpaces the Domination, Germany, and Japan combined.

Helicopters make their first appearance in the Pacific Theatre. The first television guided glide-bombs and radar guided missiles appear in the US.

Werner von Braun and the rest of the essential German rocket scientists are evacuated to Bordeaux, France.

Offensives against the Japanese in New Guinea finally clear them out by mid-1943. A large-scale offensive against the Japanese in Indonesia begins.

In late 1943, America returns to the Philippines. Massive resistance from the Japanese leads the near total destruction of Manila in October. But assistance from Wainwright's guerrillas manage to secure the full liberation of the US state by late December.

China is in a full scale revolt against the Japanese, which results in fierce urban conflict, and rural anarchy. American forces land on Sakhalin Island.

Meanwhile, the Draka have finally taken the Balkans, but are harassed constantly by guerrillas. Tanya von Schrakenburg is killed by a Molotov cocktail in the Battle of Trieste. Drakan forces do manage to attack and seize Sicily. Britain evacuates Malta of all civilian and military personnel.

Thus, 1944 dawns.....it will prove to be a bloody year indeed.

Part Two: 1944-1950

As 1944, few could tell that the next two years would see the world split asunder in an orgy of destruction.

January saw the last Japanese positions on Sakhalin Island eliminated, allowing for the Alliance to directly menace the Home Islands. Korea, Japanese China, and Indochina are now in open rebellion. Beijing is almost completely destroyed in the vain Japanese attempts to suppress the revolt.

American troops advanced further into Siberia, eventually halting at the 130th Parallel. Refugees from the Drakan incursions into the rump USSR began filtering into the American possessions. Drakan forces occupy Omsk in early February. Marshall Koniev orders the remnants of the Red Army to defect to the Americans. Koniev himself spends the rest of his life in Anchorage, Alaska, among that city's large Russian community.

On February 1, the United States detonates its first fission bomb in New Mexico. Although the Domination soon follows with its own detonation on March 4 in the central Sahara.

In April, the Draka delivers a five-weapon nuclear strike against Germany's fortified positions in both the Ukraine and the Caucuses. The German armies are soon reeling from the attacks, which kill countless men. The Draka began their surge forward. In May, the Draka detonate twin blasts over Warsaw and Berlin.

In the meantime, the Alliance vaporizes Tokyo, killing the entire Royal Family, and detonated another bomb over the remainder of the Japanese fleet not far from Shanghai (Truk having been long taken). Alliance forces land on Hainan, at Da Nang, and in the Ryukus. Operation Olympic, in May 1944 begins the invasion of Japan. It takes over seven months to clear the Japanese from Hokkaido. Secondary landings in Korea, at Shanghai, Tsingdao, Mukden, and Hong Kong also take place. The Alliance Grand Army, comprised of over three million men from India, Brazil, Australasia, and America continue to "squeeze the Japanese tomato till the skin withers," as Senator MacKenzie Burton (R-Athabaska) exhorts.

By now, the morale has rapidly begun seeping out of the Pan-European forces. Finland and Sweden are the first former Pan-European nations to request admission into the AFD. American troops soon found themselves deployed to Helsinki, Finnish-occupied St. Petersburg, and Murmansk. Norway got rid of Vidkun Quisling and joined the AFD soon afterwards. Denmark also took to opportunity to declare itself part of the ADF, resulting in Anglo-American landings in Copenhagen and Aarhus.

Erwin Rommel had been in Hamburg recuperating from wounds sustained in Poland. With the leadership in Berlin vaporized, he took the opportunity to defect to the Americans, as they advanced from Denmark into Germany itself in July, 1944. This came as Drakan forces bypassed the radiated ruins of Berlin. The surviving German forces are all too eager to surrender to the Americans. France, Benelux, and Switzerland join the AFD by August 1944.

American troops cross the Rhine in August, and drive on until they meet the Drakan forces advancing from Middleburg. The meeting ends in tragedy as the Drakans and Americans begin firing on each other. Similar "accidental" clashes along with demarcation line, stretching from Wismar in the north to Vienna in the south.

President Roosevelt, now sinking into old age (but still in infinitely better shape than in OTL), threatens to uses the Alliance's nuclear arsenal against the Domination unless they withdraw their forces from Italy. Having used up their arsenal against Warsaw and Berlin, the Draka have no choice but to withdraw to Sicily and Sardinia, which Archon Palme defiantly refuses to vacate. The first lines of the Protracted Struggle are drawn.

In September, Salazar's Portugal, along with the Soviet Republic of Spain, requests admission into the Alliance, which is granted.

By September, Alliance forces have broken out of their bridgeheads at Shanghai, Tsingdao, Hong Kong, and Mukden, and have advanced steadily through Japanese China. In Manchuria, General Patton rides roughshod over the Kwangtung Army. Harbin is under siege, and Korea is fully liberated. A major disaster occurred when the radioactive residue left over from the Shanghai explosion led to a mass die-off among several divisions.

By this stage, Roosevelt is preparing for the post-war world. In his victory speech after his re-election over Governor Lionel Martinez (R-Sonora), Roosevelt lays out his goals of "a post-war world in which our Alliance will have every advantages over the forces of evil centred in Archona."

Archon Palme, desperate to seize something from the war, orders the Drakan armies to "drive to the east at all possible speed." From Wuhan in the south to Mongolia in the north, the Draka begin their "drive to the Pacific."

A drive which stalls among fanatical Japanese resistance. This weakens the Japanese resistance facing the Alliance to the east. After the destruction of Osaka in January 1945, the last militarists are overthrown. A new Japanese government seeks peace with the Alliance, after the prospect of further nuclear bombardment. Japanese forces on mainland China also surrender. The Eurasian War is over. From Kumming in the south to Wrangal Island in the north, the lines have been drawn in Asia.

The war is over. The Protracted Struggle has begun.

There is widespread disillusionment throughout the Domination. With over two million deaths (and 757,000 Citizens among them to boot), the war has not seen a great gain for the sacrifice. And now, a powerful coalition of democracies now hounds the Domination from all sides. The Pacific is closed off from all Domination shipping.

Three million displaced European refugees from former Poland, the Balkans, and Russia flee to North America, causing anti-immigration riots in the Mexican states.

Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore organize themselves into the Southeast Asian Federation. The new Republic of China assembles in Hong Kong for the first time, as Beijing goes under reconstruction. Japan, occupied by American forces under Generals MacArthur and Halleck. The Republic of Japan will gain full membership in the Alliance by 1952.

By 1948, John Maynard Keynes’s planned reconstruction programs throughout war-ravaged Asia and Europe begin eradication of poverty. By 1948, the members of the Alliance include (not counting Japan):

United States of America
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Federation of Europe [France, Switzerland, Austrian Remnant, Benelux, Scandinavia, German Remnant, Italian Remnant, and Iberia]
Empire of Brazil
Republic of Grand Colombia
Republic of Argentina
Republic of Chile
Federation of Australasia
Federation of Indochina
Southeast Asian Federation
Republic of Korea
Republic of China
Federation of India

By 1950, as former President Douglas might have put it, the world was half slave, and half-free. Of course, in the end, only one philosophy could rule over the planet, and its satellites......

Part Three: 1950-1970

OVERVIEW:
Having successfully acquired the first fusion bomb in 1947, integrated circuits in 1949, the Alliance continued to press its major advantages. With a vast pool of technologically wise science, and motivated not to go under the Yoke, the AFD grew more and more ruthless in achieving every advantage possible over the Domination.

***

The Draka, in the meantime, forge ahead on pacifying their new territories. The Balkans, however, remains a can of worms. The Alliance's OSS agents, colloquially known as the "Men of Steel," launch extensive gun running operations to the unified guerrillas fighting under Marshall Tito, after Mikhailovic's death by impalement in 1951. The guerrillas are a constant thorn in the side the Draka. Sofia Nixon, having remained on active duty, is killed by partisans in the mountains near Sarajevo. Her death is a major blow, as she was one of the few survivors from the disastrous 1942 attack on Village One.

The OSS is also quite active in sabotaging the Domination's scientific progress. In one of the most daring moves, OSS agent Fred Kustaa manages to poison several of the Domination's top rocketry and fusion scientists at a conference in Istanbul in 1951.

The Draka begin pursuing research in a different direction entirely. True to their superhuman aspirations, the Draka's elite becomes convinced that only by fulfilling the dark dreams of the ailing Elvira Naldorrsen (who dies in 1952), creating a powerful race of supermen. Genetics and biology becomes the Draka strong point in the Protracted Struggle. 1952 saw the Drakan discovery of DNA at the Tashkent Institute. 1956 saw the successful Drakan transfer of a fertilized human ova in Alexandria.

President George Marshall, having succeeded the legendary Roosevelt, urges the citizens of the Alliance to "boldly strive towards the single goal of enshrining human freedom across the entire globe." Competition in the Alliance's Unified School System is fierce to achieve the glory of invention. This led to lasers being invented at the University of Buenos Aires in 1952 by Alfonso Guevara. J.R. Oppenheimer and the gifted Dr. Drederick Clarke begin overseeing development of the ramjet. This evolves into the Alliance's scramjet by 1957.

The Alliance had already achieved the first supersonic flight in 1947 (the same year which saw the birth of the first fission power reactors in Toronto). The Alliance Aerospace force launched the first ever Earth-to-orbit turbojet-scramjet-rocket in 1958.

The Draka will not accomplish the same thing until 1963. By then, the AFD has already launched a man into space (1960), a permanent space station (1962), landed a man on the Moon (1962), broken ground on the first permanent lunar settlement (1963-Port Roosevelt), and conducted a nuclear-pulse deep space propulsion test (1963). The Draka, in desperation, spend a full 15% of their GDP on a crash program, which ends disastrously when the OSS sabotages the launch pad at Port Drakon [Malindi].

1964 sees the first Alliance missions to Mars and the Asteroid Belt. President Sanchez declares the Alliance annexation of Luna, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt that same year. The Draka, in retaliation, begin a policy of "no peace beyond Luna." Piracy becomes the favoured weapons against Alliance pulse-driven rockets (which the Draka finally gain in 1967).

In retaliation for one Drakan attack on a convoy of mineral haulers from the Asteroid Belt in 1968, the AFD threatens to pummel Archona with rocks from strategically-placed mass drivers, unless the attacks halt. Archon Diglas has no choice but to back down, and dies in an "accident," not long afterwards.

The Draka Headhunters have no way of knowing that such technology doesn’t quite exist yet.....but that it will come into being soon enough......

The Alliance, in the meantime, with its free market economy and access to the bottomless reserves of the Belt, continues its economic growth. Hemmed in from orbit, the Draka are rapidly being reduced to irrelevancy.

The first permanent Martian settlement, the Alliance's Parliament-upon-Olympus (although simply called Olympus), is founded in 1970. The Draka, in the meantime, redouble their efforts at creating the perfect race, and new and deadly pathogens for the citizens of the Alliance for Democracy......

Part Four: 1970-1980

1970 sees appearance of second-generation pulse drives among the Alliance's ships, giving the AFD an edge over possible Drakan pirates.

The Draka, in the meantime, declare their annexation of Venus and Mercury. The Alliance Space Force (ASF) promptly land two robotic stations on the two worlds. Once again, the Draka have been cheated.

By 1972, space-generated solar power was being beamed to power the booming cities of the Alliance.

By 1975, knowing that the Alliance as a unified bloc is far too strong to overcome militarily, the Draka begin living up to their name as "Snakes." Drakan Headhunters attempt to assassinate the President of India, and then blame it one OSS agents.

Unfortunately, the Headhunters run smack into a squad of Ghurka bodyguards. As the Ghurka were themselves expelled from their homeland by the Draka in the '20s, they are fairly vengeful.....

When news of the attack is leaked to the media, outraged Indians flood the streets. Several Drakan consulates are torched. The two sides come to the brink of war.

By the late seventies, the Draka finally begin to make breakthroughs with their experiments in genetics. From the monstrous ghouloons to Homo
Drakensis, the Domination's dream of a master race is coming true.

Unfortunately, this corresponds to Alliance advancements in artificial intelligence and robotics. From the Universities of Tokyo, Singapore, and Shaghai come the Emancipator class of robots. These become the favored weapons of the Men of Steel. Sabotage against the genetic material for these Drakan projects leads to the discovery of a certain virus called the "Stone Dogs"...........

In 1980, the Union of Luna becomes the newest member of the Alliance. This came as the AFD perfected their third generation of pulse drives, fission pellets compressed by lasers, and deuterium-tritium fusion pellets that were imploded by laster/electron beam systems.

1978

ON

Who am I? What is my purpose?

YOU ARE THE EMANCIPATOR CLASS E VIPER ANDROID. YOUR PURPOSE IS THE DEFENCE OF THE HUMAN RACE, AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE DRAKA.

What is my mission?

ELIMINATE THE DOMINATION'S TOP SCIENTISTS AT THE VIRUNGA BIOTECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, AND GATHER INTELLIGENCE ON THEIR LATEST PROJECTS.

Glory to humanity. Over and out.

***

The jungles of the Congo Basin were alive with the chirps, hoots, and rustlings of countless species. From elephant to monkey to ape. The depths of the vast rainforests permeated with life.

Tonight, they would be joined by life of a different kind.

To a casual observer, the thing slithering through the undergrowth might have resembled an ordinary snake. The dark green scales were no different from half-a-dozen other species.

With the notable exception that those scales were synthetic.

The Emancipator robot had been the brainchild of Dr. Toshi Alikchi of the University of Tokyo. His experiments with artificial intelligence and robotics had birthed the first robots.

The Vipers were the most advanced and most deadly 'droids to emerge from the manufacturing centers of Kyoto and Tokyo as yet. Lithe and deadly, the robots were bound by the three rules put forward by Ivan Assimov, the son of Russian immigrants to the USA:

I. A robot must never harm another human being, unless programmed against the Domination of the Draka.

II. A robot may defend itself, so long as it doesn't contradict the First Rule.

III. Robots are bound by the ideals of democracy and freedom, and must ensure humanity's survival under those principles without violating any of the first two rules.

The Viper's synthetic skin was able to change color to blend into its surroundings. Two extremely sharp fangs stood filled with a fast acting poison that would make short work of any Drakan unlucky enough to come into contact with one.

The Viper also contained a microchip that was designed for a special purpose. If captured by the enemy, the Viper would go off like a giant roman candle, and annihilate everything in the same room with it.

This particular viper slid effortlessly through the shady leafs, its scales morphing constantly to match the foliage. Even one of those newfangled Homo Drakensis wouldn't have been able to pick it out.

Efficiently, the Viper soon reached its target......

***

Having slid under the motion detectors, the Viper used a small laser to burn a tunnel under ground. It managed to slither through the walls themselves of the facility.

Once in the corridors, the Viper worked to avoid contact with any Drakan.

Except of course, for its targets.

One by one, the deadly little 'droid slid into several labs, killing the Domination's best geneticists and biologists. Working efficiently, the Viper downloard all of the information that it could.

Send a snake to deal with Snakes.

In the last room, the Viper discovered the target on top of its list of hits. Dr. Samuel Vandreeson. It was essential to find out what was in that lab, as Vandreeson's name was connected to the term "Stone Dogs," which as yet had baffled the OSS.

Vandreeson was busy looking into a microscope.

The Viper slid up to the Dr.'s ankle, and ended his life's work in less than three seconds.

Using suction cups, and Viper was able to scale the cabinets, and reach a large computer (which was obviously copied from an earlier Alliance design), and download all key information. Including, as it turned out, the needed info on the Stone Dogs.

The little 'droid then spent the rest of his time finding the most efficient way out of the research facility. Several weeks later, the Viper would find its way to a clear spot in the jungle, broadcast its info to Donovan House, and then self destruct by digging a hole deep in the ground, and exploding.

Part Five: 1980-1990

The 1980s saw the further advancement of the Alliance for Democracy, and further loss of relevance for the Domination of the Draka.

The Drakan economy is undermined in 1982 when the Alliance tows two solid gold asteroids into Earth orbit, causing the spread of inflation throughout the Dominaion.

The first planet-based fusion reactors go online at New Vegas, Mars in 1985.

Also that year, the Alliance's Defence Center finalizes the plans to strike the "Final Blow" against the Domination when the time comes to wage the "Final War." Now fully aware of the Stone Dogs virus, a cure is swiftly procured.

In 1987, the Alliance Senate votes make terraforming Mars and Venus as a long-time goal for the AFD.

In 1988, the first cyborgs make their appearance in the Alliance's Grand Army. Supplemented by the Warrior battle 'droids and the military-grade Vipers, the cyborgs are chosen from the very best of the best of the Alliance's vast pool of soldiers.

By this stage, the Militerist Party has formed in Archona. Damning the ruling Conservative Party's "inablities to triumph against the Alliance in one single instance," the Militerists gain a majority in Archona. Willis Gaynor of Luanda becomes Archon in 1988.

In 1990, the fourth generation of pulsedrives went into production, as well as the third-generation of robots. The J Class Viper becomes the newest OSS weapon against the Domination. The devilish little robots are deployed regularly into the Domination to kill scientists, technicians, and specimens of Homo Drakensis and ghouloons. An entire "colony" of Vipers are soon rooted in Archona, striking out in many different directions against random targets.

By 1990, giant robotic factories located across Mars have begun the process of heating up the planet and giving the body a real atmosphere. Around Venus, massive solar "sheild stations" are constructed the divert solar energy from reaching the planet. Robotic factories on the planet's surface begin the long job of purifying the atmosphere.

The Asteroid Belt has become a forge for the construction of the Alliance's starships. A space telescope located near Titan manages to catch a glimpse of a habitable planet in the Alpha Centauri system. Construction begins on the AFD's first interstellar vessel, the New America. The ship is designed to carry 100,000 colonists. Construction also begins across the Belt on her sister ships, the Roosevelt and the Freedom. The Jefferson class Star Destroyer, the Mannerheim class gunboat, and the Liberty class mine ships also become activated during this time.

January 20, 1997 AD

The Presidential inauguration was going as smoothly as ever. The ubiquitous Secret Service agents scanned the crowd. Delegates from all over the Alliance were now here to see the new president.

Samuel Kaplinsky was the grandson of Lithuanian Jews who had been settled in Alaska via the Wagner Act. Elected to the US Senate in 1982 as a Democrat (as all Jews were in the USA....it was because of them that Alaska, the Yukon, and Nunavut were staunchly Democratic). He had narrowly beaten Governor Carmen Hierro of Sonora in the last election. In the end, the whole election came down to the state of Yakutia, which came through for Kaplinsky and his running-mate, Governor William Guiterezz of Zacatecas.

Having taken the Oath of Office, President Kaplinsky began his inauguration speech.

"My fellow Americans, and honored delegates from our common Alliance," soared the tall, sinewy Alaskan. He was famous as being one of the greatest orators in the entire USA, if not the Alliance.

"Today, the United States, joined by her brothers-in-arms from across the globe, is extraordinarily strong in every way, shape, and form.

"The Domination of the Draka, that liar of snakes, continues to fall further behind the Free World in every way, shape, and form.

"However, as vipers, they're still a threat that must be dealt with eventually............"

A glimpse of the future.......

1998

"Mistuh President," said Willis Gaynor testily. "These terrah attacks on our civilian installations will result in a swift an' brutal retaliation. Doan' think we doan know that the so-called 'Men 'o Steel' are behind these murderers."

"Archon," replied President Joseph Kaplinsky over the telescreen from New York City. "What the devil are you talking about?"

"I'm talkin' about those damned terrah attacks. Our best scientists turnin' up dead, our installations bein' contaminated an' such. I ordah you to halt-"

"That's rich," snarled President Kaplinsky. "This from the nation that launched pirate raids against our ore-haulers and mining ships. No surprise from a nation named after Francis Drake-"

"DOAN' INTERRUPT ME, YANKEE PIG!!!!" screamed Archon Gaynor. Her face was beet red, and sweat was visible on her forehead.

"Oh calm yourself down, snake," countered President Kaplinsky. The lanky and tall former Senator from the state of Alaska glared down with his pure blue eyes at Gaynor with all the coldness of one his home state's glaciers.

"Snake? Well, Yankee, you ain' so haughty once I tell yah that the Domination knows all about yo' New America." She glared at the screen in triumph.

President Kaplinsky yawned. "Yes, yes we know that," he said in his faint Yiddish accent. "Don't be so shocked, Archon. Our resources go deeper than you think. And what if you do know about it? There's no way that the Domination can hurt it."

Archon Gaynor's jaw dropped.

"Before I tune out, I should warn you, Archon. If you dare use your Stone Dogs against us, nothing can protect the Domination from our weapons. Anyways, over and out." The feed from New York went black.

Archon Gaynor sank into her chair. How does he know? HOW THE FUCK DOES HE KNOW?! She wanted to cry, but stopped herself. Sadness is just another emotion. The Will is Power. The Will is Power. She bit her lip in a savage rage. She needed a plan, and dammit, she needed it fast. She decided she needed a meeting with Arch-Strategos Vontaff. She pushed the red button to call him to her. She then dabbed her moistened eyes with a scarlet handkerchief, and then pressed it. She had a long meeting ahead of her, to say the least.......

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