"More beer, sir?"In a cheap little bar on the outskirts of Innsbruck, a Federation town of Tirion, a waiter was looking at a man sitting at a table by the window, with at least five now empty beer glasses leaning on it. The man was Malcolm Croft.The scientist had had much better days. His beard and hair were unkempt and unkempt, and the lines on his face had sharply arched. He wore simple clothes stained in several places and the smell of alcohol was easily perceptible."Yes thanks. In fact, bring me two, I'm barely tipsy” Croft grumbled. The waiter just shrugged and walked away from the man. He surely thought he was some wretch who had just lost his job, or a poor husband who had just discovered his wife's betrayal.In reality, Croft was none of these categories. He was in fact the scientist who had laid the foundations for the destruction of the whole world.Croft had always wanted only one thing in his life: fame. While the purpose of sc
For years now, the Confederate States of Vinland have been in turmoil. This is because unlike the Gardarikian Federation and the Almagna Empire they were a democracy. And in democracies, when the people have something to say, they are free to say it.President Monroe Bennett's conduct had been contested ever since he came to power, but it had been sporadic: a few protests here, a senator raising an issue there, nothing the head of state couldn't handle with a little. of gab. And when the gab wasn't enough, well, Bennett and his circle knew how to silence people.However, since Queen Mackenzie had left the NMWA and founded the Eden Union, the protests had increased exponentially, as many people saw Eden Union as the answer to their problems. Bennett had tried to keep the population at bay as best he could, but as Eden Union grew and showed all its prosperity, calming the people became more and more difficult.Bennett had seen his power become more and more fragil
That was the beginning of the end, the final blow to the NMWA. As had happened on Earth with the USSR, the international organization began to dismember itself piece by piece. Many nations had already begun to lose their faith in the NMWA, and the discovery of that secret was the last humiliation they were willing to endure.The Eden Union was able to withstand the impact of that news much better: Queen Mackenzie and President Palma managed to convince the people and nations who had kept silent about that news to avoid panic spreading and fear held back men from 'to act and rebel against the wrong government system that was the NMWA. Since their motives were understandable, the Eden Union chose to believe him, even though the Senate imposed fines on the Prettania Kingdom and the Republic of Meilong; after all, it was right that they paid at least a little. Furthermore, both Queen Mackenzie and President Palma revealed that they already had suitable countermeasures for atomic
Sobek hadn't foreseen that implication, but personally he didn't mind.On Earth, RE/SYST was an organization that existed only in the Salvation show. Sobek had taken into account that they could also exist in that universe since he had met Pauline Mackenzie, but he had preferred not to investigate: after all he did not care about them.However, cyber warfare was crucial to winning a war in the modern era. Drones, missiles, communications, everything was regulated by computers and systems. Having a group of experienced hackers on your side could make all the difference in an open fight.Sobek had no reason to fear RE/SYST: his weapons were not connected to any network and the precautions he could take against the NMWA could also work against RE/SYST. They had nothing to threaten him. However, they had a lot that could threaten the NMWA and, above all, the superpowers.A few months earlier, RE/SYST had announced the existence of atomic bombs to the world, a
In a barren wasteland, covered with rocks and completely red ground, two men were walking in heavy spacesuits. The wind lashed their bodies, kicking up the dust and if they weren't wearing protectors they probably would have felt a slight discomfort in their legs. They were looking at the view through their helmets. All they could see around them were red sand and distant mountains, and looking east they could watch the sun rise, a sun that from a terrestrial's perspective would have been remarkably small. And the same was true of any inhabitant of Eden.This is because Eden was actually more than fifty million miles away from the two men at the time. The two astronauts could see it: slightly suspended above the rising sun was a tiny ball of light, clearly a planet that reflected a lot of light thanks to its oceans.Liam observed the sunrise with a dreamy look. Even though they had arrived on planet Davis a few months ago, they still got lost in watching the sun rise o
The Gardarikian Federation was very, very large. If anyone had wanted to make a comparison with the Earth, it would have been roughly three times the size of Russia.This was certainly no cause for joy. In any world, the larger a nation was, the more difficult it was to manage it. Even with modern means and communications, it was much more preferable to have a small territory rather than a gigantic one. Furthermore, just like on Earth, a very large nation contained within itself very different peoples and cultures.Being able to manage and, above all, keep so many people with different religions, beliefs, cultures and educations good was tiring. Especially if those people had not willingly chosen to be part of that nation. As on Earth, most of the great nations of Eden were the result of constant wars and expansions. The Gardarikian Federation was no exception: hundreds of different peoples coexisted within it who had been independent for a long time and then had been
President Anoke and Emperor Wafner sat facing each other, completely alone in the room. Neither of them said a word; they simply mirrored each other in the eyes of the other.In the end it was Anoke who spoke. "I'm going to give up"Under normal circumstances, Wafner would have screamed at those words; but now he didn't seem to have the strength to get angry. "What do you mean?""You understood perfectly well. Face reality. We lost” Anoke replied. Five months had passed since the Gardarikian Federation had been torn apart by the rebel, and now the president was but a pathetic shadow of himself. "There is nothing we can do. My country is in the throes of riots and I have already suffered five attacks in the last few weeks, one of which was nearly fatal to me. All the nations that support us are overwhelmed by the rebellion and one after the other are collapsing. What's more, the economic crisis continues to worsen the situation”. The man sighed deeply
"And so we took another one"Jocelyne and Sobek were lying together in a clearing. The woman had brought a chess set and opened them in front of him, then they started playing. In reality only Jocelyne moved the pieces: since her claws were too big Sobek just said where he wanted the pieces to be moved, and she did it for him. But it was still a nice way to relax, and they both needed it.Two days earlier, the Gardarikian Federation had declared the independence of the four warring regions and its abandonment of the NMWA. The news had been welcomed with joy from all over the world: even if a new government was still to be formed, it was clear that the Federation was preparing to join the Eden Union.The title 'PRESIDENT ANOKE LEAVES THE NMWA' was printed in large letters in any newspaper, magazine or leaflet. The media wallowed in such news. Not only had the Gardarikian government surrendered to the rebellions, but another superpower had given in and left the NM