NOw reading that was better than a mocha frapacino and a cherry turover. that's for starting my morning the right way.

>There are many smaller mercenary fleets which come and go through
>history which look with envy and mistrust at the CFMF... mostly
>because the CFMF tends to steal their 'best and brightest.' There is
>also a friendly rivalry between WDF and CFMF, and after the founding
>of the Federation a -much less- friendly rivalry between the UFP
>Starfleet and CFMF.

Can you go into more detail here? Clearly this problem exists before the defrocking of Aya.

>After 2368, Earth government (except for the
>Republic of Texas and the Principality of Zanzibar) is quietly hostile
>to the CFMF, and after the Psi Act passes this hostility is
>reciprocated.

Why is there hostility? Is it a carry over from the liberation of Texas? Also,
I take it that with the Psi Act Earthdome operatives will try to inflitrate the CFA and CFMF. Are CFA citizens covered by the same protections as CFMF personnel?

>However, the Galactica Assembly had HUNDREDS of ambassadors in it, and
>as such its gears moved slowly, slowly indeed. In 2132, when the
>then-head-of-state of the Freespacers could not find anyone willing to
>represent the Freespacers in the Assembly, he put the touch on the
>Redneck, who was not to find his own replacement until 2202. Virtually
>the only legislation of note he put forward in those seventy years
>that passed was the Proto-Sapients Act, which gave protection for
>those sapient species which, due to morphology, level of intelligence
>or other conditions, could be abused by other races.

Nani? Can we have some examples. For example Jigglypuffs aren't covered by this. Neither is Dorothy, but than again, some people don't cosider her sapient.

>The Freespacers began an entertainment network and production company
>as part of the Zardon Civil War; it continued on after the war.
>"Washuu's Lab" is the only show the Freespacers produced in the 24th
>Century to achieve galaxy-wide popularity.

Dare I ask what other shows were part of the CFN lineup?

>Star Kingdom of Manticore, two systems/four worlds/three stars, Enigma
>Sector, settled from Earth c. 2030. Not a Federation member world, but
>
>Barrayaran Star Empire, three systems of one world each, Enigma Sector
>bordering the Cardassian Regime, settled c. 2040.

Fascinating. If both Barrayar and Manticore are in the Enigma sector, wouldn't they be in competition? Oooh, I'd pay to see _that_ war.

Second, isn't there a problem with your numbers?

Manticore has (in DW's version) 1 system, three worlds (Manticore, Gryphon, and Sphinx). Barrayar prior to LB's meeting between Cordelia and Aral has two systems two worlds (Barrayar and Komarr).

Have you decided to (a) add more worlds and systems for the heck of it. (b) include the systems of Trevor's Star and Sergyar in your UF versions?

Also, I noticed the lack of discussion on Manticore. Is this because you don't what DW's men in black to hunt you down? Just curious.

>Not long after the Son's demise, GENOM took over control of Komarr;
>shortly after this, when GENOM failed to gain a solid foothold in
>Barrayar's economy or political structure (despite a 200-year Dark
>Age), the corporation invited Cardassia to invade Barrayar in exchange
>for certain economic considerations. The twenty-year long Cardassian
>Incursion which followed ended with ignominous defeat for the
>Cardassians, engineered in no small part by one Piotr Vorkosigan. A
>generation later (2363), a modernized Barrayarran Imperial Service
>force under the overall command of Piotr's son Aral practically walked
>into possession of Komarr, having nullified Komarr's defenses almost
>without a fight.

What a cool alternative history. I am awed.

>The net result was that Aral was stripped of rank and title
>and exiled from Barrayar; out of respect for his father, the hero of
>the Cardassian occupation, his bloodline was not attainted, and thus
>any male offspring he would have would succeed Piotr as Count.

Ezar must have been feeling generous. Nifty.

>There are more details, but they make up a LOT of 'Elements of
>Command,' so this is all you get for now.

I'll hold my expressions of glee and nitpicking until then.

>Not a lot. Only the Zardon Republic's Department of Justice and the
>Earth Alliance do not respect the Freespacer pledge of amnesty, and
>both of these are a result of incidents in the 2360s.

What happened???? I don't recall anything significant and your history doesn't seem to indicate what could have been the problem.

>Yes, during their brief war against Earth. The small Gamilon
>expatriate community in the Freespacer Alliance dates from just after
>that war.

Whose brief war? Gamilon v. Earth of CFMF v. Earth?

>>What was it like for Washu to teach on Tomodachi?
>
>Humbling.

<grin> I thought Skuld didn't go to school.

>As is alluded to in Wilderness, Washuu spent the entire 23rd Century
>watching after Redneck's affairs, including a term of office as chief
>of state of the Freespacer nation. After Sonset she took on an
>apprentice and provided an occasional service to Lt. Cdr. Martin
>Rose's group of WDF officers, which became "ThunderForce".

Like what? Did some one need an atomic wedgie?

>Quite a few, but none has come to mind that I care to write. One of my
>toss-off jokes is that there's three years of it I'll -never- write,
>because that's where we put the series we don't want in UF.

<grin> I knew it had to be in there somewhere. I won't ask.

>The United States government, bordering on bankruptcy itself, decided
>to allow California to go in peace; most of the southern USA, in
>reaction seceded to defend what it called 'the empire of democracy.'
>Imperial Americana promptly declared war on California, and the USA,
>Canada and Russia declared war on the Americana, and other wars popped
>up here and there, and it took ten years of constant war before things
>settled down.

When did the Third world war occur? Why didn't the WDF intervene?

>In the 2350s, Imperial Americana fought a very
>short, very decisive war with Mexico, which restored the Valley of
>Mexico to its prior status as a lake, and a lake which glowed in the
>dark at that. With its southern border emphatically secured, Imperial
>Americana stripped Texas of troops for its main battle line along the
>Ohio and Potomac Rivers.

Damn, it's Chapultepec Castle all over again. Damn you Yankees!

>Desperate to
>stave off a total unravelling of its position on Earth, GENOM used its
>client nations' influence (California, IA, and the Holy Republic of
>Munma) to sever diplomatic ties with the Freespacers and engineer the
>CFMF's exit from the war.

How did that happen? IS it tied to the rise of Olympus?

>The Republic of Texas took control of
>its historic territory, plus Oklahoma and the southwestern corner of
>Louisiana, and became one of three Earth nations which did not join
>the Earth Alliance.

We know Zanzibar is one. Who is the other?

Thanks for the explanations,
t.

Trigger Argee
trigger_argee@hotmail.com
Manon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.