"Into the Crucible"
Pvt. James Ramirez
December 17th, Earth time, 2055
October 18th, Local time, 1097
Rhodes Island MPR
Foley was the one to suggest this, and considering how much time they still have till dinner, they had the time to talk to the Dokutahs about the idea.
An hour before lunch
"We want to use the MPR, to give the operators a history lesson on the United States." Foley suggested to the leader of Rhodes Island. He looked at Foley, both exhibited an aura of friendliness. Clasping their hand, the Dokutah looked at him, "Interesting proposal, why is that?"
"Well," Foley began, gesturing at Exusiai and Ramirez, "These 2 geniuses think that if we disseminate more knowledge of Earth's history slowly, we can reduce the amount of fear and paranoia about earth." Leaning back, Mr. Dokutah hummed, before leaning forward.
"Granted, do you folks have a period in mind?" Foley set down a paper, surprising the Dokutah and leaning backwards, before forwards again to look. "3 hours before dinner, should be the perfect amount of time to get through one history documentary. Maybe after the documentary, you guys can do one for us?"
"Granted, good luck, We'll go down and watch too, as long as you can provide security."
"We can do that, don't worry yourself."
Ramirez and Exusiai had set up the large screen, a 3d projector, and 4 more screens. They also wheeled in some speakers. The 2 worked in tandem, as Dunn and the others got the documentary up. After that was done, the doors were opened, as the Dokutah sent a notification out.
Not a lot of operators are coming, all of the Penguin Logistics operators, Orchid, Blaze, Skyfire, Ch'en, Swire, Hoshiguma, Silverash and his sisters, Mudrock, Ceylon, and anybody else who served on the mission in the city.
That's fine, too many people spoil the pot.
[ or in my terms, makes it way too hard to keep track of everybody ]
After about 20 minutes, those operators began to arrive, slowly few by few. Ch'en and Swire arguing over Ch'en's M4. "Give me the damn M4!" Swire reached for it again, "Damn dragon sl-!"
"Oh don't you go there you littl-" "Hey hey! Woah!" Hoshiguma had to step in, just before things reached a boiling point and there was no recovery. Ramirez looked at Exusiai who hits shrugged.
Blaze coming in next with Skyfire, Chainsaw still on her. Exusiai looked a bit fearful of her, causing Ramirez to step infront of her.
Texas, Lappland and the others came in, all of them talking excitedly about what they were going to watch. Croissant and Bison following the 2 in, with Mostima in the back, eating a Teacake.
Mudrock walked in, talking and whispering to is that a bunch of solidified mud with rocks?
He shook his head, he doesn't fully understand this world, so he shouldn't bother her. Watching as a few more operators start entering.
And then finally, the Dokutah, with that Amiya girl and Kal'tsit.
She looked terrifying, best not piss her off.
Ramirez sighs, Hunter 2-1 giving him a thumbs up, before going over to turn on the screen and the projector. "Here we go folks."
The video starts with a cloudy opening of North America. "The earth is filled and scattered with civilizations that always followed the trend of Rise and Fall... we are looking at one of them..."
The clouds turned to smoke, as the Steel end of a Kentucky Musket blew through, a bullet flying through the smoke and hitting a British officer in the chest. Ch'en and many others were caught off guard, Exusiai silently smirked watching. The screen panned out as the officer fell off his horse; the soldiers scattering in panic with the Americans shooting from the woods.
"These are trailblazers..."
A wagon train was seen heading over the golden prairies. Some operators confined to the cities or just longing for beautiful nature looked on in beautiful. To them, it was so clean, so pure.
Untouched by the Catastrophes of Terra.
"Pioneers..."
An axe comes swinging down at the trunk of a tree. Lappland likes how they are swinging it, Blaze wondering Why an axe? The man, huffed before swinging again. Letting out a roar as he cuts the tree down.
"Fighters..."
The backs of 5 American GIs showed up on screen, holding M1 Garands and Thompsons as they ran across a beach head. Bullets impacting and massive explosions all around them. Exusiai and some others cheering them on.
"They fight for Freedom..."
The Statue of Liberty was unveiled, the people cheering as her torch was lit. To some, it was a beautiful sight. Anybody who is starting to see similarities to Columbia grumbling, probably thinking it's another hypocritical state that is using Liberty and Freedom as a front.
"They stand against Tyranny..."
2 Americans faced off against a German and Imperial soldier, both having an Mp40 and Arisaka and Bayonet at the end respectively. They all let out war before opening fire on each other. Ch'en raised her eyebrow, Those 2 looked similar to Kazdel and Higashi culturally...
"They turn their dreams..."
The 3d projector showed the plane of the Wright brothers fall off a cliff, causing many of the operators to gasp and look away. Mostima was about to sigh and pray for the fallen. Lappland about to make a morbid joke, turning to Texas ready to tell it.
Suddenly, something came back up violently, the Wright plane, now an F22 Raptor, its bottom compartment opened and sent missiles at an enemy plane, reducing it to a fireball and into shrapnel. Skyfire held her mouth, muttering, "They even fight in the skies..." The concept was incredible to them as the fighter swerved into a tan sky.
"Into reality."
The scene quickly cut to an oil Derrick erupting in a massive explosion, workers crying out and cheering as oil covered them and the surrounding area. Swire was interested in what the resource was and why they were so happy to see it. "Black gold..." Ramirez silently muttered, she heard him say it, but didn't know what it truly meant to Earthlings at the time.
The scene quickly changed to an American Sherman facing off a German Tiger II. Now even Exusiai was shocked, seeing that even the Earthling Armored vehicles can face off and fight each other. Mudrock held her little pet and rubbed it, slightly molding it into a little Sherman.
"They will rally for democracy..."
A hilltop with Union Soldiers were screaming in cheer, as a confederate Flag fell and burned. Most of the operators were curious as to why they expressed such happiness at the burning flag.
However some didn't have to wonder long, a Union soldier happily screaming, "Down with the traitors, Up with the Stars!" "Ah..." came a collective realization.
"They will rally for all basic liberties"
American protestors fighting for Women's Suffrage and for the Civil Rights movement was shown. As well as the riots and supporters who screamed to the sky, demanding to let their voices be heard. Lappland and Mudrock, and anybody else majorly infected, even Blaze, began to think and wonder on something.
Could they protest for themselves too? Can they achieve it peacefully without blood?
"They will stop at nothing to punish those..."
A large, dark gray plane, flying high in the sky, scaring the Terrans a little, swerved and dropped a pod onto a city. A sinking feeling in people like Blaze as, sure enough, the city became engulfed in a massive fire, the bomber getting the hell away.
"...that dare wrong their home."
"That's a hell of a way to put it," Mostima commented, leaning back into her chair. The destruction of a city back in their minds again as the Mushroom cloud graced their memory again.
An M1A2 rolled onto the screen, its turbine engine purring as the gun swerved. An American in Gulf War uniform pointed at the screen, his face contorted and eyes blocked by dark goggle, a faint "Fire!" can be heard as the tank shot off its round shortly after.
"This is the Story..."
The smoke of the gun gave way to a million scenes and screens of everything in American History, of JFK, of the Cuban Missile Crisis, of Vietnam, of WW2, of the Industrial Age, of the mayflower. The amount of scenes was getting a little over whelming for them.
"...the bloody history..."
Soon, the camera began to pan out, the clouds reappearing and Earth being shown from space again.
"...of the United States of America"
North America was seen again, the borders of the U.S. and its States shined proudly at the audience. The Flags of each state, which by now have actually been remodeled into something more appealing to look at, and the American Flag proudly waving over them all.
Edited on, was the Columbian Union compared to the United States, the latter towering over the other in pure size. "Oh man..." Mr. began looking at the country whistling impressed, "That's one hell of a landscape to own..."
Ramirez exhaled, watching, "And here... we... go." he uttered softly. The screen turned black. Followed by an Eagle flying across the screen, its proud and stereotypical scream filling the room.
"From Colonial Poverty to Global Superpower - the Big 5 wars"
Orchid had a flash of something across her face, and so did anybody who studied Columbian History well. This sounded... familiar.
The United States was shown again, Ramirez beginning to Narrate, "This video will take care of 5 big 'wars' of the United States." he turns around to the screen, "Before the United States became the United States we know and love today..." he said, the screen changing as suddenly, the United States was not there, its borders disappearing.
Instead, multiple colors appeared, "Instead, in its place, was the 13 Colonies." The narrator took over. "The United States of America was once the Unified Colonies of North America..." the globe turned as it showed Europe, and highlighted a massive island, "Under the Kingdom of Great Britain, otherwise known as the British Empire."
Skyfire, Ceylon, and Blaze reared their heads around, eyes widening slowly as the Narrator began to describe Britain, "An imperial power who has a strong penchant for expansion and a monarchy. This nation is striving to be at the center of the world, the British navy was the strongest in the world, it had a very powerful and well regimented military, and it was terrifying to any nation that wanted to not die." The resemblances between Britain and Victoria began to glare at the Operators.
It went back to the Eastern Seaboard of North America, and the 13 Colonies, aforementioned, were highlighted. Virginia glowed. "This is Virginia," Ramirez facepalmed at the laughter of the name, Exusiai letting out a low giggle herself. "Laugh at its name now, but it will become one of the most influential states in early American history."
Ramirez's turn to laugh, coughing into his fist, Damn, he called them out. The Narrator then zoomed in on Pennsylvania, "This is Pennsylvania, the most influential state in early American history. Situated in the Breadbasket that is the Mid-Atlantic, it grew the most grain and wheat for the 13 Colonies, alongside its adopted sister." that state was highlighted, "New York, which will become an important state in the future."
"The details are... too complicated to go into, but what can be said is this, after years of being handled by another power, the Colonies began to slowly get pushed to the edge of tolerance for Colonial rule." The narrator zoomed in on Boston and on various American cities, which was sent to the other screens. Any of the city dwellers looked on at the young, American cities. They found them humble, and maybe in the back of their Terran minds, they felt fear for them, as though a catastrophe can so easily wipe them up.
"Years prior to 1776, the Old Colonies enjoyed a period of Salutary Neglect, in which, in the eyes of Britain who was more into seeing the world, they had almost full jurisdiction over their own lands, and their own governments. Didn't help that at this time, the Colonies were growing rapidly, with the highest life expectancies, good economy, and overall a sense of relaxation."
"It was... swiftly, brought to an end, when the French-Indian War..." the Conflict zone highlighted, Ramirez brought up a screen to show how large the area was compared to Ursus, which, to the Operators, was horrifyingly large. "Ended, and suddenly, Britain needed a place to get taxes to end their big accumulated debt..."
A depiction of Britain as a red coat soldier appeared, his head swerving around before stopping, Ch'en having a sick feeling in her stomach, "...and what better place to get some money than from their own 'Loyal' colonies."
The 3d projector showed up, and a person in a business suit appeared some operators looking amazed at him appearing and tried to ask him questions, but Ramirez began shushing everybody as he spoke, "To the Americans at the time, that was complete bullshit, y'know?" Silverash and Ch'en leaned in, "They got to do their own thing for a long time, never got a problem out of it, and all of a sudden, their 'Mother Country' comes back in and starts essentially taking their money."
With a somewhat cynical smile, Ch'en leaned back, "No matter where we are, nobody likes getting taxed, huh?"
"Amen to that!" Dunn called out, laughing.
"And the Americans... didn't take it well," the narrator said, the projector showing Americans in their old colonial clothing rushing and angrily protesting at some British Soldiers. Ramirez sighed, and took off his helmet, putting it over his chest.
Liskarm, who was used to the scene, looked at Ramirez in confusion, "Why is he doing that..? People usually only do that whe-" she was cut off by a bang making her look at the scene in horror, and the collective horrified gasp of the operators filled and silenced the room. Another bang had rung out, and it was followed by more bangs and more, the Colonial crowd running away in horror, with many, including kids, being caught in the crossfire.
Ch'en and some of the other LGD operators felt a burn of shame, a scene like this probably happened way too much during at the LGD in Lungmen, handling the slums. Ch'en looked back, a silent fury. Maybe I can change that.
"The Boston Massacre, so called, was the start of more radical American Hostilities." Slowly, he began to explain everything, the Continental Congress and the Boston Tea Party was of course mentioned. Swire felt horror at the Tea wasted, with Ceylon being the Most horrified, jumping in anger. "That's a waste of some fine tea!"
Ramirez chuckled softly, Exusiai watching the video continue on. "However, as the British landed in Boston and began to head up to the cities of Lexington, what they didn't expect was something more fierce than they could imagine."
The projector shined into the middle, a house's foundations shown as Minutemen and Redcoats faced off. The Minutemen hiding behind walls. Tension in the atmosphere, the Dokutahs leaned in. Slowly, the tension began to reach a point, before somebody, a person in a mix of red and minutemen clothing stepped out, and fired.
"Nobody knows who truly fired the 'Shot heard 'round the world,' but what is known is this," the narrator panned to the Colonies and Britain, and showed them as different colors now, "The American Revolutionary war has begun. And as a year passed, and July began to come around..."
The 3d printer showed men and some women around a table, with feathers. They all seemed to be saying something in agreement that none of the operators could fully understand. However, there seemed to have been some magic that was done as they signed the paper. There seemed to be anticipation from the Columbian Union Operatives. Ramirez took this into account
"A new nation, a year into conflict, was born," Ramirez listened to the soft tune of Yankee Doodle, as the old American flag began to fly, "Not perfect, but not demoralized... it was determined to gain its independence from Britain..." and it showed the 13 Colonies now, changing colors and instead, a name, a new one appeared, "... and it is willing to be forged through the crucible for it."
"Just to give you all a heads up," The man in the suit re-appeared, "The British Empire was the biggest and most feared nation on the planet, So... This new nation trying to declare its independence was akin to having... an ant fight against the lightning."
Operators from Victoria felt a small swell of pride, Ceylon relaxed, thinking that the Tea will be avenged. Meanwhile the Columbian Operators looked on with growing shock and fearful for the Americans that looked.. so close to their own. "But these Colonialists... the 'Yankees' the British mocked the Americans with, they had pride, they had the homefield, and they had a better drive for the war."
Ramirez eyed the Columbian Union operators, Exusiai going up to whisper to him, "Columbia and Victoria seemed to be sharing similarities with the United States and Great Britain... huh?"
Ramirez's gears began to run through his head, "Tell me about it later, the Columbians and Victorians seem to be getting a strange look in their eyes..." Exusiai nodded. The 2 had gotten down to sit near a seat by the screen. "The United States was born, but it had some problems."
He heard a smug noise from behind him; Blaze, he thought, darkly, That Elite Ops chick that gave Exusiai trouble for the NLAWs... protectively, he had a hand go near Exusiai. "Well what do you know? Sounds like a bit of our history, with a bunch of rebels like the Columbians, breaking away from the mother country, Victoria."
Ramirez rolled his eyes as he noticed some Columbians eying her up. "The American Declaration of Independence only served to further the American resolve to get the freedom they deserve, and the freedom that they will fight for, now that their independence can have legitimacy."
The screen flashes to a bunch of Minutemen fighting with the British in the southern colony of South Carolina. And this time the British was on the assault, and receiving successive southern victories. The cheers of some Victorians would not last for very long, as the camera began to pan, Northbound.
George Washington was the man they zoomed in on. "George Washington, he will set forth a legacy. He was native to Virginia, had experience in commanding. And he, when Independence is achieved, will become the first President of the United States." The Dokutah leaned back. "Hell of a Legacy he's leaving behind when he passes." "He was up there for a reason, to help the Continental Army deal with the British in the Mid-Atlantic. Ultimately, it turned out to be succesful"
Colonial Forces the North was preparing for an assault into a very important town, one that would have a battle that changed the very course of the war. "The battle of Saratoga - which brought in the nation of France," the name caused a few Victorian operators to shift, twitching a little, "and the help of a Prussian General who had come over to help the Americans at Valley Forge get themselves into shape." Kazdel Operatives had a new sense of pride hearing a name similar to some people in their own nation had moved to help the Americans.
"France was a vital supporter to the United States, without French Help, the Revolution May as well have been lost." The narrator pointed out, there an eerie feeling of resemblance to the Colombians using Gaul's invasion of Victoria as a key moment to break away. One that made a few shudder uncomfortably.
Much of the operators got silent when a year was shown, and the name Yorktown appeared. 1781. Ramirez and Exusiai knew what was happening here. Blaze and the others watched closely, Lappland, not impressed by the musket fighting but rather the Bayonet charging that was happening.
Both sides had entrenched themselves and were firing at each other. The French navy opened fire on the British navy and cut short their supply lines. Ch'en tapped Ramirez on the shoulder, "Your world learned to fight on the water..?" She asked, quietly as she still watched the documentary and listened about the battle of Yorktown. Ramirez sighed, turning back to her and the operators near her. "Naval warfare became a normalized thing once we started to arm ships and make Warships."
"Interesting... Iberia tried something like that," He looks over at Blaze now before looking back at the documentary, "But they can't do anything now, not after they were incapacitated by the Seaborne." Ramirez swung back at her.
"I'm sorry, the what", Blaze looked at him, completely shocked that he didn't know what they are. She just waved him off. He looked at Exusiai who shrugged, "We'll explain it later."
Blaze called something out. A White flag, waving a soldier holding it and waving it as high as he can.
To the horror of the Victorians, the uniform was red.
But to the delight of the Columbian Operators and Exusiai, they knew what it meant. Those operators cheered as the British soldiers started to follow, arms raised in surrender. General Cornwallis appearing, sighing with his hat over his chest. "With the surrender of the British Army at Yorktown, surrounded by the French Navy, the British Military in the west getting harassed by the Spanish and the Dutch helping in the English Channel, now began a new chapter in World History."
The scene began to change to a fortification somewhere, where the British soldiers began to lower their own flag from it, their faces downtrodden, but the Colonialists still elated.
"It's strange and very, eerie how similar the starting history of the United States is to the Columbian Union's origin..." finally came Orchid, breaking the silence. She was glad to see the United States succeed, but she feared that the U.S. will go down the path that the Columbian Union went... That fear was shared with the rest of the operators and the 4 special observers.
The scene ended with American Colonialists slowly raising the Betsy Ross flag. All of the Minutemen saluting it. Ramirez saluted it too, out of respect for the banner.
Strangely, Exusiai began to salute too, out of respect maybe?
Ramirez looked at the operators, a sigh and solemn look all over his face, "Ready for the bloodiest war in American history?"
What a transition.