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You could go for Spain - or Al-Andalus, as it was known in Islamic times. It would be an AA country!
Spain: Allied with the Second French Empire and the North German Federation.
Portugal: Independence guaranteed by the United Kingdom.
Morocco: Uncivilized nation.
We want strategic access to the Mediterranean and to the Atlantic. Not a hard choice.
Right now the power blocs are:
The United Kingdom + India + Portugal + Canada + British Egypt + British Africa + Belgium
Second French Empire + Spain + North German Federation + French Indochina + French Africa
Austria + South German Federation
Russia + Prussia
Republic of Dixie
Spain: Allied with the Second French Empire and the North German Federation.
Portugal: Independence guaranteed by the United Kingdom.
Morocco: Uncivilized nation.
We want strategic access to the Mediterranean and to the Atlantic. Not a hard choice.
Overall, I can't fault your reasoning. Except for the fact you're attempting a World Conquest with 1861 CSA, which is a pretty 'hard choice' point of departure to begin with.
Act V: Leviticus
Chapter 2: Pillars of Hercules
Part 2: Casablanca
The boy stood on the burning deck
Whence all but he had fled;
The flame that lit the battle's wreck
Shone round him o'er the dead.
Hey, man - can you really quit with the bad poetry?
What? I thought you said we were going to see Casabianca.
Casablanca, not Casabianca.
We're here. Finally.
A bar?
Not just any bar. This is a very special bar, everyone comes to Rick's.
Ben! What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
I was misinformed.
Kenobi! Are you one of those people who cannot imagine the Germans in their beloved Paris?
Fett, It's not particularly my beloved Paris.
C'mon, Ben. Can you imagine us in London?
When you get there, ask me!
How about New York, Ben?
Well there are certain sections of New York, Fett, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade.
You give him credit for too much cleverness, Lando. My impression was that he's just another blundering Yankee. Besides, I've come to collect the bounty!
Bounty, what bounty?
See, Fett, pay up. Toldya he didn't know.
I'm shocked, I tell you to find gambing going on in this establishment.
You'll see many other things tonight.
Kenobi!
Of all the gin joints in the world....
Who's that in the picture?
Oh, just some chick from years past.
A credit for your thoughts.
In Dixie they'd bring only a penny, and, huh, I guess that's about all they're worth.
Well, I'm willing to be overcharged. Tell me.
Well, I was wondering...
Yes?
Why I'm so lucky. Why I should find you waiting for me to come along.
Why there is no other man in my life?
Uh-huh.
That's easy: there was. And he's dead.
I'm not sure that's quite the whole truth.
I've often speculated why you don't return to Dixie, Ben. Did you abscond with the church funds? Run off with a senator's wife? I like to think you killed a man. It's the Romantic in me.
It was a combination of all three.
Hah, that's some tall tale. I know a great deal more than you suspect, Kenobi.
I know, for instance, that you're in love with a woman. It is perhaps a strange circumstance that we both should be in love with the same woman. The first evening I came to this café, I knew there was something between you and Leia. Since no one is to blame, I - I demand no explanation. I ask only one thing. You won't give me the letters of transit: all right, but I want my wife to be safe. I ask you as a favor, to use the letters to take her away from Casablanca.
You love her that much?
Apparently you think of me only as the leader of a cause. Well, I'm also a human being. Yes, I love her that much.
I'm sorry, I don't stick my neck out for anybody. Least of all some dizzy broad dreaming of Paris. You'll have to ask someone else.
Chapter 2: Pillars of Hercules
Part 2: Casablanca
The boy stood on the burning deck
Whence all but he had fled;
The flame that lit the battle's wreck
Shone round him o'er the dead.
Hey, man - can you really quit with the bad poetry?
What? I thought you said we were going to see Casabianca.
Casablanca, not Casabianca.
We're here. Finally.
A bar?
Not just any bar. This is a very special bar, everyone comes to Rick's.
Ben! What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
I was misinformed.
Kenobi! Are you one of those people who cannot imagine the Germans in their beloved Paris?
Fett, It's not particularly my beloved Paris.
C'mon, Ben. Can you imagine us in London?
When you get there, ask me!
How about New York, Ben?
Well there are certain sections of New York, Fett, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade.
You give him credit for too much cleverness, Lando. My impression was that he's just another blundering Yankee. Besides, I've come to collect the bounty!
Bounty, what bounty?
See, Fett, pay up. Toldya he didn't know.
I'm shocked, I tell you to find gambing going on in this establishment.
You'll see many other things tonight.
Kenobi!
Of all the gin joints in the world....
Who's that in the picture?
Oh, just some chick from years past.
A credit for your thoughts.
In Dixie they'd bring only a penny, and, huh, I guess that's about all they're worth.
Well, I'm willing to be overcharged. Tell me.
Well, I was wondering...
Yes?
Why I'm so lucky. Why I should find you waiting for me to come along.
Why there is no other man in my life?
Uh-huh.
That's easy: there was. And he's dead.
I'm not sure that's quite the whole truth.
I've often speculated why you don't return to Dixie, Ben. Did you abscond with the church funds? Run off with a senator's wife? I like to think you killed a man. It's the Romantic in me.
It was a combination of all three.
Hah, that's some tall tale. I know a great deal more than you suspect, Kenobi.
I know, for instance, that you're in love with a woman. It is perhaps a strange circumstance that we both should be in love with the same woman. The first evening I came to this café, I knew there was something between you and Leia. Since no one is to blame, I - I demand no explanation. I ask only one thing. You won't give me the letters of transit: all right, but I want my wife to be safe. I ask you as a favor, to use the letters to take her away from Casablanca.
You love her that much?
Apparently you think of me only as the leader of a cause. Well, I'm also a human being. Yes, I love her that much.
I'm sorry, I don't stick my neck out for anybody. Least of all some dizzy broad dreaming of Paris. You'll have to ask someone else.
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Oo-er! Casablanca! Reading those lines, I could almost hear the voices.
Excellent post. For once, I think I'm aware of most of the source material, which helps a lot with the comprehension. It's still kind of hard to see Obi-Wan as the cynical Rick Blaine, but I'm willing to give it a try.
Excellent post. For once, I think I'm aware of most of the source material, which helps a lot with the comprehension.
It's still kind of hard to see Obi-Wan as the cynical Rick Blaine, but I'm willing to give it a try.
I think it falls into place really well. You have two leaders of the rebellion (Ilsa + Victor) as (Han + Leia).
You have the old, grizzled veteran of the wars, Rick as (Kenobi) You have the shady constable Renault (Lando) and the Nazi (Fett).
It certainly maps well - it's just that I always see old Obi-Wan as such a good, positive character, that I have a hard time applying the shady dealings and acerbic wit of Rick Blaine to him.
It's in the movie - which is excellent, of course (in case you didn't know. And if you didn't know, you should watch. Okay, I'll stop being that annoying person now).
I lol'ed at the I came for the waters joke.
It's in the movie - which is excellent, of course (in case you didn't know. And if you didn't know, you should watch. Okay, I'll stop being that annoying person now).
Act V: Leviticus
Chapter 2: Pillars of Hercules
Part 3: Play it again, Sam.
With mast, and helm, and pennon fair
That well had borne their part--
But the noblest thing that perished there
Was that young, faithful heart.
Sir? President Smith?
I've told you a thousand times, Alexander. Call me General.
Are you sure the French won't intervene if we establish a protectorate here? In Morocco?
Oh, I'm sure Napoleon III will be unhappy. But, what more can he do? He already has an alliance with Spain.
He could ally with the British. It would create an alliance of France, Britain, Spain and Portugal.
Napoleon? Ally with the British? Preposterous.
If they fear us enough...
No, Britannia will never yield her charms to the French.
Play it once, Sam, for old times' sake.
I don't know what you mean, Miss Leia.
Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By.
Why, I can't remember it, Miss Leia. I'm a little rusty on it.
I'll hum it for you.
[video=youtube;zaAqze81y4Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaAqze81y4Y[/video]
Ben, I wasn't sure you were the same. Let's see, the last time we met...
Was La Belle Aurore.
How nice, you remembered.
But of course, that was the day the French marched into Berlin.
Not an easy day to forget.
No.
I remember every detail. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.
Ben, we loved each other once. If those days meant anything at all to you...
I wouldn't bring up Paris If I were you. It's poor salesmanship.
Han, don't you sometimes wonder if it's worth all this? I mean what you're fighting for.
You might as well question why we breathe, Ben. If we stop breathing, we'll die. If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die.
Well, what of it? It'll be out of its misery.
You know how you sound, Ben? Like a man who's trying to convince himself of something he doesn't believe in his heart. "That's your uncle talking".
How do you know that, Han?
I said I know many things... Like why you left, why you can never go back.
Han, There's something you should know before you leave.
Ben, I don't ask you to explain anything.
I'm going to anyway because it may make a difference to you later on. You said you knew about Leia and me.
Yes, Ben, I do.
Han, What you didn't know was that she was at my place last night when you were. She came there for the letters of transit. Isn't that true, Leia?
Yes, it is Ben.
Han, She tried everything to get them and nothing worked. She did her best to convince me she was still in love with me but that was over long ago. For your sake she pretended it wasn't and I let her pretend.
Ben, I understand.
Han, Here it is. The exit papers.
Ben, Thanks. I appreciate it. Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win.
Are you ready, Leia?
You better hurry, Leia. You'll miss that plane. Because you're getting on that plane.
I don't understand, Ben. What about you?
I'm staying here 'til the plane gets safely away.
No, Ben. No. What has happened to you? Last night...
Last night, we said a great many things. You said I was to do the thinking for both of us. Well, I've done a lot of it since then and it all adds up to one thing. You're getting on that plane with Han where you belong.
But Ben, no, I've...
Now, you've got to listen to me. Do you have any idea what you have to look forward to if you stayed here? Nine chances out of ten, we'd both wind up in jail. Isn't that true, Lando?
I'm afraid Fett would insist.
Ben, You're saying this only to make me go.
I'm saying it because it's true. Inside of us, we both know you belong with Han. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.
Ben, But what about us?
We'll always have Paris. We didn't have it before...we'd...we'd lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.
Ben, when I said I would never leave you...
And you never will. But I've got a job to do too. Where I'm going, you can't follow. What I've got to do, you can't be any part of. Leia, I'm no good at being noble. My partner and mentor died fighting them. My own student joined them. My second student barely survived after losing the only family that he had. What, in all my days, have I accomplished?
It doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that. Now, now. Here's looking at you, kid.
I feel this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Will Napoleon resent his new neighbor? Will the British intervene against the incursion of Dixie? Will Ben Kenobi leave his hermitage? Find out next on Deo Vindice, a CSAAR!
Chapter 2: Pillars of Hercules
Part 3: Play it again, Sam.
With mast, and helm, and pennon fair
That well had borne their part--
But the noblest thing that perished there
Was that young, faithful heart.
Sir? President Smith?
I've told you a thousand times, Alexander. Call me General.
Are you sure the French won't intervene if we establish a protectorate here? In Morocco?
Oh, I'm sure Napoleon III will be unhappy. But, what more can he do? He already has an alliance with Spain.
He could ally with the British. It would create an alliance of France, Britain, Spain and Portugal.
Napoleon? Ally with the British? Preposterous.
If they fear us enough...
No, Britannia will never yield her charms to the French.
Play it once, Sam, for old times' sake.
I don't know what you mean, Miss Leia.
Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By.
Why, I can't remember it, Miss Leia. I'm a little rusty on it.
I'll hum it for you.
[video=youtube;zaAqze81y4Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaAqze81y4Y[/video]
Ben, I wasn't sure you were the same. Let's see, the last time we met...
Was La Belle Aurore.
How nice, you remembered.
But of course, that was the day the French marched into Berlin.
Not an easy day to forget.
No.
I remember every detail. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.
Ben, we loved each other once. If those days meant anything at all to you...
I wouldn't bring up Paris If I were you. It's poor salesmanship.
Han, don't you sometimes wonder if it's worth all this? I mean what you're fighting for.
You might as well question why we breathe, Ben. If we stop breathing, we'll die. If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die.
Well, what of it? It'll be out of its misery.
You know how you sound, Ben? Like a man who's trying to convince himself of something he doesn't believe in his heart. "That's your uncle talking".
How do you know that, Han?
I said I know many things... Like why you left, why you can never go back.
Han, There's something you should know before you leave.
Ben, I don't ask you to explain anything.
I'm going to anyway because it may make a difference to you later on. You said you knew about Leia and me.
Yes, Ben, I do.
Han, What you didn't know was that she was at my place last night when you were. She came there for the letters of transit. Isn't that true, Leia?
Yes, it is Ben.
Han, She tried everything to get them and nothing worked. She did her best to convince me she was still in love with me but that was over long ago. For your sake she pretended it wasn't and I let her pretend.
Ben, I understand.
Han, Here it is. The exit papers.
Ben, Thanks. I appreciate it. Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win.
Are you ready, Leia?
You better hurry, Leia. You'll miss that plane. Because you're getting on that plane.
I don't understand, Ben. What about you?
I'm staying here 'til the plane gets safely away.
No, Ben. No. What has happened to you? Last night...
Last night, we said a great many things. You said I was to do the thinking for both of us. Well, I've done a lot of it since then and it all adds up to one thing. You're getting on that plane with Han where you belong.
But Ben, no, I've...
Now, you've got to listen to me. Do you have any idea what you have to look forward to if you stayed here? Nine chances out of ten, we'd both wind up in jail. Isn't that true, Lando?
I'm afraid Fett would insist.
Ben, You're saying this only to make me go.
I'm saying it because it's true. Inside of us, we both know you belong with Han. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.
Ben, But what about us?
We'll always have Paris. We didn't have it before...we'd...we'd lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.
Ben, when I said I would never leave you...
And you never will. But I've got a job to do too. Where I'm going, you can't follow. What I've got to do, you can't be any part of. Leia, I'm no good at being noble. My partner and mentor died fighting them. My own student joined them. My second student barely survived after losing the only family that he had. What, in all my days, have I accomplished?
It doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that. Now, now. Here's looking at you, kid.
I feel this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Will Napoleon resent his new neighbor? Will the British intervene against the incursion of Dixie? Will Ben Kenobi leave his hermitage? Find out next on Deo Vindice, a CSAAR!
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<Swoon>
Hearing Obi-Wan Kenobi talk in Humphrey Bogart's voice is a swirling mess in my own head.
Good update. Time to shootMajor Strasser Boba Fett and round up the usual suspects.
Hearing Obi-Wan Kenobi talk in Humphrey Bogart's voice is a swirling mess in my own head.
Good update. Time to shoot
Nikolai. Is that better now?
:closedeyes:
Stuyvesant, someday someone will film that - Casablanca with Star wars characters.
Act V: Leviticus
Chapter 3: Frozen
Part 1: Fixer Upper.
"Ice and snow is there! There it is, glorious and beautiful!"
"Higher and higher still they flew, nearer and nearer to the stars, when suddenly the mirror shook so terribly with grinning, that it flew out of their hands and fell to the earth, where it was dashed in a hundred million and more pieces.
And now it worked much more evil than before; for some of these pieces were hardly so large as a grain of sand, and they flew about in the wide world, and when they got into people's eyes, there they stayed; and then people saw everything perverted, or only had an eye for that which was evil. This happened because the very smallest bit had the same power which the whole mirror had possessed. Some persons even got a splinter in their heart, and then it made one shudder, for their heart became like a lump of ice."
That's bad isn't it, Pippy?
Oh, yes. How so very, very bad. To see the world as the nasty grimy thing it is than to dream. Of brighter things. Of brilliant castles of crystal ice that shine in the sunset.
But, Miss Pippy, isn't it more sensible? Not to trust other people and keep your heart to yourself?
Oh! But then what sense does that make? To stay up and stop up in yourself? What you will miss out on in the process!
No, it's better to dream of what isn't because then what isn't becomes what is.
I'm not sure I follow, Miss Pippy.
See the sun!
What of the sun?
How does it burn?
My pa says it's because of coal. He says it's a great big furnace that burns endlessly enough to keep us all warm.
Oh! Does he also say that Arvakr and Alsvidr, draw their chariot across the sky? What foolishness.
What say you, Miss Pippy?
Well, there are tiny, tiny things smaller than we can perceive that are wrapped up tight like a box. When you smash them apart they spring open with tremendous force.
And there are fairies too, I suppose Miss Pippy! Next you'll be telling us that Bifrost appears in the sky on sunny days.
Just you wait Rydberg will prove me right!
Rydberg?
Only the most distinguished Scandinavian physicist of the age.
I'm Swedish, and I've never heard of him. I'll bet he's a Bore.
Well aren't you Noble. I won't play with you anymore, if you keep on like that!
No, no, Miss Pippy. Please read on. Tell me all about this "Snow Queen".
It all began one cold and frosty fall morning...
Chapter 3: Frozen
Part 1: Fixer Upper.
"Ice and snow is there! There it is, glorious and beautiful!"
"Higher and higher still they flew, nearer and nearer to the stars, when suddenly the mirror shook so terribly with grinning, that it flew out of their hands and fell to the earth, where it was dashed in a hundred million and more pieces.
And now it worked much more evil than before; for some of these pieces were hardly so large as a grain of sand, and they flew about in the wide world, and when they got into people's eyes, there they stayed; and then people saw everything perverted, or only had an eye for that which was evil. This happened because the very smallest bit had the same power which the whole mirror had possessed. Some persons even got a splinter in their heart, and then it made one shudder, for their heart became like a lump of ice."
That's bad isn't it, Pippy?
Oh, yes. How so very, very bad. To see the world as the nasty grimy thing it is than to dream. Of brighter things. Of brilliant castles of crystal ice that shine in the sunset.
But, Miss Pippy, isn't it more sensible? Not to trust other people and keep your heart to yourself?
Oh! But then what sense does that make? To stay up and stop up in yourself? What you will miss out on in the process!
No, it's better to dream of what isn't because then what isn't becomes what is.
I'm not sure I follow, Miss Pippy.
See the sun!
What of the sun?
How does it burn?
My pa says it's because of coal. He says it's a great big furnace that burns endlessly enough to keep us all warm.
Oh! Does he also say that Arvakr and Alsvidr, draw their chariot across the sky? What foolishness.
What say you, Miss Pippy?
Well, there are tiny, tiny things smaller than we can perceive that are wrapped up tight like a box. When you smash them apart they spring open with tremendous force.
And there are fairies too, I suppose Miss Pippy! Next you'll be telling us that Bifrost appears in the sky on sunny days.
Just you wait Rydberg will prove me right!
Rydberg?
Only the most distinguished Scandinavian physicist of the age.
I'm Swedish, and I've never heard of him. I'll bet he's a Bore.
Well aren't you Noble. I won't play with you anymore, if you keep on like that!
No, no, Miss Pippy. Please read on. Tell me all about this "Snow Queen".
It all began one cold and frosty fall morning...
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Er... Pippi Longstocking, nuclear weapons researcher? Is that how you're going to succeed at world conquest?
Why not? Didn't the Austrian Corporal try the same thing?
For those of you wondering - you'll see what I've got planned next update. Something I've been wanting to do for awhile.
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Oh, the puns. Keep 'em coming.
Also, get Norway for me, and recover Jämtland and Herjedalen while you're at it!
Act V: Leviticus
Chapter 3: Frozen
Part 2: Reindeer are better than People.
King Oscar!
Yes, sir.
We're... well,
Spit it out man!
We're in trouble.
Oh? I don't suppose you have something of substance to contribute. I can see perfectly well on this little screen that we're being invaded by tiny pixels with the flag of the Dixie Republic
Sir?
Oh, that's right, you don't have those yet. You were saying?
Well.. the invasion force is strong, but we have other problems too.
What could be more serious then an invasion?
Snow. In the summer.
Ah, what will they think of as the next catastrophe? Global Warming? We *always* have snow.
Yes, but not after it's melted.
Oh. So what is causing it.
We got this message from the "Snow Queen". She seems upset.
Homing Parrots? I must admit I've never seen one before. Is it dead?
The Norwegian blue? No, it's just resting.
I don't see his chest moving.
He's pining for the fjords.
I don't suppose we can get on with it?
Sir, well, with the fjords frozen over the navy is shuttered in place and cannot interdict their transports.
You're saying we should build a fleet of boats with wheels on the bottom so that we can sail across the fjord! Brilliant!
Sir, we are not Ulm.
You're right. Only Ulm would succeed.
I have another idea.
Why don't we send some pretty young thing to climb up the mountain and appease the "Snow Queen", so that summer will return again.
Is that what you had in mind?
Someone pure of heart with the courage of a lion? Where could we possibly find such a rare specimen?
Chapter 3: Frozen
Part 2: Reindeer are better than People.
King Oscar!
Yes, sir.
We're... well,
Spit it out man!
We're in trouble.
Oh? I don't suppose you have something of substance to contribute. I can see perfectly well on this little screen that we're being invaded by tiny pixels with the flag of the Dixie Republic
Sir?
Oh, that's right, you don't have those yet. You were saying?
Well.. the invasion force is strong, but we have other problems too.
What could be more serious then an invasion?
Snow. In the summer.
Ah, what will they think of as the next catastrophe? Global Warming? We *always* have snow.
Yes, but not after it's melted.
Oh. So what is causing it.
We got this message from the "Snow Queen". She seems upset.
Homing Parrots? I must admit I've never seen one before. Is it dead?
The Norwegian blue? No, it's just resting.
I don't see his chest moving.
He's pining for the fjords.
I don't suppose we can get on with it?
Sir, well, with the fjords frozen over the navy is shuttered in place and cannot interdict their transports.
You're saying we should build a fleet of boats with wheels on the bottom so that we can sail across the fjord! Brilliant!
Sir, we are not Ulm.
You're right. Only Ulm would succeed.
I have another idea.
Why don't we send some pretty young thing to climb up the mountain and appease the "Snow Queen", so that summer will return again.
Is that what you had in mind?
Someone pure of heart with the courage of a lion? Where could we possibly find such a rare specimen?
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