Great start to the finale so far, it's nice to see X-Divisions decades of work beginning to pay off and have an impact on the world, even with there's resistance from those who would stand to lose from the truth. This is gonna be a good finale indeed. I'm interested to see the affects this arc could have on futher gameplay updates as well.
I wonder if Otto still has the tape Elisabeth Alexandria got about the Sentinel conspiracy. That would be another damning piece of evidence Otto could use to help X-Division's offense against Sentinel, tho I'm not sure if he can edit out all the stuff about Aliens like Theresa Novak did with the Sentinel files.
Anyways, hope you like the Indochina update I'll post here, feel free to suggest changes and improvements to this interlude if you have any in mind. Funny how we're in the finale arc for X-Division, as I'm very close to the finale that is the Ming update after this one, I'm very excited to see how that turns out myself.
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A long time ago, the Reich was a proud and mighty nation. At its height, Roman power and prestige stretched to all corners of the world, including to Indochina, the jewel of their colonial Empire in Maritime Southeast Asia. That doesn’t mean that Indochina wasn’t without instability, the competing colonial interests between the Sinosphere, India and the Reich leading up to the Weltkrieg did lead to Indochina being caught in the crossfire after all, with Bangkok being the site of Kaiser Karl’s infamous assassination. Aside from the anarchy of those times, Indochina has remained relatively peaceful since then, even it's still in the crossroads of geopolitical struggles between great powers like it's always been.
You may have figured by now that I’m not a native of Indochina or even a traditional settler, so you’re probably how I managed to hop onto a boat and escape the carnage, or even why I choose to settle in Indochina instead of Sudafrika or Mittagsland. I’m no hardened soldier eager to fight for the cause of some radical’s ideology and chant slogans like “Break the Chains”, “Every man a Kaiser”, “Deus Vult”, or “Down with the traitors”, rather I’m just a simple business man trying to make my way in the world. Naturally, the combatant regimes in Europe don’t take well to pacifists or neutral centrists, leading to the warring factions implementing mass conscription of the average populace and brutal purges of their political enemies. The Communists especially don’t take well to capitalists like myself, so there certainly was incentive for me to leave Spartacus held Socotra and flee to one of the Roman splinter states as soon as possible. Fortunately, I already had booked a ticket to a boat ride away from Socotra to Sumatra long before the Communists even had a strong presence on the island, with only a narrow encounter with Separatcist submarines as the only hiccup of my escape from the mainland. Thankfully reaching Indian waters just in time was the one thing that prevented me from meeting a watery grave, seeing how none of the warring Roman factions would dare start a war with major powers like India while being entwined in their own war, seems like that’s the only agreement they can come to.
Now, you’re probably wondering why I made my escape to independent Indochina when I could have made a trip to Sudafrika or Mittagsland instead, and the reason of that is that the populace of Indochina have fully embraced the idea of neutrality and isolationism, as opposed to the Sudafrikans who claim to be the true Roman government and thus aren’t willing to let go of the Reich, or the Mittagsland who are so eager to throw in with the Tianxia. You see, like how Mayapan society is one influenced by powerful merchant families with more wealth and power than hereditary nobility, Indochina is a land influenced by large and powerful corporations with sway over Indochinese politics, and the board of directors of Indochina’s corporations recognize that war is one of the worst things that could happen to a merchant’s businesses or a corporation's stocks, hence Indochina’s refusal to follow any particular faction into war. That’s not to say that Indochina doesn’t have any particular outside sympathizes; many powerful Indochinese corporations have numerous ties with Indians and the Tianxia alliances, especially in their anti communist efforts against the Nationalist Union of China, there’s even a powerful faction of warhawks in the Indochinese diet and military who advocate for Indochina going into the inevitable Asian conflict to protect corporate interest. Heck, the Indians and Tianxia nations like Vietnam and the Ming are themselves invested in the integrity and sovereignty of Indochina due to their trade deals with Indochinese corporations and the country’s valuable geographic position in the Maritime Southeast Asia region. This is why their policy towards Indochina is focused on peacefully pushing towards either of their two alliances rather than forcing it into their spheres of influence, tho this has caused a dispute between the Indians and Tianxia that has affected the corporations with ties and affiliations with them. That said, unlike the pro Tianxia Mittagsland or Indian aligned Sudafrika, the current government has no plan to entangle itself into a Greater Asian War, which is a smart move. After all, we've already had our taste of a land war in Asia back in the Weltkrieg, why should we come back for more?
Of course, Indochina isn’t without internal problems. The NUC, who'd like nothing more than to see their communist revolution reach Indochina, has supported many radical socialist movements throughout the country, notably among discontent native majorities like Malayans or Thai. In response to this subversion, the Greco-German corporate and bureaucratic elites have worked with a willing minority of Malyan and Thai nobility to implement and enforce strict anti communist measures against discontent nationalist groups and labor unions. Furthermore, there are tensions between the corporations and the former viceroy government of the Mukhtar-Srivijaya, especially due to their indirect connections to the Doukaist regime thanks to a member of the ruling arstoi family, Omar Mukhtar, being the director of Doukas’ Athanatoi agency. That’s not even mentioning the Corporations’ fear of the Mukhtar-Sivijaya meritocratic government developing into an autocratic regime trampling on their corporate rights and interests, the dynasties ties to the authoritarian inquisitor Mansur Shah Mukhtar certainly don’t elevate the corporations fears.
Indochina isn't perfect, but It’s certainly a step up from the hellscape Neurhomaina and the Reich's heartlands have become. It also helps that the lovely tropical sites of Sumatra and the bustling trade and activity of Singapore are more appealing than whatever Mittagsland and Sudafrika have to offer, especially to a merchant and businessman like myself. It’s because of Indochina’s commitment to true neutrality that Singapore is still the Pearl of the Orient and why the Indians and the allies of the Ming exiles are willing to work together against the Communists. Indochina isn’t about to trade that all away for the chaos Neurhomains and European Romans have to deal with or the anarchy about to engulf the rest of Asia and the Pacific in the future. When the inevitable war between the Communists and the two monarchist alliances in Asia comes, Indochina will be a lone beacon of peace and reason in a world of bloodshed and destruction, and it will be all the better for that.
We choose the prosperity and freedom of peace, not the ignorance and poverty of war.
I wonder if Otto still has the tape Elisabeth Alexandria got about the Sentinel conspiracy. That would be another damning piece of evidence Otto could use to help X-Division's offense against Sentinel, tho I'm not sure if he can edit out all the stuff about Aliens like Theresa Novak did with the Sentinel files.
Anyways, hope you like the Indochina update I'll post here, feel free to suggest changes and improvements to this interlude if you have any in mind. Funny how we're in the finale arc for X-Division, as I'm very close to the finale that is the Ming update after this one, I'm very excited to see how that turns out myself.
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Völkerschalt-Divided Reich:
Dominion of Indochina
The Flag of the Dominion of Indochina, also the flag used by a powerful trade company that’s influenced the colonial government since initial Roman colonization centuries ago.Dominion of Indochina
A long time ago, the Reich was a proud and mighty nation. At its height, Roman power and prestige stretched to all corners of the world, including to Indochina, the jewel of their colonial Empire in Maritime Southeast Asia. That doesn’t mean that Indochina wasn’t without instability, the competing colonial interests between the Sinosphere, India and the Reich leading up to the Weltkrieg did lead to Indochina being caught in the crossfire after all, with Bangkok being the site of Kaiser Karl’s infamous assassination. Aside from the anarchy of those times, Indochina has remained relatively peaceful since then, even it's still in the crossroads of geopolitical struggles between great powers like it's always been.
You may have figured by now that I’m not a native of Indochina or even a traditional settler, so you’re probably how I managed to hop onto a boat and escape the carnage, or even why I choose to settle in Indochina instead of Sudafrika or Mittagsland. I’m no hardened soldier eager to fight for the cause of some radical’s ideology and chant slogans like “Break the Chains”, “Every man a Kaiser”, “Deus Vult”, or “Down with the traitors”, rather I’m just a simple business man trying to make my way in the world. Naturally, the combatant regimes in Europe don’t take well to pacifists or neutral centrists, leading to the warring factions implementing mass conscription of the average populace and brutal purges of their political enemies. The Communists especially don’t take well to capitalists like myself, so there certainly was incentive for me to leave Spartacus held Socotra and flee to one of the Roman splinter states as soon as possible. Fortunately, I already had booked a ticket to a boat ride away from Socotra to Sumatra long before the Communists even had a strong presence on the island, with only a narrow encounter with Separatcist submarines as the only hiccup of my escape from the mainland. Thankfully reaching Indian waters just in time was the one thing that prevented me from meeting a watery grave, seeing how none of the warring Roman factions would dare start a war with major powers like India while being entwined in their own war, seems like that’s the only agreement they can come to.
Now, you’re probably wondering why I made my escape to independent Indochina when I could have made a trip to Sudafrika or Mittagsland instead, and the reason of that is that the populace of Indochina have fully embraced the idea of neutrality and isolationism, as opposed to the Sudafrikans who claim to be the true Roman government and thus aren’t willing to let go of the Reich, or the Mittagsland who are so eager to throw in with the Tianxia. You see, like how Mayapan society is one influenced by powerful merchant families with more wealth and power than hereditary nobility, Indochina is a land influenced by large and powerful corporations with sway over Indochinese politics, and the board of directors of Indochina’s corporations recognize that war is one of the worst things that could happen to a merchant’s businesses or a corporation's stocks, hence Indochina’s refusal to follow any particular faction into war. That’s not to say that Indochina doesn’t have any particular outside sympathizes; many powerful Indochinese corporations have numerous ties with Indians and the Tianxia alliances, especially in their anti communist efforts against the Nationalist Union of China, there’s even a powerful faction of warhawks in the Indochinese diet and military who advocate for Indochina going into the inevitable Asian conflict to protect corporate interest. Heck, the Indians and Tianxia nations like Vietnam and the Ming are themselves invested in the integrity and sovereignty of Indochina due to their trade deals with Indochinese corporations and the country’s valuable geographic position in the Maritime Southeast Asia region. This is why their policy towards Indochina is focused on peacefully pushing towards either of their two alliances rather than forcing it into their spheres of influence, tho this has caused a dispute between the Indians and Tianxia that has affected the corporations with ties and affiliations with them. That said, unlike the pro Tianxia Mittagsland or Indian aligned Sudafrika, the current government has no plan to entangle itself into a Greater Asian War, which is a smart move. After all, we've already had our taste of a land war in Asia back in the Weltkrieg, why should we come back for more?
Of course, Indochina isn’t without internal problems. The NUC, who'd like nothing more than to see their communist revolution reach Indochina, has supported many radical socialist movements throughout the country, notably among discontent native majorities like Malayans or Thai. In response to this subversion, the Greco-German corporate and bureaucratic elites have worked with a willing minority of Malyan and Thai nobility to implement and enforce strict anti communist measures against discontent nationalist groups and labor unions. Furthermore, there are tensions between the corporations and the former viceroy government of the Mukhtar-Srivijaya, especially due to their indirect connections to the Doukaist regime thanks to a member of the ruling arstoi family, Omar Mukhtar, being the director of Doukas’ Athanatoi agency. That’s not even mentioning the Corporations’ fear of the Mukhtar-Sivijaya meritocratic government developing into an autocratic regime trampling on their corporate rights and interests, the dynasties ties to the authoritarian inquisitor Mansur Shah Mukhtar certainly don’t elevate the corporations fears.
Indochina isn't perfect, but It’s certainly a step up from the hellscape Neurhomaina and the Reich's heartlands have become. It also helps that the lovely tropical sites of Sumatra and the bustling trade and activity of Singapore are more appealing than whatever Mittagsland and Sudafrika have to offer, especially to a merchant and businessman like myself. It’s because of Indochina’s commitment to true neutrality that Singapore is still the Pearl of the Orient and why the Indians and the allies of the Ming exiles are willing to work together against the Communists. Indochina isn’t about to trade that all away for the chaos Neurhomains and European Romans have to deal with or the anarchy about to engulf the rest of Asia and the Pacific in the future. When the inevitable war between the Communists and the two monarchist alliances in Asia comes, Indochina will be a lone beacon of peace and reason in a world of bloodshed and destruction, and it will be all the better for that.
We choose the prosperity and freedom of peace, not the ignorance and poverty of war.
