Jack of Harts

One of the secrets to China’s expansion during the Second Great Depression was that they did so slowly. Lightning attacks breached defenses at need, but they advanced slowly with overwhelming force and numbers. They killed those too stupid to run, and allowed the smarter ones to flee their advance. They slowed their advances to allow refugees and even soldiers to get onto evacuation ships. China did not want to capture the idiots and the free thinkers. They wanted the land and those willing to serve whoever owned it. They allowed the patriots to run with the hope of returning one day to liberate their conquered homelands. And then China made certain that was a forlorn hope by taking hold of their conquered lands with an iron fist wrapped in a velvet glove.

I’ve been working on clearing my Mom’s house for a while now. Taking it slowly, one piece of a room at a time. Thanks to some help from friends, I’ve got the upstairs basically done. Got some areas that still need clearing, but it is mostly done. I’ve also been working on the basement, which became Mom’s storage place after I moved out. It’s been a slow progress, as such things are, until it goes fast. Fast was this weekend. I had one room mostly done and decided to hit it the rest of the way on Saturday. And then a friend called up asking if I wanted to play a game. Well… yeah. And the room I’d just cleared was my old game room. So for first time in the better part of a decade, I just had friends over in my old game room. That is pretty awesome.

The Cybernetic Council was Not Amused when the Shang attacked Earth. That strike brought China and the Western Alliance to War with each other, and soon sucked the Russians in as well. And that could further divide humanity, harming their long term vision of uniting Earth. The Council would not allow that to happen, so the Council went to War for the first time since the Cybernetic Wars that formed them. They built warships, starfighters, and ground troops, and attacked the Shang with everything they had and were. Their goal was simple. Drive the Shang from Earthspace forever. They devoted the industrial might of their entire civilization to that simple goal. Failure was not an option.