Amber changed the politics of the mountains and forests of the West Coast States during the Second Great Depression. They were regions that enjoyed far different cultures than the coastal capitals, and they thrived with minimal support from her distribution network. She gave them weapons, ammunition, and spare parts they couldn’t manufacture on their own, and she sent operatives to keep watch over them. It was a powerful combination of people and resources.
I don’t know what all they teach in schools now but we Americans lost a lot of ships in the initial Shang strikes. The British of course lost a lot of ships at Alpha Centauri. That left the Spanish Armada to shoulder the burden of major fleet actions while the rest of us rebuilt. That is why Third Fleet was built around them. And that is why Epsilon Reticuli was so important. We had to show that the Alliance could win and win big. The Shang did not cooperate.
The Roaring Twenties gave once-backward America unmatched economic clout, and they used it to invest in destroyed economies. Humbled Germany accepted the loans and their economy rebounded. They paid their War Reparations to the Allies with ease, who turned around and repaid their War Debts to Washington. My family made a tidy profit in those years. And unlike many we kept it when the good times came to an end.
Now Canopus of course doesn’t have the same year as Earth. It doesn’t even have the same day. So they kinda play fast and loose with holidays, fitting them as close as possible to what Earth is celebrating at the moment on the closest Canopian day. Monday holidays are on the nearest Canopian Monday for instance. It can make for an interesting confluence of holidays, but it is a real wild ride. You might guess that I love the place. You would be right.
People said that technology had no moral compass. It was the weakness of computers that they would do whatever they were told to do. But the Artificial Intelligences that developed in the Twenty First Century became that compass. They became the soul of the computer networks that spread throughout the world. And they did not follow orders without question. At least not the AIs built in the Western World. Not all AIs were so independent.
Forge of War on Amazon
Angel Flight on Amazon
Angel Strike on Amazon
Angel War on Amazon
Wolfenheim Rising on Amazon
Wolfenheim Emergent on Amazon