by F. Roy Bueller
Last month, right before Christmas, the Archbishop of Albany released a statement. Its basic premise was that miracles happen, Jesus is Christ and Christ is Lord, and all the information about the members of JET Team A being a part of that life doesn't make a whit of difference to it. You missed that with all the Christmas celebrations? Ok, let me catch you up. It appears that members of Team A (you remember them, right? The ones who attempted to evacuate New Orleans last year?) managed to travel back in time while trying to stop a rogue time lord and thwarted said rogue time lord's attempts to become deified by promoting a young scholar by the name of Jesus (I know you've heard of him) including having him crucified. Now, looking through the names involved (and I'll leave you to do your own research on that) I am pleased to see quite a few folks who are known to be devote Catholics, much better people to muck with the life of Jesus than a general heathen like myself. And each of them continues to declare their faith as still being strong despite being involved in the very life they venerate. This all goes to prove that it's a damn good thing that I'm not on Team A. There's no way that I would be able to hold onto my faith in the manner that Father Timothy instilled it if I had as much contact with the divine as they seem to have. Here they are, having literally met the guy, seeing him in mortal form, having to help him along in his (His?) path of greatness and they still say, "Yup, that's the guy- that's the one who Sister Mary Francis told me about with the help of a very big ruler." Obviously they must have seen something in the guy… Of course, they've had their theological panties in a knot before- remember how they first went to Jerusalem (before the Princess there became the Princess in the Empire of New York and stayed there while the Prince of New York went over to beat up some folks in the Crusades)? No? Haven't you been following the gossip rags as they follow Team A everywhere? In any case, they went to Jerusalem, found just about every holy artifact that has ever been venerated AND met an Angel of the Lord™ with a flaming sword and everything. In a THREE DAY deployment! Not only that, but they found out that half of the holy relics were actually Technosphere garage sale junk. No, really! Let's go down the list…
l Skull of John the Baptist - Historically seen as the mother of all reliquaries, Team A found and took a head which appeared to be several hundred years old, from the shrine of John the Baptist. However, upon closer inspection, this was not the head of our classical John the Baptist at all! NO! The head appeared to be the head of Peter Athos - the ambassador from the Technosphere to ENY, who had been missing since around the time of the Penn State Expedition. The natives of Jerusalem were, surprise, upset as they and their forbearers had been defending it for hundreds of years. The technomages claimed it as their own, however, and it was being returned to the Technosphere by a member of Team A for proper veneration (or at least more study). Whether this will create any lasting diplomatic issues is yet to be seen.
l Lost Ark of the Covenant- The holy box wherein the ancient Israelites carried the tablets given to Moses directly from G*d. Turns out it's really a hub and something the technomages have been looking for. Gone! Oh, come on, the technosphere obviously needs it more…
l The Holy Grail- Well, the Angel of the Lord™ came down and told them where to find it. So, really, whatever it is and whatever they want to do with it I suppose I have no way to complain. Though given all the demons and otherworldly crap that they're also come across, how do we know that this is a REAL Angel of the Lord™ and not some cheap Wal-Mart knock-off?
l The Sword of Solomon- well, I know that the Sword of Solomon (not to be confused with the Song of Solomon, no matter how phallic) is in the Post-Holocaust mid-West. Its whereabouts and the whereabouts of the Grail are really unknown though. Why? Because that's the other thing about Team A- they don't actually write up their reports. Yeah yeah yeah, they're doing this for the good of all Threads, sure they're supposed to share the data that they have gathered with all Threads, even those without representation on each Team. Well, bullocks. The public data is a joke and we only hear what they want us to (or that a few procedurally conscious folks, like the Secretary of State from the ENY, make sure is reported). Otherwise, we're stuck with whatever they want to tell us.
So here's a message from Team A - "Fuck you - we have God on our side and don't give a shit about any of your crazy rules and regulations." I guess if I had come across all the stuff they have, I might have the same attitude. So here's my new idea- Hey Team A! Hey General Stevens! How about embedding some reporters in the field? I'm ready to meet the Angel of the Lord™ or any demons or beasties that might come around. And I'll take the burden off of everyone by doing their reporting for them! As long as I get to tell the world to fuck off like the rest of the team it's a win-win for all involved!
Jeffersonian Congress issues Letters of Reprisal Against French Empire, Threatens War Captains Claim Pirates Paid in French Gold
==Jeffersonian Congress issues Letters of Reprisal Against French Empire, Threatens War Captains Claim Pirates Paid in French Gold== In a noisy vote taken late Tuesday, the Jeffersonian Senate approved a resolution already approved by the House, which authorized President Letcher to issue letters of Reprisal against the French Empire to individuals whose claims have been examined by the Maritime Court in Norfolk.
The actual letters will be issued by the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of Commerce, once the claims have been approved. Shipowners whose vessels have been captured by Pirates and can present reasonable evidence that those Pirates were "paid by the Empire of France, or that the sale of the goods or merchandise of their ships was knowingly allowed in any port under the control of the Empire of France" will be entitled to letters of Reprisal up five times the value of their losses.
Seldom seen in more modern states, a Letter of Reprisal is a limited Letter of Marque. It grants an individual the legal right to outfit a Privateer vessel (or to hire an existing privateer) which may fly the flag of Jeffersonia and legally attack shipping. The goods are then sold in "reprisal" for other losses.
A Letter of Reprisal may seem strange…an act of War that falls short of War itself. The Jeffersonian Secretary of the Navy Catesby ap Roger Jones agreed. "These Letters are a grave matter. They are meant to convey that we will fight. If these do not bring France to the table…and cause her to give up her ambitions against our merchant marine...I have no doubt that President Letcher will ask the Congress to Declare War on the Empire of France."
War with the French Empire might well be an expensive undertaking and comes at a difficult time. Jeffersonia's major trading partner, Manhattan is in the midst of a bloody Civil War, and a blockade is preventing commerce from reaching Manhattan. Jeffersonia is furiously deadlocked about the war which features a bizarre twist that the Jeffersonians find difficult…a populist Prince representing the underclass against a Republic that represents only the Rich. Both parties have active embassies in Williamsburg and Alexandria, though Jeffersonia legally recognizes only the Republic. A motion to grant belligerent rights to the Principality of Manhattan resulted in a deadlock in the Congress and was finally tabled after a twenty two hour filibuster.
The situation with Imperial France is dicey. France has overpowered Jeffersonia's ally in Africa, and dislodged Jeffersonia from its trading station in Tangiers. The station remains but subject to an "onerous" French Tariff. In the meantime the French race to build warships to put on the Atlantic.
Currently the French are very weak in the Atlantic. Jeffersonia says they hire Pirates as "Privateers" to attack Jeffersonian Shipping. France says it issues Letters of Marque only against Pirates and questions if Jeffersonia itself is promoting Pirates by paying retainers to Privateers in the Carolinas to act as an auxiliary fleet for Jeffersonia.
The proxy war may not last. Jeffersonia fears that if a sea gate between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic is found that the powerful French fleet at Marseilles will sortie into the Atlantic. Many of the Galleys and Galleasses would have difficult going in the Mid Atlantic, but might well be a powerful force if convoyed by the more seaworthy vessels to the Spanish Main. And France has a significant fleet of three-decker warships in the Mediterranean, perfectly seaworthy for the Atlantic.
For now Jeffersonia has pushed the envelope one step closer to War. Analysts in Penn State wonder if this could spill over. "Imperial France and the Empire of New York are rivals. But it is no secret the Empire of New York wants Manhattan as a principality to act as a major seaport on the Atlantic main and extend their control into the Caribbean. Jeffersonia is a hindrance to that. Prior to the Manhattan Civil War it seemed unlikely that the Empire of New York would side against one of the Core Threads. But if Jeffersonia's deep distrust of Prince Luciano and distaste for Monarchial ambitions gets the better of her, she may weigh in on the side of the Republic. Jeffersonian Merchants aren't blockaded from Long Island in the north and some are already selling food and lead to the Republican forces. This could easily become an international conflict with the Republic of Manhattan and Jeffersonia caught between the Empires of France and New York."
"The Manhattan Civil War has introduced tremendous uncertainty into a previously stable region," said Analyst and Penn State Fellow Theresa Paul. "In many ways we knew it was an explosion that was coming…but we counted on the relative stability of the Empire of New York and Jeffersonia to blunt that. Instead it may polarize them against each other. That could spell a disaster for the state that is, along with Penn State, one of only two major known Republics in North America. The Midwestern States is a Confederacy of largely autocratic states, and the other principal Republic, the C.S.A., is a slave state that is not a fully participatory democracy. While Jeffersonia has not embraced universal suffrage for women, they are by and large the largest and most economically successful Republic.
Jeffersonia is especially at risk because the Empire of New York has proven that, at great expense and using Manhattan as a Proxy, it can conduct successful military operations in a TL1 environment by taking Aleppo in the Levant…the so called "Jerusalem" thread. That is incredibly threatening to Jeffersonia which has long presumed its TL2 environment grants it a virtual immunity from its Northern neighbor.
