Fracture-1
Two Histories, Both Alike In Indignity...
The Soviet Empire
In one timeline, the US remained staunchly isolationist, and, for unrelated reasons, the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact remained in force, becoming a matter of public record when Italy and Japan joined, forming a four-nation Axis. Stalin and Hitler both knew the world couldn't have two overlords, and it was only a matter of time until it broke. Stalin's agents had been recruiting, with or without their knowledge, some of the best minds that had fled German conquest, as well as gathering data from deep within the Reich's own secret projects (and the Germans were doing likewise, but their intelligence operations were hampered by the need for genetic as well as idelogical purity). In 1947, these labors bore atomic fruit. Tokyo and Berlin were destroyed by atomic weapons delivered by "friendly" means, detonated on-site by Heroes of the People, near to locations where the leadership of Germany and Japan had been gathered under various seemingly unconnected pretexts, ensuring maximum chaos and a reduced ability to coordinate a response to conventional forces moving to secure key point. The next few years were mostly mopping up, and by the 1950s, Europe and most of Asia, other than China. (It had been assumed the Chinese Communists would eagerly join the Soviets, but years of Russia ignoring Japanese occupation had erased any hope of class solidarity, and despite the destruction of key cities, Russian "control" of China was entirely fictional; outside of a handful of tiny "secure" zones, a Russian soldier had a lifespan measured in mayflies.)Pax Americana
A short dimensional distance away, the assassination of Hitler sent the Third Reich into disarray and civil war, making it far easier for Allied forces to sweep across Europe. Patton also oversaw the end of the Pacific War, and replaced MacArthur as leader of the occupation. However, he was angry that the Allies did not "march to Moscow" after the fall of Berlin, and felt the Soviet Union would not remain behind their "iron curtain" for long. Encouraged by those who saw him as a great military but poor political mind (that is, someone who would be lost in the world of legislation and would need a lot of 'advice'), he ran for President in 1948, winning a narrow victory over Truman. When rumors that the Russians were on the verge of completing their own nuclear research were reported by intelligence, he acted swiftly and mobilized US forces in Europe, including new, long-range missiles developed with the aid of recruited German scientists, missiles capable of evading most Soviet anti-aricraft defenses. Moscow was destroyed, and much of Eastern Europe was willing to accept promises of liberation in return for not resisting US conventional forces en route to the USSR. Within six months, what remained of the USSR surrendered, and the Pax Americana spread over Europe. Evidence of Soviet operations in the US led to investigations, first of legitimate targets, then spreading far beyond the facts to touch anyone critical of the current regime, or who might at some point in the future possibly become critical of it. Patton narrowly lost the 1952 elections, but in late December, the President-elect was killed, and an emergency session of Congress, dominated by Patton's allies, called for new elections rather than swearing in the VP candidate. This led to riots, which led to crackdowns, which led to the implementation of martial law "for the duration of the current crisis".When Worlds Collide
It was 1955 in both world's timelines when a limited dimensional fracture occurred. Across both planets, portions were randomly swapped between worlds, and this process continues, phasing areas from the size of a house to 40 or 50 miles across dimensional boundaries, to remain for hours, days, or weeks. Naturally, the results have not been pretty. While Europe has become the focus of the war, most of Earth is facing crisis. Even where national histories have only been lightly changed, someone may find themselves on a bridge that was never built, or return home to a wife who died two years before (and they, in turn, find a dead husband walking through their door).BREACH did not realize the situation when they entered the world of the Soviet Empire, thinking it just "another Red Dawn" alternate, arriving in a Miami expecting a Cuban invasion but which was being bolstered by tanks and soldiers who claimed allegiance to President Patton, despite the newspapers saying the US was run by Adlai Stevenson. Trying to sort this out, they found themselves suddenly in the Pax Americana version of Miami, where local security forces got word of strangers asking too many questions. They were saved when the armored truck transporting them for "questioning" vanished, leaving them badly injured, but alive, near Savannah, GA. They, being natural breachers, were phasing into each universe as it shifted, rather than shifting along with their surroundings. They had several exciting adventures before reaching the breach point as it came back into phase.
The frequency of Pax Americana was located, and the two worlds (or one hybrid world) were added to the Omega File. These worlds represent the second-worst-case-scenario of dimensional fracture, with the first-worst being the overlapping of dozens or hundreds of world. It's feared that any deliberate breaches to either world could destabilize Baseline, though the math is hardly clear on that. Some have suggested bringing breach shields over, to create a few key safe zones and expand outwards, but such discussions run into Baseline geopolitics -- such technology would give one of the two alternates a decided advantage over the other, or if both were aided, it would force a dimensional cold war to become a hot one.
Comments