2013: The Year of Alien Assisted American Dependance (RAR!)

[Zor]

In this scenario, a most unexpected thing happened. A fleet of several dozen alien spacecraft appears on the fringes of the solar system and advances on Earth. Upon entering Earth orbit it sends a message to Earth. The creature is covered in dull green hair which six limbs (two arms, two legs and four limbs somewhere in between), a lanky body and four eyes, and he has a particular message.

What happened was this: in 1777 an escape pod from an Exploration Ship which had been attacked landed in a small village in the British Colonies. Caught up in the Revolutionary War, it's seventeen passengers soon made contact with a backwater village with loyalists and a platoon of wounded British troops. The British troops helped protect the aliens against a few attacks by loyalists, who used some medicine to patch them up and the villagers provided them with copper, which they used to assemble a beacon to get picked up by their sister ship a year latter. Once they were picked up, the alien's leader offered to do whatever was in their power to aide them. The Redcoat Lieutenant in charge asked them to bring assistance to bring the Colonies back firmly under British Rule, even if they abandoned the cause. The leader agreed to this and swore an oath to do so.

Well, the thing was that this alien was part of a fairly substantial house in a large multi-system feudal state a few thousand light years away and he (a pronoun used as a placeholder, "his" species has three genders none of which completely correlate to Terran analogs) had decided to fulfill his oath. So he gathered up a good part of his fleet with a good number of transports and tankers to keep to his oath.

He gives "the renegade provinces know as the United States of America" an ultimatum: The US government must sign a Declaration of Dependance, such a declaration permanently renounces sovereignty and declares that the former United States are, now and forever, part of the British Empire. British Law shall reign in these colonies and Parliament and the British Throne has the right to make laws and enforce policy on the American Colonies. All US Military are to surrender and join with the British Armed Forces. The British Pound is to replace the US Dollar. They also have a policy to the British Government: which is to accept that the United States is a colony of the British Empire.

To enforce the compliance of the United States in accepting British Rule, he has brought over four Destroyers and six Frigates. Each armed with several gigawatt range laser cannons, a few anti-ship torpedo tubes and a network of PD Lasers that can easily intercept any incoming missiles we could launch at them. They also have brought over a force of 1.5 million robots to enforce this claim. The standard infantry robot is a quadrupedal machine that stands 1.5 meters tall with a modular turret on top, most often carrying a 4.3285mm automatic railgun and two manipulator arms. Said robot can resist anything short of fire from a M2 Browing machine gun, which it's railgun has comparable firepower to, and can run at 42km/h all day. These are backed up by artillery, anti-aircraft, air and armored support robots, which include APC Robots and Tank Robots which can fly at altitudes of up to 1200 meters in the air at speeds of up to 400km/h. To keep up and support the Robo-occupation forces, they will set up a few largely automated factories in Britain and on the moon. After 4 years he will transfer control of 25% of the Robotic forces to the British military, 25% more in eight years and finally hand over complete control of all of them in 12 years.

What happens and what do you do?

Zor

[Borgholio]

Whatever deal made by the British Lieutenant would have to be subject to approval by the British government. It could, hopefully, be as simple as asking the current British government to tell the aliens "We never authorized such a deal. We no longer desire America to be a colony. Please return home.

If things get ugly (and Britain decides to get greedy and gobble up the territory of their biggest ally...) we would not be able to stand up against the aliens. Thus, the best option would be to threaten the UK itself with complete nuclear destruction if they don't tell the aliens to go away. The RAR doesn't specify that the laser PD will work within the atmosphere, so missiles may still work against London.

If we end up capitulating and being overrun, I forsee a second war of Independence. Only this time, instead of just the French coming to our aid, it will be the rest of the world. And this is not just "Murrica-wank". France helped us because it was a chance to strike a blow against their enemy, Britain. If now, the UK has this massive army of robots and high-tech gear, I can see many other countries shitting themselves and giving us aid to help bring down the robot army that could be coming for them next.

[Mr Bean]

Would the aliens let us go by swearing an oath specifically to the Crown rather than the UK goverment? I could forsee the Queen being willing to become the figurehead for America like she is for the English goverment, with the aliens happy that we are now subservient to the Crown of England and we become like Canada? Not you know the hockey and the socialism but constitutionally required to ask the Queen to do many things and knowing she won't say no.

[Zixinus]

There is no need for violence to solve the situation, especially in this matter.

There would be a few media spectacles, the "Deceleration of Dependence" signed (if it's Obama, the Republicans will of course cry "cowardly dems surrended at the slightest threat!" speech, but that's a minor detail), the UK accepting and making a few more decelerations, etc. I imagine that some sort of deal would be made and the USA would legally secede from the UK within a few days or weeks, as long as it is necessary to convince the alien that his oath is fulfilled.
Hopefully, in the process also explain that human affairs tend to be more fluid, double-sided (ie, everyone doesn't quite do things for the reasons they say) and rapidly-changing. I think that should be the first priority, because if this alien is willing to bring and entire fucking army to fulfill an oath, God knows what else he will suddenly do.

You don't want the people with spaceships and a robot army to have an itchy trigger finger. Or be confused and do something hasty. Or do anything at all really, short-term.

Then Britain will make a bundle selling off or renting the robots out. Perhaps ship a good deal of them to the Falkland islands or other leftover non-British Isles spots to further deter any trouble.
Perhaps trading the robots for minor technology, stuff that we are hammering at but not quite figured out in scientific terms. How to make room-temperature superconductors, how to make practical fusion machines, solve some esoteric scientific problems that can open the door for utilizable new technology, etc. They probably won't give FTL tech over, for example.

[chornedsnorkack]

He gives "the renegade provinces know as the United States of America" an ultimatum: The US government must sign a Declaration of Dependance, such a declaration permanently renounces sovereignty and declares that the former United States are, now and forever, part of the British Empire. British Law shall reign in these colonies and Parliament and the British Throne has the right to make laws and enforce policy on the American Colonies. All US Military are to surrender and join with the British Armed Forces. The British Pound is to replace the US Dollar. They also have a policy to the British Government: which is to accept that the United States is a colony of the British Empire.

The imposition of British Law is probably the hardest thing.
I mean, there ARE British colonies now. In West Indies, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos, Cayman Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat.
They have figurehead governors and responsible prime ministers. Just what is the real difference between British West Indies that are Dependent as "Overseas Territories", and the ones around them which are Independent as "Realms"?
While there may be right by either Parliament or Crown to overrule colonial legislatures and impose laws on colonies, in practice the colonies are allowed to legislate just to deal with local conditions.
And they were, back in 1777.
So. Do the aliens force abolition of federal and state laws in all their details?
If not, then USA and UK can mostly pretend that USA is UK colony, like Canada is.

[lord Martiya]

Wasn't the original point of contention that the Colonial assemblies were not allowed to legislate and the Parliament wasn't willing to either admit Colonial-elected MPs or recognize them as legislatures?

[chornedsnorkack]

Wasn't the original point of contention that the Colonial assemblies were not allowed to legislate and the Parliament wasn't willing to either admit Colonial-elected MPs or recognize them as legislatures?

No. Colonial assemblies were always allowed to legislate and recognized as legislatures.
But the Declaratory Act, 1767, asserted that the Westminster Parliament could overrule them (and the colonies did not need to be represented in the Westminster Parliament). And it was in force till 1964. (And then repealed, not because it no longer held but because it had been replaced by individual acts for the specific colonies).
After 1778, UK never taxed American colonies without consent - but DID overrule the colonies by other laws. Like abolishing slavery in 1833 by act of Westminster parliament, without consent of the colonial legislatures (representing the slaveowners).

[Steve]

Well, since we're going with utter wank rubbish.....

I can't decide whether I retort with a fleet of Defiant and Sovereign-class ships or SGverse 304s. Decisions, decisions....

Or we just wait for the man in the blue box to come sort out yet another alien threat to Earth's stability and development.

Well, okay, to take this at face value.... the British government releases the guy from his oath because otherwise it risks the entire world going boom from all the other nuclear powers panicking that this alien will interfere with them next, even if they do want to see the US taken down a couple of pegs on principle. Although really there's a lot of ways for the world to take this and one's view of them is probably colored by how one would want the world to respond. "Take the damn Americans down a few notches" by some, "Tell the alien pisser to fuck off and leave Humanity alone" by others, etc.

[lord Martiya]

Wasn't the original point of contention that the Colonial assemblies were not allowed to legislate and the Parliament wasn't willing to either admit Colonial-elected MPs or recognize them as legislatures?

No. Colonial assemblies were always allowed to legislate and recognized as legislatures.
But the Declaratory Act, 1767, asserted that the Westminster Parliament could overrule them (and the colonies did not need to be represented in the Westminster Parliament). And it was in force till 1964. (And then repealed, not because it no longer held but because it had been replaced by individual acts for the specific colonies).
After 1778, UK never taxed American colonies without consent - but DID overrule the colonies by other laws. Like abolishing slavery in 1833 by act of Westminster parliament, without consent of the colonial legislatures (representing the slaveowners).

Thanks for the clarification.

[Zaune]

Well, I don't know about anybody else, but the first thing I'd do is investigate the possibility that this was some sort of alien candid-camera prank show.

[Zor]

The RAR doesn't specify that the laser PD will work within the atmosphere, so missiles may still work against London.

The Point Defense Laser systems used by the alien fleet has could intercept the primitive ICBMs employed by the US.

Zor

[Borgholio]

The RAR doesn't specify that the laser PD will work within the atmosphere, so missiles may still work against London.

The Point Defense Laser systems used by the alien fleet has could intercept the primitive ICBMs employed by the US.

Zor

a network of PD Lasers that can easily intercept any incoming missiles we could launch at them.

Sorry to nitpick, but I read that as being able to intercept any ICBM launched at the ships in orbit. It never says the PD would be able to pick off an ICBM launched at London by a submarine sitting in the English Channel. First you have to deal with the Earth's atmosphere reducing the deliverable power of the laser. Then you have to deal with distance...what is the max effective tracking range of the PD? Finally, the element of surprise. An ICBM launch from the English Channel could impact London in minutes. So basically, is the PD capable of maintaining it's destructive capability when shooting at a missile through 75 miles of atmosphere with perhaps a minute of warning (if at all)?

[Steve]

No, it'll still work, because Zor says so, and Zor cannot allow his wank scenarios to be undone without excessive yelling. I've learned that from experience. It's a big reason why I'm not really taking this thread seriously.

So my answer to that, Borgholio, is that the aliens are too busy dodging quantum torpedoes and a weaving, nimble squadron of Defiants to stop any such missiles. Better load up the nuclear-tipped ASATs!

[Zor]

Sorry to nitpick, but I read that as being able to intercept any ICBM launched at the ships in orbit. It never says the PD would be able to pick off an ICBM launched at London by a submarine sitting in the English Channel. First you have to deal with the Earth's atmosphere reducing the deliverable power of the laser. Then you have to deal with distance...what is the max effective tracking range of the PD? Finally, the element of surprise. An ICBM launch from the English Channel could impact London in minutes. So basically, is the PD capable of maintaining it's destructive capability when shooting at a missile through 75 miles of atmosphere with perhaps a minute of warning (if at all)?

Even if they did manage to pull that off, the alien fleet would begin Kinetic Bombardment of the US from orbit in retaliation with imunity.

Zor

[Simon_Jester]

If you think that counts, you're missing the point here, which is that the US is likely to view "get into World War Three" as a preferable alternative to "yield their sovereignty," at least at first. Is it sensible? Probably not.

I once read a novel that made an interesting observation. The viewpoint characters were mostly from a feudal society, and were accustomed to the idea of limited war, negotiated surrender, the winner leaving the loser in place and taking a few hostages or prizes home to secure his victory, that sort of thing.

But they looked at the US (specifically, the US during the first Bush administration) and said of the US that "they don't know how to surrender." Why would they say that? The rationale is as follows:

Kill the leaders of the US, and new leaders step up. We even have a chain of command in place to allow our government to survive total nuclear annihilation of our capital- thanks to the Cold War. Legally, this continuity government is still in charge, even if 90% of the population has been wiped out by enemy bombardment.

Moreover (and this was particularly a statement about Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/etc.), a significant number of American politicians don't have any concept of losing, just of doubling down and getting back at whoever hurt them. Any attempt to bow to reality, even on noncritical subjects, is seen as weakness or cowardice, and this exerts a strong pressure on the US government to posture and behave as if it intends to fight to the death.

Now, actually saying that the US is incapable of surrender, as the characters in that novel did, is probably inaccurate. But there is a real dynamic here- the US will not surrender without at least testing the performance of its weapons against the threat. This attack is far more likely to be directed against the aliens than the British, IMO, since the British are just as much innocent victims in this scenario as the US- and attacking them doesn't solve the actual problem.

Meanwhile, the British are probably frantically trying to get the situation to calm down and the random disturbing aliens to go away.

[chornedsnorkack]

If you think that counts, you're missing the point here, which is that the US is likely to view "get into World War Three" as a preferable alternative to "yield their sovereignty," at least at first. Is it sensible? Probably not.

I once read a novel that made an interesting observation. The viewpoint characters were mostly from a feudal society, and were accustomed to the idea of limited war, negotiated surrender, the winner leaving the loser in place and taking a few hostages or prizes home to secure his victory, that sort of thing.

But they looked at the US (specifically, the US during the first Bush administration) and said of the US that "they don't know how to surrender." Why would they say that? The rationale is as follows:

Kill the leaders of the US, and new leaders step up. We even have a chain of command in place to allow our government to survive total nuclear annihilation of our capital- thanks to the Cold War. Legally, this continuity government is still in charge, even if 90% of the population has been wiped out by enemy bombardment.

Moreover (and this was particularly a statement about Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/etc.), a significant number of American politicians don't have any concept of losing, just of doubling down and getting back at whoever hurt them. Any attempt to bow to reality, even on noncritical subjects, is seen as weakness or cowardice, and this exerts a strong pressure on the US government to posture and behave as if it intends to fight to the death.

How effective is the chain of command in overthrowing legitimate leaders who attempt to surrender?
US Government has never surrendered. The worst US defeat ever was Vietnamese War - but the US army evacuated under cover of what was, in the event, a truce. It was not the masses of US draftees who surrendered in the fall of Saigon.
Probably the biggest surrender of US forces in history was the surrender of Philippines in 1942. While the fall of Corregidor on 6th of May was inevitable - the defenders were holed up in a cave with defenders in few yards from mouth and about to lose soon, as Wainwright said it was a matter of several thousand lives for one day of freedom - there was a Visayan-Mindanao force at large, which was nowhere so desperate.
The Japanese asked Wainwright to surrender all US forces in Philippines along with Corregidor - and Sharp and the other commanders of Visayan-Mindanao Force did comply.

The point of regarding losing and surrender as dishonourable - and low ranking subordinates willing to fight on despite the "cowardice" of their superiors - is shared by several other societies.

Now, actually saying that the US is incapable of surrender, as the characters in that novel did, is probably inaccurate. But there is a real dynamic here- the US will not surrender without at least testing the performance of its weapons against the threat. This attack is far more likely to be directed against the aliens than the British, IMO, since the British are just as much innocent victims in this scenario as the US- and attacking them doesn't solve the actual problem.

Meanwhile, the British are probably frantically trying to get the situation to calm down and the random disturbing aliens to go away.

As far as the British are concerned, they have a good way of mediating "surrender". Pretend that the US have surrendered, and collude in treating their friends USA as still independent, like Canada.

The problem is, it does require some show of cooperation on the part of USA as well. And that the US leaders, and their subordinates, regard as dishonourable.

The largest defeat the Americans have experienced, incidentally, is that of CSA.

[Simon_Jester]

How effective is the chain of command in overthrowing legitimate leaders who attempt to surrender?

...US Government has never surrendered. The worst US defeat ever was Vietnamese War - but the US army evacuated under cover of what was, in the event, a truce. It was not the masses of US draftees who surrendered in the fall of Saigon.

Moreover, there is a massive difference between the surrender of an army, even a huge one, and the surrender of a government.

Personally, I don't entirely agree with the sentiment expressed in the novel, and it's written from the perspective of a group which can't cause the kind of apocalyptic destruction that the aliens could. Their basic ability is to teleport into places holding only what a human being can carry- up to and including a backpack nuke, but no larger- and they don't have the ability to manufacture said backpack nukes. Thus...

"We can hurt them -- we can kill tens of thousands -- but you know how the Americans respond to an attack. They are relentless, and they will slaughter millions without remorse to avenge a pinprick, should it embarrass them. Worse, their councils and congresses are so contrived that they cannot surrender. Any leader who advocates surrender is ridiculed and risks removal from office."

This is written from the point of view of someone who realizes that all their ability still doesn't make them that much more dangerous than, say, al Qaeda. They can't break the US, and the cultural context of a War on Terror translates to medievals as "slaughter millions to avenge a pinprick, should it embarrass them" and "cannot surrender." Because realistically no American politician would advocate or consider surrender to a 'terrorist' (i.e. small and not-a-nation-state) hostile organization.

Again, I don't entirely agree with this, but the broader point is that the US military is constituted and indoctrinated to fight in defense of the US's core sovereignty and existence as a nation, even if that means courting massive nuclear bombardment. That is exactly what the US nuclear deterrent is meant to do, in fact.

As far as the British are concerned, they have a good way of mediating "surrender". Pretend that the US have surrendered, and collude in treating their friends USA as still independent, like Canada.

The problem is, it does require some show of cooperation on the part of USA as well. And that the US leaders, and their subordinates, regard as dishonourable.

The largest defeat the Americans have experienced, incidentally, is that of CSA.

If the British make the appropriate noises to the aliens it might work; this entire thing started because they are staggeringly ignorant and unaware of how human societies work and aren't really paying attention.

The main danger is the US jumping the gun before something can be worked out.

[chornedsnorkack]

How effective is the chain of command in overthrowing legitimate leaders who attempt to surrender?

...US Government has never surrendered. The worst US defeat ever was Vietnamese War - but the US army evacuated under cover of what was, in the event, a truce. It was not the masses of US draftees who surrendered in the fall of Saigon.

Moreover, there is a massive difference between the surrender of an army, even a huge one, and the surrender of a government.

In Spring 1865, the Confederate armies surrendered piecemeal as armies. Confederate government did not. Jefferson Davis did officially "dissolve" his cabinet on 5th of May, in Washington, Georgia. He was captured 5 days later in Irwinville.
Vice President Stephens was arrested at his home in Crawfordville, Georgia on 11th of May. Secretary of State Benjamin successfully fled to Bahamas. (He had left from the Cabinet shortly before its last meeting of 5th of May). Secretary of Treasury John Reagan was captured with Davis on 10th of May. Secretary of War, John Breckinridge, left Washington with a small escort on 5th of May, and, being after the 10th of May capture of Davis the highest ranking Confederate leader at large, managing to reach Cuba on 11th of June with a group of 4. Last Attorney general George Davis is described as having the cabinet on 24th of April unreplaced, and stayed at large till arrested on 18th of October. Secretary of Navy Stephen Mallory was arrested at home, La Grange, Georgia on 20th of May.
So what was the Confederate order of succession?

Personally, I don't entirely agree with the sentiment expressed in the novel, and it's written from the perspective of a group which can't cause the kind of apocalyptic destruction that the aliens could. Their basic ability is to teleport into places holding only what a human being can carry- up to and including a backpack nuke, but no larger- and they don't have the ability to manufacture said backpack nukes. Thus...

"We can hurt them -- we can kill tens of thousands -- but you know how the Americans respond to an attack. They are relentless, and they will slaughter millions without remorse to avenge a pinprick, should it embarrass them. Worse, their councils and congresses are so contrived that they cannot surrender. Any leader who advocates surrender is ridiculed and risks removal from office."

This is written from the point of view of someone who realizes that all their ability still doesn't make them that much more dangerous than, say, al Qaeda. They can't break the US, and the cultural context of a War on Terror translates to medievals as "slaughter millions to avenge a pinprick, should it embarrass them" and "cannot surrender." Because realistically no American politician would advocate or consider surrender to a 'terrorist' (i.e. small and not-a-nation-state) hostile organization.

Again, I don't entirely agree with this, but the broader point is that the US military is constituted and indoctrinated to fight in defense of the US's core sovereignty and existence as a nation, even if that means courting massive nuclear bombardment. That is exactly what the US nuclear deterrent is meant to do, in fact.

Even a feudal player who is accustomed to the idea of losing a limited war to a honourable peer enemy who shows a clear victory may hesitate to surrender to a small and dishonourable enemy. Plus there is the practical distrust, as to whether an enemy who is not a peer polity with track record of good treatment of captives or conquered countries has the intention or the organizational ability to receive surrender.

USA DID accept defeat by Viet Cong, who WERE terrorists. But in that case, USA was not surrendering at homeland, and the terms of defeat included free evacuation with flags and arms, not large US forces marching to Viet Cong captivity.

[Borgholio]

Even if they did manage to pull that off, the alien fleet would begin Kinetic Bombardment of the US from orbit in retaliation with imunity.

How is that different from if we were to refuse the terms of the Aliens? I mean, let's assume that we refuse their terms, and the British have no luck talking some sense into the Aliens. What would they do?

As far as nuking England, that would certainly be a last resort. If the Aliens decided to bombard us from orbit for refusing their terms, and if the British decide to get greedy, then I think a Scorched Earth campaign to wipe out those the Aliens were coming to serve would look more attractive.

[Simon_Jester]

Moreover, there is a massive difference between the surrender of an army, even a huge one, and the surrender of a government.

In Spring 1865, the Confederate armies surrendered piecemeal as armies. Confederate government did not. Jefferson Davis did officially "dissolve" his cabinet on 5th of May, in Washington, Georgia. He was captured 5 days later in Irwinville.
Vice President Stephens was arrested at his home in Crawfordville, Georgia on 11th of May. Secretary of State Benjamin successfully fled to Bahamas. (He had left from the Cabinet shortly before its last meeting of 5th of May). Secretary of Treasury John Reagan was captured with Davis on 10th of May. Secretary of War, John Breckinridge, left Washington with a small escort on 5th of May, and, being after the 10th of May capture of Davis the highest ranking Confederate leader at large, managing to reach Cuba on 11th of June with a group of 4. Last Attorney general George Davis is described as having the cabinet on 24th of April unreplaced, and stayed at large till arrested on 18th of October. Secretary of Navy Stephen Mallory was arrested at home, La Grange, Georgia on 20th of May.
So what was the Confederate order of succession?

Please note that I am not contradicting you, or at least not trying to.

The main question is: were any of these wandering cabinet secretaries authorized to issue orders to the Confederate government, and was there anyone to follow them? The problem the Confederacy would likely face is that in the 19th century, lines of succession beyond the president and vice president were not normally so well established, because no probable sequence of events besides total military defeat of the state and scattering of the government could "decapitate" the government. Whereas since 1945 this has been all too likely.

For the US it's a little different today, simply because the US government is now very much prepared and equipped to maintain some kind of continuity and command and control in the face of total annihilation of key cities and government centers.

Even a feudal player who is accustomed to the idea of losing a limited war to a honourable peer enemy who shows a clear victory may hesitate to surrender to a small and dishonourable enemy. Plus there is the practical distrust, as to whether an enemy who is not a peer polity with track record of good treatment of captives or conquered countries has the intention or the organizational ability to receive surrender.

Oh, I understand and agree perfectly- my point is simply that the US is going to show an... institutional reluctance to surrender without a fight, and for various reasons might well leave historians going "why the hell didn't they surrender when it first became obvious they were going to lose?" A surrender would be implemented eventually and probably honored, but I suspect that would be after at least one round of nuclear/WMD exchanges, not before.

USA DID accept defeat by Viet Cong, who WERE terrorists. But in that case, USA was not surrendering at homeland, and the terms of defeat included free evacuation with flags and arms, not large US forces marching to Viet Cong captivity.

Actually, the US was dealing with the government of North Vietnam, not with the Viet Cong themselves who were mostly a spent force after the Tet Offensive. The fall of Saigon (and the rest of southern Vietnam) was the result of major North Vietnamese offensives marching in on the ground, not guerilla forces.

[Zor]

Even if they did manage to pull that off, the alien fleet would begin Kinetic Bombardment of the US from orbit in retaliation with imunity.

How is that different from if we were to refuse the terms of the Aliens? I mean, let's assume that we refuse their terms, and the British have no luck talking some sense into the Aliens. What would they do?

Land their Robotic armies near population centers to secure them, attempt to capture the US government, destroy all nuclear weapons and neutralize any resistance.

Zor

[Steve]

Interesting honor there, with a figure who will issue demands to the Crown he believes he owes his life to and who is instigating these events in their name.

Because that's what it boils down to: Britain says "No, we no longer want them subordinated" and your alien apparently refuses that answer and demands they accept his actions?

[Borgholio]

The problem would be if the alien sees it as a debt to the lieutenant personally, regardless of the position of his government. He might take offense at Parliament or the Queen asking him to go away.

If that is the case, we would have to try to find living kin of the lieutenant and hope lineage is enough to absolve a life debt.

[chornedsnorkack]

Basically, you are dealing with someone who has ideals to enforce, arms to do that and some willingness to do that.

USA has a long track record of doing just that elsewhere, in the name of things like "freedom", "democracy", "human rights". AND they have some experience of having had it done to them... mostly South.

So how would USA deal with an army with the means and some willingness to enforce some other ideals, like "divine right of kings", or, less implausible, the divine rights of their own Empire?

Again look at South. Confederacy did not rise again. But from 1870s, the North lost interest in spending money to uphold the niggers.

Confederacy never regained independence. 13th amendment was never repealed. Neither were 14th and 15th. Debts of Confederacy are still unpaid.
But in 1870s, the North refused to support armies capable of actually enforcing its will on the South. Confederacy armies of over 400 000 men had been defeated by Union army of 600 000...700 000 men. Sherman said that 100 000 men would be needed to hold South. Events proved him right.
By late 1866, there were just 25 000 men left holding South, and by mid-1870s, under 3500.
The matters did go to guerrilla war. Ku Klux Klan was not a continuation of Confederate army - they were from Confederate army, most adult men were, but they had gone home under Johnson, 1865-1866, so not organizationally continuous.
Ku Klux Klan did not destroy Federal garrisons to hold cities for Confederacy in broad daylight.
But the North DID eventually recognize the State legislatures elected under conditions of blatant voter intimidation and terror. And while these Redemptionist legislatures did not pass new ordinances of secession, they did pass the Jim Crow laws and various disfranchising laws - and over 1870s and 1880s, Northern administrations, Congress and Supreme Court upheld them, by claiming to interpret 14th and 15th Amendment so narrowly as to be basically meaningless.

So - USA is faced with an enemy who is willing to enforce Perpetual Union, not with USA but with UK.
Unlike niggers, who took a lot of violent intimidation to keep their heads down and pretend to be just not interested in voting and standing for elections, Ukogbani can be expected to collaborate with USA in pretending that the alien´s demands have been satisfied. They have good track record of respecting the independence of Canada and Australia, and even of their remaining colonies, mostly. Although with the fresh big blot of Pitcairn.
What would the US government and armies do? And what would the people on the ground do?

[FaxModem1]

In this scenario, a most unexpected thing happened. A fleet of several dozen alien spacecraft appears on the fringes of the solar system and advances on Earth. Upon entering Earth orbit it sends a message to Earth. The creature is covered in dull green hair which six limbs (two arms, two legs and four limbs somewhere in between), a lanky body and four eyes, and he has a particular message.

Guys, we don't even have to worry, the aliens can't even fucking count that they have eight limbs. They're probably going to fly into the sun or Mars if they try to attack us if they're that bad at math.