Anabasis

[Pablo Sanchez]

Can't say I'm surprised at how badly the Klingons got raped. Good chapter. When are you planning to bring in the Americans and the Nazis into the story?

This is the end of the main arc of the first book, though I think I'll be writing an "interlude" chapter that takes place outside this arc for completeness. The second book will be about the USN.

[Trogdor]

Sweet, I look forward to seeing how the US evolved in your universe. Not to say that the Japanese aren't interesting, too, but you've given us a good look at them and there was never any question as to who would win the Klingons vs. IJN fight.

[brianeyci]

Very good, was waiting for this since Christmas =D.

Brian

[Singular Quartet]

I've been wondering how the US, the Nazis, and the IJ co-exist in Sol. Do they have a written agreement not to attack each other there, or has somebody just driven the other two our, or is it a massive battleground?

Just curious.

[Kuja]

Excellent battle, excellent duel.

[Pablo Sanchez]

I've been wondering how the US, the Nazis, and the IJ co-exist in Sol. Do they have a written agreement not to attack each other there, or has somebody just driven the other two our, or is it a massive battleground?

There are a lot of changes to the timeline (the POD was around 1600 CE and I won't pretend real plausibility, since I started with my end point and backfit) so there's a lot to explain, and I might post a timeline some time, but briefly:
Germany's Earth possessions were utterly annihilated by a Japanese nuclear assault in the year 2190, as mentioned. The environmental, social, and economic ramifications of this event totally realigned the politics of the human powers and one of the effects was the signing of the treaty of Johannesburg (which has been referenced once) which defined the rules of warfare between the USA + allies and Imperial Japan. One of the key clauses is the banning of warfare in the Sol system, though both sides intellectually recognize that if either were in a position to annihilate the other safely, they would go for it.

The Third Reich has no presence on Earth, and limited presence in the Solar System. They depend entirely on their off-world colonies, which drastically weakened their warmaking potential and forced them to make a number of huge changes in order to stay at all competative.

[MKSheppard]

*breaks down and begins crying*

This is so goddamned good, so goddamned good!

[Col. Crackpot]

damn, Pablo! Goddamn! That's great! I can't wait to see the US Navy!!!

[phongn]

Superb chapter, Pablo.

[Junghalli]

You're letting somebody competent loose in the Trekverse . OMG, the I don't even want to imagine the horrible things they'll do to the other Trekverse powers .
I notice you're taking the "uncharitable" approach to the Trekverse, i.e. assuming everybody really is as phenomenally incompetent as they are portrayed on the show. Man, some of this stuff is just painful to read (although in the same way a Wesley Crusher vs Resident Evil Tyrant death match would be painful to watch ).

[Pablo Sanchez]

Notes: this timeline is not intended as a serious alternate-history exercise, particularly as the cardinal alt-hist sin was committed (I started with an end-point and back fit things. It is instead offered to give a more completely background to the story.

Thanks to Sheppard and Frigidmagi for helpful discussion


APPENDIX A
Timeline to 2380

1534
Oda Nobunaga is born in Owari Province, Japan.

1543
Portuguese traders introduce the arquebus to Japan.

1559
Nobunaga solidifies his control of clan Oda by defeating the last efforts of the rival claimants. He travels to Kyoto to announce his complete control of Owari to the Shogun.

1560-62
Nobunaga defeats invasions of Owari by rival neighboring daimyo, and forms an alliance with Matsudaira Motoyasu (later Tokugawa Ieyasu).

1567
Nobunaga conquers Mino province; this is the beginning of his ambition to conquer all of Japan, calling it "Tenka Fubu," or "conquer through military force."

1571
Nobunaga attacks and razes Enryakuji warrior monk complex on Mount Hiei.

1573
Nobunaga conquers Echizen and Wakasa provinces, and deposes the last Muromachi Shogun.

1575
Battle of Nagashino. First major deployment of muskets in Japanese warfare. Nobunaga commands the most powerful armies in Japan and establishes effective domination of Honshu.

1579
Akechi Mitsuhide captures Yakami castle from Hatano Hideharu by taking Hideharu's mother hostage. Nobunaga initially decides to have the woman executed, but later relents and releases her to house arrest.

1585
Nobunaga appointed Shogun. He pledges to complete the unification of Japan.

1585-1590
Nobunaga defeats all remaining rivals (principally clans Mori and Uesugi), seizing complete control of Japan. He enacts a massive redistribution of daimyo estates to reward and strengthen his allies while weakening potential rivals. Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi are his principal allies.

1590-1592
In order to help quiet internal dissent, he begins to prepare an invasion of Korea. The army raised for this purpose is designed to absorb the vast numbers of masterless ronin and other soldiers who have been dispossessed by the land redistribution. Nobunaga preceeds spies to Korea, who bring back reports of Korean "turtle ships" with thick armor plate and powerful guns. Nobunaga's invasion fleet is reinforced with heavier warships designed to counteract this threat. Wary of Tokugawa Ieyasu's potential ambition, Nobunaga appoints him to command the invasion force so as to remove him from a position of influence on the home islands.

April 1592
About 180,000 Japanese troops invade Korea under Tokugawa Ieyasu. With the advantage of surprise, discipline, and firearms, they take control of the entire country up to the Yalu river by the end of the campaigning season. The Japanese navy suffers severe losses against Yi Sun-sin's ships, but is successful in defeating his forces and maintaining their supply lines. The population fo Korea begins a revolt, with token support from China. Tokugawa destroys the weak Chinese forces, humiliating the court at Beijing, which immediately mobilizes to safe face.

January 1593
A Chinese expeditionary force of about 100,000 troops, together with around 20,000 Korean auxiliaries, launches an attack on Japanese positions in Korea. Tokugawa's forces are dispersed to suppress uprisings and the Chinese enjoy substantial early success, leading to the commitment of still more Ming forces. Tokugawa gathers his forces and appeals for reinforcements from Japan. Nobunaga sends 40,000 men, who arrive as early as March.

April 1593
Tokugawa Ieyasu gathers 80,000 men on the approaches to Seoul to confront roughly 100,000 Korean and Chinese troops advancing on the key city. Tokugawa proves a superior tactician, and his canny exploitation of his gunpowder advantage allows him to pin the enemy in place, while his cavalry envelops the Chinese flanks. The Chinese-Korean force is virtually annihilated with light losses on the Japanese side; the routing soldiers pursued by contingents of cavalry all the way back to the Yalu. Ming China cuts its losses and signs a peace treaty recognizing Japanese control of the Korean peninsula.

1594-1596
As ordered by Nobunaga, Korea is placed under a Japanese-style feudal administration system. Tokugawa's forces put down the last revolts.

19 August 1596
Oda Nobunaga dies suddenly of unrecorded causes (cerebral hemorrhage is suspected by modern historians). Toyotomi Hideyoshi plays the central role at the funeral and is expected to succeed Nobunaga as military leader of Japan, but Tokugawa Ieyasu accuses him of poisoning Nobunaga and begins gather select sections of his Korean army for an invasion of Japan. Tokugawa supporters in Japan, mostly those unwilling to recognize the ill-bred Hideyoshi as leader, begin agitating.

July 1597
Tokugawa lands with 40,000 elite troops of his Army of Korea, joining a further 40,000 allies in Japan and marching on Hideyoshi's headquarters at Kyoto. Hideyoshi assembles 90,000 men, and they meet on the field of Sekigahara. The superior experience of Tokugawa's core troops is pivotal, and they are victorious. Hideyoshi commits seppuku, and Tokugawa Ieyasu is proclaimed shogun. He quickly follows the example of Oda Nobunaga and begins reordering the daimyo to promote stability. The capital is moved to Tokyo, from where his line will rule Japan for 200 years.

1635-1639
Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu supervises the effective eradication of Christianity in Japan, and closes all Japanese ports except Nagasaki and Pusan to foreign trade.

1636-1662
Severe civil unrest and chaos reigns in China. In 1644 Beijing itself is sacked by rebels, effectively ending the Ming dynasty. The Manchu Qing dynasty invades China, establishing total control and crowning Emperor Kangxi in 1662.

1716-1736
Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune begins Kyoho Reforms, intended to improve the financial conditions of the Shogunate and establish a more effective front against Manchu designs on Korea. Japanese ports were gradually eased open to foreign trade, though with strict regulations, and Dutch mercenaries were recruited to help bring the Shogun's armies to a higher standard of effectiveness. Light artillery and more modern firearms are adopted, together with a streamlined chain of command.

1738
Japanese sailors explore the Kuril islands, Bering strait, and Aleutian islands. Later missions establish fur trading posts on the Aleutians and eventually lead to the claiming of those lands for Japan, which halts Russian expansion at the east bank of the Bering Strait.

1760
The Qing Emperor Qianlong, known as an able general, undertakes an invasion of Korea. Japanese forces, with advanced weapons and tactics, inflict severe defeats on the Manchu banner armies, capturing Qianlong himself and driving into Manchuria. Chaos consumes China with the fall of Manchuria and the loss of the Emperor. The Qing dynasty suffers a temporary collapse of authority and the Japanese Empire is left in possession of Manchuria, simply by virtue of their being no extant government to dispute control. The effectiveness of the reformed Shogunate army is so impressive that further reforms become desirable.

1785
The First Great Mission. Japanese diplomats travel to America and Europe, bringing back information on military tactics and technology, particularly with regard to naval operations. Interest in the construction of a modern fleet grows.

1790
Qing armies finally suppress most of the rebels and are able to enthrone an Emperor in Beijing, though most of China remains under the control of warlords owing nominal allegience to the Emperor of China.

1795
A complete reform of the Japanese army and navy is undertaken, with construction of warships on the European pattern. Opposition among the samurai class and conservative scholars is rife, and multiple revolts are suppressed. In Europe, the legitimate government of the Netherlands is deposed by French forces and the Batavian Republic is proclaimed.

1800
With unrest severely threatening stability, Tokugawa Ienari takes advantage of the uncertain position of the Dutch East Indies colonies and launches an invasion. The untried modern Japanese navy suffers teething troubles but pulls out a victory thanks to Dutch weakness and local numerical superiority, and the government of the stadtholder-in-exile recognizes then a Japanese possession in 1803. He gives the remaining Dutch colonial possessions to Britain in order to safeguard them from further opportunism.

1837
Tokugawa Ieyoshi ascends to the office of Shogun and immediately begins efforts to reverse many of the reforms of his predecessor. The liberal faction at court immediately begins intrigues, causing counter-plots by the conservatives.

March 1839
Ninko Restoration. Liberal reformers launch a coup d'etat, proposing to return the Emperor to ultimate rule over Japan. This is successful in winning over the majority of the population of Japan and the army itself, while most of the aristocracy opposes them.

1839-1841
Low-level civil war in Japan. The liberal forces are ultimately successful through their superior mobilization of popular support and their effective command structure. The conservatives are unable to offer a united front, and are defeated by 1841.

1841-1853
Second Great Mission. Japanese diplomats travel through Europe and America, returning with information and Western experts. With Imperial funding, a massive industrialization and modernization effort is undertaken in Japan. There are concurrent modernizations of culture, including the mandatory adoption of western dress by aristocrats and a reform of the table of ranks. Private armies are abolished and the Japanese noble class becomes similar in most respects to that of Europe: priviliged but powerless.

1848-1861
Significant Japanese influence is exerted on the Kingdom of Hawaii. Efforts by Kamehameha IV to reduce Japanese control simply result in a tug-of-war between the American and Japanese merchants and businessmen on the islands and their respective governments. The status of the kingdom is in contention until the United States is distracted by its civil war, and Hawai'i is forcibly annexed in 1861. Large scale Japanese immigration follows, and a naval base is established in Pearl Harbor.

1856
Japanese traders are harassed in Vietnam. By way of flexing their muscles, the Japanese threaten war if an immediate apology, reparations, and an unequal treaty are not forthcoming. Vietnamese refusal brings off an invasion. The Imperial Army quickly takes control of Vietnam. Vietnamese guerrillas continue operations out of Laos and Cambodia, compelling the IJN to conquer them as well. Qin protests are ignored.

1856-1871
Low-intensity warfare with (primarily Vietnamese) guerrillas in Indochina.

1863-1871
Sino-Japanese War. The Qing, still miffed about Japanese conquest of Indochina, give orders to expel all Japanese from China. The situation spirals out of control into a general massacre, however, and the Emperor Komei declares war on China. Japanese forces drive out of Manchuria and Indochina, and landings are effected on Formosa and Hainan, as well as on the coast near Shanghai. The Chinese armies are weakly organized and primitively equipped and pose little threat. After only a year all important regions are under control, and the remainder of the war is spent putting down independent warlords and suppressing popular revolt.

11 January 1872
The Treaty of Nanking ends the Sino-Japanese War. The Emperor Mutsuhito (or Meiji) is crowned Emperor of China, but Japan does not directly administer China. A native, pro-Japanese puppet government is established with it's capital at Nanking. The Liaotung Peninsula, islands of Formosa and Hainan, as well as a swath of coastal region surrounding Shanghai are directly annexed to Japan. France and the German States are embroiled in war and offer no protest, but Great Britain and the United States remain to be pacified. The introduction of a new, iron-clad stability in China is actually welcomed by some, especially in the United States, but strong efforts by Japan are required to mollify Great Britain. Both are granted special trading rights in China and Japan signs a "permanent treaty of non-aggression" with Britain, guaranteeing peace on the Indian border. At this point in history, Japan is considered to have fully arrived on the world stage as the dominant power in Asia.

1872-1900
Fearful of the potential of being swallowed by the vast colonial population under its control, the Imperial government enacts programs designed to stimulate public confidence and population growth. Free public education is enacted in 1879, social security in 1886 (patterned after the German pension program), health and accident insurance in 1887, and unemployment insurance in 1895. Citizens of Japanese descent are encouraged with tax credits and government services to raise large families and to emigrate out of the home islands, marriages between Japanese and subject ethnicities (though not including Koreans, who are by this time regarded as fairly innocuous) are banned in 1874. At the same time, efforts at population suppression are undertaken among the subject nationalities, especially in China.

1898
Shortly after the opening of hostilities in the Spanish-American War, Japan offers to purchase the Philippines and Guam with a large cash payment. With the archipelago nearly overrun by rebels, and a disastrous war with the USA beginning, Spain recognizes that the Philippines will be lost one way or the other and agrees to the sale. Reaction in the USA is angry but muted, as the Philippines scarcely appears in the American consciousness and the purpose of the war was not Pacific expansion but the salvation of the Cubans and vengeance for the USS Maine. Though no war will be fought, relations between the USA and Japan are significantly chilled.

1898-1906
Philippine insurrection. Thousands of Filipino rebels are killed but the revolt is finally crushed by Japanese forces.

1914-1918
World War One. Japan is officially neutral in the conflict, but in reality ships a great deal of war goods to the allied powers, especially Russia. Japanese banks make significant loans to the Tsar. (the conflict is otherwise as historical)

1917
Russian revolution. The Kerensky Government affirms a continuing commitment to the war and to paying the war debts, but sentiment among Japanese business is unsettled with fears that the new Russian government will default on its obligations.

1918
Bolshevik revolution. Communists seize power in Petrograd, Moscow, and other major cities, opposed by the White armies. Alarmed by the Communist uprising, Emperor Yoshihito (or Taisho) orders the occupation of the Russian far East (with it's principal city at the terminus of the trans-Siberian railway, Nikolaevsk). Local Communists are suppressed.

1918-1922
Russian Civil War. Japan throws support behind the arch-Conservative dictator of Siberia, Admiral Kolchak, giving him arms, supplies, and funding. With diplomatic pressure on the Whites and the other intervening powers, Japan succeeds in gaining Kolchak recognition as the overall leader of the White armies. With the coordination thus achieved, and Japanese monetary and logistical support, Kolchak makes considerable headway. A "volunteer" division of elite Japanese army troops participates in Kolchak's push on Moscow. By 1922, the Communist revolution has been stamped out, and most of pre-war Russia has been regained (Poland, Finland, and the Baltic states survived). A Romanov cousin was placed on the throne, the Tsar having been murdered in 1918, but Kolchak retained all real power. The Russian Empire is saddled with a crippling war debt and was still riven by dissent that Kolchak's best efforts cannot quash. It is not a de facto puppet state of the Japanese Empire, but Kolchak depends heavily on funding from Japanese banks and this consideration often colors the decision-making process.

1929
Worldwide economic depression. Japan passes harsh protective tariffs intended to safeguard native industry, which backfire and further harm the economy. Despite crop failures in the provinces, food shipments to Japan are not allowed to drop, leading to unrest in the colonial territories.

1933
Hitler ascends to Chancellery, Nazi takeover of Germany begins. German expansionism continues as historical.

1936-1943
Unrest in Japan's colonial territories boils over into open insurrection in China, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Lieutenant General Tomoyuki Yamashita leads the force detailed to reestablish order in the Philippines, in which he is stunningly successful, annihilating the rebels there in a matter of months. He is transferred to the Chinese theatre, where he achieves continued success until the insurrections are officially declared at an end in 1943. Yamashita is promoted to the highest officer in the Japanese Army and is created Duke of Manila, among other less notable titles. Kampeitai founded as an intelligence/counter-intelligence service with broad-reaching powers.

1938
An elderly Kolchak signs a treaty of non-aggression with Hitler's Germany, believing that their common political leanings (read: fascist) will allow them to coexist peacefully.

1938-1954
The Holocaust. Nazi Germany exterminates all Jews, Gypsies, and other undesirables in the lands under its control. What little information reaches the outside is ignored, and after the war there is no one to tell the world. All victims are dead, German records are meticulously destroyed, and those few Nazi officials who cannot be trusted to keep the secret are at Hitler's deathbed order.

1939-1944
World War Two. Japan is officially neutral, but makes significant arms sales to the allied powers.

1939
Germany overruns Poland, Denmark, and Norway.

1940
Germany conquers the Low Countries and France. With the fall of France, the French fleet comes under German control, and in conjunction with Italian forces it will give the Axis control of the Mediterranean. Churchill orders the French Fleet taken, but in the event Somerville refuses on "point of honour" to ruthlessly fire on Britain's erstwhile allies. Staring the loss of Africa and the vital Suez in the face, support for Churchill's government folds. His replacements negotiate a peace settlement even as Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia are overrun. Roosevelt backs Britain with the veiled threat that America will use all necessary force to defend its shipping. In consideration of the dangers of the USA's entrance into the war, Hitler's terms are generous. Britain is granted "administrative guardianship" over virtually the whole of Africa, while German continental hegemony will be recognized.

1941
Operations in the Balkans in support of Fascist Italy are successful in bringing the entire region under Fascist domination. The Third Reich then invades Russia in violation of the 1938 pact. Russian armies, though substantial, are poorly equipped and organized and rapidly defeated. Moscow is captured late in 1941, leading to Kolchak's capitulation. Belarus and the Ukraine are surrendered to Germany, and Russia becomes effectively a satillite state of the Third Reich. Japan issues protests, but is fully occupied with the prosecution of the insurrections, and in any case is unprepared to offer effective support over the trans-Siberian railway to Russia. Nationalist Spain and Portugal join the Axis.

1946-1955
The Third Reich exercises diplomatic and economic pressure on Turkey, Sweden, and Finland, reducing them to satillite states. Virtually every continental European state is under fascist domination.

1946-1958
Economic instability in the Third Reich. Creation of the Mitteleuropa economic league, in which every other European state is economically subordinate to the Reich, is unsuccessful in stabilizing the problems. After Hitler's death (suspected poisoning) in 1954, Baldur von Schirach is appointed his successor and undertakes necessary reforms at the prodding of Albert Speer. The Reich's economy is thereafter reasonably controlled, but still uncertain.

1947
The United States of America test-detonates an atomic bomb in New Mexico.

1948
Oceanic Treaty Organization (OTO) founded by USA. It will include the British Empire and all its dominions, plus all the nations of the Americas. Britain rewrites the boundaries of Africa and the Middle East, creating six large administrative districts--Greater South Africa (with Madagascar), the Congo Free State, West Africa (or Mali after the ancient empire), Victoria, and Arabia. Ethiopia is ceded virtually the entire horn of Africa. All nations are governed as dominions of the British Empire, and are members of OTO.

1949
Assisted by operatives in the US atomic program, Germany detonates the atomic bomb.

1950
Germany launches first artificial satillite into space. The USA will follow three years later.

1952
United Kingdom detonates atomic bomb. USA develops hydrogen bomb, eventually followed by the other great powers.

1954-1970
In order to develop the atomic bomb and catch up technologically with the west, Japan makes significant investments in education, light industry, and electronics. By 1970 it has largely caught up with Germany and is gaining rapidly on the USA.

1958
Japan develops atomic bomb.

1964
Japan launches its first orbital satillite.

1965
First man on the moon, German astronaut Helmut Baedecker. The USA will follow in 1968, Japan in 1975.

1977
"Star Wars: A New Hope" released.

1983
US President Ronald Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative, a system of armed satillites that will intercept ballistic missiles.

1990
OTO deploys massive permanent orbital research station "Liberty."

1991
Japanese indices of production surpass the Third Reich for the first time.

2005
First manned mission to Mars, USA. (Germany follows in 2008.) Human genome completely mapped.

2010
USA deploys satillite based anti-ballistic missile shield, eventually expanding it to cover the rest of the OTO. Japan and Germany follow by 2018.

2015
USA places permanent research base on the moon.

2030
Zefram Cochrane born in Bozeman, Montana.

2030-2057
Development of space travel technology. Ion-driven interplanetary shuttles developed at nearly the same time by USA, Reich, and Japan. All powers deploy permanent bases on Mars.

2057-2065
Doctor Zefram Cochrane develops faster-than-light travel designs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After a successful test in 2063, MIT claims full legal rights to the development on the reasoning that their staff and laboratories were more responsible than Cochrane. After highly dubious wrangling, SCOTUS awards exclusive rights to MIT, which it immediately sells to NASA for an undisclosed fee, retaining control of the design for commercial purposes. Cochrane is deeply unsatisfied at the verdict, and calls the New York Times stating that he is the victim of a conspiracy to steal his intellectual property, and that he is being followed by government agents.

2066
Zefram Cochrane evades his CIA 'handlers' and escapes to Tokyo with the assistance of the kampeitai. He sells his assistance in warp-drive research for one trillion dollars and complete ownership of the Mamanuca group of islands (near Fiji). Japan successfully tests a faster-than-light capable vessel in September 2066.

2070
German operatives at MIT leak sufficient information for the Reich to develop its own warp drive.

2070-2130
Great exploration drive. Human spaceships grow more and more advanced as they push farther into interstellar space.

2080
First Space War. Exploration tensions erupt into war between USA and Germany, fought almost entirely in space. USA nominally victorious. First contact with the Vulcans occurs during this war. The Vulcans are shocked by the militarism of the human race, and make efforts to minimize contact.

2093
Second Space War. German-Japanese alliance of convenience wins several tactical victories over the USA before treaty.

2098
Imperial Japanese Navy assumes command over space fleet.

2105
Skirmishes between Japanese and German space navies.

2110
Raumkriegsmarine established.

2111
United States Space Navy founded ('space' will be dropped in 2150).

2114
Third Space War, chaotic free for all between all three powers. Ended by Treaty of Mars, which establishes three "cardinal directions" for each power to explore in. Japan will go to the galactic east, the USA north and west, Germany south and west.

2135
Nazi scientists begin refinement of genetic engineering.

2152
First contact between Romulan Star Empire and Empire of Japan. A Romulan Bird of Prey attacks a Japanese explorer ship, which is able to send a distress call before being destroyed.

2152-2154
Empire of Japan mobilizes for war, using it's warp speed advantage to scout and probe the Romulan Empire, which lacks an FTL drive. Methods developed to bypass cloaking devices with passive sensors.

2154
Imperial Japanese Navy launches a surprise attack on Romulus-Remus system. Romulan ships are unable to resist the superior firepower of IJN warships (which use powerful fusion bombs mated to missiles and shells). The Japanese fleet takes control of the system and attacks the major cities and infrastructure of the planets with nuclear warheads. The first probing attack by ground forces is unexpectedly effective, and successive waves establish control over both planets. The use of NBC weapons is common.

2154-2157
Mop-up of the Romulan Star Empire. By 2157 it is fully annexed into the Empire of Japan. The wholesale seizure of a civilized star system dramatically increases Japanese military potential. Neither the USA nor Third Reich are fully aware of the ramifications of the event; their intelligence services report Japanese involvement in a war against an alien power, but a number of factors contribute to their misreading of the situation. Because the Romulans fold so easily, the mobilization level of Japanese naval and ground forces is considered more in line with a border conflict than with a war of annihilation. The actual conflict is also rather brief and results in only minor losses of men and materiel. German and American intelligence is unaware of the extent of Japanese gains, and a similar misunderstanding occurs with respect to the Klingon War.

2155
Japanese pickets hunting for Romulan stragglers encounter a Klingon exploration ship.

2157-2190
Major buildup of IJN, mostly in secret.

2168-2170
Scouting of Klingon Empire by IJN.

2170
Surprise attack on Qo'Nos system by IJN annihilates Klingon home fleet. Qo'Nos invaded and taken by forces under General Montaro Yamashita.

2170-2180
Mop-up of Klingon Empire, annexed by 2180.

2187
Japanese indices of production surpass the USA for the first time.

2190
Japanese Empire mounts surprise attack on Third Reich. The Raumkriegsmarine is totally unprepared for the size of the Japanese fleet and is severely beaten. The IJN destroys the orbital defense arrays over Europe, exposing it to nuclear attack. Every major city in Germany is destroyed, with much of the remainder bathed by radiation. German counterstrikes are largely blocked by the Japanese defense grid, but Suzhou, Haiphong, Phnom Penh, Mukden, among other cities, are struck by bombs. Nagoya on the home islands is hit by a lucky neutron bomb and largely depopulated. Losses are in the 10-20 million range and ruled easily acceptable. German puppet governments in Europe either throw off the shackles and join the attack in the hopes of saving themselves, or are overthrown by popular revolt. Ex-German territory partitioned, the nations of Europe declare neutrality in all further matters. The ramifications of the attack are far-reaching and severe. The winter of 2190-2191 is one of the coldest on record, several major river systems are poisoned with radiation, and the world economy is profoundly altered. Hundreds of millions are dead.

2191
Acting Reichsfuhrer Adolf Biermann orders draconian social policies to prepare the Third Reich for continued resistance. Called "The Leonidas Protocols," they introduce mandatory genetic engineering and Spartan lifestyles on the remaining ethnic Germans, now isolated almost entirely to the space colonies, with the intent of producing a perfect master race.

2193
Wary of the USA's potential entrance into the war, the Empire of Japan signs a status quo peace with the Third Reich. To counterract skyrocketing Japanese power, the USA enters an alliance with the Third Reich.

2194
Treaty of Johannesburg between USA and Japan bans warfare in the solar system and sets rules for conduct in military operations and treatment of prisoners, solving other issues.

2200-2380
Repeated inconclusive space wars between Empire of Japan and USA-Reich alliance.

2325
Ichiro Yamashita born.

2341-2347
Ichiro Yamashita attends Imperial Naval Academy against the wishes of his father (a general in the army). He scores very well academically, excels in athletics--particularly kendo--and is a natural leader, earning high praise from instructors.

2347
Ichiro Yamashita marries Aiko Mishima. Their first child, a son, is born the next year.

2348-2351
Border clashes with USA and Germany. Yamashita distinguishes himself as a superior young naval officer and begins his rise through the ranks.

2353-2370
Yamashita ascends to the rank of Vice Admiral. He is first 'visited' by Q in 2370.

2373
Outlying Japanese colonies attacked by unknown military force, some entirely carried away from the planet they were based on.

2375
A Borg fleet of 40 cubes (strengthened by previous assimilation of Japanese technology in the colonies) invades the Beta Quadrant. Vice-Admiral Yamashita meets them and is able to defeat them after a difficult contest. His son, commanding a destroyer during the battle, is killed during the fighting. Yamashita is promoted to full Admiral and granted command of the third Musashi-class superbattleship to be constructed and allowed to choose the name.

2375-2380
Continued Borg incursions.

2378
IJN Hiei launched from Qo'Nos naval yards. Task Force Hiei goes immediately into action against the Borg.

2379
The USA and Reich take advantage of the Japanese Empire's preoccupation with the Borg and initiate a colonial war.

2380
Force Hiei attacks the Reich colony at Neues München.

APPENDIX B
WORLD POLITICAL MAP, 2380


Dark Blue is the USA, light blue is OTO nations.

Red is de jure Japanese provinces, dark red is China, ruled in personal union by the Emperor of Japan and legally a dominion, but a de facto territory of the Japanese Empire.

African states are (clockwise from top) Arabia, Ethiopia, Victoria, Greater South Africa, the Congo Free State, and West Africa (Mali). India is an imperial possession of Britain.

The European situation is complicated but can be clarified at request.

[Trogdor]

Wow, the Japanese have the Romulans and Klingons in their fists and the US and Nazis have squat. I'm surprised the Empire of Japan hasn't conquered them both in your fic.

Blast you, alternate SCOTUS! Making Cochrane go to the enemy for his money and island and topless girls!

[brianeyci]

Its interesting how the Japanese captured the Romulans that early. Since they did, the Romulans probably didn't develop their cloak. Japanese were able to track Klingon cloak through their engine emissions. I'm not sure I totally agree with that intepretation, because the engine emissions trick was only used in ST:VI and never after that.

I hope the loose-end with the smart Klingon commander gets wrapped up. He's probably the only Klingon left alive... well actually not, since they gassed a city and it wasn't clear whether they gassed the whole planet. And there's those dishonored Klingons. I hope not every Klingon is a stupid moron... that smart Klingon commander should make his way out and organize a sort of Klingon resistance. Give up the "Old Ways" and religious fundamentalism of "honor", TOS Klingons were far more fearsome and competent. Even TOS Movie Klingons were smart enough to carry weapons rather than Bat'leths. Fuck the Kahless clone, see where he got you Klingons, you need to be more like Chang, Kruge and especially Kor.

I love this part,

He sells his assistance in warp-drive research for one trillion dollars and complete ownership of the Mamanuca group of islands

...so horny Cochrane finally got his naked women. Good good.

I'm wondering what the Klingon response will be in outlying colonies. Since it was a human attack, naturally it will be assumed Federation.

Brian

[Junghalli]

I see from your timeline that the other Trek species were indeed royally owned in this alternate timeline. Isn't it nice to be the only militarily competent species in your part of the galaxy? Great fanfic!
Only one minor nitpick. I thought the whole Johannesburg convention thing sounded kind of artificial. If I'd been writing it I'd have just had America own Earth (since Nazis are explicitly stated to have been purged from the planet and Japs are way over in the Beta Quadrant), and have the Japanese and Nazis set up their own capitols/new homeworlds sort of like the Romulans did after being kicked off Vulcan. But of course it's your fanfic.
Now quick, show me the American Navy before I ruin my keyboard with drool in anticipation!

[darthdavid]

I predict that at some point he'll being doing another story in this universe called Katabasis...

[Falkenhorst]

I demand more.

[Imperial Overlord]

I buy the treaty. It makes sense. None of the great powers is going to just give up their homeland and an in system war with nukes, rocks, and antimatter would be very ugly. Better to keep the fighting out of the Sol System, where the real estate you are fighting over is anyway.

[Pablo Sanchez]

Anabasis
Chapter Eight
Geosynchronous Orbit


The standard practice for entry into a hostile system with the Raumkriegsmarine was to use the terrain to maximum advantage. Electronic warfare was one of the most important factors in a naval engagement, the side that spotted the enemy first got to fire the first shot, an advantage which was self-evident. A ship clicking along at superluminal velocities did not have very precise sensors and put out a massive signal to any subspace radar in the area. An enemy lying in wait had a brilliant few moments of advantage.

The Reich got around this by dropping in behind planetoids to use them as cover. Either the enemy maneuvered around the obstruction, probably revealing himself in the process, or he waited and gave up the time and the initial advantage. It was a good tactic, and often utilized by both the US Navy and the Japanese. But the RKM invariably used it. So much so that a smart commander, like Ichiro Yamashita, had them pigeonholed.

The Allied task force, led by the battleships Prinz Eugen and USS Texas, had dropped out right into Yamashita's lap, and he had replied by ramming a Musashi-class battleship right up into the middle of their battle plan.

Captain Bergman sat in his darkened quarters and watched the sensor replay over and over again. His trained mind translated the dots and lines of the holographic display into a concrete image of the battle. German ships were friendly blue motes, and American and British vessels were green. The Japanese, naturally, were red. Right as the playback started, the blue dot that represented the RKM Prinz Eugen winked out.

"First volley," Bergman said to no one in particular.

The little sea of green and blue dots started to wheel around. The fleet had dropped to sublight speeds with their bows pointed directly at the moon of Neues München. There was a space of seconds before they could turn about and flee into warp. Even before she had a chance of maneuvering, the USS Texas disappeared out of existence.

With the fifth consecutive viewing, the sight finally began to lose the sensation of a physical blow. "Second volley."

With that, the allied fleet was stripped of its heaviest guns and had more or less lost the capability to even scratch the paint on the IJN Hiei, at least at long range. The heaviest ships left in the American group were Bergman's own cruiser, the USS Rochester, and the HMS Cumberland, an older British model. Captain Bergman was in nominal command of the task force and he gave the order to bug out. The Germans went one way, the Anglo-Americans the other, and the Japanese had evidently chosen to run the Germans down. Not a bad decision, considering that the RKM force still had a pocket battleship in operation, a much more valuable target than either of Bergman's cruisers.

The next thing he knew... well.

He reached up to the controls and clicked the projector over to an external camera. It was a flatscreen shot, a bit of waste for the capabilities of the projector, but he still liked the image. The Earth cut a very serene picture. The Federation had given his fleet a geosynchronous orbit over the South China Sea. The Rochester herself hung in space above the Gulf of Tonkin, and it was now about three o'clock, Hong Kong time. Bergman smirked and shut one eye, forming his hand into a pistol and aiming it at Japan.

"Bang."

He would have liked nothing better than to drop a few hundred megatons on those islands, but that wasn't really Japan--at least not the one he knew. Back home, it was the nerve center of a colossal expansionist empire. Here, Bergman didn't really know what the hell it was. Maybe a rice farm.

Someone rapped sharply on the door to Bergman's cabin.

"Watching that sensor record again, are you?" the visitor's voice came through the door. "Probably talking to yourself as well. Shall I come back later?"

Bergman smiled. "No, you're welcome to enter now."

"I've given you sufficient time to get yourself decently dressed, I suppose," the other man said as the door slid into the wall. He entered and flipped the light switch. It was Commander Stephen Vaughn, Bergman's executive officer and a member of the officer exchange program than the United States Navy and Royal Navy had been running for some decades.

"What's the news, Commander?" Bergman asked.

Vaughn smiled. "Two things. First, you're a strange young man to be watching movies alone in the dark; you should find a healthy resort like handball or something. Second, the men from down there--" he pointed at the deck "--want to come up for another meeting."

"About what?" Bergman asked.

"I wouldn't presume to know their minds. I suppose they might be sending a minor functionary to tell us about the glories of their social system again, or the very president of the United Federation of Planets wishes to present me a medal. It could be anything, Michael. They could be casing your cabin to steal your music collection," Stephen replied.

Captain Bergman smirked. "No doubt you've already sent my permission for their envoy to come up."

"No doubt. They're our meal ticket for the duration and it wouldn't do to refuse, if case you've forgotten." Vaughn adjusted his cap over his head of red hair. "Perhaps this time the good Admiral will bring up another of those phenomenal-looking ladies. The uniforms a bit blah but I could see getting a young bird for myself."

Michael stood up from his chair and smoothed his uniform down. "You're married, Stephen."

"So I am. Here's a bit of advice, my son, if and when you get into an obligation with a lady try and get what they call an 'open' relationship. That way, if you're on tour and see a young chippy that momentarily strikes your fancy, you can exercise your options for a tick and still have a safe berth at home. It's the only way of life for a navy man," Vaughn replied said.

"If you're willing to allow her the same freedom while you're away."

"Win some; lose some, I always say."

"Well, it's hard enough for a navy man to meet any sort of lady for a long term commitment, let alone the kind you're recommending. Especially with these damn wars--and double-damned spatial anomalies," Bergman said, walking out his door into the corridor.

Vaughn scrambled after him. "We should go down to the docking bay. They'll be up at any moment."

"Good idea," Michael replied, still walking, "we shall go immediately."

The Rochester was only a cruiser, so it didn't have a lot of space. There wasn't quite enough room in the corridor for an average man to stretch his arms side-to-side, and the ceiling was only about seven feet. The navy had no use for claustrophobics, and only a little more for the exceptionally tall. There was a personnel elevator just a few meters down the hall, and the two officers went directly to it and found it unoccupied. Most of the crew was on reduced duty because of the lull, and really the only people working were the skeleton crews on the bridge and the engineering decks. In any normal circumstance of this kind, some members of the crew would be given shore leave on a rotating basis--but in this circumstance that was clearly impossible. Bergman keyed the elevator to the docking bay.

"Do you think the envoy will lecture us about communism again?" Commander Vaughn asked.

Bergman shrugged, watching the deck numbers tick down on the digital display. "Is it even the same guy?"

"Come to think of it, no," Stephen replied, "that's a good sign, innit?"

The lift came to the shuttle deck, and the doors slid open. The two officers walked down a short corridor into the ready room just outside the shuttle bay. Four marines in their dark blue combat uniforms stood at the ready, flanking both the door that Bergman had entered and the other, a thick blast door leading to the bay airlock.

"Officer on deck!" one of the marines barked, and all snapped perfect salutes.

Bergman returned the salute. "As you were. Has the Federation shuttle arrived?"

At his order, the marines relaxed slightly. One replied. "Yes sir, they are waiting on the other side of the door."

The captain nodded, and the marine keyed the door. It slid heavily into the floor, revealing the occupants of the lock. There was a portly man in the red uniform of Federation command staff, and behind him was a slim woman in a yellow uniform.

"I'm Commander Silas Monaghan, United Federation of Planets. Permission to come aboard, Captain?" the officer in front asked.

"Granted," Captain Bergman said. "And she is?"

The woman took a step forward, extending her right hand. "Ensign Margaret Pauley."

"I suppose we had better get to the meeting room," Vaughn said.

Down a corridor, and back up an elevator again, and the group was shortly at the conference room near the bridge.

"Sit," Bergman said, waving the two Federation citizens to their chairs. He slipped into his own seat. "So, what's this about?"

"I'll get right to it. We've received some troubling news from the Klingon frontier," Monaghan reported, "some ships similar to yours launched an attack on Qo'Nos. They're being rather closemouthed about it--it happened a good week ago and we only heard about it this morning--so we still don't know exactly what transpired. But we're pretty sure they're hurting. Bad."

Bergman had been briefed on the history of the United Federation of Planets, so he was aware of the existence of the Klingon Empire as an independent entity. "What do you mean, 'similar to my ships’?”

"Just that they don't correspond to any design we know, but that they do have a certain family resemblance to yours. Just a few days before the Klingons were hit we lost a patrol ship near the border. Ensign Pauley here was the sensor officer. She can tell you more," Monaghan replied.

Pauley began to tell her story, starting with the Jutland's first sensor contact.


----


After the young ensign finally finished, Bergman considered it quietly for a few moments. The first thing that stuck out in the tale was the military ineptitude of Starfleet. It wasn't as though a ship the size of the one Pauley described could have survived against the IJN Hiei, but the ship had gone down like a punk. But that just jibed with what they'd learned about the Federation so far. But there was something far more important going on in the story. Bergman massaged his sinuses. He felt a headache coming on.

"He's here," he said.

Monaghan leaned forward. "Eh?"

"Taisho Yamashita Ichiro, commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy Task Force Hiei," Bergman answered, "that big ship you saw... that's the IJN Hiei. It's a Musashi class super battleship. Ordinarily they're supposed to be named after provinces in Japan, but they named that one after a mountain. It confused intelligence for a bit."

"What's that mean, then?" Silas asked.

Vaughn sighed, "It means that the toughest battleship under the command of the sharpest admiral is here. We have to start guessing what he's going to do next."

"He probably raided your Klingons for supply ships. Yamashita doesn't have a friendly source of materiel like we were lucky enough to get," Captain Bergman continued, "and if you think your pals are hurting bad, revise the estimate upward. With the kind of firepower Yamashita can throw around, it's possible that he blasted every city on the planet."

Pauley paled, "Would he really do that?"

Bergman shrugged, "If he thought it needed doing he wouldn't hesitate. There are stories about him. What's certain is that whatever defenses the Klingons used to have in that system aren't there now. And, depending on what kind of assets he managed to seize, he could be set up with supplies for months. He has your star maps. If he wanted to, he could come right here and there wouldn't be a thing to stop him."

"What about your fleet?" Monaghan asked.

Bergman snorted. "Vaughn?"

"We've two heavy cruisers, one getting long in the tooth; five light cruisers; a dozen destroyers. If we were lucky--and with Yamashita in command, we wouldn't be--Task Force Hiei might notice a crunch underneath its collective boots as it marched to Earth," Vaughn explained.

"That battleship is a monster. The Musashi class has more protection, more firepower, and more speed than any two others I can think of. Barring divine intervention..." Captain Bergman trailed off. He didn't need to repeat himself. "The only question is what he wants to do with it. He's probably thinking the same thing as me. 'How do I get my men home?'"

"We're working on it," Monaghan said quietly, "it's a difficult process. We just thought you should be advised as to this situation, Captain Bergman."

Michael didn't quite look at him. He was running over things in his head. "Thank you, Commander Monaghan. If there's nothing else..."

"I'll have the ground command send the complete reports up to you. Other than that, I'm finished," the commander said.

"Very well." The captain tugged at his collar slightly, and spoke into it, "This is Captain Bergman. I'll need a guard to come to the conference room and direct our visitors back to the shuttle bay."

"Thank you," the Federation commander said, standing and exiting the room. After a short glance back, Ensign Pauley followed.

Vaughn and Bergman remained seated. Bergman looked over at his XO. "Thoughts?"

"That bird was into you. Looked at you with the bedroom eyes the whole time," Stephen answered.

"Was she?" Bergman replied acidly, "I didn't notice. I was thinking about my job and my men."

"My thoughts on that? There's nothing we can do but wait for his move, if he makes one. Other than that, I'll have to wait on that report to make any final judgments. But I'm pretty sure we're still screwed."

Michael nodded wearily. "I thought that all I had to worry about was finding a way home. It was even a little comforting, knowing that Yamashita was as far away as he could possibly be. Now... he could be on his way here, right now."

"Yes, but until he gets here, we'll gather flowers while we may." Vaughn checked his wristwatch. "Knowing when to worry is an important part of life, sir. And there's no sense worrying about something you can't do a thing about. Our sleep cycle starts in a half-hour, says the ship's time."

Bergman rubbed his eyes. He was getting tired, come to think of it. "Yeah."

"That bird. She liked what she saw," Vaughn said.

"Yeah."

[brianeyci]

Good shit. We finally see the American side of the story.

I hope the storyline with the smart Klingon Captain (the one who stayed cloaked with engines off) keeps going for awhile. You mentioned military inepitude of Starfleet. It would be perfect if there was an equivalent of the Klingon Captain in Starfleet, a tactical competent hampered by a restrictive unforgiving system. Although I don't know how this would be executed.

<edit>Oh original too, not a rehashing of any characters we've seen before hopefully</edit>

Brian

[darthdavid]

Sleep or Story? Must choose. Sleep...needed.... Story...Will...be...better...when..awake...DAMN IT!!! *WRENCHES SELF AWAY FROM COMPUTER*
THIS WON'T BE THE LAST YOU'LL SEE OF ME!!!

[Crazedwraith]

Very nice. Liking the americcans so far but want to hear more about the British.

[Falkenhorst]

Kickass Chapter. I demand you ramp up chapter production to WARTIME FOOTING.

[darthdavid]

Just finally got time to read it. Glad I did.

[Singular Quartet]

Kickass Chapter. I demand you ramp up chapter production to WARTIME FOOTING.

Just wartime footing? Bah. TOTAL WAR FOOTING.

[Falkenhorst]

*Bump*