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Old 04-13-2018, 09:03 PM   #571
Prince Charon
 
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Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

Another military article, from Earth-2 this time:

United States Department of Extraordinary Operations, Uniformed Division

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...959%29.svg.png

The Department of Extraordinary Operations is the operating authority of the All-Star Squadron, replacing an ad hoc committee used earlier; it is technically a law enforcement and emergency response agency, seconded to the military for the duration of the war, much like the Coast Guard. The all-volunteer Uniformed Division, a paramilitary force, is trained in roughly the manner of (and inspired by) Earth-1 police Special Weapons And Tactics teams, with emphasis on working with superheroes and extraordinary equipment. It is the only Dsp-US armed force in which a woman might be authorized to serve in combat, although this is quite rare, due to strict physical fitness requirements.

All-Star Squadron members who can demonstrate that they meet the requirements may be commissioned as officers. Others are generally Warrant Officers or other ranks, though the lowest rank for 'extraordinary personnel' is Specialist, and few are lower than Technical Sergeant. Extraordinary personnel are exempt from most uniform regulations (and title of address regulations), and are often effectively still civilians, being auxiliary police. In some cases, a hero's 'civilian' identity is a member of the DEOUD, often of a different rank, with duties that allow them to be out of sight without being suspicious (and allowing them to be 'drafted' while still acting as superheroes). Some All-Stars are active members of other services, such as Captain America, a captain in the US Army.

The Commissioner of the Uniformed Division reports to the Director of the DEO, who in peacetime will report to the Attorney General. For the duration of the war, however, the Director reports to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson.

Ranks

Officer ranks are on the collar or epaulets, and NCO/Enlisted ranks are on the upper sleeve.

OF-9 Commissioner (four copper stars)
OF-8 Deputy Commissioner (three copper stars)
OF-7 Assistant Commissioner (two copper stars)
OF-6 Bureau Chief (one copper star)
OF-5 Chief Inspector (one chrome eagle clutching tipstaves)
OF-4 Inspector (two chrome tipstaves, crossed)
OF-3 Deputy Inspector (two brass tipstaves, crossed)
OF-2 Captain (two chrome bars)
OF-1 Lieutenant (one chrome bar)

OF(D) Acting Lieutenant (one brass bar)

WO-1 Warrant Officer (one brass oval)

OR-7 First Sergeant (three point-down chevrons under one rocker, with diamond)
OR-6 Technical Sergeant (three point-down chevrons under one rocker)
OR-5 Sergeant (three point-down chevrons)
OR-4 Specialist (two point-down chevrons)
OR-3 Trooper First Class (one point-down chevron)

OR-1 Trooper (no insignia)

Uniforms

Mess Dress: A dark blue tailcoat with badge, any ribbons, medals, or other awards earned, and rank insignia, with a fashionable 'white tie' dress suit underneath. A long skirt is required for female personnel in mess dress, though regulations do allow female officers and other ranks to wear civilian evening dress to events requiring mess dress. This is socially encouraged for officers, but is socially discouraged for other ranks.

Service Dress: A dark-blue suit mostly resembling the uniform of the NYPD of the period. Skirts are recommended, but not required, for female personnel. Award ribbons are optional.

Field Dress: Based on SWAT field uniforms from Earth-1, the standard uniform is dark blue, but camouflage versions exist (mostly urban camo, but other patterns are possible). Technicians and other non-combat specialists in DEOUD stations have grey fatigues or boiler suits, with vests and panels of other colours to indicate function:

Purple: Computer, electronics, and other electrical specialists.
Blue: Secretarial & clerical workers (more often found in Service Dress).
Green: Medical personnel.
Yellow: Mechanics and miscellaneous specialists.
Orange: Fire/rescue workers.
Red: Ammunition & fuel handlers.


Thoughts?
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Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.

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Old 04-14-2018, 12:06 PM   #572
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Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

What equipment, like weapons and armor, do they have?
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Old 04-15-2018, 02:25 PM   #573
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Originally Posted by warellis View Post
What equipment, like weapons and armor, do they have?
They tend to have the local equivalent of Earth-1 SWAT weapons and equipment - which is no longer quite the same as OTL SWAT weapons and equipment, as various police departments have been buying or accepting donations of esoteric equipment from local enchanters (magic item makers) recently, due to seriously needing them (and like OTL, what they have varies from place to place, sometimes rather widely). Likewise, the USDEOUD carries ray guns and weird scanning devices and such, along with more mundane submachine guns, body armour, et cetra.
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Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.
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Old 05-24-2018, 05:48 AM   #574
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June, 2014 (1942 on Earth-2, 1880 on Earth-3, 1557 on Earth-4, and 516 CE/1269 AUC on Earth-5)

June 1: A Starfighter-upgraded Douglas DC-10 owned by Inp-Irish 'charitable organizations,' as well as the Inp-American organization Irish Northern Aid, files a flightplan for Stp-Ireland, but is stopped due to evidence that the Inp-New IRA are using it to smuggle weapons to Stp-Irish separatists. An inspection of the craft confirms this, finding significant numbers of AK-47s and ammunition thereof, semtex and detonators, and other tools of violence. In Stp-London, the Baker Street Irregulars who sometimes help Sherlock Holmes have begun using odd, slightly magical improvised equipment by this time, similar to that represented in an illustrated story paper called Agency: Children Next Door (based on a cartoon from Earth-1) that has become popular with the youth of Stp-Britain and America. The series has received some criticism for depicting tomboys as important characters (who are not shown to be mislead), but does reflect Earth-3's other cultural stereotype of women young and old: 'girls love mathematics and can make analytical engines do tricks that baffle their fathers.'

June 3: Several members of Battle-Axis, a group of mostly mind-controlled or blackmailed heroes, attack Professor Carson's lab, to steal the prototype armour he is developing. The Silver Scorpion gets into the armour and is able to help Patriot and Miss Patriot defeat them, but both Carson and the Scorpion's civilian employer, PI Dan Hurley, die. In orbit of Earth(1), X-57 (Grissom Mobile Space Force Base) and X-58 (White MSFB) are redesignated YSC-57 and YSC-58. Later MSFBs of the White design will be SC-58s, but no future vehicles of the Grissom design are planned, due to the no-longer-in-production parts used.

June 5: Second Lieutenant Marvel (called Mary Marvel in the comics) first appears in Dsp-Fawcett City, Wisconsin (the First Lieutenant Marvel, who is called Captain Marvel, Junior in the comics, lives in or near Dsp-New York City, New York). In Dsp-Metropolis, Ill., the Superman begins training girl reporter (and crimefighter, and former gymnast and stuntwoman) Lina Lewis in the Kryptonian martial art of klurkor, to supplement her skills in escrima and savate. In the skies over Dsp-France, the Dsp-British clone of the MiG-15, built under license as the Fairey Firejet, score their first air-to-air kills - Dsp-German jets are simply no match for them without overwhelming numerical advantage, and much of the budget that would have gone into improving them has been devoted to spacecraft.

June 7: In Dsp-Soviet Union, Stalin decrees that no new surface combatants are to be ordered for Soviet Navy, with the exception of aircraft carriers. Production of submarines, and research into new submarine designs, however, is to be dramatically increased; particular attention is paid to designs for submarine aircraft carriers. On Earth-4, the Battle of Ragusa occurs between the 'Eastern Roman Empire' (primarily represented by the Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Rhodes, though with several Venetian ships) and the Clp-Ottoman Empire. The Hospitallers succeed in taking the city, though they request reinforcements in order to hold it; this is the first use of radio in war on Earth-4.

June 9: An attempt to put on a production of The King in Yellow at Inp-Gordon College, in Essex County, Massachusetts (the school closest to the geographic coordinates of Miskatonic University in Arkham, Mass., on Earth-2), is interrupted by the police, due to the number of precognitives predicting horror and doom if it went on. All those who have read the full script become violent when told the play is cancelled. Suspiciously, no-one can determine how the script found its way into the college's library.

June 11: News services in Stp-Britain predict a 'run' on army commissions, while they are still available for sale (see May 12, 2014). Others claim that if such activity happens, it will be caused by the papers predicting it. On Earth-2, Captain America and Peggy Carter return to Britain in a stolen prototype bomber, along with a few former prisoners. In orbit of Luna(1), Britain's first SC-58, called 'RAF Wellesley' after one of the RAF bomber pilots who died in the Battle of the Earth(2) Insertion (see Feb. 17, 2014), Squadron Leader Thomas James Wellesley, is completed.

June 13: Full Moon on Friday the 13th, on Earth-1. A group of Dresden Files necromancers perform the first of a sequence of rituals intended to eventually manifest the spirit of Heinrich Kemmler in the body of their leader. This goes unnoticed due to other incidents on this date, including 342 reported attacks by various types of werecreature, 47 by people or spirits dressed as Jason Vorhees, and 19 reported incidents of body-swapping, most of which are resolved without lasting harm.
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"The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates."
-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.
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Old 05-24-2018, 05:49 AM   #575
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June 14: In Inp-London, Queen Elizabeth II rides a horse in the Trooping the Colour parade for the first time since 1986. Felipe VI becomes King of Inp-Spain. On Earth-2, sixteen-year-old Norma Jeane Mortenson has her first big role, as the voices of Tip and Queen Ozma in Walt Disney's The Marvelous Land of Oz (a feature-length cartoon that was not made on Earth-1). She also serves as the model for Ozma's appearance.

June 17: In Dsp-USA, a polite young man named Murphy joins the US Army, and is surprised that the recruiter seems to recognize him. In the Dsp-Arctic Ocean, the War Beneath the Ice begins with the Battle of Thulea, an island of disputed ownership (Canadian and Russian) which does not appear to exist on Earths 1, 3, or 4, between two flotillas of submarines. On Earth-1, White MSFB (nicknamed 'White Base' by some personnel) is assigned to carry the Gundam team to Earth-2 (see May 2, 2014), on the upcoming third Operation Pencil Sharpener mission, set to launch in August.

June 20: Goebbels is killed by Allied bombing while inspecting a panzer factory in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Hermann Göring becomes Führer. Stp-Battle of Hrodna begins, first battle on Stp-Earth/Earth-3 in which both sides have tanks. The Eastern Powers tend to use slower, heavier tanks as mobile artillery, while the Central Powers use larger numbers of lighter, faster tanks to supplement existing horse-cavalry. Note, however, that neither side exclusively uses one or the other, it's more a matter of which one is considered a priority, in production, in supply, and on the battlefield.

June 22: In Dsp-Soviet Union, the fruits of Project October Reborn (well, the ones Stalin will admit to) are revealed to the Soviet people, and to the worlds: Hammerer, Thresher, Man of Steel II, and the Collective Woman <see Pyramid 3-02, p9>.

June 24: Stp-US Congress orders an increase in shipbuilding for the US Navy, including four 'rocket barges' (large, sea-mobile launch platforms for orbital rockets), three glider carriers, three battleships, twenty submarines of various types (including two experimental atomic subs), and enough cruisers, frigates, torpedo-boat destroyers, and smaller classes to more than double the size of the USN.

June 26: The Boeing Space Pelican Water Take-Off and Landing (WTOL) spaceplane (see Nov. 4, 2013 & April 7, 2014) is selected by the USSF. The second Operation Pencil Sharpener expedition begins assembling in Luna(1) orbit. Grissom MSFB will serve as the command vessel under Col. Jamie MacNicol, USSF (with Lt. Col. Henry Williams, USSF, as FCOM), carrying one Flight of four Starfuries, and two Flights of Space Eagles. Space Shuttles Discovery and Endeavour, and ten more USSF vehicles, are also on the mission; all USSF vehicles sent are equipped with disintegrators, though the weapons on the fighters are by necessity weaker and shorter-ranged. JAXA sends the Yamato (see Jan. 23 & 24, Feb. 3, and March 10 & 29, 2014) and Wakamiya (see Nov. 9, 2013, and March 29, 2014). Four RCAF, two RAAF, and two RNZAF transport spaceplanes are present. Brazil sends one Embraer E200. Seven Russian and eight EUSF vessels are in the constellation (formally a cluster, by USSF terminology). Two of the Earth-2 Allies' vessels are returning home, along with the Martian vessels, and one Selenean. All Earth-1 vessels larger than fighters are equipped with multi-layer psychokinetic shields - at minimum, an outer layer tuned to defend against large numbers of quite small impacts, and an inner layer for smaller numbers of larger impacts (the fighters' shields are made to switch between them at need, but do not have room at this time for additional shield generators).

June 29: Second Operation Pencil Sharpener expedition leaves for Earth-2.

June 30: On Earth-1, the area around and including an inactive volcano in New Mexico called Vulcan begins to show signs of a higher gravity, though this fades about a mile up. Also on Earth-1, a number of places named 'Vulcan' report a common phenomenon: people seem to be becoming Vulcans or Vulcanoids (in all cases, internal anatomy is changed very little, if at all) without being Trekkers, so long as they primarily identify as being citizens of that region.

With thanks to Apollonian on SJGames.com for suggesting the Freaky Friday incidents.

An informative post about Freddy Freeman, on Spacebattles.com.


Thoughts?
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Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life.

"The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates."
-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.
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Old 06-03-2018, 04:10 PM   #576
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The Soldier

<Transcript begins>

“Come on in, Sgt. Gianelli. At ease. Have a seat. Can I have Emily fetch you some coffee?”

“No thank you, Colonel. I’ve had enough, for the morning.”

“What shape are your recruits in?”

“Coming along pretty well, sir. They’ll be ready to deploy or go to individual training, on schedule, in another six weeks.”

“What about that kid I asked you to watch?”

“Skinny little guy. Wiry more than strong, but we’ve put some beef on him. You can tell he didn’t eat too good, growing up. He doesn’t complain about the chow as much as the other recruits, and really tucks it away. Comes across as older than he is. He’s got a temper, but he’s good at keeping a handle on it. Really good marksmanship, I’d put him in for sniper training. Volunteer, right?”

“Yeah, and your observations match up with what we know about his background.”

“His background? Why all the interest in a skinny little kid from Texas, who looks like he’d get knocked over by a strong wind?”

“There was another skinny little kid who came through here, a couple of years back. Name of Rogers. Remember him?”

<pause>

“You’re s***ting me, sir.”

“Nope, I am not. We got a directive from on high. Keep an eye on that kid, provide routine evaluations, but copy Col. Phillips on all reports. That’s what I’ve been doing.”

“Holy Christ. This kid is going to make a good soldier, if he doesn’t starve to death or bust a gut from eating so much, but one of…? Holy Christ.”

“Yeah, I thought that project was done with, too, after Dr. Erskine’s death, but they’ve re-started it. Apparently, Chet Phillips thinks he can get something more out of it, even if it’s not quite another Captain America.”

“Well, I hear them special operative soldiers from that future Earth are pretty amazing, even if they’re not in the same class as Rogers.”

“That’s the word I heard, too. I’ve also heard Col. Phillips gets information about some of our men, from that future Earth. Word is, this kid has a counterpart in that world’s history, and he was more than just a ‘good soldier.’”

“Well, sir, I guess I can see some potential, there, but we have a lot of other men I’d have picked, first.”

“I’d agree, but then again, I felt the same way about Rogers, and we saw how that turned out. The Brits are supposed to send Agent Carter to work with Phillips on the new guy, as soon as she’s finished debriefing about that big bomber she and Cap stole.”

“Word is, she’s more than just the British liaison, now.”

“You DIs gossip like old hens. You’re probably right, though. Carter’s also supposed to go visit Rogers’ old neighborhood, in Brooklyn, and meet Sgt. Barnes’ family. Still, that should get her back in Alabama in time for Phillips to start up his training operation for this kid.”

“Any idea why they picked him? Other than the intel from the future Earth?”

“We have a couple of propeller-heads out here, watching him, too. They’ve got some equipment I’ve not seen, before. Looks like something out of a Buck Rogers Saturday morning serial; flashing lights and such. Word is, they might’ve picked the kid, anyway, and the intel from the future-Earth just closed the deal.”

“Well, I’ll be. Any orders?”

“None, other than to keep this just between us. Put him through the same paces as the other guys, push him as much as you would, if he was any other recruit private, and keep them all too busy to ask about the propeller-heads.”

“Understood, sir. Will he go to any sort of advanced training, before he gets assigned to Phillips’ command?”

“His orders will probably say sniper training, or recon, or some such, but it’ll all be bull***t. If everything goes as expected, Private Audie Murphy will be inducted into the Super Solder program.”

##
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Old 06-04-2018, 09:20 PM   #577
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So we might have two possible Captain Americas now? :D Or would Murphy become Captain Texas? :P
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Old 06-07-2018, 05:22 PM   #578
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Originally Posted by warellis View Post
So we might have two possible Captain Americas now? :D Or would Murphy become Captain Texas? :P
Probably not Captain Texas, but yeah. I mean, without the vita-ray machine, Murphy will get less out of it than Rogers did, but he'll get something, and he was OTL pretty much Captain America without any powers at all, and some of it while suffering from malaria, so he doesn't need too much of a boost, either.

I do wonder why I'm only seeing the update now, though, as I've been checking for it a few times, and should have seen it on the 4th at least.

EDIT: tshiggins, do you want me to post the update to the fiction thread on SB.com, or do you want to?
__________________
Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life.

"The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates."
-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.

Last edited by Prince Charon; 06-26-2018 at 01:31 PM.
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Old 06-07-2018, 08:54 PM   #579
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
Probably not Captain Texas, but yeah. I mean, without the vita-ray machine, Murphy will get less out of it than Reogers did, but he'll get something, and he was OTL pretty much Captain America without any powers at all, and some of it while suffering from malaria, so he doesn't need too much of a boost, either.

I do wonder why I'm only seeing the update now, though, as I've been checking for it a few times, and should have seen it on the 4th at least.

EDIT: tshiggins, do you want me to post the update to the fiction thread on SB.com, or do you want to?
I forgot to post it, over there, and I've been pretty busy.

Why don't you go ahead? I need to get the next Facets write-up done. :p
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Old 06-26-2018, 01:31 PM   #580
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Recently, someone posted a video that is of relevance to this thread, called The Fallen of World War II. While the video was made well after the PoD, and after the 'present' of the timeline, the information it contains was readily available (though I disagree with the narrator on the intended targets of the atomic bombs), and would have been transmitted to the other Earths.
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-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.
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