Post by Catsmate on Nov 5, 2022 21:38:54 GMT
We touched on this last year but I found the idea in my notes, partially expanded, and decided I'd post it.
The Return of von Moltke.
[From wiki, mostly]
Now von Moltke was a fascinating person, and lived a life filled with possible divergence points. I'm not going to cover any of them.....
Thirty years ago the peaceful Karkasan Unity was facing extirpation by the aggressive, expansionist Galland Collective and it’s army of cybernetically augmented troopers and cyborged war machines. Desperate for someone, anyone, who could win the war for them, agents of the Unity they broke their own laws and mind-napped the greatest military leader they could find, from an isolated and warlike primitive planet beyon the edge of Known Space.
A primitive dump named ‘Dirt’.
Thirty1 years later and Helmuth von Moltke the Elder is bored. His mind is still active, living on in a computer system and an array of bodies he can operate remotely or 'download' himself into, but the war is won and his life lacks meaning and challenges.
Fêted as a hero by most of the populace, the person who saved the Unity, the new generation is starting to see him differently; as the Slaughterer of Skoane, the person who ordered the deployment of the Dionysus Device and the Thanatos-field bombs, and other 'regrettable necessities'. Some call him a war-monger and war that he is a potential threat to the stability of the Unity.
Others, changed by their experiences in the war, are wondering if the Unity does not have a duty to expand and ‘help’ the other species in the Galaxy. By force if necessary….
His mechtroop armies are mothballed, in case of necessity, but von Moltke still has a cadre of loyal aides, organic, mech and hybrids. People who'd do almost anything he asked.
So, what next?
Does von Moltke began to subvert the Unity? Having his followers edge their way into positions of power and influence, perhaps staging an 'incident' with another interstellar power as a casus belli?
Or does he openly stand for Coordinator, launching a campaign based on his leadership and promising a new, better, future for the Unity?
Or is he home-sick, or at least curious what has happened to his Prussian homeland? A small, fast, ship could make the journey from Centrum in only a few months. Who accompanies him?
And when2 does he arrive?
Is he the mastermind behind the German Empire's plans and experiments with flying machines during the Scareships era of 1895-1910?
Or does he arrive in 1916, ready to turn the tide of the Great War in Germany's favour with ortillery and an army of automata?
Maybe it's 1941 and he's enthused by the German victories but repulsed by the Nazi regime?
Or even 1980, during the UNIT era, to become an advisor to them in defending his home planet, or a free-lance 'military consultant'?
And don't forget to include his voice; von Moltke's is the only voice recording from someone born in the eighteenth century to exist.
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?
1. Or whatever value suits the plot. My loose 'default' is that von Moltke was duplicated ('xoxed') around 1875 and the setting is about 1905. Feel free to vary these.
2. As in the previous note the GM can adjust matters to suit their preference.
The Return of von Moltke.
[From wiki, mostly]
Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf [Count] von Moltke (born 26OCT1800; died 24APR1891) was a Prussian and German field marshal and military leader.
The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field. He commanded troops in Europe and the Middle East, commanding during the Second Schleswig War, Austro-Prussian War, and Franco-Prussian War. He is described as embodying "Prussian military organization and tactical genius". He was fascinated with railways and pioneered their military usage. He is often referred to as Moltke the Elder to distinguish him from his nephew Helmuth von Moltke the Younger (Helmuth Johann Ludwig von Moltke), who commanded the German Army at the outbreak of World War I.
The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field. He commanded troops in Europe and the Middle East, commanding during the Second Schleswig War, Austro-Prussian War, and Franco-Prussian War. He is described as embodying "Prussian military organization and tactical genius". He was fascinated with railways and pioneered their military usage. He is often referred to as Moltke the Elder to distinguish him from his nephew Helmuth von Moltke the Younger (Helmuth Johann Ludwig von Moltke), who commanded the German Army at the outbreak of World War I.
Thirty years ago the peaceful Karkasan Unity was facing extirpation by the aggressive, expansionist Galland Collective and it’s army of cybernetically augmented troopers and cyborged war machines. Desperate for someone, anyone, who could win the war for them, agents of the Unity they broke their own laws and mind-napped the greatest military leader they could find, from an isolated and warlike primitive planet beyon the edge of Known Space.
A primitive dump named ‘Dirt’.
Thirty1 years later and Helmuth von Moltke the Elder is bored. His mind is still active, living on in a computer system and an array of bodies he can operate remotely or 'download' himself into, but the war is won and his life lacks meaning and challenges.
Fêted as a hero by most of the populace, the person who saved the Unity, the new generation is starting to see him differently; as the Slaughterer of Skoane, the person who ordered the deployment of the Dionysus Device and the Thanatos-field bombs, and other 'regrettable necessities'. Some call him a war-monger and war that he is a potential threat to the stability of the Unity.
Others, changed by their experiences in the war, are wondering if the Unity does not have a duty to expand and ‘help’ the other species in the Galaxy. By force if necessary….
His mechtroop armies are mothballed, in case of necessity, but von Moltke still has a cadre of loyal aides, organic, mech and hybrids. People who'd do almost anything he asked.
So, what next?
Does von Moltke began to subvert the Unity? Having his followers edge their way into positions of power and influence, perhaps staging an 'incident' with another interstellar power as a casus belli?
Or does he openly stand for Coordinator, launching a campaign based on his leadership and promising a new, better, future for the Unity?
Or is he home-sick, or at least curious what has happened to his Prussian homeland? A small, fast, ship could make the journey from Centrum in only a few months. Who accompanies him?
And when2 does he arrive?
Is he the mastermind behind the German Empire's plans and experiments with flying machines during the Scareships era of 1895-1910?
Or does he arrive in 1916, ready to turn the tide of the Great War in Germany's favour with ortillery and an army of automata?
Maybe it's 1941 and he's enthused by the German victories but repulsed by the Nazi regime?
Or even 1980, during the UNIT era, to become an advisor to them in defending his home planet, or a free-lance 'military consultant'?
And don't forget to include his voice; von Moltke's is the only voice recording from someone born in the eighteenth century to exist.
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?
1. Or whatever value suits the plot. My loose 'default' is that von Moltke was duplicated ('xoxed') around 1875 and the setting is about 1905. Feel free to vary these.
2. As in the previous note the GM can adjust matters to suit their preference.