(Written by Kokuten; posted January 14, 2007)
I finished the email from my father, and sat back to consider the implications. As a relative newcomer to Fenspace, having made my 'jump' on September 20th, 2009, I was not as socially in touch with my 'people' as I could have been.
However, the news from Earth, well, it had some interesting complications to the relatively happy existence the fen had been leading. I took a draft of my beer, and opened a new message.
From: Wire_Geek (Wiregeek@the_airbase.net)
To: nttp://fen.current-events.disc
Subject: Earth Technology Report - November 2012
To Whom it May Alarm.
I recently recieved an email from an anonymous source on the dirtball we call 'mamma'. In my source's usual inimitable style, he has enlightened me upon the threats and problems that 'people like me' who 'love that anime junk' may face.
I assure you, while the source is not the least bit 'Fendly', and indeed are violently allergic to the 'wave, they are trustworthy.
In the United States, you may notice a lot more air traffic. It's there, and it's not gonna go away. Here's the fun part - the new birds are 'wavium enhanced. The U.S. government has finally started showing full scale results from its experiments in Handwavium. We don't have exact figures, but the 200% performance increase is relatively stable across the board, except for ground pounders such as tanks. Apparently, the Keith Laumer Bolo books made an impression on someone. The new tanks are still only 200% (estimated) faster, but that 200% puts them up to an approximate 300mph on good land. The weight of the tank has stayed the same, but the rumor mill has these tanks throwing almost seven times the range with three times the projectile weight as their immediate predecessors, which you may be familiar with from the Iraqi conflicts. The rumor mill had nothing to say about armor composition, strength, or thickness, other than this little beast represented the 'end of the weakness of the top'.
My source only had a few choice tidbits for me from the rest of the world, but they are... disturbing... in their implications. In Germany, there is a new model of Panzer that has been shown driving through all manner of modern and ancient tank traps, with an almost elegant disregard for them. The tank is known on the rumor mill as 'juggernaut'.
Bits of France have been intermittently disappearing from the Internet, and noone has much of anything to say about why.
There have been several massive explosions in New Russia - and smaller explosions on the other side. Ballistic radar tracks appeared on the internet claiming that these were absurdly-long-range artillery tests. Planet-based KEW, anyone?
Africa is... well, ask a Blue Blazer. My source said that there's been a whole lot of fresh green coming up recently. I wonder what's happening down there...
My Source, and my Self, remind you that the Earth is a dangerous place, no matter what your errand. Be Careful, and can someone pick me up a carton of smokes next time you're down?
Yours in Discord,
Wire Geek