All worlds (real and fiction) have some basic ground rules. Underway-Shift Colors! is no exception.
What UNAUN can do:
Globally discourage and deprecate nations' aircraft carriers to the role of rapid-response humanitarian and large resources research platform from the scourge hegemony-minded or power-mongering or flag-waving strike platforms they are
Peacefully integrate Iran's qualified naval and other officers and enlisted personnel into a seafaring organization as a tradeoff to their pursuing nuclear weapons
Peacefully integrate other nuke-aspiring nations' qualified officers and enlisted personnel into UNAUN
NO UNAUN ships will carry nuclear weapons!
Any nation that launches into, onto, or upon another nation any yield of nuclear (tactical or strategic) weapon is automatically the scourge of the planet and will commensurately be assailed (by one legal, technical or technological means or another at hand) by all UNAUN members, ranging from boycot, embargo, calling in of debt, pulling out of said nations' markets (overseas) and removing their title or charter to operate as a guest corporation or business entity within a hosting nation, or their assets seized until it makes reparations to not only the nation it bombed, but also to the surrounding populations. Nations that resort stockpiling, threatening with, and to actual bombing via nuke have clearly demonstrated some deep psychological and international and foreign policy issues that must be overcome by global consensus to eradicate these "nuclear genies" wielding tendencies.
To deter nuke-capable nations from using their nukes, UNAUN ships will (thanks to oil from various anxious exporters) shadow all nuke-capable ships and be at a stance to sink them should they fire a detectable nuclear weapon, or should a weapon they fired be detected to have made landfall upon a nation that is UN or UNAUN watched or counseled. Therefore, due to being constantly under UNAUN's watchful eye, the mere threat of nuclear club members' "right to lob a nuke" will place upon them pressure to plan to "first-strike" or "preemptively" strike a UNAUN, internationally-crewed, multi-cultural ship, and such a plan or counter-threat to be willing to assault such a (world-crewed) ship should rally world anti-sentiment to bring about measures to deprecate nuclear weapons and expose the front- and back-stage persons drafting or speaking out such policy rights. Unfortunately, those who have enemies want them (the nukes, or enemies or both), and those possessing them exhort the right to explore, build, stockpile and use them (while taking some moral stance that they also have the right to deny others of them); and those who are potential targets of nuclear weapons-holding states therefore deserve (in the mean time-- so long as they don't ACTUALLY use (deploy or detonate or "lend" for purpose of proxy detonation) them) to have them as a guarantee they won't ge struck preemptively.
Unfortunately, that is the sick nature of humanity. In the mean time, literary tools exist so that future generations lean just how irritated the average non-politician citizen of Earth had become by these games of brinkmanship.
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Now, as for more of the story telling....
To Authors wishing to participate in Underway-Shift Colors!:
- NO DRM/ENCRYPTION; we need widest possible dissemination
- NO PDA preferences: USE ONLY MP3 or Ogg Vorbis or an open, unencrypted format
Authors agree to NOT engage in the following
- Capricious author-killing of characters over character race, religion, sexual orientation or confusion, marital status, etc.
- Capricious or gratuitous lampooning of religions, beliefs, lifestyles
- Writing "stealth" UNAUN-killing stories and submitting them under the umbrella of UNAUN activities
Alternate Scenarios Leading to the Precipitation of UNAUN
Major catalysts of UNAUN are:
- Increased US rhetoric over China's (proportionate) increase of her naval and air forces capabilities to project (or transit) the world's oceans... Some nations increasingly adopt a "so what? You did when YOU felt it was necessary? Besides, they're PROTECTING us from YOU, not banging down or doors..."
- Increasing Central American and South American and African small-nation sympathy for China, since in these nations' own eyes they've either lost their global greatness or never had a chance due to centuries of colonialism from the US and Europeans and thus they see China as a "giant underdog" and the US as an increasingly annoying overlord, domineer and hegemony
- Concerns of impending massive solar storm knocking out satellites and blinding nations to potential US attack
- Concerns of comet or asteroid strike knocking out satellites and blinding nations to potential US attack
- Increased terrorism due to the US dramatically increasing presence in the Middle East, Indonesia, Philippines, Central America
- Increased US unilateral action that increasingly interferes with UN security council operations and deployments
- North Korean shoot-down of USN anti-proliferation surveillance aircraft in North Korean airspace which was followed by US bombing of North Korea, which then angers South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Russia, China, and even Taiwan and Japan (takes place in the FIRST BOOK/EPISODE), and which prompted the subsequent actions sleeper cell/sleeping sentinels (sneaked in through tunnels they closed behind their entry into the US) who WARNED the US to not take action against North Korea; the spill over effect affected Central and South America, numerous parts of Asia, and even rankled the Europeans over US arrogance and capriciousness of the administration
- Bitter cooling off of tensions, but Iran points out US arrogance, wantonness, deceitful behavior and more as reasons for Iran pursuing nuclear weapons.
- UNAUN pre-members, OPEC, and even European and Asian nations ask Iran to curtail pursuit of nuclear weapons, but to instead use its oil export capacity to make money off of fueling the nations that will operate the UNAUN ships that are a more palatable alternative to US hegemony roaming the seas.
- Increased acrimony between US and commercial shipping operators finding themselves subject to USN and USCG "anti-proliferation inspections" which delay them and cost them money (some were selective to punish Central and South American governments for signing on to China's UNAUN proposal)), prompting more nations to more vigorously ask for UNAUN to exist.
- Increased downing of commercial aircraft forcing increase of travel by sea, necessitating naval presence to protect passengers
Revelation of ABCC:. (Angry, Belligerent (combative?), Capable) factions that have been demanding more global involvement in global security than the US has been willing to allow
- Increased piratical attacks upon merchants and cruise liners
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To Authors:
This fictional world has or abides by these as decreed by David Syes
- China is the major underwriter of UNAUN and has successfully wooed many nations into facilitating the construction project to build 100 ships across 3 classes of cruisers
- European and other Asian nations share the ships
- The ships are NOT state-owned (when they are paid off after 15 to 20 years of , they will be placed --fully operational-- into the custody of the nation from which the final ship captain hailed or listed as home of record when joining UNAUN. This means nations such as the Philipines and others with atrocious WW II relic ships will see new, equipment that respects their need to participate in and sail the seas as observers and enforcers of anti-proliferation, anti-piracy, anti-hegemony, and more, including rescues at sea, escort of reflagged merchants, safe conveyance of passenger liners through terrorist and pirate breeding grounds in the South Pacific and South West Pacific, and where ever called upon outisde of the national waters of non-participating nations)
- The ships' crews mix represents ALL of humanity -- nations that scoff can stand aside and become irrelevant
- Crews re mixed gender
- By world decree, ALL Officers and Crew -- for the duration of their enlistment or commission in UNAUN -- are exempted from military services of their home countries
- Officers or crew found to be spies or saboteurs are exposed to the world and then are incarcerated for up to 5 years before being remanded into custody of their homes
- Trust is not PERFECT, but it is part of the process to improve world relations
- Every thing and everyone subject to normal laws of physics as we currently observe or understand them
- Corrupt politicians STILL exist
- UNAUN officers and enlisted personnel do not take oaths to nations, presidents, premiers, or other mortals, or insane politicians; they take an oath to protect humanity against corruption and pirates and terrorists and to rescue the weak and displaced at sea; they take an oath to follow local laws and customs and to not be an embarrassment to humanity
- The USA, even though it is a nonvoting member by world decree, WILL try to UNDERMINE UNAUN at every opportunity (note its record at hobbling the United Nations)
- The USA will not be the only nation to try to hobble the UNAUN formation, but it at some point will apply to join rather than be left out and "lose control" of the "world slipping from its grip"
- Ships require fuel, and fuel costs money (no rip-roaring across the seas)
- All ships serve international meals
- All officers aboard (~25 per ship) cover at least 12 languages between them
- All Ship Commanding Officers have orders to maintain the presence of an international lawyer, at-sea boarding team, and so forth
- All ship ship captains are versed in international law to the point of almost being qualified to serve as an attorney, but they are not licensed or empowered as such
- All ship Commanding Officers speak 3 languages proficiently (ideally, these two points could mean on merits of intelligence, they would be better candidates for nation-leading than many sitting heads of state)
- All ship Executive Officers speak 2 to 3 languages proficiently
- All ship Department Heads speak at least 2 languages
- EVERY crew member speaks or understands at least SOME English
- NO MORE THAN 1/3 of each ship will be required to speak, read or write English
- Foreign language courses take place aboard the ships
- All officers speak Chinese of one type or another as well as English
- All officers are fallible
- ALL officers are vetted to ensure they have not ties to wealth; this is a police force for the common human, not a play ground for those seeking to command expensive and serious-mission vessels
- Crew Members (Enlisted Personnel) speak at LEAST 2 languages (reading and writing skill can be weaker)
- All ship captains command their ship for 4-5 years
- All XO billets are assigned for 3-4 years
- LINUX is the kernel of the operating system of preference by UNAUN, aboard ship as well as in shore and logistics operations
- Crew and Officers USE Linux, for clarity and security reasons
- UNAUN officers and enlisted personnel are by world decree exempt from burdens of "oath" and "nationalism" in the name of placing world stability over national/home preference
B A N N E D F R O M U N A U N
This fictional world has NONE of the following:
- Large mono hull vessels (over 75 feet long) capable of exceeding 40 knots
- Unlimited fuel and range
- Nuclear power reactors aboard ship
- Perfect, flawless, technical expert crew members (NO MR SONAR PRO!, NO MR EXPERT CRYPTO OR CODE CRACKERS OR HACKERS!)
- Shipboard compartments not present in drawings
- Inexplicable character travel or movement between compartments (NO "secret tunnels" or secret doors!)
- Undetectable or secret hideaways aboard ship (even for dramatic devices; fix the script, not the ship!)
- 100% repulsion of hostile boarders
- 100% successful evasion of wake incoming weapons fire
- Constant high seas exposure of the propeller without attendant damage
- CONSTANT high-speed transits (FUEL COSTS MONEY)
- Failure to shadow USN and independent nations' ships when opportunity arises
- Nuclear weapons as part ship armament or arsenal or weapons complement
-Large vessels capable of sailing below 3,000 feet
-Large implausible submarines with huge passageways and spacious cabins and work spaces
-Flying submarines
-Crazy, insane or warmongering admirals
-Discrimination of UNAUN sailors by nationality
-USN superiority or dominance over, or success in all engagements against other nations
-Satellite intelligence or sensor penetrtion to deeper than 100 feet into the sea
-Exploration of the Earth's core (no crawling through magma)
-Deep sea monsters (no giant squid, shark, octopus, eel, crabs, etc.)
-Mysterious or mystical power sources of energy or power crystals
-Lased or phased long-range, high-energy weapons, pulse cannons a la science fiction
-Standoff electromagnetic energy defensive barriers shielding own or other ships
-Electromagnetic or gravity-manipulating, displacing or towing vessel and craft
-Food replication or creation devices
-Teleportation devices
-High-energy personal side arms
-Stasis or sleeping/deep freezing/suspended animation
-Rogue waves and huge vortices (whirlpools)
-100% charting of all islands
-Spontaneous epic-proportion typhoons and monsoons, tsunamis and subduction and abuse of "Ring of Fire", and plate tectonics plot devices
-Devil's Triangle
-Bermuda Triangle
-Extra terrestrials (Men-in-Black on Earth with an agenda)
-Shape-shifting or shape shifters by human lab creation
-Mind reader
-Psycho kinetic or telepathic capabilities
-Astral projection
-Body exchanging or hijacking
-Mind control device
-Multidimensional rifts
-Time travel
-Exploration of mystical beings outside the human realm/dream sequence