Long story short, Shaka had pissed off the planet in my Civ 5 game, and we were going to war. My heavy armor was in place, XCOM Squads ready to drop, and my navy was on his borders. We got ready for the call to war, and when it came in 2022, we were ready.
Flanked by Shoshone battleships, destroyers, and subs, a Dutch ship engages with a Zulu pirate vessel.
Our navy struck first. Shaka had seen that move coming from leagues away, but I don't think he foresaw how effective three navies would be. The Dutch and Greek navies helped keep his forces penned in at the north and west corners of his country, where his navy was focused. Battleships, destroyers, and nuclear subs moved in for the kill, and by the end of the first month, roughly eight percent of his navy was gone. And that was just at sea. On land, it was a bloodbath.
The first and second XCOM squads cross the Zulu border, leaving smoke and fire in their wake.
Shoshone XCOM Squads led the way into Zulu territory. Shaka had three squads of trained rifleman at the borders, veterans of countless campaigns. But I had modern armor, mechanized infantry, and blockades on his cities: They didn't stand a chance. His cities took two months to fall, but they came down, one by one. Slowly, I swept south, returning cities to Poland that had been lost to them for ages. I could see it in my mind: Polish standards being raised by Polish muskets and Shosone XCOM squaddies over cities that had been under Shaka's thumb since the age of shield and sword. I felt good about what we did, but I knew that victory would come at a heavy price.
Shaka, defeated.
When Shaka's last city fell, a year after the war began, I felt a sense of foreboding. I never felt good about going to war in Civilization: It's just not my character. I was raised to know that what goes around, comes around, and karma is a mean, cranky bitch when you have it coming. Soon enough, I saw the consequences. Every nation, from allies to acquaintances, saw the Shoshone as warmongers, and feared their might. I couldn't say I blamed them. I kept imagining Pocatello in his office, watching war reports coming in, color draining from his face with each briefing. He had the mightiest civilization the world had ever seen under his rule, and the worst enemy of life now dead at his feet. While I imagine he felt some relief that the bomb was never used, I had a feeling that he regretted deeply making his friends fear him.
Catherine, confessing weakness before the Shoshone.
With friends now fearing the wrath of Pocatello, it would have been an excellent moment to take control. However, that wasn't something I could see this Pocatello doing. I withdrew my navy from the bloodied seas, and brought my soldiers home. Life went on as it had in the world before, with new trade agreements, discoveries, and skirmishes happening by the month. And then, at one UN meeting, I saw an opportunity to change the opinion of people, and went for it.
Russia had taken majority rule over the UN, and Catherine's first act was to propose the International Space Station. It was a gamble: The station could only be completed at a certain production score from all nations involved. Pocatello must have been over the moon. I could see him, asking his people to turn all their efforts skywards, to give them something to think about other than the massacre of the Zulu. During UN meetings, as diplomats squabbled, Pocatello would wait eagerly with his smartphone for any news on production. By 2026, it was done, and the Shoshone gave the gift of the ISS to the world.
Maybe it was just me, but I felt better about the war with the Zulu after the ISS was completed. The world continues to spin, though, and there will be a new Shaka tomorrow. When he or she rises, though, the Shoshone will be ready. With the world at our back, we will march on the dawn agains tyranny and oppression.
For we are the Shoshone.
And we know no fear.
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