If...

[Paradox]

July 21, 1969
President Richard Nixon, Nationally televised speech

Fate has ordained that the men who went to the Moon to explore in peace will stay on the Moon to rest in peace. These brave men know there is no hope for their recovery but they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice. These two men are laying down their lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood. Others will follow and surely find their way home. Man's search will not be denied but these men were the first and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.

For every human being who looks up at the Moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.


Present Day
-Snippet of pre-recorded Museum info disc-

...Hello and welcome to the Richmond Museum of American History! It has been a little over a century and a half since the Confederate States America accepted the surrender of Ulysses S. Grant and ended The War of Northern Aggression, thanks in no small part to our French and British allies who fought alongside us in the twilight of the war. Please continue on to the next exhibit which covers the occupation and acquisition of Mexico, Latin America, and South America and the Cold War against Red Canada. Also do not forget to stop by the gift shop and if you brought your servants, don't forget to retrieve them from the holding room...


Present Day
Ocean-Wide broadcast, translated

Today is a momentous day for all inhabitants of Ocean! Today the first water domes begin operation on the Dry. Within these domes will be constructed craft capable of traveling the Empty that will launch into the Outer and eventually settle into orbit around the Sixth moon of Red Spot Giant. If, as the data predicts, the Drill Swimmers find another Ocean under the moon's ice layer, our species will able to expand outwards and far beyond the Empty!


September 26, 1983
Serpukhov-15 bunker near Moscow, log of events

Watch Officer Colonel Stanislav Petrov left earlier the previous evening due to food-related illness.
2nd Watch Officer Ivan Romanakov takes over monitoring duties.
At 12:07am, early detection system detects ICBM on route to Soviet soil. Origin: United States.
Officer Romanakov deems the warning to be legit and warns the Kremlin.
At 12:19am, the Soviet nuclear arsenal is launched. The United States detects the strike and retaliates in kind.
34 seconds before the first warhead strikes Washington, it is realized the original detected ICBM was in fact computer error.
The People's Republic of China is struck by Soviet missiles and launches theirs as well.
24 hours after the phantom ICBM was detected, nearly 2 billion people around the world are dead.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

...silly things happened?

 

[danielrbischoff]

Why would you think of these things?!

 

[Paradox]

I like to fathom the what if or what might have been. Why wouldn't I think of these things? Who hasn't wondered how things may have happened differently and of the consequences?

 

[madster111]

What the fuck's going on in this thread?

 

[De-Ting]

TWTF;DR

 

[lokness]

 

[Lien]

i want this thread's subject to turn over to the origin of this pic... NOW!

 

[cyberjim2000]

I like to fathom the what if or what might have been. Why wouldn't I think of these things? Who hasn't wondered how things may have happened differently and of the consequences?

Yeah, I get what you're saying. Like what if I made a left turn instead of a right or what if Nintendo and Sony actually did made a CD addon for the SNES?

 

[Paradox]

Thank you for a real contribution to the topic cyberjim.

To the previous three posters if you're not going to bother reading then why post at all? How about you just go back to the Awesome Pictures thread where you can look at pictures without all those hard words to read.

 

[LinksOcarina]

The problem with What if's is, as someone who got trained into this kind of thing, it's fun to think about what can change, but ultimately changing one aspect would revamp the world. A kind of time paradox ala Back to the Future II only global affects.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

The problem with What if's is, as someone who got trained into this kind of thing, it's fun to think about what can change, but ultimately changing one aspect would revamp the world. A kind of time paradox ala Back to the Future II only global affects.

This. Changing one small aspect changes the next 10 as well.

Although in Soviet Russia, a few dead people in space doesn't change much.

 

[De-Ting]

I actually read it last night. Don't worry. Still, I don't think I want to imagine a world where slavery still exists.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

I actually read it last night. Don't worry. Still, I don't think I want to imagine a world where slavery still exists.

It still does, just in other forms.


Religion for example.

 

[De-Ting]

I actually read it last night. Don't worry. Still, I don't think I want to imagine a world where slavery still exists.

It still does, just in other forms.


Religion for example.

No, that's something you agree to.

 

[keepithowitis]

@Lien: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRBLmogRL4c

Just since nobody's posted it yet.

 

[Lien]

@Lien: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRBLmogRL4c

Just since nobody's posted it yet.

Finally! Now my life is complete.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

Black people can dance to anything in any fashion and still look cool. I'm so glad the south didn't win the war.

 

[Paradox]

1999: The video-game corporation Bungie, developers of the video-game Marathon, announce that they will be developing a new RTS game codenamed "Halo".

2000: Unfortunately Bungie decides to scrap the idea for Halo claiming that it would not be successful.

2001: Microsoft's video-game console the Xbox only lasts for a short run after losing out to the Sony PS2, the Sega Dreamcast, and the Nintendo Gamecube.

2006: Sony's PS3 and Sega's Dreamcast Phoenix hit store shelves.

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1 AUC (ab urbe condita = Founding of the City)- The City of Rome was founded by the brothers Romulus and Remus according to Roman myth.

786 AUC- A Jewish man by the name of Jesus of Nazareth is brought before the governor of the Roman province of Judea. The local Jewish priests tells the governor that the man Jesus claims to be the messiah. They also tell him that he is committing crimes against the Empire. The governor dismisses the allegations and lets Jesus of Nazareth go. Christianity dies out by 853 AUC, mostly from internal conflicts.

888 AUC- Constant uprisings by the Jews in Judea leads to a complete Roman assault on the area. Thousands are killed. The Roman massacre of the Jews is one of the worst events in human history. Many of the Jews in Europa are exiled to the lands of the North. They are supposed to have been killed off by the Northmen, Rus, and others in the area. No one really knows what happened to them, or if any survived.

1203 AUC- By this time the Roman Empire was too large to govern, especially with constant attacks from barbarians. The Empire is split into twelve semi-autonomous regions: Britannia, Gaul, Germania, Iberia, Africa, Aegyptus, Mesopotomia, Asia, Graecia, Illyricum, Dacia, Italia.

The Roman Empire still breaks apart, but in a more peaceful way. There is a period of relative geopolitical inactivity that lasts 300 years. This is referred to as the Pax Europeana. By 1500 AUC, the regions had turned into Commonwealths.

Iberians formed colonies in the west of Nigeria. Aegyptians formed colonies in the east of Nigeria. Gauls formed colonies in the south of Nigeria. The Greeks, though, with centuries of trading experience were the first to travel to the Orient on a sea journey. The Northmen of Scandanavia, though, attempted a journey to the Orient westwardly. They discovered new lands in 1702 AUC. They colonized the land and called it Vinland.

This began a race between the Europans and the Northmen to conquer the new lands. The Europan Council of 1707, called into question the Northmen's discoveries. The evidence was sufficient enough, and the Council agreed to fund an expedition from Italia to Vinland. The expedition was blown off course and landed in what has come to be known as southeastern Nova Roma.

While all of this is happening, the Chin are trading with the Europans and funding their own expedition to the East. The Chin cross the Pacific and land on the northwestern shore of Nova Roma. With these superpowers in Nova Roma, the race to conquer it heats up. By 1900 AUC, the Northmen had conquered most of the northeastern portion of the continent, the Europans had conquered the southeastern, and the Chin tookover the northwest.

Epidemics in Europa, Chin, and Scandinavia led to a vast decrease in expeditions to Nova Roma. This lasted 200 years. The epidemics also saw a rise in more independence for the Commonwealth states. They saw themselves as completely independent from Roma.

The Emperors though did not give up so easily. They waged constant warfare with one Commonwealth or another. By 2166 AUC, a treaty was passed to cease all warfare and granted complete independence to all former provinces of the Roman Empire. The treaty is called Europa 66.

As the Commonwealths became nations, they fought amongst themselves for dominance. Meanwhile in Nova Roma, the Aztecs came into power in Central Nova Roma and the Incas came into power in Southern Nova Roma. Any remaining outposts were decimated by the native Nova Roman empires. The Aztecs took over western North N.R. The Incas took over all of South N.R.

The Reconquest began in 2278. The Europan nations began to take over Nova Roma. The Scandanavians reconquered their former colony of Vinland, after it had been destroyed by the natives of the area.

The 24th century saw wars only in Nova Roma. The Chin attempted to avoid war, but fought with the Aztecs for the lands of western Nova Roma The Europans fought with the Incans for the lands of south Nova Roma. The Scandinavians fought with the people of northeast Nova Roma for control of the area.

By the 25th century, the lands of Nova Roma were conquered. The Aztec and Incan Empires were reduced to mere kingdoms with not much power. The Scandinavians, Chin, and Europan nations had split the lands of Nova Roma amongst themselves. The Chin were more peaceful towards the native populations after awhile. After countless minor skirmishes, the Europans made an uneasy peace with them as well.

Many of the colonies in Nova Roma sought independence from the founders in the 26th century AUC, soon after the Industrial Revolution of the 2500s AUC. The independence was not granted easily, but it was inevitable. Of the former colonies, Vinland and the Confederation of Southern Nova Roma rose to become superpowers by 2600 AUC. Vinland was more of an economic superior, while CoSoNoRo was more of a military superior.

In 2709, the Europan nations began to come together more. They signed a treaty to bring about the Union of Europan Nations. Roma was chosen as the capital for the UEN, which began to tie Europa together economically. Scandinavia fought a war with the Rus and took over their lands. Europa remained neutral. In 2727, the Vinlandians were on the brink of a nuclear war with CoSoNoRo. Their political differences were the roots of this conflict, but over the years political leaders and public opinion slowly changed. By 2745, both nations became friendly with each other.

It is now 2758, and the world is in relative peace.

While 98% of these are not my writing, I cannot find an author to credit.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

For the record, the Dreamcast was going to fail no matter what more or less due to the poor management behind it in many aspects.

Also, they weren't called Aztec. That name was placed on them much later and stuck.