[General Battuta]

The GTVA being like the US and China is a poor analogy given the much closer links between the two constituents of the GTVA, at least until they were driven apart by authorial fiat.

Years of experience in Battletech forums have given me the authority necessary to declare that the word 'fiat' is 100% bull**** and should never be applied to fictional settings.

[Phantom Hoover]

in my defense i don't even know what battletech is

[An4ximandros]

in my defense i don't even know what battletech is

It's MechWarrior's universe (MechWarrior being the "VG name")

[Scotty]

The GTVA being like the US and China is a poor analogy given the much closer links between the two constituents of the GTVA, at least until they were driven apart by authorial fiat.

Years of experience in Battletech forums have given me the authority necessary to declare that the word 'fiat' is 100% bull**** and should never be applied to fictional settings.

Years of experience in Battletech forums have given me the authority to provide testimony that this man speaks the truth.

[MatthTheGeek]

What is that word supposed to mean anyway. It's not in my dictionary.

[Raptor831]

You gotta think that after the second war, Neo-Terra and all the crud they did, and the fact that the Terrans were probably leaning hard on the Vasudan economy, there would have to be some relational strain. I mean, these people were at war before the Shivans showed up. They were an alliance of convenience, not brotherhood. After the war, it was obvious that if they continued to quarrel among themselves, the Shivans would kill them both. So, they pooled the resources. It still sounds like, from the FS2 campaign, that they are essentially segregated. There are Vasudan planets/colonies, and Terran planets/colonies. I haven't seen fully integrated ones. They might have become like brother nations, but the second war and the Terran's insistence of getting back to Earth probably stopped that before it began.

Since we've been talking about the population of Sol, how many people do you all think live on Mars?

My guess would be no more than 100 million. It's only partially terraformed, so it can't be too much. It's enough to be a separate "nation" from Earth and the Jovians.

[CT27]

They aren't 100% segregated though, there was the officer exchange program in FS2.

[Drogoth]

I kinda get the impression at this point that Galactic Terran and Galactic Vasudan relations could be roughly mirrored by current US and China diplomacy.  One is in debt because so and so, relationship is kinda frosty, different political ideals, but terms are allowed and there would be harsh consequences for all parties should said relationship sour.

Dunno if I'm making a lot of sense here, 2 beers in after one helluva week.

I'd actually characterize their relationship much more like units of a federation that don't like eachother all that much. Being a Canadian the example that comes to mind for me is the East-West political divide/rivalry.

Not familiar enough with federal dynamics in the states to grab an example from there.

The crux of it is they belong to one state, but for large portions of the population in both areas many of the country's ills are blamed on the other half. No one wants to country to break, they just aren't willing to give ground to the other faction.

I don't know if cases like Quebec/Flanders/Scotland apply as well since it's a similar dynamic but there are infusions of nationalism and cries for independence that I don't think apply in the GTVA's case.

[Raptor831]

They aren't 100% segregated though, there was the officer exchange program in FS2.

Somewhere in the BP fiction it said that the exchange program all but stopped. Found it, it's in "The Rift". They obviously aren't excluding one another (ex: Vasudans in Sol, and I'm sure Vasudans travelling through Terran worlds), but when you evacuate Capella, there's a line about getting "every last Terran" out. So they either didn't care about Vasudans (not too probable at that point) or the system did not have a large enough quantity of Vasudans to mention.

I'd actually characterize their relationship much more like units of a federation that don't like eachother all that much. Being a Canadian the example that comes to mind for me is the East-West political divide/rivalry.

<snip>

That might be a more refined example, but I couldn't say about Canadian politics. We have enough fun here in the States.

So, what kind of system is the GTVA? Is it like the EU, where it's a mostly economic union (correct me if I'm wrong), or is it more like the two sides are states/provinces united under a certain code and follow the GTVA leadership? The FS2 mission 1 brief makes it sound more like the latter, but by the time the GTVA enters Sol in BP, it looks less so.

[Scotty]

What is that word supposed to mean anyway. It's not in my dictionary.

In the context of this discussion (and when applied to fictional works in general), fiat is the concept that something in the story happened the way it happened simply because that's what the author wanted to happen, rather than by any legitimate or reasonable occurance as a logical progression of the story.

Fi-at  n.
/ˈfēät/
1. A formal authorization or proposal; a decree.
2. An arbitrary order.

[Klaustrophobia]

i will never be able to hear/see "fiat" without an image of the **** ugly car popping in my head