The March Of Progess: Caliguly 2006

Cold Air Ballooning

Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder: Hard-working scienticians at the Cold-Air Institute prepare Intrepid IV, their newest cold air balloon.

Though hot air has existed for millions of years it was not harnessed by man until the year 1783 when the Montgolfier brothers first sent aloft a rooster, a bag of corn and a wolf. The first hot air balloon proved a success, but unfortunately the rooster ate the corn and then the rooster was eaten by the wolf which was in turn ingested by the hot air balloon.

Hot air ballooning is more popular than ever, captivating the imaginations of dozens of American citizens. There are more than three hot air ballooning clubs in the United States. There is even an email newsletter related to hot air ballooning sent out every two weeks to nearly 47 subscribers. The US Hot Air Balloon Survey Corps estimates that there are twenty five to thirty hot air balloons in the United States alone. One is even equipped with a capsule and turning vents.
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News of the World: Caliguly 2006, Part II

dommen

Tokyo, Japan– It seems somehow fitting that a war involving millions of soldiers battling across five continents should end with a simple gunfight outside a Tokyo nightclub and noodle house. With less than hundred shots fired between thirty police and eight of F’a Dommen’s elite Vermillion Guard, the Bad Guy supreme commander was captured, finally ending the war.

F’a Dommen had been on the run for nine days after fleeing in the aftermath of the Battle of Rangoon. The devious Bad Guy Commander was able to hijack a BL-104 “Floating Mushroom” Tactical Hot Air balloon, which he rode to safety. Landing in Taipei with eight of his Vermillion Guards, F’a Dommen snuck into Japan via a submersible watercraft and holed up in the Happy Garden Hotel and Noodle House. There, he set about planning his next move, but little did he realize that his time was nearly up.

Last Saturday night, F’a Dommen was betrayed when one of his elite body guards attempted to purchase a pair of Japanese school girl’s used underpants. Apparently he offered the clerk fifty crime cash, unaware that the underpants vendor only accepted crime yen (the official illegal Sinonipponesian currency). Official police reports state that there was a confrontation and the Vermillion Guard officer killed the underpants salesman and escaped with 60,000 crime yen and several soiled pairs of white cotton, size “S,” string bikini styled underpants.

Police gave chase immediately and eventually cornered the soldier as he attempted to meet up with his compatriots in the Mighty Glowing Robot Disco and Noodle House night club. The ensuing gun battle left three police and six Bad Guys dead and at 1:34 AM local time, Honorable Police Force Captain Ozawa Ichi announced that F’a Dommen had been captured, ending a world-wide manhunt.

Currently, the Bad Guys are being held in the Tokyo Prefecture Maximum Security Prison and Noodle House, awaiting extradition to The Hague for trial. F’a Dommen did issue a statement, written with green crayon as he is not allowed anything sharp. In it he vowed to escape and promised:

“You have not seen the last of the Bad Guys. You think you won the war, but you have not and we will never be defeated. There’s still our secret under-ground base in Antartica and you’ll never find, much less capture, the Bad Guy Drome and you don’t even know the location of the hidden Bad Guy Island. Know that I am Bad Guy Commander Arja F’a Dommen and I will have my revenge.”

Using satellite recon, the Good Guy Army was able to locate the Antartic base and neutralize it. Only hours later the “Bad Guy Island,” otherwise known as Manhattan, was found and the Bad Guy Drome in Tribeca was located and captured. The death ray that F’a Dommen had threatened to destroy Singapore with turned out to be a simple flashlight hooked up to a car battery. Fire department sources indicated that, even with the extra power, the flashlight posed no danger.

News of the World: Caliguly 2006

victoire

TOTAL VICTORY!!!*
*Some Mopping Up Required

Trieste, Italy – The Bad Guys have been utterly and completely crushed, except for a platoon of holdout marines in this fine city. Also a naval grouping off the coast of Iceland. And of course the Bad Guy counterstroke in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Not to mention the Third Hue of Victory Fighter Wing located in a secret base high in the Andes. There’s also the small matter of the Trans-Kazakh Armoured Division.

Nevertheless, the Good Guys have grasped a stellar victory to go down in the annals of record keeping. With F’a Dommen neutralized (opposite page), there’s no question of our global domination. President Armstrong and the other leaders of the Good Guys have dispatched emissaries to what is left of the Bad Guy High Command and government.

Armstrong sent the French-Canadian Cirque du Soleil on a mission to meet with the Bad Guys in Trieste. It has been three days since the various acrobats, mimes, and other carnival folk made their way through the winding streets. While they have not been heard from since then, no one is particularly worried. Members of the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus are on hand to pick up where they left off.
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