In the FIM technology has an influence on everything and some of the most wonderful examples of FIM high tech can be seen during the month of December where there are various winter celebrations. Of course December is summer in the south pacific not winter.
Written pre /r/worldpowers reset
[December the 25th 2062]
Nouméa in the 'winter' is very strange. It's never really winter here, so people just kind of pretend it's winter in the month of December. Then the moment the clock hits midnight on the 31st everyone goes back to the beaches, and the cafe's, and enjoy the hot New Caledonian weather.
But for one month, probably one of the hottest of the year, everyone comes together and pretends it's winter. It started as a small thing in the 2030s, one year a group of students accidentally made snow with a Sky Dolphin zeppelin. That was before Korra had even been born, and looking back Korra, could not recall any winter where there hadn't been artificial snow. Korra had heard somewhere it had marked the beginning of the New Caledonian obsession with trying to create a perfect winter, in the south pacific.
However this year there was far less technology than usual. Usually there would also be ice-skating, skiing ramps and many other wonders. They had all been suspended for a reason, that Korra, Asami and everyone else knew far too well. The preparations were taking away all resources, and now instead of an ice-skating ring they were building a railgun entrenchment, instead of skiing ramps they were building bunkers, and so everything had given way to the preparations for the pending war.
Except for the Sky Dolphins, they still got to fly around spraying artificial snow, like they always had. Maybe the tradition was just too ingrained into everyone now to stop it. It was also a very real possibility that there would be protests if they had been suspended. You can't take away a toy from New Caledonia after you gave it to her.
She thought all these thoughts as she walked through the streets. She had a few bags of shopping goods in her hands. There had been a slightly longer queue than usual today, nothing really out of the ordinary especially for Christmas eve, but she was suspecting it was maybe due to the rationing. The rationing was really unnecessary, it had been enacted out of fear that there might at one point not be enough food so it was better to be prepared. But that fear had never become real. New Caledonia had for long been self sufficient in food, and now that food production had been upped tremendously food was cheaper than ever. The only thing they were really missing was rice which had become rather scarce, but rice had never been very popular anyways.
She got to the entrance to Asami's apartment, and the door opened after scanning her. She should have brought her exo-skeleton with her, then it would have been a lot easier to get all the shopping up the stairs. But Asami had insisted that she shouldn't be wearing her army equipment everywhere, it was her off-duty time, and she should spend it as a normal citizen She was right, but it also made everything a lot easier when you wore power armor. Everyone would let you through and be very nice to you, either out of respect for your work, or out of fear of the power armor.
She reached the top of the stairs and took the doorknob and turned it, after checking that it was indeed Korra the door opened and let her in. "I'm back with the shopping. I'm just gonna put it in the kitchen!" She announced to whomever might be in the house. "Thank you I will be there shortly, just finishing some work!" Asami shouted from her work room. She was nearly always in there, Korra could understand why she did it. She would probably also be spending a lot more time on her work if it didn't scare her to death.
She fell down into the living room couch and sighed. She felt pretty well at home here in Asami's apartment. She had spent most of her time here when she wasn't deployed somewhere, only leaving to go home and sleep then going here again the moment she was up. Korra could recall when Asami had asked if they should spend Christmas together. She nearly couldn't sleep that night. This would be the best Christmas ever, and maybe the last one.
She cringed at the thought, no one dared speak of it but everyone knew this Christmas was like no other in history. It could be seen not just in the way people were rushing a little more than usual, but also in the armed police patrolling, the jets, VTOLs, tanks and drones, driving and flying around. The churches were also seeing more visitors, quite a few more in fact. They had been holding extra services. Almost a miracle in the otherwise, what some people would call, 'heathen' New Caledonia. When people are fearing death it can drive them to anything even praying.
Maybe a little TV would get her mind of things, she sat straight up and turned on the TV with the Omni Tool on her hand. The screen blinked to life, for an engineer Asami sure did have an old TV, and showed a news report. "The FIM parliament today unveiled plans to upgrade the military communications systems. The minister of defense has said that this was because they feared that the extraterrestrial invaders might cut off traditional forms of communications." The news reporter paused as the camera cut to another angle.
"The FIM navy has announced that the first ships of the "Le Federation" class of frigates will soon be ready to be commissioned. In the same announcement they said that they will be speeding up the construction of these vessels dramatically in order to have the full planned line up of 6 ships ready in time. This was it for PNO news next up is Thomas Matherson's speech."
The TV cut to the information panel between programs. "Asami! Thomas Matherson's speech is going to start soon!" Korra shouted towards Asami's room. "Oh just a moment I will be there!" Asami shouted back. You could be sure no one in the FIM would miss admiral Matherson's speech.
The TV switched to a live transmission from Matherson's HQ, which isn't far from here. He was standing on a podium with two soldiers at arms to each side of him, and behind him was the white, dark blue and light blue tricolor, with the metal grey seven pointed star in the middle. The Ocean Flag of the FIM.
He was an old man it was clear, his face was weathered and his hair was starting to grey. He was probably the only war hero in the FIM, throughout his long career in the military he had earned the respect of many and the admiration of most FIM citizens. He was mainly known for leading the many anti piracy operations the FIM has carried out throughout the years, which had made him popular in a nation like the FIM that relied on maritime trade. He had retired some years ago to get some well deserved rest. Never the less had he accepted the offer of taking command of the FIM armed forces, both for aborted invasion of French Polynesia, and the new mission to defend the Earth. He started the speech by clearing his throat. "Citizens of the FIM, I speak to all of you on this Christmas eve. I know how most of you might feel about the recent events but I assure you that you should not be scared."
Asami finally got herself untangled from her work, and entered the room. "Did I miss anything?" She asked looking at the TV. "No just the start sit down and be quiet now, that's my commanding officer there, on screen." Korra patted the sofa next to her and Asami sat down. Luckily they hadn't missed much of the speech.
"-was leading the fleet assembled to fight the pirate threat I was also scared. I will admit I had first entered the army for political reasons. I hoped that it could help my image, if I had some time under my belt but during my time I learned better. I saw the spirit in the people who were fighting alongside me. They were there because they truly wanted to help their nation, and it is that same spirit I see in the men and women signing up to fight today. I trust these people with my life, and you can do that too."
Korra couldn't help but feeling a little pride at the admirals words.
"The story of the FIM has always been one of remarkable achievements, many have doubted the capabilities of our small nation and time and time again we have proven that we are just as capable as anyone else. We may not be an continent spanning empire or a superpower, but we have still shaped the world in ways none of those could dream of. The TRAC rifles are the most used rifles in the whole world the TRAC 2 is the fastest selling rifle in the world, Nanite Systems is one of the biggest corporations in the world, and they have earned that by exporting some of the most advanced technology in the world, there is yet to be any VTOL that can lift as much as the Super Galaxy can. Our technology is what has driven us forward, and propelled a nation that would otherwise be insignificant onto the world stage. Our technology is what among other things that will help us in the coming time.
"We can also thank our great foreign relations. Not once in the entire history of the FIM, or even the history of New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands before that, has there been a time where we have been threatened with invasion. We have maintained good relations with all countries on this world, and this is paying off now. We are cooperating with most of the world, the UN HQ now finally resides in Nouméa and Sweden is helping us build up a large defense. By the time we're done the FIM will be a fortress in the sea.
"The aliens are definitely something to be scared of. Their fleet is enormous and their firepower has to be beyond anything we can imagine. But do you know what happens when the FIM is out-teched? We build a better weapon. I'm scared but I also say 'let them come' because in the end it will only end in their own destruction, and even if, even if they win we are gonna spend everything to make sure they regret the day they decided to land on our islands. We will fight until there is no bullets left, then we will fight until the knife in our Omni Tools break, then we will fight until all the bones in our bodies are broken and then as we are just about to die we will spit those bastards in the eyes. I would dare to say that the aliens could not have made a bigger mistake than bringing a better gun than our's along for the fight.
"We might die and suffer, but in the end the name 'Le Federation des Isles et le Mer' will never die. When these bastards return to their worlds they will check under, whatever they sleep on, each night to make sure there isn't a FIM soldier laying under it training the scope of a TRAC 2 on their probably ugly faces. We are going to show not just them, but also the whole world that our freedom is not something you can take away easily. I will personally make sure that none of those bastards gets to go home with any limps, they might have, intact. We are going to make the FIM a real world hell for those green, purple, whatever suckers. SO SCREW THE ALIENS I SAY, BECAUSE THEY ARE GOING TO STAND FACE TO FACE WITH A FORCE THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE IN THIS GALAXY." The last words hung in the air as Thomas Matherson left the podium, and the national anthem started playing.
"Wow what a man." Asami remarked. "Yeah he's quite the general, and also a little mad but that helps at times." Korra had never gotten to meet him, nor had she ever been under his command, but she had heard the stories. "So should we start making the food?" Asami asked as she got up, and headed to the kitchen. "Yeah let's" Korra answered, she could almost already hear her stomach growling.