Faction Name: The Cascadian Republic
Faction Description: The Cascadian Republic came from a different timeline to ours, one where the 2000's was characterized by three important details. One: larger improvements in technologies and scientific theories, with many advancements that should have taken decades or, occasionally, even centuries to discover and create. Second: Perhaps because of this, the global economy was becoming increasingly fragile, as all of these advances had shaken global confidence and stability. Three: A heavily increased awareness of climate change and global warming. The latter brought much concern and doom saying as the world went into the 2000's. This, despite differences between many nations, led to large scale projects and efforts in order to effectively curb this, with some looking to use these advancements for future use, such as restoring already damaged environments and perhaps even large-scale terraforming. It all came to fruition when in early 2011, scientists in a joint E.U.-Chinese project named PROJECT REACH created and tested a new structure called the REACH tower. Anywhere from 50 to 500 meters in height, the REACH towers were able to through many means affect the local environment, weather, and atmosphere, with enough across the world able to bring limited global changes.
Over the next year, many such towers were built across the world in a U.N. sanctioned mission, with numbers near or at triple digits in many larger and more developed nations such as Russia, the US, China, Canada, and Brazil. Unfortunately, the fabled golden era would never come. The global economy, strained over the development and building of these new towers and other projects, along with the loss in confidence and jobs over new technological advances, collapsed on the fateful day of February 4, 2012. Political tensions, both internal and external, erupted throughout the world. Within the first six months, unrest and coups wracked many nations in South America and Europe, with many others enveloped in either civil war or international war with former allies and old enemies alike. The Middle East, already in turmoil, was hit with a heavy increase in violence, with a new war occurring in the west between radical and militant arabic nations on one side, and an strained yet oddly working coalition of moderate middle eastern nations and Israel, backed by the remnants of stranded coalition forces and exiled European mercenaries. By the start of 2019, around seven years after the Collapse of '12, the world was unrecognizable. No nation made it through unscathed, and a limited nuclear exchange had occurred.
The United States, while initially surviving the collapse, soon fractured itself, with many areas becoming lawless and filled with chaos. Despite this, many states continued to function on the local level, keeping stability calm. This would change however, as new factions and nations would arise that would contend with these states while a select few fell to radical movements. It was during this time that the United States, itself only solidly controlling the mid-Atlantic states and some of the midwest, as well as some territory in the southwest and Alaska, grew increasingly frantic and aggressive in keeping the nation together. It was while the USA was overseeing negotiations with the Junta of Mexico and New California Republic to keep Nevada and New Arizona under American control that the first nuclear launches were detected in war-ravaged China. Panicking, the American government launched their own missiles in retaliation. Unlucky for them, a mistake was made and instead of launching solely from a nuclear submarine or installations in Alaska, a silo in Nevada was used. This led to the NCR and a couple other nations launching their payloads, causing the Americans to retaliate in kind. By the end of the day, the American southwest and mid-Atlantic seaboard was a glowing ruin, with smaller 'wastelands' formed; such as the Montana Wastes, the Colorado Wasteland, and the Scorched lands of Phoenix.
It was during this time that Cascadia came into prominence. Centered around the intact state governments in Washington, it would prove to be a fountain of stability in the Pacific Northwest as it withstood and put down socialist uprisings and anarchist rebellions, along with putting together the pieces from the destroyed global economy. By the time of the 2019 nuclear exchange, Washington state was fully independent and had fully annexed Oregon and parts of Idaho. The nuclear exchange, while ending what trade existed with the NCR and USA remnant, gave the fledgling nation plenty of room to expand and consolidate as the local regional power. Quickly the rest of Idaho was occupied, and surviving communities and groups in Montana and California, eager to return to civilized order after the destruction of their respective nations, came into the fold. The nation also started to expand northwards, annexing and joining with many old Canadian cities and factions that had remained isolated. BY 2025, the new nation of Cascadia was founded, based off of a revised and fixed version of the old American government with a slight leftist orientation. During this time the nation would face it's first real adversaries. To the southeast, raider gangs and tribes formed up, and while many were content to fight amongst themselves or raid to the west, some looked up towards Cascadia. To the south, the REACH towers showed their worth, clearing up a vast majority of the radiation and pollution, allowing for many different micro-nations and city-states to form, many of which for one reason or another were at most neutral to Cascadia. And within the nation itself, friction leftover from the creation of Cascadia was showing itself, aligning often with hidden corruption in the system, greatly weakening the nation.
By 2045 (present), the nation is shaken but improving. The public masses were calmed and if not content, then at least comfortable with the current arrangement. The political friction is largely gone, but small if vocal radical minorities do exist, for now cowed by recent events. Like it, much of the old corruption has been dealt with, with almost all of that stemming from the formation period and from economic companies and factions gone, but individuals and small illegal networks do still exist. Much of the public infrastucture, while old and well used, is still functionable or easily repairable, with plans being made to refurbish that which is desperately in need of it. The loss of the sources of many key and out of territory foods, materials, components/parts, and equipment has had a negative effect, but limited trade and either localized replacements or downgrades have been put in place. The military is worn but functionable, with a modest and sizable army. The Cascadian navy is quite large and impressive and has actually required some downsizing, as it accumulated the Oregon and Washington coast guards, the majority of the Pacific coast Canadian Royal Navy, elements of the NCR's old navy, and most of the old USA naval forces stationed in Washington, and included with that is plenty of infrastructure and parts for maintaining and even expanding the navy. The air force has been hit the worst, ironic due to the former region's prominent aerospace industry and military importance. Many military aircraft stationed here weren't meant for direct combat, and those that were have experienced heavy use and wear. By this time, local industry has caught up enough to maintain and somewhat supplement and upgrade what's left, but what is left for direct conflict is a mixture of light ground attack aircraft, tried and true interceptors and multi-purpose jets, and sturdy helicopter and VTOL gunships.
Faction Capabilities: Technology level is about that of our modern day with some elements being ahead by a couple decades. The army, minus some military tech superiority, is of modest size and largely based around reactive mechanized infantry, backed by heavy and/or mobile artillery. Some armor forces exist, but the heavy stuff, along with long/heavy war and far deployment type equipment remains in storage or is rarely used. Anything major is limited, with only small numbers of exosuits and power armor, few examples of railgun weaponry left functionable, and even fewer of laser weaponry around total. The navy is about as strong as it could be, and has a pretty secure support infrastucture, enough so that 'modernization' efforts and plans can be easily enacted, as well as limited construction of new ships, although this is for now limited to anything at destroyer level. The air force is in bad shape, with some fighting craft left, limiting it largely to defense, logistics, light recon/utility and localized air support. A few nuclear bombs remain at the old Fairchild AFB, but they are old and their viability is questionable. Normal infrastucture and is largely still present if old. Light and normal industry is largely back, but more technological orientated ones, as well as those that had little presence in the region before the collapse, still need to be fully brought back up. There are five REACH towers located in the nation: three of the Class 1 50 meter tall towers, one of the Class 3 250 meter tall towers, and one of the Class 4 'Regional Hub' 500 meter tall towers.
Faction Goal: To ensure the prosperity and stability of the nation, especially it's politics and economy, to prevent anymore serious infighting or corruption from forming, and to keep the land and world clean and healthy via use of the REACH towers.
Faction Location: The Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia), along with some bits of land in Northern California, (coastal) Alaska, and Montana. The capital is located in Olympia, Washington.
Leader Name: President James Blackwood Schmitt
Leader Description: James is a man who, through his parents, is connected to both military and economic life, two sides that despite largely staying out of politics, have clashed somewhat these past recent years. He was a military commander during the Collapse, originally in charge of a battalion stationed in Oregon. One of the first to align themselves specifically with both the Washington government and the Cascadian cause, he became one of the nation's top military commanders; helping to lead the assimilation of many communities in Oregon and Northern California, as well as later achievments against both Neo-Nazi factions in Idaho and the first raider war parties from the southeast, many of which were armed with military-grade weaponry, equipment, and vehicles. On the other side of the coin, he owns a variety of small businesses, primarily in northwestern Oregon and eastern Washington. A reasonable and kind man, he nonetheless can be brutal in his methods and has a distinct distaste of a few kinds of people, notably betrayers, radical rights, and severe criminals. During his time as President (1 year), he has continued the anti-corruption cause and has pushed for increased local modernization and improvement, as well as for reviving research and advancement of technology and the sciences.
Leader Capabilities: He is a shrewd and cunning man, with a keen eye for tactics and strategies. While less grand on the large scale, such as long term grand strategy or nation vs. nation, he is exceptional on the regional scale and smaller. This talent has also helped himself some with economics and politics, making himself pretty powerful and, even without the authority of his old command and now the Presidency, he holds a small but solid bit of influence and power.
Leader Goal: James primary goal is to improve Cascadia and see to it's rise as a regional, if not global power. While he hopes to do this peacefully and with no 'black marks', he is willing to do what's necessary.
