Mech-Viper Prime wrote:yes half the military is just guarding one city.
You're underestimating the importance of that one city. While I think half is a bit much, a third isn't too hard to be believed - and its likely somewhere in the middle. Chi Town is the clearing house for Iowa's grain and the main manufacturing center, with Lone Star being second, and Iron heart being third (even though technically Lone Star has greater capacity). Combine this with being the spiritual center of the CS, the home of the Prozek Regime, and generally THE city considered by most to be the stick to measure all other cities by, and you have the loss of the single most important city in North America. It would be more like you mixed Detroit, Washignton, DC, and New York into one large mega city (in terms of importance), and then wiped it off the face of the world. Could North America recover? oh yeah, especially with time, but it would be hard to do, and it would be painful for everyone.
Ziggurat the Eternal wrote:I like this outcome, I like it alot. this seems pretty likely, and I would have gone with a similar answer, though not quite this good.
But I have to ask who, when, where, how, huh???? I can't see this as happening, after all "word of god" is that the CS, chitown in particular, is L337 H4x0RZ t3h PWN. Oh and everyone everywhere is a complete idiot as soon as they see dead boys. Also, noone but chitown has these nukes as far as I know. 'Course they coulda just blown themselves up.
BTW, which outcome, I listed at least three or four
Actually I could come up with several good possibilities. Keep in mind all of these have stumbling points which make them unlikely in the extreme - but with this sort of event, you are definately moving things along by plot, not by things you'd let your players get away with. FoM decides that instead of going directly after the CS, they will use patsies. They brain wash a bunch of scientists with a subconscious hatred for the CS, but also a burning genocidal desire to see the city gone. On a major holiday when all the players are in town (the emperor's birthday or something, who cares), said scientists set off a perfectly timed Nuclear explosion. Chaos ensues, and Dunscan rejoices, and tries to hold together his network when their major focus for existance is gone. Free Quebec wouldn't range that far south, and no one else aside from Bradford would have the capability to oppose him, at least from the old CS.
Another plausible explanation involved the Republicans. Republican movers and shakers decide that while Chi-Town is a major player, and its destruction would hurt North America, its end would have a better effect overall than allowing the CS to ruin what is left of their chances at restoring the US. So a few "patriots" get themselves in place, and set off same self said perfectly planned destruction of Chi Town, while limiting the impact to the outlying farm lands as much as possible. The Republicans, after all, want to pick up the pieces, not destroy the very breadbasket they hope to take over. At the same time, they'd move on New Chillicothe (it wouldn't be that hard to make sure and get sympathizers there - its fairly low priority in terms of threats - its main role is to protect the farm lands) and set up shop, and start expanding it quietly, all the while claiming to be the ones in charge, If they actually have influence over Holmes, like many seem to think, he could fall back to there and become a new figurehead, or even an actual effective leader.
And I can come up with yet one more possibility, and this one would be for those who want Free Quebec to rule everything, by any means necessary. Same situation as the Republicans, except that it is FQ agents doing it all. FQ comes in and starts providing major aid to the devastated areas, has New Chillicothe join them as a protectorate, and tries to woo in Iron heart and Fort El Dorado. Iron Heart, in this situation, I see becoming their own thing, joining in an alliance with Ishpeming and Manstique, Arkansas would join with Quebec in the NCS (New Coalition States). Lone Star would become its own entity, as previously outlined, but wouldn't actively act against fellow humans - at least not until they had acheived significant control.
In both cases, I don't see the overall sentiment allowing them to do something like this, but that has never stopped a few "patriots" from doing what they feel is necessary for the "good" of the country.