| Atlanta Free Republic | |
| |
| General Information | |
| Establishment: | 2189 (Confederacy) 2262 (Free Republic) |
| Status: | Active |
| Location Information | |
| Location: | Georgia |
| Societal Information | |
| Population: | TBD |
| Notable Individuals: | Silas Haydon, Scarlett Haydon, Tobias Shaw |
| Factions: | Republican Government, Resistance |
| Notable Events: | Founding, Revolution |
Emerging from the ruins of pre-war Atlanta, the Atlanta Free Republic is a totalitarian state effectively controlled by its military. The Free Republic was in turn born from revolution, replacing the previous, despotic Atlanta Confederation, which was built on the back of slavery and an entrenched nobility.
History[]
The Great War and its aftermath (2077-2130)[]
Like the rest of the world, Atlanta was devastated in the Great War, scorched by nuclear fire. Most of its population were killed, with half of the city reduced to rubble in the initial conflagration. The few survivors tried to flee the city, with many of them instead succumbing to disease, starvation radiation fallout, the black rain or, sadly often, each other. Fear and mistrust became common within the decimated population, which saw it splinter into isolated communities. Many of these would eventually evolve into tribal groups.
The fallen city remained abandoned for decades. Only the bravest, most desperate or most foolhardy would venture into it for whatever reason. Most of those died, either at the hands of ghouls, from radiation poisoning, or from any number of a myriad hazards within the ruins. Many of the tribals came to see the place as cursed, and chose to avoid it. Over time, settlements, both tribals and homesteaders, would grow up around the ruins, but few dared to get close to it.
It was not until the late 2120s, nearly fifty years after the war, that the radiation died down enough to make the city safe to enter, and that was still discounting its many other hazards. Slowly, the ruins began to draw in scavengers and prospectors looking for pre-war tech or valuables, or even records of the past, that might be valuable to the emergent cultures. Drawing on the lessons of the past, these groups were usually better organized than simply lone wanderers, and better equipped to deal with the obstacles in their way.
At first, these expeditions were usually objective based and directed, not lingering too long within the ruins. However, as the wealth that the ruins offered became more and more apparent, these expeditions became broader and more involved, with many setting up base camps to work from, or rally to if the worst came to the worst. The first permanent settlement within the ruins was established in 2130, set up inside an intact and fortified pre-war library.
Growth and division (2130-2170)[]
This settlement would not remain alone for long. News began to spread of its existence, drawing others into the city. Many of these came to try their own luck with the ruins, hoping for some significant find. Others came simply looking for their own space to live, seeing the city as a way to build a new life and carve out their own space. An outbreak of internecine warfare between a number of tribal groups and homesteaders in the 2130s accelerated the process, as many fled into the ruins of the city in order to find their own space to live away from the fighting.
Within a decade, Atlanta was home to numerous communities. Most of these were small, covering little more than a city block, and often widely separated from each other. Distance wasn’t the only thing dividing them, as much of the city had been over-run with wild animals, mutated creatures, ghouls and other hazards over the years. Not all of these settlers were begnin by any stretch either. Raiders were among those who took up residence in the city, preying on the other settlers around them.
No central authority existed within the city, and no one settlement proved to have any prominence over the other. The result was that conflicts became commonplace within the city, as different groups fought with each other. Many of these problems came from conflicts over resources, pre-war technology or scavenging rights to particular locations. In other cases, they preyed on each other for survival or to establish control. Some had inherited conflicts from outside the city that simply carried over into the new environment.
The outcome was that while the city now boasted numerous settlements and other communities, there was no cooperation between them. Instead, it would spend four decades locked in low-level battles between its population. These conflicts served little purpose other than to sow mistrust and prevent any one group from rising to prominence, or even forming meaningful alliances. It was not until the arrival of outside intervention that any semblance of peace would come to the city, and that was at a hefty price.
Invasion and unification (2170-2189)[]
Originally starting out as pre-war survivalist commune, the Georgia Hills Confederacy had quietly grown in power and prominence over the decades. While the tribals and the inhabitants of Atlanta had fought among themselves, the leaders of the Confederacy had spent their time quietly amassing power and resources in isolation. While they had their own share of problems (including several famines and a civil war in the 2140s), the Confederacy’s leaders remained confident for their own future.
Their biggest boost came in 2170 when a Confederacy scouting force stumbled into a cache of pre-war military weapons, likely left behind by a National Guard unit after the Great War. These weapons were far ahead of those used by the Tribals and other groups in and around Atlanta, giving the Confederacy a considerable technological edge. With this new arsenal at their disposal, the Confederacy’s leader, General Jackson Longstreet, announced a bold vision for the future. The Confederacy would take the city and make it their own, and build their own empire.
Besides their weapons, the Confederacy had been quietly building up an army from its people. Better trained and organised then the tribals and raiders that they targeted, the Confederacy Army was now bolstered by the presence of automatic rifles and even energy weapons that they had recovered. Strict discipline (including harsh punishments for failure) and rewards for loyalty and performance ensured that morale remained high.
Despite these advantages, however, the Confederacy moved slowly and cautiously towards Atlanta, careful not to overstretch themselves or bite off more than they could handle at once. Instead, they picked off communities one by one, bringing them down with superior skill, organisation and firepower. The survivors of the conquered communities were enslaved, and put to work to serve the Confederacy. This slow and methodical approach enabled the Confederacy to pluck off its disorganised, factitious foes at their leisure, all the while creating a steady supply chain to support their advance.
While the Confederacy had suffered losses and setbacks in their campaign thus far, there was no question of their success. Confident that they were ready, Longstreet ordered his troops to enter Atlanta proper and bring the city under their control. The army took a deliberate, divide and conquer approach, singling out and crushing each independent community in turn. As expected, the other settlements refused to work with each other, divided by decades of mistrust while also not quite understanding what they faced.
Even with these advantages, the campaign for Atlanta was by no means an easy one. Despite the Confederacy’s advantages, their enemies still knew the city better than they did, allowing them to dig in and use what they could to defend themselves. Other hazards also slowed their advance, as wild creatures proved to be as much a risk as enemy fire. On numerous occasions, the Confederacy was forced to conscript troops from their conquered peoples, using them as cannon fodder against enemy defences.
In April 2189, the last organised settlement in Atlanta fell to the confederacy. General Longstreet declared himself the president of the newly formed Atlanta Confederacy, proclaiming it to be an ‘empire of humanity in a sea of filth’.
The Confederacy (2189-2246)[]
Atlanta Confederacy flag. The five stars represent the five families that founded the New Georgia Confederacy
Having conquered the city, the Confederacy now set about solidifying their rule and building an empire. Their first move was a mass relocation of their population and infrastructure from their hill forts to their new home in Atlanta, effectively abandoning the hinterlands that had shielded them for over a century. Instead, their new home would be supported by the homesteads and settlements that the Confederacy had conquered, who would give a portion of their output to the city, or else suffer the consequences.
The creation of the Confederacy saw a reorganisation of the existing political structure, in essence building a caste-based society. At the pinnacle of the new power structure was what came to be called the nobility, a patriarchal ruling class who controlled all the power and wealth within the new state, including the President-General himself. Below them was an administrative class, who did most of the day to day management of the society. This included the wives of the nobles, who by the simple default of who they were married to wielded considerable wealth and power.
Below them was the military, which was in turn divided up into units controlled directly by the President-General and ‘private’ commands belonging to the nobles. This arrangement was intended to foster some degree of responsibility onto them, while also preventing any one noble from amassing enough power to overthrow the government.
Finally, the vast majority of the population were slaves, owned either by a noble, an administrator or by the state outright. Unable to own property on their own and with no real rights, the slave class existed at the whim of the nobility. They performed the bulk of the labor within the new society, including farming, construction and so on. And while they made the Confederacy’s society function, they gained no benefit from it at all. While these conditions bred considerable resentment, the presence of the military also prevented them from acting (at least, initially). At the same time, it was possible for a slave to join the military, but to do so they first needed permission from their owner.
Having rebuilt their society, the Confederacy felt that they needed a city to match. Realising that occupying all of Atlanta was impractical, the Confederacy opted to demarcate a portion of the city that they claimed as their own. This district included a considerable number of intact pre-war buildings that became the seats of power for the new leadership and nobility. To protect the people (and keep the slaves in), the government began work on a fortified wall, built from salvaged materials from the city.
A chance discovery in 2198 would completely change the direction of the Confederacy’s future. Then President-General Stuart learned of a community in a secluded location built around a Vault-Tec Vault and populated by the descendants of its dwellers. He saw the potential in such a group, figuring that they would likely be better educated than the average wastelander, and possess skills and knowledge that his own people lacked. After his scouts confirmed the existence of this community, Stuart ordered an attack to capture as many of them as possible.
This move proved to be only partially successful; while the Confederacy captured a portion of the population, the bulk managed to escape, having apparently prepared for this eventuality. None the less, Stuart was pleased with his prizes and the skills they possessed, and immediately put them to work on building his new city. Additional raids netted even more dwellers, adding to the pool of skilled labour.
The Vault Dwellers proved to be worth the effort taken to capture them. While still slaves, they were treated better than the vast majority and given incentives to go to work. Under their control, the reconstruction of Atlanta blossomed into something far greater than originally envisioned. Water purifiers, generators and other amenities were constructed to provide the populace with a much higher standard of living then they had possessed in generations. The walls grew from ramshackle constructions into powerful, purpose-built fortifications, a strong deterrent against attack. Several of these Vault Dwellers would eventually rise to becoming full citizens, taking their place in the administrator class and helping to oversee the continued reconstruction of the city.
Seeing how well this had worked out for him, Stuart ordered more raids against other wasteland communities. These were aimed at taking more slaves, helping to maintain the population while also weakening those that would oppose them. Over the years, these attacks would capture a number of the Vault 62 descendants, who became prizes for the nobility. They also would plant the seeds of the Confederacy’s eventual downfall.
Uprisings and War (2246-2262)[]
For decades, the Confederacy’s rule over the city was stable and unmovable, but hardly peaceful. Time and time again, they would face rebellions from elements of the slave population, and time and time again they would have to be violently put down. The worst of these came in 2246, when nearly a third of city fell under the control of the rebels, who had managed to arm themselves with weapons stolen from Militia arsenals. While the rebellion was eventually put down, it was not before portions of the city had burned and a number of the nobles had been killed. A few of the rebellions’ leaders were captured alive, only to be executed in a public display in the stadium.
While they were so focused on maintaining internal law and order, the Confederacy managed to miss the rise of its greatest threat to date. Silas Haydon was a recent arrival to the region who found a situation ripe for exploitation. While he had done his best to obscure his origins, it was clear that he had military experience and was a skilled planner and tactician. Decades of attacks from the Confederacy had created a sea of resentment among homesteaders, tribals and the Vault 62 descendants (who themselves had integrated into the tribals while maintaining their identity and knowledge). All of them hated the Confederacy and all wanted to bring it down, but no one group had the power to do such.
Starting in early 2260, using his personal charisma and clear military past, Haydon moved among these groups, building up a quiet base of support. He sold them on the idea of revenge against the Confederacy, using a unified military under his control to bring them down. This notion found popular support, with groups pledging their support to his cause; many as much to bring down their enemy as to not appear weak in the face of their other rivals. Appointing himself their leader, Haydon sealed command of this force with his (secret) marriage to Caddy Clearwater, the daughter of a prominent regional tribal leader.
In 2261, Silas lead his warband in attacks on the Confederacy’s outer holdings. These attacks struck them by surprise, as the Confederacy’s army had grown lax over the years and simply did not expect to be facing a large, well-organised and well-led enemy force. They were too used to simply overwhelming their weaker, less-equipped opponents that they didn’t know how to respond. Many of Silas’ early victories were shockingly one-sided as a result, with the Confederacy militia simply unable to respond in a meaningful manner. Expeditions to try and root out Silas and his force instead turned into bloody ambushes, costing the militia troops and equipment for very little gain.
The militia tried to regroup, only to face a new problem. Another slave uprising began within the city, this one being backed by Silas. Smugglers allied with him were providing the rebels with weapons and equipment (much of it taken from the militia), in exchange for information and promises of cooperation. Few inside the city questioned his motivations, instead seeing him as being a liberator of the people with the same goals as they had, in the overthrow of a corrupt nobility and inequitable system.
Wracked with problems within their city and an army at their gates, many of the nobles panicked, afraid for their fates. Rather than helping protect their city, many had their personal guards redeployed to protect them and their personal estates. Fearing that their inaction would cost them the city, President-General Lee was forced to order them into action, declaring that any noble who held back their forces would be seen as a traitor.
At the same time, Silas was continuing to move in, surrounding the city on three sides. Not only had many of the Confederacy’s outposts fallen before him, but in many cases, the farms and other settlements he had attacked had willingly joined him, throwing their support behind a man they saw as their liberator. The Confederacy’s army proved to be ineffective, with their commanders more focused on earning favour with their patron nobles then looking after the city as a whole.
Some of Silas' soldiers, c2262
After only a short pause for winter, Silas reached the gates of the city in early 2262. Acting in coordination with his force, the rebels seized control of two of the key crossings, allowing Silas to enter the city and march on the palace. The remaining militia forces dug in for a desperate last stand, hoping to turn Silas back or at least contain him. However, hamstrung by ineffective leadership and the constant fighting, they instead found themselves being surrounded and either captured or killed. For their part, the Nobles fell back to the presidential palace, fortifying it while trying to protect their own lives.
After two weeks of house-to-house fighting, Silas and his men entered the palace, capturing President-General Lee and most of his inner circle. Lee was personally executed by Silas, with his body being strung up from the palace flagpole. As a way to ensure the favour of his supporters, Silas then turned the remaining nobles over to the rebels to face their summary judgement. To a man they were lynched by the mobs; some were mutilated and even castrated first, and more than one died with his own severed genitals stuffed in his mouth.
The Republic (2262-2287)[]
Having eliminated the leadership, Silas declared that the Confederacy was dead. In its place, he created a new state, the Atlanta Free Republic. The leadership of this new order was made up of Silas and his supporters who had lead the assault on the Confederacy. The birth of his daughter Scarlett in late 2262 helped cement his alliance with the Tribals that formed a key part of his new order.
His first act as leader was to abolish slavery, and grant full citizenship to those who had been suffering under the Confederacy’s leadership. This move was immediately celebrated amongst the now former slaves, even though it actually meant that little had changed. Having previously owned nothing, many of them now had no homes, jobs or wealth of their own.
To oversee what he called the ‘transition’ to a new government and away from a slave-based economy, Silas set up a provisional council that would serve to dismantle the old systems, redistribute wealth and create a functional system on the other side. Much of the council was made up of those who were personally loyal to him, chiefly the former leadership of his warband. While they did move to actually redress the city’s problem to a degree, there was a certain level of inertia that came from trying to dismantle a system that had been in place for seven decades, especially after undercutting its economic foundations and eliminating its entire ruling class.
The result was that change came slowly. Most of the former slaves remained poor, now living on minimal wages and often being paid directly in rations. The administrative class (save for those that had been killed for whatever reason) largely stayed in place, but now had to oversee an economy in transition. The only easy part of the change came from the military; having been essentially destroyed during the takeover, there were few to oppose Silas. Instead, a new army was raised, based around his surviving loyalists.
However, the Confederacy’s military had not been entirely destroyed, despite Haydon’s claims. A few hold-outs persisted, and did their best to fight back against the new regime. Many of them were aided by sympathetic members of the administrative class who had seen their own power and authority eroded. This resistance began a campaign of terror, aimed at destabilising the government or causing unrest. Sabotage, sniper attacks and bombs were their usual weapons, although these served primarily to hurt the average citizen and did little to effect the government.
That all changed in 2269 when a well-placed bomb killed Caddy Clearwater and maimed Silas Haydon. In response, Silas declared martial law and launched a crackdown across the city, aimed at eliminating any remaining resistance to his rule. His heavy handed actions got results, with a number of former Confederacy soldiers captured, alongside members of the administrative class that had aided them. After only minimal trials (and often brutal interrogations), they were all executed to serve as an example. However, Silas opted to keep the city under martial law, imposing harsh penalties for any crimes in the name of ‘protecting the people’.
The 2270s were a period of slow change as the last vestiges of the Confederacy’s authority and structure were dismantled. The former slave population, while now free, remained almost entirely poor, forming a working underclass. Frequently performing back-breaking labor under horrible conditions, the system ensured that their chances for advancement were minimal. This in turn bred resentment, something that even the threat of harsh penalties could not completely control.
In 2281, a new uprising began within the city, this time directed at Silas’ rule. No longer based around former Confederacy members (who by this point had been entirely purged or sidelined), it instead grew up from the working classes that the revolution had so clearly failed. While at first largely peaceful, based around strikes, protests and other such actions, a combination of heavy-handed crackdown and internal leadership changes saw it take on a more violent and confrontational air.
Little changed within the city, but the growing battles between the resistance and the peacekeepers disrupted civilian lives. The resistance became more indiscriminate in their actions, leading to greater collateral damage. In return, the Peacekeepers and often the Guard used heavy-handed tactics to not only respond to attacks but in their investigations and crackdowns. In 2284, the leader of the resistance was arrested and executed, which seemed to put an end to the disruptions.
Instead, a third wave of resistance began in 2286, and has been ongoing since. This time around, the attacks were more coordinated and precise, focused very narrowly on government and military targets. By the end of 2287, no new resistance leader had been identified, but many were beginning to suspect that the group had insider aid that was feeding them intelligence. In response, the Guard was given powers to investigate the matter and go over the heads of everyone else outside of the inner circle, but failed to find any leads to the identity of the informant (or even if there is one).
Description[]
Despite its ambitious and lofty name, the Atlanta Free Republic does not actually control the entirety of Atlanta (although neither did the Confederacy before it). It does, however, encompass much of the centre of the city, with the core of the city built around the old Atlanta downtown and then surrounded by walls to delineate the Free Republic from the rest of the city ruins. The Republic has deliberately chosen to follow the same plan as its predecessor in neglecting whatever lies outside the walls, leaving it in ruins.
Inner City[]
The Inner City is centred on the old Downtown of Atlanta. While the downtown was not ground zero for the nuclear weapon used against Atlanta, it was nonetheless damaged in the attack, and, of course, the subsequent years of violence and neglect. Many of the original high-rise buildings were damaged or had partially collapsed by the time the Confederation took control of the city. Since it was in the centre of the region they controlled, the Confederacy’s ruling party chose to make it the centre of their new order.
A number of the old buildings, those that were in the best condition, were repaired to a degree and put back into use. The less intact or worn buildings were torn down, their materials repurposed in new constructions. While the earliest buildings were makeshift structures, over time the Confederacy’s rulers began to engage in more and more elaborate constructions. As their wealth and power increased, the construction of elaborate homes and estates became a point of pride for the city’s elites as a symbol of their prestige.
Following the fall of the Confederacy, many of these estates were given over to Silas’ supporters as a way of rewarding their loyalty. Others were repurposed or given over to members of the administrative or even working classes. The result was something of a shrinkage of the Inner City, as its boundaries were redrawn to remove buildings and blocks that were no longer the domain of the ruling elites.
Even then, the new ruling class of the Republic lead lives of comparative wealth and comfort, with reliable food and water supplies, spacious and well-maintained homes and readily available medical care. Even with many of the grandiose estates of the former nobility divided up into more functional housing, they are still larger and better appointed than the average home in the outer city. In many cases, the servants of the ruling classes live better lives than many in the outer city. In addition, the inner city has a constant millitary presence to ensure the protection of the government and its ruling class.
The Inner City is segregated from the outer city by a series of walls and checkpoints. Since the uprising, movement between the two districts has become difficult due to the increasingly heavy-handed diligence of the security forces
Outer City[]
The majority of the city’s area and population fall into what is known as the Outer City. Much of what became the outer city was devastated in the Great War, or the years of neglect and fighting that followed. Under the Confederacy’s rule, only select portions of the outer city were rebuilt as needed to house the functionaries that helped keep their system running. The rest was rebuilt on an ad-hoc or as needed basis, resulting in a disparity of building styles and quality. Restored pre-war structures exist alongside partially rebuilt and repurposed ones or entirely new buildings constructed from whatever materials come to hand.
Since the Confederacy’s downfall, things have improved, although not as much as would be hoped. Several projects undertaken by Haydon resulted in new housing for freed slaves, and the demolition of the barracks in which they were often kept. However, the quality of this construction often varied wildly, largely depending on what resources were available. The result is that while there is some degree of consistency within a district of the outer city, the conditions can still vary wildly. The worst parts of the outer city resemble shantytowns, made of crudely-built shacks, shipping containers, old vehicles or other makeshift structures.
Life in the outer city is relatively safe and consistent, even if it is not overly comfortable. Typically entire families will live in a single room, and multiple families living in a single pre-war house is common. Much of the population receive regular rations as a part of their salary, which means that starvation is rare, but also not unheard of. Many within the Outer City supplement their diet with crops grown in communal gardens. The presence of several doctors of varying quality does help prevent the spread of disease, but their goals are aimed more at ensuring a reliable workforce than actual patient care.
Clean Water is reasonably available (and again, rationed) but the often ad-hoc infrastructure of the outer city does result in the occasional shortage. Likewise, in theory the outer city is supposed to have regular power and lighting, but in actuality there are frequent brown-outs or failures.
Factory District[]
A part of the Outer City, the Factory District was created by the Confederacy as a part of their efforts at empire-building. Built around a pre-war industrial district of the city, the Factory District was raised from the shells and functioning remains of a number of different buildings. In many ways, the Factory District is the heart of the Republic and is vital to its continued existence.
First and foremost, the district is home to a water purification facility that provides clean water for the entire city, both inner and outer city. Much of its output is piped directly to distribution centres throughout the city, but some is also sent for bottling so that it can be distributed as rations and the like. The latter is performed at a former Nuka-Cola factory, the machinery of which as been partially restarted.
Power comes from an old Power Station that was similarly partially repaired under the Confederacy’s rule. While it produces only a fraction of its previous output, the result is still seen as being adequate to ensure the city’s power supply. Due to its age and often inefficient converted systems, the power plant produces thick clouds of black smoke that usually fall over the poorest parts of the Outer City.
The factory district is also home to a number of other industries that are vital to keeping the city running. Many of these are rather inefficient, due to their use of rebuilt, centuries-old machinery, and as a result rely heavily on manual labour and have low output compared to their pre-war counterparts. Key industries include the manufacture of the machinery that helps keep the city running, repurposing and reclaiming of raw materials, production of weapons, armour and ammunition for the armed forces and so on.
The Wall[]
After the Confederacy had seized control of Atlanta, two major concerns dominated their thinking. The first was the very real threat from the remaining powers in the region; while they had conquered the tribals within the city, there were still many other tribes outside of it that posed a risk. On top of this was the existence of savage, mutated creatures that lurked in the countryside around the city, as well as stories of savage, green giants, all of which could be a threat.
A section of the wall
The second was the need to keep the population of the Confederacy corralled and under control. With most of them being slaves, there was a real need to prevent mass escapes and the disruptions that they would cause. Against these two needs, one of President-General Jackson Longstreet’s first acts was to authorise the construction of a wall around the city. In addition to containing and protecting the Confederacy’s population, he also intended for it to become a symbol of the Confederacy’s power.
At first, the wall was a purely makeshift affair, constructed from repurposed and salvaged materials. At this point, the goal was to simply create some form of defence; aesthetics were a consideration that could come later once the Confederacy was better established. It would not be until the early 23rd century, with the aid of the captive Vault 62 descendants, that construction on a more permanent structure began, resulting in the modern wall that became as much a symbol of the Confederacy as its flag.
The wall remains to this day, as it proved to be just as useful to the Free Republic as it did to its predecessors. The modern version is a brutalist, metal-reinforced brick and concrete structure built from reclaimed materials. Completely encircling the city, it often cuts across pre-war streets, housing blocks and in some case, even through old buildings in its delineation of the world. Only a few gates exist, and they are heavily guarded and fortified against possible attacks. Guard towers exist along its circumference, providing both early warning capabilities and high firing positions.
Ironically, the wall proved to be less than useful against Silas Haydon’s assault. This was less due to any flaws in its design as it was the inefficiency of the Confederacy’s millitary leadership and factionalism within their forces. Silas used these issues to his advantage, allowing him to isolate the individual guard stations and eliminate them as needed. Furthermore, the guards on the wall were oft distracted by the uprisings inside the city, reducing their effectiveness.
Homesteads[]
While not within the city itself, the homesteads are vital to its function. This network of small farms and communities, some of which date back to the Great War, provide much of the city’s food supply and, as such, are vital to its existence. These communities were a part of the formation of the Confederacy, conquered by its forces during their march towards Atlanta in order to supply their dreams of empire. They would also be instrumental in its downfall, as many of them chose to support Haydon during his own campaign, depriving the city of their produce.
Recognising both their role in his victory and the importance they played in ensuring his future, Silas ensured that the Homesteads were well looked-after. Even though they varied in size, produce, output and so on, her ensured that all of them would be well defended and given a standing force of soldiers to help protect them as well as other static defences like walls and turrets. Likewise, their supply lines to the city would be constantly patrolled in order to ensure that they remained clear of trouble.
Even allowing for all of these advantages, life in a Homestead is rarely easy or comfortable. The conditions are often frontier-like, with the family living in a single-roomed building of crude construction. The people who live and work on the homesteads are at the mercy of the elements and unnatural conditions such as radstorms, as well as such threats as wild creatures and raiders. Power is rare, and clean water can often be in short supply.
Notable Locations[]
Palace[]
The centre of the Inner City is based around the old State Capitol Building, which survived the war mostly intact. The Confederacy claimed the building as their own as a symbol of their prestige as well as a way to claim a heritage going back to the old world. The building was repaired by the Confederacy, and later fortified as a way to protect against insurgencies. This move was ultimately futile, undermined by the infighting and inefficiencies within the Confederacy’s militia.
Following the fall of the Confederacy, the Atlanta Free Republic simply repurposed the building as their own, making few changes to it along the way. Silas Haydon claimed the building as his own seat of power after ritualistically ‘cleansing’ it through the destruction of any surviving Confederacy imagery. The building was simply seen as to valuable to ignore, both from a practical and symbolic point of view.
Aside from serving as the seat of power, the palace also is the home to Silas Haydon and his only remaining family, his daughter, Scarlett. They live in a wing of the building that has been transformed into a comparatively palatial home for the pair of them, although many of the fittings in turn dated back to the Confederacy period. As expected due to its value, the Palace has a standing guard of the best and most loyal troops the military has to offer.
Peacekeeper Headquarters[]
Located within the Inner City, the Peacekeeper Headquarters is built from the former city’s central police precinct. Having survived the war relatively intact, the building was captured by the Confederacy and converted into the headquarters for the President-General’s personal guard. Over time, the building came to resemble more of a luxury hotel than anything else, as the ranks of the guard filled up with toadies and officers who were rewarded for their loyalty more than any capabilities. Troop reviews and parades gave way to soirees and galas, with the building further modified to suit its new functions.
Under the Republic, the building was stripped back to something closer to its original purpose. The excesses were removed, replaced with an almost stark brutality intended to reinforce the Peacekeepers’ role in protecting the city. The building now serves as a combination of barracks, armoury and administrative centre where operations are run from and the Peacekeeper forces live. It also possesses a lock-up for containment of prisoners before their typically brief trials.
Stadium[]
Atlanta Stadium survived the Great War and subsequent years of fighting mostly intact. At various points it was used as a shelter and even housed a small community before the Confederacy’s takeover of the city. Under their rule, it was transformed into a symbol of their power, and soon came to represent their repression. The building was restored as best possible, and decked out with the symbols of the Confederacy to serve as a reminder of their control.
Under their rule, the stadium became a showcase for their power and often their excesses. The stadium became a venue for trading, specifically the buying and selling of slaves. This included those who had come from slave families within the city, as well as captives taken in raids. The stadium was also used for public rallies and grand speeches by the city’s leadership, intended to demonstrate their power and reinforce their rule. Finally, during the uprisings, the stadium was used for public show trials and executions.
Following the fall of the city, the stadium presented a problem for Silas Haydon and his new order. While it represented a visible and hated symbol of the Confederacy and its repression, it also was too big a structure to simply ignore, and tearing it down would have been a waste of precious time and resources. Instead, Haydon stated that the stadium was to be “reclaimed by the people”, turning it over to many of the freed slaves that had been left homeless due to their changing circumstances.
Within short order, the stadium had turned into a shantytown, packed with crudely built structures on both the arena floor and within the seating areas. Now one of the most desperately poor and run down part of the city, it is a den of crime, vice and illicit activities. A black market exists in the shadows, trading in rare goods from outside the city or illegal chems. It is also rumoured that the stadium is the home to members of the resistance, who use its warrens as shelter to meet and plan their movements.
Government[]
For all its pretensions, the Atlanta Free Republic is an autocratic dictatorship, with power lying solely in the hands of its leader, Silas Haydon. However, Haydon is also aware enough to know that he cannot rule alone, and has built up a powerbase of loyal individuals who ensure the day to day functionality of the Republic. Having witnessed the failings of the Confederacy first-hand, Haydon chose his inner circle for their skills and talents as much as their loyalty.
Consequentially, while he does not tolerate dissent in his populace, Haydon has proven to be surprisingly willing to listen to advice and take action based on what is the most pragmatic or effective move, rather than his own whims. However, this is not to say that he is light-handed by any degree. He will over-ride his advisors if he feels that their suggestions are too soft, or not in the best interests of maintaining his powerbase.
While none question his rule, there are quiet concerns over who would replace Silas should anything happen to him. While many expect that his daughter, Scarlett, would take power, as yet he has not made any formal arrangements for her to do such. Furthermore, there are those that quietly question her suitability for the role, given her relative youth and lack of political connections within the city’s leadership.
Military[]
The true key to Silas Haydon’s power is his military. Raised from a collection of tribals, homesteaders, raiders, freed slaves and others, it was vital to the destruction of the Confederacy and his rise to power. After the establishment of the Republic, it was then transformed into a more formalised, regimented force that was charged with the protection of the city and its people from whatever threats may arise, weather they be from without or within.
While well-organised, regimented and well-led, the military still remains relatively poor and simple in its equipment. They possess very few high-tech pre-war weapons, with energy weapons being almost non-existent and limited to a handful of examples. Often they are armed only with civilian firearms such as hunting rifles, and many of their number are equipped with crude “pipe” guns. Likewise, their forces are entirely conventional in nature, lacking robots or any Power Armour suits.
In theory, the military is divided into two groups; the Peacekeepers who police the city, and the Guard who protect it from external threats. In practice, a third group, the Presidential Guard, exists as an entity unto its own.
Peacekeepers[]
The smaller of the two millitary branches, the Peacekeepers are charged with maintaining peace and order within the city. Rather than being any form of police force, they are more akin to armed paramilitaries with broad discretionary powers to do whatever is needed to accomplish their objectives. Consequentially, their methods are often blunt and brutal, operating on the premise that their targets are guilty until proven otherwise. As the Republic has no true criminal justice system, it is rare that an innocent person gets a chance to prove their point.
While small in number by comparison, the Peacekeepers are well-trained and well-lead, and aim to achieve their objective through precise strikes rather than overwhelming applications of force. Typically they work in small squads, providing a visible presence on the city’s streets. The Peacekeepers are usually equipped with pre-war armour and weapons (or good quality post-war reproductions) and have a surprisingly high degree of standardisation among their forces. Their favoured weapons are submachine guns and combat shotguns for close-quarters fighting, but other weapons, such as assault and sniper rifles, are issued as needed.
Since their formation, the Peacekeepers have been lead by Tobias Shaw.
Presidential Guard[]
In theory a subset of the Peacekeepers, the Presidential Guard are in reality an authority unto their own. As the name suggests, they are charged with the protection of the Republic’s leadership and its continued operation. Publicly, they accomplish this through their high-visibility presence in and around the Capitol and other places in the Inner City. Behind the scenes, they have broad investigative powers that includes power over the other branches of the military.
While the Presidential Guard is a prestigious unit, it is also a functional one. Its members are selected from proven members of the Peacekeepers, ones who have displayed exceptional skills and loyalty to the Republic and its leadership. As a result, they are both loyal and capable in a fight, and are willing to lay down their lives for their city-state. The Presidential Guard also have the best equipment available to them, including pre-war heavy riot armour. This has lead to their being nicknamed “browncoats” due to their signature apparel.
In theory the leader of the Presidential Guard is Silas Haydon, although his position is largely ceremonial. In practice they are lead by Tobias Shaw.
Guard[]
The line soldiers of the New Atlanta Republic, the Guard is the largest of its military branches by a considerable degree. Charged with protecting the city from external threats, they perform such duties as manning the city’s gates and watchtowers, escorting supply trains, performing sweeps of the countryside to locate threats, protecting homesteads and so on. They are also expected to answer to the Peacekeepers, and also be seconded to them for military operations when they need greater numbers. The result is a feeling that the Guard is second best in all things.
The truth of the situation would seem to bear out that suspicion. In general, the soldiers in the guard are poorly trained and led, and often rely more on weight of numbers than any real advantages in ability or tactics. Their equipment is often disparate, with poor standardisation and men using whatever they can find or salvage. Many of the Guard’s members are from the poorest parts of the Republic’s population who join up because they have no better options and are willing to take the risks for the opportunities offered.
The current commander of the guard is Jimmy Wang.
Notable People[]
Silas Haydon[]
Silas Haydon
The unquestioned leader of the New Atlanta Republic, Haydon is actually a somewhat enigmatic figure. Few know about his life before he arrived in the region, nor his exact motivation for raising an army to bring down the confederacy. His exact age is also unclear, but most place him in his early sixties. Finally, while he clearly had experience as a millitary leader, where he gained those skills from is unknown. Silas tends to discourage probing into his background, either through redirection or, when such fails, thinly veiled threats.
Silas presents the image of a stern, humourless man, stony-faced and not given to expression. In public, he acts the part of a resolute defender, one who has sacrificed much for his people, but also bears the burden of doing such willingly. While it is clear that he is loyal to the Republic, but separating his desire to see it survive and protecting his own power quickly becomes impossible. He is, however, pragmatic enough to put the city ahead of his own personal interest in most cases, and genuinely values the contributions of his inner circle towards the protection of the city.
His only (known) surviving family is his daughter, Scarlett. Relations between the two do appear to be somewhat strained, with the pair apparently having grown cold and distant from each other. Conversely, those who knew him described his relationship to his wife, Caddy Clearwater, as warm and affectionate. While he married her for a political alliance, it was clear that the pair of them genuinely loved each other, and that her death deeply effected him.
Scarlett Haydon[]
Scarlett Haydon
The only (known) relative of Silas Haydon, Scarlett was born from his marriage to Caddy Clearwater. Her mother’s death during her childhood seems to have deeply effected her, and may have been the root cause of the rift between her and her father. While she grew up in the (relative) lap of luxury and enjoyed numerous advantages due to her parentage, Scarlett instead has become determined to succeed on her own merit. However, at the same time, she is not above throwing her weight around when she needs to.
As stern and humourless as her father, Scarlett possesses a more publicly aggressive drive and determination. This becomes clear in her role as a captain in the Peacekeepers; she will be ruthless in her pursuit of a target, and will stop at nothing to bring them down. She also is not afraid to put purpose before politics, and has gone after apparent resistance sympathisers who should have been shielded by their position or their apparent loyalties. This has in turn only caused more problems between herself and her father, as she refuses to defer to him.
While many assume that her rank was a result of her parentage, Scarlett has shown that she is a capable officer in her own right. In addition, she is a keen marksman and enjoys hunting outside the city for dangerous animals, as much for the sport as eliminating threats.
As the daughter of the city’s ruler, she has been approached with numerous offers of marriage from those looking to build alliances and favour with Haydon. Thus far, she has rejected every last one of them, much to her father’s displeasure.
Tobias Shaw[]
Tobias Shaw
In the wars that lead to the formation of the Republic, Tobias Shaw was a key ally of Haydon’s. An early supported of his, Shaw threw the weight of his tribe behind the stranger, seeing in him an opportunity to destroy the hated Confederacy while bringing his own people to power. During the Atlanta campaign, Shaw became an indispensable right hand to Haydon. The second in command of his forces, he was a capable leader in his own right, and instrumental in their eventual victory. He was also, by all accounts, the closest thing the stony-faced Haydon had to an actual friend.
Following the fall of the Confederacy, Shaw was rewarded for his loyalty with command of the newly-raised Peacekeepers. The effective commander of the city-state’s armed forces, Shaw answered only to Haydon himself, and was given broad discretionary powers to do whatever he needed to ensure the peace and stability of their new order. This made him the second most powerful man in the Republic, a fact that he was well aware of.
If anything, Shaw is even more driven and ruthless then Haydon. He has in past taken extreme measures in protecting his city, and was the one who suggested martial law as the only appropriate response to Caddy Clearwater’s killing. He is also not above playing politics, as he used the subsequent purges to eliminate a number of potential rivals. He also has a clear dislike for Scarlett Haydon; he sees her as an upstart who has no place in the Peacekeepers, and feels that she is more akin to a spoiled child playing soldier than an actual officer.
Jackie Conroy[]
Jackie Conroy
While often overlooked in the face of the military and its leadership, Jackie Conroy has a vital role in ensuring the New Atlanta Republic’s continued existence. A member of Haydon’s inner circle, she serves as the city’s chief engineer in charge of the operation of its key technologies. Her responsibility is to ensure that the city has a constant supply of water and power, and that its various industries continue to function. While the role is a challenge, it is one that she revels in.
Technically knowledgeable and skilled, she relishes the chance to show off her abilities and enjoys showing up others. This has become a key part of getting her job done; whenever she is facing opposition to some initiative of hers (such as improvements to water distribution to better help the poorer parts of the city) she will roll out a barrage of aggressive techno-babble designed to intimidate her opponent into backing down or agreeing. However, even she is not confident enough to try such on Haydon or Shaw.
The descendant of Vault 62 dwellers, Jackie is proud of her heritage. She usually wears a vintage Vaultsuit that belonged to one of her ancestors, and has been passed down through her family as an heirloom. The most compassionate of the inner circle (which is not saying much in and of itself) she seems to genuinely care for the city’s people, and seeks to make their lives better through technology.
Jimmy Wang[]
Jimmy Wang
The current commander of the Guard, Jimmy Wang inherited the position after the previous leader was killed in 2284 by a terrorist bombing. While this does in theory make him a member of the inner circle of the Republic, the truth is that he knows that he’s a junior member of the group. As the leader of the Guard, he’s effectively subordinate to Tobias Shaw and wields very little actual authority. This position is reflected within the council’s chambers where he rarely is given a chance to actually do anything.
However, Jimmy is still a capable commander in and of himself. He has done his best to try and improve the lot of the Guard and make them better than they were when he took control of them. This has seen overall improvements in their morale and capabilities, even if they are still seen as second best. Wang’s hope is to bring the guard up to a point where they are more equal to the Peacekeepers. Of course, this would also help improve his own position and power, making it beneficial to him in the long term.
Strike[]
Strike
The closest thing that Scarlett Haydon has to a real friend, Strike is a hunting dog that has been her constant and loyal companion for the last three years. Originally, he was given to her as a puppy by a potential suitor. She gladly accepted the gift, but still rejected their offer of marriage. Of vaguely German Shepard ancestry, Strike is exceptionally intelligent and well-trained dog, easily understanding and following his master’s commands.
A keen hunter herself, Scarlett trained Strike to work alongside her in locating, flushing out and retrieving game. He has also accompanied her on operations in her role as a Peacekeeper captain, proving to be just as adept against human targets. When asked why she bought a dog with her, Scarlett simply replied that it meant she had at least one man on her team who knew what they were doing.
Red Shadow[]
The (apparent) present leader of the resistance is a figure known only as Red Shadow. Very little is known about them; even within the resistance, only a few have ever spoken with them, and even less have met them in person. They have gone to great lengths to conceal their identity, but the results they have achieved cannot be disputed. What is known is that Red Shadow has a line to high-level intelligence about the operations of the federation’s government and military, including insights on the otherwise loyal Presidential Guard.
Thanks to the resistance’s compartmentalised cell network, Red Shadow actually interacts with very few of its members. Instead, they relay information to their subordinates as needed, who pass the information down the chain. The results are a very focused and directed organisation that narrowly defines their targets, rather than the more indiscriminate forms that the previous uprisings took.
Some suspect that Red Shadow may not actually be a single person. Rather, it may be a collective name for several high-level resistance leaders, created to confuse efforts at eliminating them. Others suspect that they do not exist at all, and are a deliberate effort at misdirection. Regardless of the truth, Red Shadow so far has proven to be an effective and unpredictable leader, and has accomplished more than any other opponent to Haydon’s rule so far.
| This has been written by Darthfish. Please contact this user before editing this article. |
| This has been written by KayEmm. Please contact this user before editing this article. |
| This has been written by DayteBayte. Please contact this user before editing this article. |