[Ash] Last Pale Light in the West

Capitol Island,
Atomic City, Yakima
September 11th, 2521

GUILTY!

The words were like a gunshot. The echoes of the verdict reverberated across the Grand Cascadian Republic. From the gun of a Congress, the bullet of a ruling had been fired, right at the heart of the Unionist states. A warrant for the arrest of the man responsible was issued, and at the top of the list was John C Abignail, Governor of New Idaho.

---

Boomtown, New Idaho
September 29th, 2521

The column came down the Parkway. Nine Heavy Infantry in their power armor suits, lead by twenty Peacekeepers on horseback, with two Medium Tanks to the rear, and flanked by nearly a hundred GCR infantry to either side.

But this was no military procession. They were here to serve the warrant and arrest the Governor of New Idaho.

New Idaho militiamen were arrayed on the steps to the capital hall. These were gruff looking men, veterans of the Salish War as well as against the many raids from groups across the border. They watched the government troops march down the parkway and come to a halt before the steps.

A GCR colonel, leading the procession, rode forward, and a Peacekeeper Ranger accompanied him. He held aloft a large piece of paper and waved it before the militia.

“I am here by order of President Tan and the Cascadian Congress to apprehend and arrest John C Abignail. Anyone who impedes our duty will face the full might of the law.”

There was no answer. The militiamen stared stoically at the soldiers and their heavy equipment, but no one moved.

The Ranger leaned over to the Colonel. “They have men in the buildings surrounding us.”

The Colonel merely nodded, taking the information in stride. “Where is Governor Abignail?” he demanded, his voice echoing.

A tall thin man, with a long gray beard and an old model rifle stepped forward. “And who are you?”

“I am Colonel Hartdegen of the 1st Brigade, 6th Division.”

The older man smiled disarmingly. “Batteryridge boys, eh? My name’s Earl Schrifter. I was a Sergeant with the 1st Armored Division myself during the Salish War. Now there’s no need for us to kill each other today, so why don’t you boys turn around and go back to your fort.”

Colonel Hartdegen spurred his horse forward, riding up the steps. The militia men scattered away to avoid being trampled. He came to a stop in front of Earl. “Sergeant, you are standing in the way of justice. As a man who served our nation, you have a duty to defend its laws.”

Earl didn’t even blink at the colonel’s approach, nor was he impressed with his words. “No disrespect, Colonel, but to hell with your so-called duty. Cascadia is nothing but a spineless nanny-state these days. We beat those Salishins, and it wasn’t even five years before they were being given full citizenship and allowed to settle here in our lands. We fought to defend our country and were repaid with betrayal.”

“I’m not here to argue politics with you, Sergeant. If you don’t stand aside, I’ll make you.”

Earl responded by lifting his rifle and pointing it at Hartdegen. “You’ll be the first to die, colonel,” he stated as if he was talking about nothing more than the weather.

Hartdegen shrugged his shoulders, turning his horse around. “Your choice,” he said and rode back down the stairs. With a wave of his hand his men took up positions, creating a firing line. The Peacekeepers took point and started forward.

The militiamen stood their ground as the soldiers approached. The horses started up the stairs and they started falling back. Earl barked orders, telling them to hold their fire as the horsemen steadily pushed them back.

Then a shot rang out. For a second everyone stopped, fear and surprise on their faces. Then one of the militia raised his rifle as if to fire and a Peacekeeper shot him in the chest. Gunfire erupted all around.

Somewhere somebody screamed, “Kill these motherfuckers!” The tank blasted one of the houses overlooking the parkway. And then the infantry charged up the stairs as the Peacekeepers laid into the defending militiamen.

---

The Last Pale Light In The West - Ben Nichols

---

The first shots rang out in Boomtown, sparking a war that had been building for some time. A myriad of causes had led to the escalating conflict. Among those were a growing religious difference as the Sybaritic sect had already broken with the Gaianist Christian church a mere seven years before. On top of that was a growing political divide. Federalists had come to dominate the heartland of the GCR and the populated cities of the republic. They were against unregulated free trade and believed in the resettlement of rovers who had migrated into the area in the mid and late 2400s.

The Unionists, whose power was centered in the south among the industrial sectors of the south were opposed. They wanted less government regulation for industry, but most of all, they were furious about the resettlements as they felt they were being forced to take the bulk of the rover population.

But the biggest point of contention was the topic of Indentured Servants. From the beginning of the GCR slavery had been outlawed as barbaric and evil. Despite this the use of indentured servants had become widespread before the formation of the republic. Yakima itself had started the practice, giving convicts the chance to take a shorter service contract instead of a prison sentence after which they would receive a lump sum payment and have their record cleared. With a limited population to do major works projects it seemed a perfect solution .

Indentured Servitude spread across the region but it soon was used to promote an ever growing economic divide. Following the First and Second Rover Wars, indentured servitude became a practice to enforce a racial divide. Rovers were often pressured into servitude contracts that could range from fifteen to thirty years long, effectively making them slaves for life.

The Federalists attempted to ban or limit the spread of indentured servitude, but the Unionists had become powerful in the wake of the Rover Wars as many people were afraid of these new migrants displacing them. Yet their power waned as the new century rolled around. A third party, the Constitutionalists, had grown in popularity and were demanding a true constitution for the nation instead of the articles of union which had governed the nation since its foundation.

While the Federalists and Constitutionalists both pushed for a ban on indentured servitude, eventually they compromised and made an amendment to limit servitude contracts to seven years hoping to avoid a conflict. The Federalists and Constitutionalists comforted themselves that the compromise would also limit the spread of indentured servitude to any new territoires.

But in moves that were widely regarded as illegal, the Unionists blocked the statehood proposal of Pacifica unless indentured servitude was legalized in Klamath. This stalled the admittance of Pacifica. In 2514 when an indentured uprising is violently put down and its leaders executed without trial, then President Forseman dismissed numerous Unionist senators and representatives from congress as they had known about the arrests and executions before they happened.

While the Unionists are forced to elect new representatives, the Federalists and Constitutionalists use the opportunity to admit Pacifica as a state while maintaining Klamath’s ban on indentured servants. The Unionists retaliate by illegally stacking the ballot in the New Yukon territory to allow Indentured Servitude.

The supreme court ruled that Abignail's actions were illegal and that he was guilty of corruption and vote buying. A warrant is issued for his arrest. But as the GCR troops attempt to arrest the governor, fire is exchanged between the military and the local militia, resulting in the deaths of thirty-three New Idahoans and two Cascadian Soldiers. A civil war, a long time in coming, had finally begun.

The Battle of Fort Bridger
October 13, 2521

“Telegraph lines are down.”

Major Pendelcott didn’t seem to be bothered by the report. He’d already received his orders from President Tan to hold the fort against these insurrectionists. The orders would not likely be rescinded. So he’d keep to his orders. Not to fire unless fired upon. The rebels could cut telegraph wires all they liked.

“Weren’t we due to receive one of them new radios?” Captain George Adamsson asked.

“Not until after the new year,” Pendelcott responded as he continued to look over the fort’s supply list and duty roster.

“Command spends a fortune on acquiring the technology and when the time comes that we actually need it, we of course haven’t been issued one.”

The Major looked up and his subordinate with a dour look. He didn’t like his officers speaking ill of the Cascadian Military. He then noticed the messenger who had delivered the report was still standing there at attention. “Dismissed,” the Major said.

After the young man left he gave the captain his instructions for gun and troop placements. Afterwards he made his way up onto the fort's walls to look at the gathering rebels.

They’d been flooding in over the last two days. Most were nothing more than rabble, disgruntled farmers and factory workers who’d grabbed their hunting rifles and rushed off to join the ‘Great Uprising’. Pendelcott wasn’t worried about them. Untrained and disorganized men were never a threat to an experienced fighting force. But among the rebels were many former soldiers and officers, veterans of the Salish War. And there were also a good number of local State Guardsmen, the most prepared and disciplined of the besieging forces. And they had artillery and other heavy military equipment.

It’s our duty to hold this fort, Pendelcott reminded himself. But as the mob grew he started to wonder if that was possible.

---

October 14, 2521

The first burst of artillery fire rained down into the fort. Men scrambled to cover as explosions tore up the grounds.

Pendelcott had rejected demands to surrender from the rebel commanders. So as the sun dropped low the bombardment commenced.

All throughout the night shells rained down on them. But the Fort also opened its own bombardment, but the enemy's guns would move after every barrage, and be gone before retaliatory fire could hit them.

Morning gave no relief. The artillery bombardment continued through the morning. Men rushed about putting out fires and shoring up defenses. Pendelcott was now wishing that they had that radio.

At 12:17pm the rebels stopped the barrage and sent a request to surrender once again. Pendelcott refused once again. By 12:33pm the bombardment started again, though this time intermittently.

It was only a matter of time before the rebels would launch some kind of assault. His watchmen on the walls had already spotted two armored vehicles, likely tanks, moving behind the enemy. If they had enough of them they could roll through the gates. The Major hoped a Cascadian relief force would get here first.

---

October 15, 2521
There was weapons fire in the hills behind the enemy. Pendelcott rushed to the walls hoping to spot a relief force coming to break the siege. Many of his troops also came up on the walls to watch. They waited and listened as the fighting grew intense, but eventually it died down and faded away into the distance.

---

October 16, 2521
On the third day of the siege the bombardment came to a stop. Pendelcott awaited another request to surrender. But this time it wasn’t a rebel messenger that approached. Six Peacekeepers rode through the enemy lines and up to the fort’s front gates.

“Major Pendelcott?” the lead ranger called.

“Here,” the Major said.

“We have been allowed to pass through to give you a message.”

“Are you delivering the terms of our surrender?” he asked.

“Not that I’m aware of, sir. I have from Field Marshal Jackson directly.”

Hearing the name of the supreme commander of Cascadia’s armed forces, Pendelcott had the gates opened and allowed the Peacekeepers through.

“Why’d the rebels let you through?” Pendelcott asked.

“The Peacekeepers have agreed to maintain neutrality for the time-being,” the Ranger answered. “The government is still hoping for a peaceful end to this conflict before it begins.”

Pendelcott looked at his harried and exhausted troops. “The conflict has already started,” he said. “Now where’s this message from the Field Marshal?”

He received a sealed envelope which he quickly opened. In Paul Jackson’s signature style it was a very short message: The South is in a full insurrection. Our forces are scattered and disorganized. You are to make terms for your immediate withdrawal and then surrender the Fort.

Pendelcott crumbled the message and let it drop to the ground. He knew the precarious position he was in and nearly decided then and there to ignore his orders. But that would only result in the deaths of his men.

“Ranger,” he said, addressing the Peacekeeper. “Would you deliver a message to the rebel leader. We surrender under these terms…”