- We were all victims, and we were all perpetrators.
Fallen Starrs: American Warzone is a hard Sci-Fi alternate timeline story, where in the near future a grisly horrific and grim threeway civil war break out due to a second economic crisis and yet again the lack of consequences for those involved (the straw that broke the camel's back), in addition to corrupt and or ineffectual establiment status quo politicians on both sides of the isle (ironically working together), a controversial election, a pandemic, and economic inequality. The conflict devolved into a multi front war with a large leftwing Militia which became a functioning military force supplied and funded by a powerful American corporation (who also has robot drone soldiers) VS. a large right wing militia which also became a large organized military force VS. the federal U.S. Government VS. fragmented leftwing/rightwing extremists whom may or may not sometimes work with the former two groups respectively. The goverment's predictable response to the economic crisis infuriated the American population. Simply put, they had finally HAD IT. And the government knew it. But they wasn't going to change their policies without a fight. And boy did they get one.
Alternate timeline of the The Starr Verse
The main factions are:
- The U.S. Federal Government, which is spreading itself very thin trying to get a hold of the situation. Usually resorting to questionable tactics. Their advantage is they still control most of the armed forces and infrastructures. Up to and including control of everything north of Virginia. More or less most of New England, and the east coast in general. Though the urban areas of New York and New Jersey are becoming heavily contested war zones.
- The Neo-Confederate Sepratists (NCS). Mostly an amalgamation of different Right-Wing Militia Fanatic groups, Law Enforcement, and armed forces deserters. And a good number of white nationalists, Christian fundamentalists and Neo-Nazis. Their advantage is sheer numbers, and their tightening hold on the deep south, and some parts of the Pacific Northwest, and rust belt.
- Progressive Liberation Army (The PLA). The bulk of the angry dissenting citizens. Whom were already starting to organize and arm themselves. Including a lot of armed leftwing insurgents, becoming a kinda antithesis to the peaceful tree hugging stereotypes. Although not all are leftists persé, but regular angry citizens who just happen to like the ideas of the PLA leadership. The PLA is mostly made up of defecting politicians and goverment officials, sympathetic armed forces and law enforcement deserters, and a little more than half is made up of People of color. Their advantage is technologically superior drone tech, drone robot soldiers, UAVs and Private Military Contractors (supplied by the scorned owner of the MegaCorp Starr Industries). And the fact they control about 70% of everything west of the Rockies.
The war zone contains examples of:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Shockingly averted with the PLA SDS-700 combat drones who has a sinister Visage inspired by the T-800 and other models, but with a sleeker less bulky body. They're Completely dependable, can work autonomously, can tell allies from enemies, and avoid civilian casualties...for the most part. And can take orders from qualified field commanders.
- Anarchy Is Chaos: Both played straight and....averted. While the war does cause chaos, it actually become more semi stable once a faction takes complete control of a area.
- Balkanize Me: The southeast (i.e. cofederate States) is firmly under the control of the NCS. While the major cities and Metro areas are under the protection of the PLA mostly. In the beginning it was the federal government. But eventually they pulled out causing a lot of federal government loyalists in the cities to switch sides to the PLA. Same situation with the Pacific Northwest, the major cities under PLA rule while the outside areas are partially or fully controlled by NCS and other Right-Wing Militia Fanatic groups.
- Black Shirt: Half of the rank and file of the NCS. Which explains how they got so many members overnight. Might have caused the Blast Out mentioned below.
- Blame Game: There's tons of finger pointing in regards to how America ended up in this tragic catastrophe. But a lot of people blame the news media for not holding the government, politicians, law enforcement, and corporations responsible for terrible policies, laws, crimes, etc. And not challenging them for whatever reason. Some accusing them of "Access Journalism".
- Alternatively people have also blamed the alt media/press for actually doing the stuff that the other MSM news networks DIDN'T do strangely enough. Which they say contributed to the growing division in America. Basically thinking they're at fault for not engaging in Treachery Cover Up "for the greater good". Didn't help that Starr Industries had it's own 24/7 news source that was more objective and critical of the federal government, and both major parties to varying degreesnote called Starr News Networknote . Make of that what you will.
- Blast Out: The most infamous example is a police precinct in Gary Indiana, they turned against each other due to conflicting and wavering loyaties, likely caused by Black Shirts. It was a brutal close combat shootout leaving a dozen dead and two dozen more injured. Also see The Mutiny below.
- Cassandra Truth: There have been several security analysts and journalists that warned that a civil war was a very real possibility. But they were obviously ignored or brushed off, calling them "alarmists" or "fear mongering".
- Celebrity Survivor: Some are trying to be peace keepers, but a lot of them did what a lot of other rich and powerful people did...flee the country.
- Tishauna Starr is still around influencing some of the PLA leadership. But mostly staying in the background.
- The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: The US government has been criticized for being too focused on foreign issues and allowing domestic issues, e.g. wealth inequality, healthcare, mass shootings, racial tension, to spin out of control. And now America is paying the price for neglecting those issues. Basically it's a slow death by a thousand untreated cuts.
- Corpse Land: Central Park is partially a mass grave/plague pit for pandemic victims.
- SDS Liberators have been known to create these on the battlefield.
- Cosy Catastrophe: There's large chunks of middle America that hasn't actually been touched by the war, at least not directly. Usually they're safe going on about with their lives just watching things unfold on the news, internet, or radio. However, if close enough (e.g. suburbs, rural areas on the outskirts of a major city etc) they can still hear faint distant sounds of gunshots, explosions, sirens, and see smoke plumes, and ambient lights from massive fires in the far distance.
- Cranial Processing Unit: The SDS Drones.
- Custom Uniform: Both the PLA, and the NCS started wearing actual full tactical military BDUs to legitimize themselves as a military force. More so the PLA though.
- Cynicism Catalyst: For the general public it was the enefectual political leaders.
- The Darkness Gazes Back: U.S. soldiers and NCS soldiers have told frightening stories of encountering PLA combat drones at night, one NCS soldier told how his squad completely abandoned their post when they saw the glowing blue eyes emerging from the darkness in the distance, advancing on their position. They didn't even need to see them through the binoculars to know what they were, and what it meant.
- Despair Event Horizon: A lot of survivors can't believe the horrible things that the government did to it's citizens. And the even worse things citizens did to each other. Most of this was just too much to take in for some people
- Dirty Business: A lot of the things the government did to undermine citizens who were trying to pass sweeping reforms eventually got leaked (thanks to hactivist groups, indie journalists, and probably foreign goverments). Mainly sabotaging a democratic primary election so a party prefered establiment candidate could win (which fueled a successful assassination as retaliation), the bipartisan decision to yet again not punish people responsible for the second economic crisis leading to the escalating tension.
- Also they tried to punish the CEO of Starr Industries because of her whistle-blowing, and the money she was putting into Ad campaigns attacking certain politicians on both sides of the political spectrum. Which in tern caused her to arm the PLA with bleeding edge Drones and well armed Private Military Contractors.
- Disaster Dominoes: Pretty much how the civil war started. But worse still is that the war had this effect on the world's economy and agriculture. Basically dragging the entire world down with it. Causing global catastrophes, and proxy wars.
- Divided States of America: The second civil war is more like the Syrian Civil War, with multiple factions all fighting each other, with an increasingly oppressive and desperate federal government attempting to keep control.
- Dying Like Animals: The whole farm and zoo; Particularly of the Mice, ostrich, turtle, snake, reindeer, sheep, chicken, rats, wolves, foxes, weasels, dragons, raccoons, moles, jackals, owls, dogs, and chimeras.
- The Elites Jump Ship: Because of course they did, some were partially responsible for the situation America was in and decided to jump ship when it looked like the U.S. government wouldn't be able to subdue all of the angry uprisings. So instead of staying and potentially getting killed by angry citizens they would flee to their remote retreats. It's also possible they was tipped off by family and friends who were in the government and were "In The Know" about the situation possibly spiraling out of control. Other elites just left because they had the resources to do so and had the forethought to leave.
- Emergency Authority:
- Enemy Mine: The one thing that finally united the neoconservative (those who were left in office anyway)note and neoliberal politicians was America's bitterly angry divided citizenry. which terrified the status quo establishment on both sides of the political spectrum. The public was DONE with them, they had finally had it. So both parties were eventually forced to work together because their political futures depended on it.
- Fortunately for the government, this did not unite the citizens whom were still very much divided despite more or less having the same enemy. The federal government.
- The US government allying with ruthless militia groups in an effort to regain control in contested areas. Things like this is what destroyed whatever moral high ground that they might have had over the PLA.
- From Bad to Worse: The road to civil war was gradual but steady. Starting with another economic crisis, more civil unrest do to police brutality, then angry protests, violent riots, government pushbacks, clashes with police & national guards, and clashes between left-wing insurgents and right-wing insurgents, an assassination of a presidential candidate. And then it just snowballed from there. Then a deadly pandemic hit.
- When the Assassination was carried out that's when people knew it was bad. When "The Battle of Los Angeles" happened (and the PLA actually won) people really knew it was bad, and there was no turning back after that.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: The terrifying glowing blue eyes of the drone soldiers.
- Golden Mean Fallacy: Corporate News Media likes to depict both NCS and PLA as equal extremists. While depicting the establishment government as rational. Objectively speaking though, the PLA and NCS are nothing alike except for being The Resistance. Though technically the NCS are closer to being facist reactionary counter revolutionaries. Also, obejectivly speaking they've also done demonstrably worse things then either the PLA or the federal government.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The civil war is a huge case of Foucault's boomerang. In a nutshell practices that major world powers do to smaller nations or colonies are eventually used back on its own citizens. Many military tactics and what not used in the current The War on Terror fit right at home during the war.
- Hopeless War: Seven years into the conflict and this is what it ends up looking like.
- I Did What I Had to Do: The mantra of a lot of embattled politicians and goverment officials.
- It's Personal: A journalist pointed out that it seemed like the gloves had finally come off the U.S. Government. They weren't even trying to pretend to be diplomatic about the situation anymore. They wanted to end the uprising and the eventual war quickly, and by almost any means necessary. And for better or worse that decision might have sealed their fate when it comes to public opinion.
- Just Following Orders: There's a ton of this excuse going around.
- More specifically journalists under threat of angry mobs use this justification over how they told the news leading up to the civil war. Saying it's not their fault, but mandates that came from news editors and network heads.
- Killer Robot: The SDS-700s and it's variant models.
- La Résistance: The PLA started out like this before turning into full fledged military force.
- Lensman Arms Race: Primarily between the PLA and the United States government. But it's asymmetrical though, as the PLA is using Starr Industries almost comicbook level tech.
- MegaCorp: Starr Industries is the main weapons and tech supplier to the PLA.
- Mêlée à Trois: What the civil war turned into. Not to mention all of the more extreme radical splinter groups roaming around.
- Mirroring Factions: A lot of the establishment Democrat & Republican politicians had more in common than they probably cared to admit. But it's the overlap of their neoliberal and neoconservative politics that allowed them to desperately pull together against the PLA and the NCS.
- Monumental Damage: Downplayed, but during the war a lot of citizens noted how horrifying and surreal it was to be downtown and seeing a recognized building on fire, or completely destroyed.
- The Mutiny: This is how the PLA and the NCS got military personnel on their sides respectively. A long with Black Shirts probably helping.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: Pretty much most of the loyalists to the federal government. Mostly because of family and friends who work for the government, men and women of the armed forces, and federal employees, or people who are just loyal cause that's what they're used to and all they know despite it's faults. Though the PLA still think of themselves as U.S citizens too, they just want to fix it.
- Next Sunday A.D.: The war proper starts a couple years into the future circa 2021, (but the root causes can be traced back to at least the mid 00's, maybe even the 80's). But within that small time frame of 2016-2021 A LOT of shit went terribly wrong.
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Neutral Evil: Corporate lobbyists are a Downplayed Type 1 variant. They're responsible for at least most of America's issues due to their "dark money" influence. Not overtly evil just coldly indifferent, and greedy.- This Trope is partly the reason the NCS doesn't like establishment conservative politicians. Cause they don't care about the Far-right/Alt-right's holy culture war crusades. Just money and "globalization".
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Or Nice Job Fixing It, Villain (depending on your perspective). In the early beginning of the uprisings, the American government used wedge issues to try and divide the public in order to slow down the citizen uprising that was forming against the federal government. Instead they ended up being partly responsible for the formation of the NCS...Whoops.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: The few corporations backing the PLA are only doing it because Starr Industries makes them a lot of money. Though a couple are also just loyal to the CEO specifically due to personal reasons.
- Oh, Crap!: When the U.S. Government learned that huge portions of the population was organizing, and turning against them.
- Anytime PLA combat drones enter the battlefield. Particularly the "Liberators"
- Oppressive States of America: What the federal government turned into when the public turned against them.
- The Plague: Thanks to the war a flu pandemic grew out of control killing tens of millions of people. Starr Industries tried to mitigate the pandemic by using it's resources to keep medicine and food circulating.
- Powder Keg Crowd: There were tons of these before the war proper, and concurrently too. They ended in tragedy adding fuel to the public division, and hatred of the federal government and law enforcement.
- Realpolitik: The domestic version of this trope (along with corporate and political greed, and political career self interest) is why the citizens turned against the government. Some politicians have expressed regret doing this. But it's too little, too late now.
- Right Hand Versus Left Hand: This trope gets exacerbated by the war.
- Right-Wing Militia Fanatic: The NCS, and other fragmented rightwing extremists. Mostly made up of white nationalists, Christian fundamentalists and Neo-Nazis.
- Scare Campaign: Played straight, then Downplayed with the SDS Drones. Opponents of the PLA leadership and army ran scary political ads attacking the use of said perceived mechanized terrors. Then a leaked video showed a drone saving a group of kids by up holding a brick wall from collapsing on the frightened children.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Several people in Power (usually politicians, and certain business people) saw the writing on the wall and fled the country. But also tons of civilians too.
- A few of the members of the armed forces that didn't agree with the decisions of either faction would often desert to go take care of their own families, or flee the country altogether due to being in a proverbial rock and a hard place. Public opinion of these deserters varies wildly among the public. But most people in the federal government and armed forces see them as traitors.
- Serial Numbers Filed Off: The PLA military drones are heavily modeled after T-800 terminators, but with a gun metal finish, and a taller, sleeker design. The design was a Shout-Out, but also just a placeholder design. But once the war kicked off they didn't have time for a redesign.
- The Siege: Most of the PLA controlled cities in the south are basically leningrads during the height of the war due to being surrounded by NCS forces.
- Somebody Else's Problem: A lot of the neutral citizens wasn't people with some type of keen centrist pragmatic political insight or anything like that. But in fact were mostly just apolitical people who didn't care because of whatever privilege they might have had afforded them the ability to not care about what was going on outside their safe small socioeconomic bubble....Until it was too late. Specifically the few in the top 20% (basically upper middle class citizens) that survived the second economic crisis. But especially the top 1% (elite upper class) who safely fled over seas.
- To be even more specific, They're the people who find politics "boring" or "too divisive" or it makes them "uncomfortable" and have the privilege to be able to effectively ignore the issues. Since they don't like to think about any of it, they think they're above it all and they're the true middle, when really they've made themselves ignorant, and have sided with the worst elements in politics by default.
- Spider Tank: Six foot tall tetrapod walkers, similar to the one from Terminator Genisys. Formally known as the SDS-37 Liberator, informally known as Corpse Makers for their ability to turn battle zones into Corpse Land. Armed with twin mini guns, and anti-personale rockets. It has been said that when deployed within enemy territory that area stops sending out communications. NOTHING comes out of there.
- Similarly the rarer SDS-7000 Ultra-Liberator. A 8ft tall super advanced version. With a fuckton more firepower. Twin Vulcan cannons, twin double barrel automatic shotguns, anti-air missles, and anti-personale rockets, iron dome shielding technology, and a LASER CANNON.
You've got to be fuckin kidding me!—>A US Marine - Strawman News Media: MSM is very blatantly biased towards the status quo and establiment. Think the 2003 coverage of the military build up to the Iraq war, but way more egregious. So much so, some highly regarded journalists resigned in protest or became independent reporters. During the hight of the war it was actually hard to tell the difference between CNN, FOX, or MSNBC. Some were shocked, while more cynical people weren't terribly surprised.
- However, Starr News Network often acted as a foil to the mainstream news media. In fact alternative news media were the ones that broke the news about the government's misdeeds while most of the MSM either ignored it, or blatantly tried to cover it up. But because of social media the latter was impossible to do. Didn't stop them from trying.
- Surrealism: As mentioned above, civilians thought the whole war was surreal. Especially when it came to some of the Monumental Damage. Usually seeing tracer rounds fly into the night sky over the skyline of whatever city. People were use to seeing things like this on the news....in other countries, Like Baghdad and similar places. But seeing it over the skyline of American cities like Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago etc was terrifyingly surreal.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: When The public (and even some politicians) turned against the government a lot of establishment Democrats and Republicans tried to put their differences aside. Or else they would face the Torches and Pitchforks.
- Torches and Pitchforks: Angry left-wing and Right-wing extremists groups, and general angry citizens have been known to literally drag bankers, CEOs, journos (who were considered biased "establishment bootlickers" and were accused of "Access Journalism"), judges, Obstructive Bureaucrats and certain specific politicians out of their homes and hideouts and murder them in cold blood. Either by gunfire,immolation or by hanging. Some Right-Wing Militia Fanatic groups have been known to crucify people. A lot of targeted politicians fled to Canada or the U.K. The PLA specifically don't condone this action from their forces. But probably turn a blind eye when angry citizens do it. Zigzaged with the NCS though. Who either condone it, or was indifferent.
- Treachery Cover Up: The cover up worked great for The Government, until it didn't anymore thanks to snooping indie journos and hactivists.
- War Refugees: A lot of American citizens started fleeing into the Canadian border, and into the U.K. and ironically into Mexico.
- War Is Hell: So much so civilian kids are getting PTSD. Understandable considering Americans are basically killing other Americans.
- Watching Troy Burn: Citizens trapped in the city usually had no choice but to watch their city and neighborhood crumble and burn.
- We ARE Struggling Together: This is the case with anti establishment factions whom refuse to work together because ideological differences. Even within each faction there are splinter groups.
- intriguingly the war has bitterly divided the African American community, all the way down to celebrities, politicians, political analysts, journalists, and political commentators. A good chunk of black boomers, older Gen-X'ers and most active black voters are generally speaking, politically moderate. And while they might have issues with the government they'd stop just short of wanting to have a revolution, choosing to stay loyal to the establishment government hoping to be internal reformists instead note . Mostly because of the remaining Democrats that's still in the government. In essence basically being an example of "My Political Party, right or wrong". On the other hand, a lot of "Xennials", Millennials, and social media age black people whom are all generally more progressive started to break away joining the PLA either directly, or in some type of supporting role causing a lot of tragic friction among friends, family, and colleagues. But the divide was already there, social media, and the civil war just helped move it along.
- Similar divides can also be seen in the Latinx, and AAPI communities as well.
- Weaponized Car: NCS mostly used armoured pickup trucks mounted with heavy machine guns.
- 0% Approval Rating: Downplayed, but federal government had a very dismal approval rating from the general public.
- Played straight with the NCS, far right, and far left insurgents.
