For one, how come the U. S. had let Hawai'i go so easily? (Okay, the feds had tried to clamp down ... once . But after the warning Thor shots on the naval task force, they'd basically rolled over and played dead. No attempts to take back their military bases.) For another, how had the equivalent of a civilian militia been able to defeat the Civil Defense Force—full-on military? The only answer that made any sense whatsoever was some kind of big stick with which to threaten the good ol' US of A.