No Mans Land

''
Its called No Mans Land. A span of destruction between New Orleans and Los Angeles. Created after ODIN was turned against us. The beaches, surf breaks, deserts, and mountains we grew up with are now mined out and abandoned. Nobody owns that place, not even the Federation wants to go there. The few men who have gotten to operate in No Mans Land, most do not return. No Mans Land is too dangerous, too unpredictable. If we are being tasked to go out there, it must be something of significance. Still, I can't help but think there is something off about that place, something out of the ordinary. I don't know what to expect.
''
- A US Soldier recounting his explorations of No Mans Land in his journal.No Man's Land, or more commonly known as Crater Lane by the United States Military, is a name for a stretch of land that is given to what was once the Southwestern United States. The stretch of land goes from New Orleans, Louisiana, up as far North as Las Vegas Nevada, and stretches to Los Angeles and San Diego, California. This place is a hot bed of activity between the United States, the Federation of the Americas, and sometimes stragglers or drifters. 
== History ==
=== Before ===
No mans land was once known as the "Oil Belt" of the United States of America. Most of the US resources, most predominantly oil, were mined out of this region. The region that became no mans land was once the US states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Southern Louisiana, Southern California, and Southern Nevada. This region before the Federation Invasion of the United States was home to roughly 60 Million people, and was home to name sake cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, 
=== Destruction ===
On July 10th, 2077, two years into the Federation-American War, the Federation managed to hijack the United States Orbital Defense Initiative during its first test mission. The Federation highjacked the weapon, and used its payload of weapons to attempt to devastate the United States of America, and allow for a Federation conquest of the country. This plan was mostly foiled when the astronauts on board the Space Station managed to prevent the majority of the station's payload from being used. However, it wasn't enough to detour what was going to happen. 
The ODIN Satellite fired enough kinetic rods were fired to be able to essentially obliterate the American Southwest. The cities that were destroyed included...
* Austin, Texas (destroyed)
* Caldera Peak, Colorado (destroyed)
* Dallas, Texas (Destroyed)
* El Paso, Texas (Destroyed)
* Fort Worth, Texas (Destroyed)
* Houston, Texas (Destroyed)
* Las Vegas, Nevada (Destroyed)
* Los Angeles, California (Partially destroyed)
* New Orleans, Louisiana (Destroyed)
* Phoenix, Arizona (Destroyed)
* San Antonio, Texas (Destroyed)
* San Diego, California (Destroyed)
Out of the roughly 60 Million living inside this area, it was estimated that 37 Million of them were killed. This marked the opening shots of the Federation Invasion of the United States, as the Federation took the advantage of the shock of the landings. 
=== Federation War ===
Over the course of the next 10 years, the United States Military was able to repel the invasion of the United States, driving the Federation back to the area with no mans land. To repel any further attacks, the United States constructed a massive wall, more commonly known as the Liberty Wall, to separate No Mans Land from American controlled territory. 
The area became known as No Man's Land, as the Federation simply didn't claim the destroyed area as its own, and neither did the United States. To essentially it was controlled by no one. This lead to some interesting confrontations, as those who lived in No Mans Land were subject to Federation Torture and killings, or were subject to confrontations with the United States Military who operated inside of No Mans Land. Some of the people found in no mans land included the UNSC Special Forces, the PMC Elite, Scavengers, Cultists, etc. 
In addition to it being claimed by essentially no government, No Mans Land was strip-mined in addition to being abandoned. Areas where major cities used to be are now filled with massive craters. Structures, tall skyscrapers, cars, playgrounds, and anything that was once normal about this place all laid in decay amid the ruins, and were subject to the elements. In addition to these elements, no mans land appears to have seismic problems as well. Earthquakes are quite common inside No Mans Land, and some areas are now completely underwater. Weather also appears to be effected to, with huge magnetic storms, acid rain, and toxic clouds forming over No Mans Land. 
Despite the devastation, both the United States and the Federation maintain military operations there. The UNSC Special Forces often use No Mans Land for bases of operation to disrupt Federation Supply Lines, and observing Federation Military via Reconnaissance with the hopes of helping the United States rebuild and rearm itself. One notable Federation outpost was Firebase Charlie, a large forward operating base established in Petco Park in the ruins of San Diego, California. This base was used for high profile torture and medical experimentation amongst civilians.
The Federation of the Americas in particular used No Mans Land as a basis to help reverse engineer the wreckage of the Orbital Defense Initiative. The Federation mined the crap out of some of the craters and the impact points, and the Federation Science Division the recovered data in order to develop there own Orbital Weapon known as Project ZUES. Had the US not have done its operations into No Mans Land, it could be a very well possibility that the United States, Europe, and Asia could have been destroyed. 
== Current Status ==
As of the end of the Federation War in August of 2087, the dismantling of the Federation, and the unification of the Organization of Central American States. The United States Government did an evaluation of the destroyed area of No Mans Land, and determined that it was in the best interest of the United States Government that the area remain the way it was. The United States dismantled the Liberty Wall after the end of the war, and moved its border up to just before the destroyed area. 
To this day, No Mans Land is still unclaimed by that of the United States Government, or the United Nations Security Command. The area is still heavily dangerous with toxic rainstorms, frequent Earthquakes, and many other events that makes No Mans Land extremely dangerous. No Mans Land given that it is claimed by nobody is freely open to travel, however it has been highly encouraged that travel to the area be limited. There have been expeditions into No Mans land by the UNSC, but mostly its to observe the environmental catastrophes in the region.