United California Republics

> ***"Fuera de Muchos, Uno" ("Out of Many, One", the official motto of United California)***
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The United California Republics (Also known as UCR, United California, The Golden Republics, or simply California) is a post-collapse nation, comprising the former US state of California, and annexed territory from neighboring former states. The UCR is made up of 13 states and one capital region: Arixo (Californian Arizona), Baja (special economic state shared between California and Mexico), Valle Central (Central Valley), Silicon Valley (West California), Deseret (Californian Nevada), Eureka (Sacramento Capitol District), San Francisco (North California), Los Angeles (combined city and greater county), San Bernardino (East California), San Diego (South California), Navajo Nation (Indigenous Confederacy of Arizona), California Nations (Indigenous Coalition of Central Southern California), and Sierra Nevada (Northeast mountain range area between California and Nevada).

A hybrid Techno-Socialist Republic, pioneering forms of automated technocracy and e-democracy, United California is the first government of its kind to utilize these policies all at once. Representatives are elected through ranked-choice voting by the public, which in turn are registered into a federal database to fill governmental roles on a year-by-year basis. This is the official method of governance, although the election process has only taken place once, since the revolution that relinquished power from the old parties and interests. The internet (In the cities and industrial zones where services still function) has been declared a public utility in California, and the new CalNet system connects the nation in a publicly standardized, heavily moderated forum.  Modern standards of living in the city zones have embraced CalNet integration in virtually all sectors, from public transportation, everyday expense payments, and inalienable representation in local and federal elections, at the cost of the elimination of any online anonymity with the new state-wide Social Registry. State government websites host census data that registers individuals with a marked online address account. This is used for virtually every facet of everyday life, from job applications, loans, housing registry, arms purchases, and voting.

California began as the safe harbor for people groups the early Dominions were targeting, and growing conflict created a militant leftist culture to counter hyper-conservatism threatening the stability of the region. Ravaged by climate catastrophe and the slow collapse of the former United States, California could only do so much to prevent the worst from happening within its borders. Government incompetence and corruption finally came to a forced end with revolution in 2031, creating multiple California states, and absorbing territory abandoned by desertification to create a natural barrier between themselves and their hostile neighbors. Armed with abandoned US stockpiles, the Dominions and other rival states give pause to targeting California's interests. A now very well-armed populace and militant collective culture has brought corporate corruption to heel as well, hybridizing state and corporate utilities to provide more survivable conditions in the region.

## History

### Pre-Collapse Events

   2023

California enforces state law to protect universal marriage for California citizens, after the US Supreme Court repeals the right to gay marriage. Subsequently, 2nd Amendment rights groups aim for universal open-carry in the entire US, striking down precedent in strict states like California and New York. Open-carrying militias become more prevalent on American streets. Protests and extremist threats gain limited traction in the US House, calling for sanctions against the "State of Sodom". Governor Gavin Newsom calls for California to withhold all $43.6BN US in Federal aid to the states represented by such dissenters. Threats go quiet after economic pressure is met, and platitudes of state sovereignty are emphasized by those previously calling for violence in the West. With growing hostilities in other regions of the country, at-risk minorities and LGBTQ+ migrate to California in record numbers, to seek out the new "Safe Harbor" from other states that are directly targeting them with violence and political persecution. This mass migration is assisted by a number of non-profits covering transport to the state, and limited California resources spent on guaranteeing safe entry.

2024

When new reclamationist parties gain traction, and the American Liberation Party is founded, California passes emergency legislation to bar extremist parties from electoral ballots. Despite limited support from right-wing elements in California's congress, the Governor publicly reminds his constituents that measures were taken in America's history before, with the US Communist Control Act of 1954. Armed Christo-Fascist protesters begin marching in the conservative bastions in the San Fernando Valley. Representatives of the GOP in other states call to "Commence 1776 again". A polling center in Inglewood is bombed, killing 18 people (all but two legally registered to vote). Peaceful counter-protestors are met with LAPD riot police. Rather than risk another LA Riot, Governor Newsom publicly sympathizes with the citizens of Los Angeles. Calls by foreign politicians for the arrest and executions of deviants and liberal state lawmakers pressure sympathetic corrupt law enforcement to maintain neutrality, rather than risk cuts to their funding. Counter-protest groups begin organizing, and armed minority militias see revival in the state. As the protests gain traction and increase in size, the Christo-Fascists organize to raid so-called "Satanic Liberal Centers" i.e. the major cities of Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Diego. As the protestors grow bolder, counter-protestors arrive with new armed militias. LA Sheriff's Department begins cracking down on protestors by conducting "random raids" in predominantly minority-populated neighborhoods. Tensions come to a head when an armed mob of local citizenry with militia support push a police convoy out of Compton. Three LA Sheriff's deputies are unaccounted for after the withdrawal.

2025

Extremist Protestors in Irvine, CA exchange fire against a combined force of the M.C.C. (Milicia Ciudadana de Californio, a Latin left-wing populist militia), a local chapter of the Von Steuben Brigade, dubbed Milk Battalion (a new nationwide LGBTQ+ veteran militia movement), and the fledgling California Black Communist Party. Outnumbered and outgunned, protestors retreat to a megachurch campus and take shelter behind police already prepared there. Usually better-equipped over people of color in the area, police are not prepared for a near-peer conflict, and abandon the Christo-Fascists. As the police officers retreat, militia forces withdraw from the church and disperse into the growing crowds of onlookers.

Despite attempts by extremists to stage armed protest in cities, these progressive bastions hold against an underwhelming conservative presence in the face of CBCP patrols. Extremists attempt to seize the farmlands in the Central Valley , but ethnic local and immigrant laborers assisted by the MCC vastly outnumber them. Protests continue to shrink into the conservative holdouts of Northern California and the Sierra Nevadas. Apocalyptic climate-fueled wildfires exacerbate their retreat. California State, Air and National Guard units are mobilized to assist in pacifying open conflict and assist in firefighting, but a majority of guardsmen (now populated by recent implants of refugee groups from the migration) are sympathetic to the counter-protestor cause, providing training and presence against orders, while rural units face mass desertions to protect loved ones.

2026

Conservative lawmakers are strained by the pressure from their Christo-Fascist constituents to disarm citizens of color and LGBTQ+, but fail to gain enough traction in a state dominated by large populations of young Latinx Catholics and Progressive Protestants. Representatives from MCC, VSB and CBCP cite their 2nd Amendment rights that were exercised by extremist groups with no punishment. An effective social media campaign dubbed "Everybody, Every Eye" is utilized by leftist protestors to live-stream events en masse alongside fellows armed in open protest against racist California gun laws. Rising climate crises force several extremist protests to either be cancelled or diverted to more comfortable areas, only to be met anyway by counter-protestors.

The remnants of Christo-Fascists face dwindling support in the zones now ravaged by climate catastrophe. Attempts to seize government equipment are limited by fuel and water shortages to reach the depots in the Mojave Desert. Those that try are intercepted, not by Federal or State troops or even the militias, but by Sicarios from the Cerda Melendez Cartel, taking advantage of the chaos and expanding their operations further into the bleeding US. Those that survive ambush are trafficked to clients in South America and Asia as labor or sex slaves, or forced to run drugs and arms across the new borders. An attempted Dominion was established in the Sierra Nevadas at several large church-owned campgrounds in the mountains, but are ravaged by wildfires and nonexistent water reserves. The last few holdouts withdraw northward to the fledgling Dominions in Utah and Oregon. Those that attempt the migration through the Nevada Desert are never seen again.

2027

Federal legislation authorizes US military forces to be deployed on US soil. US Marines are mobilized to San Diego and Los Angeles to secure the border, and assist overwhelmed Army troops in conflict with renegade LAPD units caught between aiding Christo-Fascists in the city limits and engaging with bolder local militia groups. The Marines hold at the LA city limits, lessons learned from urban desert combat in the Middle East. State authority is also expanded in California, and state lawmakers have utilized local resources with limited effectiveness, prioritizing shipments of water and aid relief from refugees homeless from wildfires and dying crops to affluent regions and high-technology sectors. Rival militias have effectively intimidated extremist groups from areas of significance, and move to intercept State troops in the "relief effort", laying the bedrock for California InComs in the new frontier zones.

Federal crises grant concessions and emergency powers to California's state authority. Cal State Guard is entrusted with guarding and maintaining federal military bases that deploy Special Operations forces to neighboring areas, to combat Dominion forces and the rising cartel threat. Already, whispers among the local Californian populace have taken to referring to the civil violence as "The Second Bear Flag Revolt", which carries mixed reception among both the militias and state forces.

2028

While the federal government has its hands full combating Dominions and cartels outside the state, more power is handed over to the State government to free up resources, and regular Army and some Air Force personnel posted in the state are transferred to National Guard authority to safeguard local resources.

The Wilshire Massacre takes place. The urban combat waged by white supremacist police against the inner city militias comes to a head when the CBCP surrounds the Wilshire Boulevard LAPD precinct. The officers and staff are flushed out of the building with captured teargas and fuel bombs. The civilians are separated from the officers, and all the police present are executed en masse. Deployed LAPD units return to their precinct to reinforce them, only to find the bodies of the executed police stripped naked and burning in front of the precinct doors, building sacked and vehicles stolen.

US Marines bivouacked at the LA city limits are ordered to move in and pacify the insurrection. Before the marines can reach Wilshire Blvd, roadblocks armed by a coalition of militias with captured police heavy weapons divert the convoys into kill zones. Casualties are taken from shooters posted in the windows of high-rise buildings on either side of the streets, and the marines are routed back to their FOB, rather than risk more casualties trying to clear skyscrapers. The militias egress deeper into the city before air support arrives, unable to venture into the concrete jungle.

2029

Public opinion on state legislation is facing an all-time low. With more areas facing shortages of every major resource, protests are beginning to bubble out of control. Less Federal support and over-reliance of local troops has exacerbated their operations, with more defecting to militia groups providing support for peoples in need. Gavin Newsom still holds limited success championing State Sovereignty and economic independence, but the reality of all the power and water being directed to affluent conservative regions is more apparent than ever, where virtually everyone still with a working phone and internet connection continues to stream in protest

2030

The United States withdraws most of its operational force from the West to consolidate resources in the regions East of the Appalachian Mountains. Transfer of the sheer quantity of material and logistical support is impossible, and instead offers the state government a buyout, at the cost of $200BN US and open access to their facilities to conduct operations in the region. With most forces under State control, the State government agrees, and ownership of Federal Navy Ports and Army Depots is transferred to The California State Defense Authority.

### Revolution & War with Cascadia

2031

The San Francisco Quake. A 7.9 magnitude earthquake is recorded in the upper San Andreas Fault, causing catastrophic damage to San Francisco and the surrounding area. A minor tsunami is triggered by the quake, but more damage comes from the inclined areas of the city when they collapse and cause a debris fall into the San Francisco Bay. The GE Hitachi Nuclear Reactor facility suffers catastrophic damage, and a partial meltdown was recorded. Despite the worst of scenarios being diverted, some nuclear waste and contaminated feed water escaped into the SF Bay. A State of Emergency is called in the city by the governor, and emergency response forces are deployed to conduct search and rescue. As of 2035, the death toll is still being counted, with more bodies being found in the debris, but it is estimated at over 270,000. Refugee camps are established for the displaced near Morro Bay, while more migrate North to Cascadia or East to Utah.

The climax of the Second Bear Flag Revolt is staged in Sacramento. A combined force of leftist militia groups, along with sympathetic plainclothes National Guard units and even token right wing militia elements seize the state capital building, and offer an ultimatum to state congress: Secede from the union and establish a new sovereign Republic for the People of California, or be ejected out of the building for a new congress to be assembled, at the mercy of the starving mob outside the building. The old American parties are abolished, and a new assembly is created to prepare for a new electorate. The United California Republics are born, and the militia groups are assimilated into California State Guard forces.

Amidst the chaos of California's secession, martial law is declared in the major cities, and remnant US forces still operating in California are offered the option to serve as token peacekeeping forces under local leadership. While the new government is being established, local militias assist in routine patrols and aid distribution alongside California troops, to bolster confidence in the new Republic's authority. New states in the republic are drawn up, using elements of previous drafts to divide California into more manageable-sized states.

2032

UN Intervention Forces are authorized entry through Mexico and the major California Naval ports to provide aid further inland to the former US territories. In conjunction with the new country being born, A trade committee is established with Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and China to begin direct aid relief. A sympathetic government in Mexico offers bilateral training and military operations to wage a new campaign against the cartels. The high technology sectors are revitalized by pan-pacific economic stimulus. Australia offers dividends to import California oil and lithium in exchange for desperately-needed food and firefighting materials. Former US military bases are expanded to be operated by UN peacekeepers and state troops. The nuclear stockpile at Travis AFB is secured by Californian forces with cooperation with the United Nations Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The last nuclear power plant in Avila Beach is delayed from being decommissioned, and a large-scale labor effort to create jobs and renew the power grid with large swaths of solar and wind farms to be built in the desert regions.

2033

California joins the worldwide community in condemnation and sanctions against Russia for annexing Alaska. Military surplus resources are sold to Canada to secure their borders. Ships from California's new navy are deployed to the Bering Sea, alongside other token elements of a UN observation fleet, to monitor the situation in Alaska. Russia accuses California of supplying insurgent forces in the region, but no evidence to corroborate the accusations.

#### The Jefferson War

Tensions between the new California government and the Cascadian Confederation come to a head in Northern California. Skirmishes in the region had been fought against federal and state troops leading up to California's revolution. By the time California became an independent nation, Northern California had seceded as the Territory of Jefferson to the Cascadian Confederation.

What was anticipated by U.C.R. military command to be a brief brush fire conflict to reclaim lost territory would explode into a full-fledged guerilla war, that would unfold to the world as one of the first large-scale conflicts between post-US nations in North America. Intense skirmishes would be broadcast displaying conflict comparable to the US' Vietnam and Afghanistan wars, pitting uniformed troops against emboldened guerillas. After months of bloody conflict with none of California's objectives met, the U.C.R. withdrew from Jefferson. This would be a formative lesson for California, and heavily influenced their military doctrine for the future. Despite the bloodshed, peace talks were quickly established, so as not to compromise the desperately-needed shipments of water between Oregon and California.

### Present

2034

CalNet is introduced to the public. The brainchild of several cooperating Silicon Valley think tanks, CalNet is the synthesis of several census registries and social media data stores. Unrest has reshaped day-to-day life in California's cities, and virtually everyone is constantly streaming their own movements and activity via mounted smart devices or optical aids, so as to deter police or extremist confrontation. CalNet issues every California resident on record with a unique ID code, that is now used for virtually every facet of their lives, from purchases, to background checks, to vehicle registry, and ultimately to verify voting integrity. Fundamentalist elements denounce the move, citing the new codes as the "Mark of the Beast". Despite unrest, most Californians still begrudgingly concede to CalNet, out of its undeniable convenience.

2035

Present Day. California is far from the socialist paradise that immigrants flock to their borders seeking, and far from the communist dystopia painted by Dominions and new rival states. The rebuilding effort is ongoing, homeless and refugees are slowly being put back to work on the new Oasis Power Project, and there are funds being appropriated to modernize the state rail network. Corporate lobbying is voided by the new government, but concessions are granted to maintain vital logistical services outsourced by branches of global shipping corporations, while a new California Express Mail service is established. Private energy providers are appropriated by the state government to aid in the modernization of the new electric grid to wean off of fossil fuel power plants, and rolling blackouts are frequent. Local EV companies begin a large state-endorsed car fleet effort. A pre-collapse policy to cease the sale of gas-powered cars is extended an additional 10 years, to make the transition less stressful on citizens.

## Current Affairs

Compared to the majority of the former United States, California managed to avert the worst parts of systemic collapse that hamstrung the rest of the nation. The influx of refugees and immigrants exacerbated the state economy, but also provided the necessary manpower to several state institutions, such as the State Guard and the California Conservation Corps. These programs allowed for the training and deployment of an able-bodied workforce that could combat the worsening climate wildfires of the late 2020s. The federal military stockpiles and abandoned personnel provided a desperately-needed army, with the surplus wealth to pay them, and new territory to act as a natural barrier between California Proper, and its potential enemies.

In the larger population centers and major cities, conditions are relatively stable. With citizen militias and a better-equipped and trained federal constabulary, civil affairs are much more cohesive between the populace and law enforcement. The citizen participation in the Second Bear Flag Revolt granted the militias the recognition and credibility to make them a regular feature of Californian life. Now, militia enlistment is just as prolific as labor union membership, and a vital component of the Republic Defense Force. Outside the population zones in the Frontier, townships on the fringes of arable civilization operate much like the InComs elsewhere, eking out what living they can in remote regions with limited resources. In these zones, frontier militias and limited military forces repel foreign groups, such as the Cartels or Fundy remnants, from raiding the communities.

The Fundamentalist movement that plagued the rest of the nation was stamped out by a massive population boom of people of color, LGBTQ+, and other allies that were driven from the East. Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, extremists disappeared from civilization, attempting to start their own remote Dominions in the Frontier zones. Only a few were ever located by intelligence networks, and those that were are now reported abandoned. It's speculated that most either perished from climate exposure, migrated out of the region to LDS Utah, or were abducted by the Cartels.

As a result of the population merge and influx of firearms, a new hyper-militant culture exists within the California working class. The sheer mass of Californian industry and economic power guaranteed that corporate profit would flourish, even when muzzled by an armed and organized labor force. Lacking the political clout that was available to consortiums in other states, Locally-headquartered companies were forced to concede to providing ample benefits and union recognition for their labor. Despite the economic setback, more people are willing to work for these previously-abusive companies.

The largest issues affecting the California Republics are the worsening drought and climate crisis, and the housing crisis that still handicaps homeless issues in the nation. The California government is currently looking at potentially nationalizing the real estate and housing market, although this has the potential to create a worse inflation bubble than the previous crises of 2008 and 2022. However, most alarmist hysteria is pushed by the remnants of the real estate and housing renovation industry, still clinging to American notions of home ownership as a commodity, rather than as a vital living condition. Many stop-gap measures have been attempted, such as renovating surplus hotels into apartments. In any case, it's likely that the real estate lobby will lose traction in the coming years, and housing will become a national utility.

The issues that plague California are very different from what other territories contend with on a daily basis. While most communities focus on day-to-day survival, and the Dominion distracts with religious conquest, United California has regained enough stability to focus its efforts on remodeling its infrastructure and quality of life, to better survive a worsening climate. At this point in the mid-21st century, the worst is yet to come, and the arid Southwest must prepare itself for the future.

While the United States and UN are in active conflict against Fundamentalist groups, California is throwing the brunt of its military might against the separate Cartel groups that plague the Southwest. Defeat against Cascadia reigned in any ambitions of conquest, and now UCR focuses its forces on internal stability and domestic threats with overwhelming force.

## Geography

Much of California's geography is much the same as it was prior to its independence. California still stands as one of the ecologically richest and most diverse parts of the world, and bears examples of all six of the world's major biomes within its territory: marine, freshwater, forest, grassland, desert, and tundra. The only exceptions to its geographic territory is losing the Northernmost portions of California to Cascadia, and expanding its influence into former neighboring states all but abandoned by climate change. This includes the lower half of Nevada, and the majority of Arizona, sharing the territory with its Southern neighbor Mexico, who has also expanded to claim much of former New Mexico.

California is one of the largest stable regions in the New American Wasteland. The Republics have been using their economic surplus and additional state wealth (no longer going to the welfare of other American states) to finance emergency public works programs. Despite the best efforts to combat climate disasters, 1/3rd of arable farmland and habitable real estate is lost to desertification, hazardous disaster zones, and secession. As a result, homelessness is rampant on the frontiers of society, with many seeking the Dominions outside of the territory, or being abducted by Cartels to serve as vassals.

### Climate

Climate change and its subsequent ecological disasters have ravaged large swathes of land in California. Apocalyptic forest fires, compounded by chronic drought, has turned much of California's territory into deserted wasteland, with large groups of people migrating towards more concentrated population centers in the cities. However, the Central Coastal Valley has retained much of its fertile soil and moisture levels with the help of California's coastal marine layer. Despite losing arable farmland and living space elsewhere, California continues to hang on in the remaining habitable zones.

### Biodiversity

Along with climate change effecting the human population, an untold number of animal species have been reportedly driven to either critical endangerment or extinction. Drought and famine have decimated California's livestock, with cattle populations being either exported or culled to cut methane output. Some wild species have clung on in key regions, with mountain sheep and elk still thriving in areas of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Unexpectedly, wild boar have begun populating areas abandoned by humans, with hordes of wild hogs overwhelming the areas around what's left of Northeastern Fresno county.

Ecological efforts have been headed by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance to preserve critically endangered animal species native to North America. With an ever-collapsing ecosystem, some efforts have also been made to return some regions of California to its original natural state, to encourage wildlife growth. In another unexpected turn of events, Pacific Western Bears from Oregon and Grizzlies from Wyoming have been spotted in the northern frontiers of California. 200 years after being driven to extinction, the Grizzly Bear may very well make its home in California once again.

## Government and Politics

### Federal Government

The United California Republics are governed by a pioneering form of state doctrine: Socialist E-Technocracy. The new country's revolution ousted the previous political establishment, and replaced the old congress with a body of rigid short-term committees, processing the agendas of the new policy blocs addressing the crises of the Twenty-First Century. Lobbying influences were neutralized by the new constitution, and politicians were assigned by technical qualification, rather than merit or economic influence. For example, Science committees are staffed with party members among the scientific community, economic and labor committees staffed with economists, accountants, business directors, and occupation agents, etc. The economic doctrines of the Republics now operate on a E-Democratic Socialist agenda, similar to some Northern European nations. The state's populations take part in the electoral process, by way of electing representatives that vote in the senate on policies on their constituent's behalf, through CalNet's polling system.

### Constitution

When California was split into multiple states, the new republics were quick to ratify their original state constitution as the Law of the Land. Many original amendments were modified, while new amendments were ratified to guarantee sovereign rights to the new citizenry. New provisions called to abolish slavery as punishment for crimes, and its most prominent new amendment was ratified to grant citizens the right to bear arms. California's laws heavily emphasize the right to free speech and religion, with all the responsibility of abusing said rights to be totally accountable on the citizen. Seeing it as impossible to disarm a newer militant populace without sparking more conflict, the right to bear arms was quickly guaranteed, returning state gun rights to previous conditions prior to its racist reforms of the Civil Rights Movement. These moves are seen as controversial by foreign oligarchs and Dominionists that quickly disarmed and indentured their vassals elsewhere in the New American Wasteland, but have yet to establish supply chains to ease reliance on California's infrastructure.

### Governing Body and Leadership

The first President of the U.C.R. is former California state governor Gavin Newsom. After a brief intermission of terms after 2026, Newsom ran again in 2030, assuming the position just as the United States withdrew federal presence in the West. While clinging to limited popularity in 2035, he is running his reelection campaign based on his track record of semi-successful emergency programs, to keep society stable in the states. Although a pre-independence politician, he is no longer affiliated with any old American political parties, as the old Democratic and Republican parties were banned from the republics. President Newsom announced his intentions to run again in the next election cycle in 2036, although his popularity is waning as a mediocre politician from a bygone era. One political rival already announcing their intentions to run against him is Lars Ortega, an MCC chapter commander from Valle Central, and a veteran of the Second Bear Flag Revolt.

CalNet's algorithm decides which political committee members represent which districts. With power guaranteed by the new California Senate and mandates issued by the federal algorithm, the president is simply the figurehead that sets the goal posts for the real governors to reach. Gavin Newsom's familiar face during uncertain times is welcome, and despite setbacks, California is able to provide the closest thing to pre-war stability in the West, besides certain regions of the PNW. This all comes at a cost of repealed liberties to privacy and limited autonomy.

### Political Divisions

The CalNet algorithm is a new concept for the Californian people to embrace, but is a relatively popular concept, as it neuters the legislative class, long secured in their generational wealth. The new system is now exclusively populated by representative committees, after the abolition of the American party system in 2031, when an armed militia coalition seized the capital building and ejected the old state congress. A new generation of centrist majority-Latinx Neo-conservatives and leftist progressives shape the new political order of fiscal and socially liberal policy-making, insuring resources for vital government programs for the populated zones, reigned in by a now heavily-armed populace and labor unions.

### Foreign Relations

California has long been a hub of global commerce. With the vacuum of power after the US abandoning the west, nations are directly opening trade negotiations with the Republics. Technology, energy, entertainment, and agriculture deals are being discussed with India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Mexico. There are also negotiations with the European Union, but they are mostly focused on establishing a foothold with the Eastern territories of the old US, and consolidating power with the rump government. California stands as a special economic zone for UN Intervention forces and NGOs, and long-term deployed troops can be found on liberty in California cities. Over the last few years, several foreign intelligence agencies speculate that a new Californian intelligence network is establishing itself in North America, by supplying insurgent forces in contested zones with arms and equipment. California has publicly denied these accusations, citing their insular problems taking priority in their policy-making. However, the sudden surge of arms and sophisticated equipment being used by prominent insurgent forces in North America leaves little else to suspect.

Relations with the United States of America are tenuous. The loss of vital war material and property is a hemorrhaging wound to US supremacy, and issued harsh outcry to the UN recognizing California as an independent power. Despite this, the old federal government left its military assets under contract with California to retain use as it withdrew, to maintain readiness for deployments in the region. California allows the use of these facilities and material to be utilized by deployed special operations forces, conducting raids on militant extremists in cooperative campaigns with California, Texas, and Mexico. The UN also has special privileges to draw materials they require from the Sierra Depot to conduct operations in the Former Continental US.

The New Dominions have universally condemned California's sovereignty long before its independence. Former US legislator turncoats holding power in the Dominions had been demonizing California's policies and spending, considering their rival as an easy target. Those remarks grew quieter after open conflict climaxed with mass defeats of their sympathizers in the Golden State, and direct criticism grew quiet after Dominion raider incursions were wiped out by drone strikes at every attempt. The Dominions now largely ignore California publicly, knowing they stand no chance against their technological advantage, while begrudgingly importing desperately-needed foodstuffs and contraband for their elite oligarchs, and using the Republics as an easy boogeyman to keep their masses distracted with a collective enemy, rather than focus on the problems within their own territories.

California's closest ally is Mexico, with which a bilateral war on the Cartels is being waged, in partnership to stabilize the Southwest. Unification of the ethnic populace of Californian and Mexican heritage is embraced by both nations. Mexican and other Latin American business interests have thrived in the new corporate and social climate in California, and strengthening ties have united the two nations in the starting steps of a Central American economic union.

United California has increasingly warming relations with the Pacifica Collective, who are reliant on each other for both defense and resources. With the US military infrastructure scattered across the wasteland, California is reliant on Pacifica's carrier shipyards in the Puget Sound, to maintain their fleet of nuclear aircraft carriers. Pacifica's vital pre-collapse role to the aviation industry places them at a unique advantage over California, who shares aviation infrastructure and defense contractors. In exchange, Pacifica's maritime defense is bolstered by California's presence, patrolling the Pacific Coast, as well as vital imports between both parties, such as technology components, industrial alloys, and food for Pacifica, in exchange for drinking water, raw cultivated resources, and also food for California.

The U.C.R. has a difficult relationship with its Northern neighbor, the Cascadian Confederation. Most of the fertile farmland North of Redding, CA had desired to secede from the state even before its own official independence. The region was briefly fought over between the C.G.D.F. and the Cascadian Army. The conflict was bloody, and resulted in California losing territory to Cascadia. The State of Jefferson now bears a demilitarized zone bordering both nations, and the border is impassable from California's side into Jefferson. Despite this misgiving, California continues to try to improve relations with the Confederation, to ensure vital water imports aren't compromised. The two nations have also attempted bilateral military operations in LDS Dominion-controlled regions of Utah and Nevada, bordering both former Oregon and California.

California's largest rival by scale is Texas (A region with differing titles, as it's contested by numerous warring factions in the former territory). Currently a buffer zone exists between the two nations in the desert zones, split between California, Texas, and Mexico. Texas has annexed large swaths of land, like California, and even has its own issues dealing with a breakaway Native Confederacy in former Oklahoma. Unofficially, Texas has been struggling with maintaining order within its own borders, with persistent Dominionists seeking dominance, and attempting to secede to other neighboring Dominions. Occasionally, the nation's militaries cooperate in anti-cartel operations, to curb instability brought on by their operations encroaching into their territories.

### "The Golden Curtain"

One of the most controversial points of California's foreign policy is its strict border control and operation as a surveillance state. Despite allowing the flow of refugees into the state leading up to its independence, UCR was quick to close off as much of their natural borders as logistically possible. The official reason has been to manage its already overwhelmed population, and also to moderate the influx of potential immigration from elsewhere in North America. The unofficial reasons likely factor the existential threats that plague other territories, such as the Mexican Cartels that now thrive on the fringes of civilization in the Southwest. Currently, UCR's only open point of entry is the California/Mexico land border, where potential immigrants must go through a battery of background checks and audits on the Mexican side, before being granted a provisional CalNet account. There are many factors at play with immigrating to California, and the lines of refugees waiting in UCR holding sites in Mexico are long.

Throughout the Jefferson War, UCR had made a sobering realization of the hostilities that are faced in the Pacific Northwest. California was barely able to manage a conflict with the irregular Cascadian guerillas, which UCR *lost*, let alone potentially sparking conflict with the PMCs of Corporate Idaho, military turncoats of The Dome, or the fundamentalists in LDS Utah. After the war, California was quick to erect a new Demilitarized Zone along the California/Jefferson land border, to moderate traffic only to heavily-inspected freight shipments of desperately-needed Cascadian imports of water and other resources. This move garnered controversy from other North American states, as well as with the international community. California has been staunch in its position of the DMZ being a necessary measure to protect its national security.

The largest potential passage into California, and the most obvious flaw to UCR's own xenophobic measures, is its miles and miles of open territory along the UCR/LDS border. Despite ideological hostilities, UCR is not in a State of War with the Dominion of Latter-Day Saints. This does not stop the occasional unsanctioned fundamentalist raiding party from attempting to cross the region into California Proper. Some of this existential threat is managed with the Sierra Nevada Mountains providing one natural barrier, spanning 430 miles along the former California/Nevada border. However, it's a dawning realization for the general public that much of UCR's new states of Deseret (about half of the former US state of Nevada) and Arixo (one-third of the former US state of Arizona) is now desolate wasteland. Besides Navajo Nation, a largely-Indigenous territory spanning one-third of former Arizona, and another Californian state, much of the region now suffers from inhospitable conditions, reaching temperatures of over 125 degrees Fahrenheit. This is well beyond the threshold of survivable temperatures for humans to withstand, and without well-stocked provisions of water and fuel, the chances of crossing are remote. The only other areas that are habitable are fortified military installations, who conduct regular patrols in GDF/UN bilateral missions, with the air space patrolled by armed military-grade drones. California's Air National Guard regularly reports its confirmed kill counts, with most movement in the region not associated with the few sanctioned frontier habitat zones considered "Hostile".

California's xenophobic policies and militant border control has spawned great controversy over relations with trade partners. Even their ocean Ports of Entry are heavily inspected, with lines of cargo ships running along the California Coast, waiting to be checked by Naval and Marine forces, before being allowed to port. Even then, California has invested a great deal in expanding CalNet to a new CCTV infrastructure, with the general public also contributing with streaming their own day-to-day activities (a trend spawned during the Second Bear Flag Revolt to protect from police and Fundy harassment). All of these stringent border conditions have contributed to California's borders being dubbed "The Golden Curtain", a political metaphor hearkening back to the geopolitics of the Cold War. The name itself may be stereotypical, but not incorrect. California dedicates vast amounts of its wealth to managing its border, a source of contention with average Californians who believe their tax money could be put to better use, such as hastening the modernizing of UCR's electric grid, or desalination tech for their shrinking water supply.

### Military

California's new military is reorganized as the California Republic Defense Force. The vast majority of forces that make up the California military were previously US military assets. When Washington realized that the West was lost, it made the decision to airlift only vital combat and logistical assets, namely Tier One teams, and advanced air units. As evacuating the rest of their forces was logistically impossible, the United States gave one final order to their troops stationed in the West: an Administrative Discharge of virtually every soldier, sailor, airman, and marine based in California and abroad. This sent shockwaves throughout the country. Stateless armies were simply cast aside and left behind in the New American Wasteland, with no further orders or pay to keep their troops compliant. While a majority of these units went rogue, the forces stationed in California, Nevada, and Arizona were offered a new station as members of the U.C.R.'s new military.

The U.C.R. military is composed of three branches: the Ground Defense Force (Army), Maritime Defense Fleet (Navy), and Air National Guard (Air Force). State legislators have proposed reintroducing mandatory service to compensate for wartime casualties and new power demands, enticing enlistment with benefits no longer common in frontier life. The recruiting tactics are effective, and many flock to recruiting centers for access to amenities on many of California's former federal bases. Currently, the C.R.D.F. is deployed within its own borders and on the frontiers, conducting counter-terrorism operations against both renegade Dominion raiders and Cartel incursions. A brief, but bloody conflict with Cascadia has eliminated any prospects of projecting itself past its borders, and instead focuses on utilizing its vast resources to maintain order within its own territory.

California's military capacity is staggering, with an unprecedented windfall of federal property and assets gained from the Mojave Desert facilities (Edwards Air Force Base, China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station, Marine Air-Ground Combat Center 29 Palms, Fort Lewis, the Sierra Depot, and Marine Logistics Base Barstow), Naval Ports (Naval bases Coronado, San Diego San Francisco, Point Loma, and Port Hueneme, along with several naval air stations), Air Force Bases (Beale, Space Command LA,  March ARB, Travis and Vandenberg AFBs), Marine bases (MCB Pendleton, MCAS Miramar, Bridgeport MWTC), and Army Base Fort Irwin.

#### Army - Ground Defense Force (C.G.D.F)

California's State Army has been reorganized into the California Ground Defense Force, or G.D.F. The G.D.F. is a uniformed force, composed of the old National Guard and remnants of the US regular army, abandoned during the withdrawal. The G.D.F. conducts offensive operations within U.C.R.'s territory, and is formally trained in desert and mountain warfare. The reorganized National Guard is the new defense militia, composed of irregular volunteer militias that are state-regulated, and provides security in the frontier zones. The Militias supplement local forces that help to police extremist paramilitary groups, operating in the frontier. The G.D.F. Regular Forces can be deployed by either ground or air elements, to respond to incursions at a moment's notice. Fielding an assortment of US surplus ground and air vehicles and newly-manufactured California-built vehicles, the G.D.F. is capable of near-peer deployment capabilities alongside the United States and other foreign militaries. Most notably, the G.D.F. is also one of three militaries to field tiltrotor aircraft (alongside the US and Japan). Using surplus Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey and Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft, the C.G.D.F. is also developing proprietary California-built aircraft under contract with Northrup Grumman (now a major California defense contractor).

The G.D.F. is equipped with a hybrid of US surplus and domestically-manufactured uniforms, kit, and issued weapons. The Army's combat uniform, known as Battle Dress Fatigues, has an updated tailoring and color scheme, to reflect the environments of California and to phase out previous US military uniforms. Similar to the US Navy Working Uniform in tailoring, the G.D.F. uses both Desert and Woodland color schemes of the Marine Pattern Uniform, used by the Californian and US Marine Corps'. Individual soldiers are also issued the Grizzly Strike System; a cutting edge, highly customizable load carrying harness, that can be modified for specific roles, from battle belt, to load-bearing vest, to chest rig, or to plate carrier. The standard-issue rifle of the G.D.F. is the newer Sig MCX Spear, originally meant for service with the US Army (as the US M7 Rifle), and now issued as the CAR-5, along with its complimentary machine gun platform, the Sig LMG 6.8 (designated MG6-8).

Despite the large number of surplus armored vehicles and firepower at the disposal of the G.D.F., their battle doctrine has abandoned the use of Main Battle Tanks and other similar heavy ordnance, and instead focuses on lightly-equipped advanced infantry in fast lightweight vehicles, supplemented by drones, and carrying the combat capacity of a large-scale special-operations capable light infantry force. This increases their mobility, and allows the G.D.F. to utilize shock tactics when moving on objectives. When a goal has been secured, National Guard elements are mustered to hold it, allowing the G.D.F. to withdraw and prepare for the next emergency. This tactic has been employed to great effect, when deployed to respond to climate emergencies, such as evacuating communities from wildfires and super storms.

#### Navy - Maritime Defense Fleet (C.M.D.F)

California's sizable Navy has been reorganized into the California Maritime Defense Fleet, or M.D.F. The M.D.F is composed of former assets of the US Navy's Third Fleet, as well as three Carrier Strike Groups, their respective air squadrons, and a vast assortment of expeditionary and littoral combat ships. The majority of these naval assets came from the USN Pacific Fleet, whose status and loyalty are still up for debate, since the United States abandoned their forces, with the other half cruising as a stateless fleet in the West Pacific. According to limited data, The M.D.F. supposedly controls at least two Ohio-Class Nuclear Submarines, one bleeding-edge Columbia-Class Nuclear submarine, and three Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carriers, including the Navy's flagship: UCS (United California Ship) Ronald Reagan, formerly the USS Ronald Reagan ported at Yokosuka, now berthed in Naval Base Coronado. While California has these ships and their respective air assets and nuclear arsenal, they rarely leave their home ports, only being deployed as token assets on coastal patrols, or its most major deployment to the Bering Sea, alongside a UN-backed observation fleet monitoring Russia's annexation of Alaska. California's Navy patrols the length of the Pacific Coast to protect incoming vessels from threats, such as the rising piracy threat plaguing many coastal nations dealing with the fallout of rising sea levels and refugee crises.

The M.D.F. also hosts a sizable Marine Corps, which is composed of former USMC forces. The entire First Marine Division, Third Marine Air Wing, and First Marine Logistics Group, along with token elements from other units, were all abandoned on their bases by the United States, after failing to pacify Los Angeles during the Second Bear Flag Revolt. Their mission is to provide security aboard naval vessels and installations, and conduct anti-piracy operations along the Western Seaboard. Opposed to the G.D.F.'s battle doctrine, the Marines are more or less armed as the previous USMC was, in effect, a second army to project naval power through combined warfare.

#### Air Force & Air National Guard (U.C.A.F.)

California's Air Force, officially the United California Air Force, consists of the former Air National Guard and old United States Air Force stock. California's high-technology sector and aviation industry provides a significant advantage over their rivals. U.C.A.F. bears several 5th-generation fighters, supported by newly-revived F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon fighters, as well as a variety of logistics, bomber, and attack squadrons. It also hosts the largest drone force besides the remnant US, with RQ1 Predator, MQ9 Reaper, and RQ4 Global Hawk drones manufactured in-house. Dominion incursions are frequently intercepted by drone strikes all throughout the Nevada and Arizona wastelands.

At the loss of US supremacy, California also hosts a large number of test craft and prototypes from Edwards AFB and the Nevada Test and Training Range (More commonly known as Area 51). It is highly speculated that Californian R&D is looking to revive its aviation advantage using mothballed prototypes, to compensate for the withdrawal of most US 5th-generation aircraft. The Air Force has taken up a majority of aviation testing on behalf of new contracts with its Pacific allies of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as beginning limited R&D cooperation with India. Despite the post-Cold War draw-down, California still retains its home-stored nuclear arsenal at Travis Air Force Base. The UN has sent advisors to monitor the nuclear stockpile, but there have also been allegations that the UCR government has allocated resources to revive the Cold War-era coastal Minuteman launch silos.

### Law Enforcement and Crime

Corrupt pre-independence law enforcement agencies were ravaged by revolution casualties, and neutered by a federal indictment and dissolution of the municipal police and sheriff's departments. California's police agencies had been long-plagued by white supremacist infiltrators and corrupt Commissioners and Sheriffs. Their overinflated budgets and military surplus equipment were used to dramatic effect, to curb armed protests against pro-Dominionists early on in the pre-independence era. White supremacist militias would often take shelter behind police barricades after being routed by leftist militia groups. It wasn't until the leftist protests increased in size and arms, that police departments even began to take the threat to their control seriously.

Since the independence of the U.C.R., new law enforcement agencies have been founded from the ground-up by veterans of the revolution and previous police agencies. Most police departments have been expunged and replaced by the new republic-wide Federal Constabulary. Sheriff positions were de-politicized and are now appointed by assignment, rather than populist elections. Old federal branches of agencies such as the DEA, ATF, FBI, and several others were absorbed by the new federal government and used to found their own local versions of the agencies.

A laundry list of new agencies have been founded to continue the services of the previous government's federal operations. These new groups, dubbed "The Services" or "The Sirs" (a point of criticism for most of the new agencies all bearing "Service" in their titles), include the United California Constabulary Service (unarmed law enforcement agencies, with only SWAT departments authorized to carry weapons when required), the United California Marshals Service (named the "California Rangers"and inspired by a similar agency from early American California's history), the Drug Enforcement Service (analog of the D.E.A.), the Contraband Enforcement Service (analog of the A.T.F.), the California Investigation Service (analog to the F.B.I.), the Office of Intelligence Services (analog to the CIA), and the California Security Service (analog to the N.S.A.).

Even with the large resources at the republic's disposal to deal with local criminal elements, massive civil strife has driven crime rates to an all-time high. Food uncertainty and unemployment has driven impoverished groups to join gangs in the cities, for the sake of stability lost since the revolution. One of California's biggest criminal elements has been open conflict against the Mexican Cartels, encroaching upon California's territories and consolidating power in the frontier zones. No longer simply drug syndicates, the cartels have expanded to food and resource production. A heavily-armed populace more or less deters them from openly targeting major population centers, but have far better luck absorbing smaller InComs and fringe Dominion forces to serve as vassals. Early on, entire settlements began disappearing from their regions in the abandoned desert wastelands, and were usually presumed to be lost by Dominion raids. It wasn't until Dominions began having these same problems that the full problem was realized. The Cerda Melendez Cartel has used its exorbitant wealth to finance strike teams deep into California territory, past even Mexico's influence. Now, California faces this growing threat with their new reorganized military, and regularly deploys its army to the frontiers, to combat the Sicarios and liberate their vassals.

Despite California's reorganization of law enforcement, and its mission against major criminal elements, the most controversial move that California committed has been reviving the death penalty and bounty system in the republics. For years, pre-secession state politics criticized capital punishment of almost any method, but rampant criminal extremism and an overwhelmed prison system had forced the government to take drastic measures, in the face of such adversity. Repeat offenders and known wanted criminals of capital offenses are placed on the Capital Registry, where their warrant is advertised for a cash bounty by select trained personnel (usually military forces, state agents on leave, or registered bounty hunters), and subsequent execution by publicly broadcasted hanging, upon their procession. Despite outcry from both conservative and leftist parties, the move has had great effect in curbing capital crime in city zones, and especially in the frontier. The threat of a "California Collar" has regained infamous reputation in the American Southwest.

## Economy

No longer a member state of the USA, California stands on its own as the fifth-largest economy in the world, reinvigorated with strong corporate ties in the major cities, trade hubs, and large foreign trade interests. California remains a resource-rich nation, tapping vast deposits of lithium in the Salton Sea, for production and limited export, and providing fossil fuels in limited quantities, with their coveted oil reserves. The high-technology sectors remain, providing services to Asia and Central/South America, with limited cooperation with the EU. California's economic output quickly earned it recognition as an independent power by the UN. Despite climate catastrophe ravaging farmland across the world, California remains a breadbasket of the former US, becoming a reluctant trade partner to much poorer neighbors.

Employment is steadily on the rise. With the outlawing of cheap migrant labor, government incentives are granted to day laborers for vital jobs in construction, farming, waste management, and mining. New immigration treaties are being drafted with Mexico, standing as its only open border into the republics. Energy demands are met with 70% solar and wind farms nationwide, but its main handicap is over-reliance on water imports, due to increasing water scarcity. Large-scale desalination is still in its infancy, but private water companies have been absorbed by the state, to consolidate water and mitigate public outcry, and California is one of Cascadia's and Pacifica's largest importers of potable water.

### Currency

California's domestic wealth has allowed for the United California Treasury Service to commission its own currency, based upon the Republics' fiat economy (though California also has sizable reserves of gold and platinum), along with Mexican minting infrastructure. The California Peso Dollar recognized in the American Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and Central America, and has limited recognition in the Asia and Oceania. The current exchange rate is $5.78 USD to $1.00 CPD. Despite its strength, Peso Dollars are almost universally rejected by the Dominions, by theocratic doctrine. Despite the Peso Dollar's buying power, it is only the third-strongest currency by recognition in the New American Wasteland, behind the US Dollar and Texas Dollar.

### Labor, Income, and Poverty

Prior to the revolution, California had been an economic powerhouse with a plethora of varying skilled and unskilled labor opportunities. Labor unions have stood strong in California history. The second labor movement of the 2020's, quashed by large corporate suppression elsewhere, faced much less luck in California's labor climate. With most smaller businesses being outpaced by monopoly corporations, larger unions such as S.E.I.U. and Teamsters gained immense popularity, with a labor force fighting to increase wages in the face of late-stage capitalism. While protests in other states were quashed by police and newly-deployed corporate security forces, union protesters coordinated with the growing left-wing extremist armed militias, seeking any engagement that increased their popularity and recruitment. This came to a head in the late 2020's, when corporate security firm Black Shield Security L.L.C., contracted by corporations for their California operations, whose response team convoys began facing IED attacks on open stretches of I-126 and I-101. Once open conflict was exchanged between both parties, hazard pay for their security teams grew prohibitively expensive, and corporate boards met with union representatives to discuss terms.

At the start of the civil strife in the mid 2020's, leftist militia groups established their credibility with the citizenry by sending armed detachments to protests, countering Fundy populists and corporate union-busters. With riots in the cities and the US abandoning the West, there was a brief window where corporations sought to assume control. The ensuing Second Bear Flag Revolt saw a record number of corporate and police units being violently countered by leftist forces. The Wilshire Massacre was one of the most high-profile events of police killings, perpetrated by the C.B.C.P. Once corporations saw the danger their security forces faced, and costs too great to simply abandon the region, executives awaited government authority to help decide a verdict on the validity of the new militant unions. Once the old government was deposed, companies were forced to come to terms with the new power dynamic within the new United California Republics. With the borders closed, businesses required a reworking of their inner operations to function and provide now integral services they were charged with.

Despite the corporate corruption plaguing other territories, California has a stringent new labor code and union policy to protect worker's rights in the Republic (along with overwhelming support from heavily-armed citizen militias in the State Guard). California's new labor union culture has overwhelming popularity in the republics, and their successes are regularly criticized in foreign media elsewhere in the Former United States. Relations between Californian and other foreign businesses in other functioning areas are strained, not seeking to undermine their own power by exposing their success, when their own control of their working forces are so heavy-handed. Larger corporate interests elsewhere are reluctant, but unable to cut ties with California's integral supply lines, without hemorrhaging losses.

California has many different labor opportunities, with its world-famous entertainment and media industry, to the renowned high-technology manufacturing sector. From large-scale farming that provides food for much of the world, to online commerce that everyone frequents for virtually every needed product, California has experienced a massive labor resurgence. Facing frequent climate disasters and housing crises, The republic leaders instituted a state of emergency almost immediately after the new government was sworn in. Heavy demand in the construction and agriculture sector have been offered better incentives, such as increases in pay across all boards, and expanded benefits for those that fulfill these much-needed jobs in the effort to rebuild California's infrastructure and housing, and feeding the masses.

Profits from the former western US, with imports from its major shipping port in LA, is at the forefront of GDP. Imports from the remaining Pacific nations allow the flow of desperately needed goods into the former United States. Former dying rail cities such as Bakersfield were revived into supercharged distribution centers. Rail is a revitalized transport network, and research into high-speed freight rail is ongoing.

### Gun Culture

With the influx of refugees across the country coming to California, an unprecedented majority of them also brought their firearms with. California had been infamous for its stringent gun laws ever since racist reforms in the 1970s. The sheer number of non-compliant weapons was impossible to adequately police, and the few conservative voices in the state government were at an impasse. On one hand, the national gun lobby had been funneling money to legislatures to allow for the sale of more guns in America. On the other hand, a growing majority of people in the state were no longer their own conservative voter base.

As protests grew, it soon became a hazard for police forces to confront large armed groups at near-peer levels of armament. As a result of being displaced and lacking income, a sizeable percentage of refugees enlisted with California's National Guard forces for financial security. This would also grant access to more weapons and training that would disseminate to their civilian peers. Guardsmen would take time to offer training to the rising number of leftist militias countering right-wing extremists.

Alongside the fundamentalist crisis, there also came corporate corruption that sought to control labor in the state. With reinvigorated energy, labor movements would also protest in armed groups against security forces. Open combat became too costly for the companies to finance, and concessions were made. This gave way to California's new armed worker class movement.

When the revolution reformed the government in 2032, California's new constitution enshrined the citizen's right to defense and bear arms. It is now common practice for most people to be armed at their places of work, and union membership became as common as militia service for the average Californian. The power balance in working sectors has shifted drastically, but profits have increased tenfold despite adequately paying and incentivizing the labor force.

### Science, Technology, and Energy

California's Economy is stimulated by its high-technology sector. Despite threats from corporate powers to cease operations without old federal subsidies, California still retains a respectable level of order within population zones to conduct business. UN intervention has also forced the corporate interests to remain at the table to provide desperately-needed services to regions besides California. A militant labor movement also prevents businesses from cracking down on unions, like they have in other regions.

California remains a home to multiple scientific communities and think-tanks known the world over. Several of its universities have been hard at work with cooperation and corporate funding to provide solutions to the many problems of the climate catastrophe, with some success. Much of their funding goes toward fossil fuel alternatives, hardier seeds for crops and ground cover in growing arid zones, PFAS filtering and removal, and advanced technology integration onto older analog systems.

One of the greatest technological innovations made by Californian engineers in the years leading up to its independence is the Occupational Exoskeleton, a joint California and Japanese engineering effort, building a lithium-powered armature designed for construction and load lifting. With the support of an OEx rig, a laborer has the ability to lift up to half of one metric ton, with a titanium exoskeleton to protect the user from trauma and debris. OEx rigs are a commercial success, with suits being used in the construction, longshoreman, manufacturing, logging, and emergency response sectors. OEx rigs also see applications in limited military use, supplementing load-lifting operations and military engineering. Speculative rumors from elsewhere in the former United States report suits similar to OEx rigs being used as powered armor with unincorporated forces in Ungoverned America. Manufacturers of the suits deny any involvement with said rumors.

Although the CalNet system has risen to prominence in the major cities, steady internet access is not as constant in the frontier zones. Without reliable service for frequent updates on current events or media consumption, a new commercial market has grown in California: Daily data packets. Data hubs have taken to copying data such as daily news, sports recordings, selected entertainment, and miscellaneous media onto small-scale, large-storage thumb drives. This practice had success in other countries prior to the tech and data collapse with the old US, and is one of the most common methods for people in the frontiers to receive data and consume media. Data drives are also one of the most demanded goods of contraband to be smuggled into the Dominions, where technology and information is harshly suppressed.

### Transportation

Prior to the implementation of the US interstate system, California had a comprehensive suite of various modes of public transportation available to the public. Much of California's ancient railways are still serviceable, and some cities still retain the infrastructure of the old cable car systems prevalent in turn-of-the-century cities. In more recent years, most of the services meant to provide cheap or free transportation for the masses had been neglected to expand the highways. Now, UCR has reinvigorated projects long held in economic limbo, finally beginning development of the state-length High Speed Rail system. New electric bus fleets are being produced for city and interstate transport, and UCR has offered government contracts for aviation companies to begin developing viable electric air travel. Personal automobiles are still popular and necessary for regular life in the frontier, although gasoline prices and supply remains uncertain.

One of the most ambitious UCR transportation projects has been the development of an electric passenger airplane, built by Northrop Grumman, and based on an original Northrop Corporation aircraft built in 1929, in Burbank, California: The Northrop Alpha. A lightweight, single-engine, 7-seat passenger monoplane, the original aircraft was developed for express mail and passenger transport in the 1930s, and briefly used by the United States Army Air Corps. As modern electric aircraft are limited to turboprop technology, the development of the Northrop Grumman Alpha II shows promise. While not yet adequate for continental travel, the aircraft would be ideal for domestic travel in the UCR.

## Demographics

Throughout the 2020s, a massive influx of displaced American refugees had migrated from across the country to seek safe harbor in California. As the fundamentalist movements evolved into the Dominions, that migration hastened into desperate fleeing caravans. Peoples of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, leftist/secular-leaning peoples, non-Christians, foreign migrants, and associated family members and sympathizers had all fled to California. America's proverbial melting pot had flowed into the Southwest, and took up residence wherever they could. The sudden influx of people into the state upset many different sectors of California's economy. The state's infamous housing market had taken a sharp downturn with the need for homes at an unprecedented level, with nobody able to afford them. California had always been a hub of blending cultures, and the renewed diversity revitalized many industries and reshaped the population in ways that are still being studied.

### Population

By 2023, California's entire population was approximately 39 million. That number increased by half in just a few short years, due to the attraction of challenged peoples moving to the state to retain their civil rights and liberties. Rampant climate catastrophes and drought led to an untold number of internal climate refugees perishing, or migrating north to Cascadia (some seceding) or to the LDS Dominion in Utah. Along with climate change, wartime attrition between conflicting militias and state and federal forces brought unprecedented battlefield casualties. Since the republic's independence, a single census has been able to be undertaken in 2034, with the official population standing at roughly 52,613,000 California citizens, migrant laborers, climate refugees, and illegal immigrants living within the cities and communities still under control of the UCR government.

### Language

The UCR has no official language, but it's dominant spoken language is shared between Spanish and English. An education effort has been implemented in CA grade schools to develop a bilingual populace, as both Spanish and English are globally popular trade languages. Along with this, Spanish-language programs on the internet and public television have boomed in the wake of media drought during these uncertain times. Relations with California's Southern neighbors have blossomed into thriving trade and cultural partnerships.

### Religion

Despite the New Dominions taking prominence in the American Wasteland, California has no established state religion, but does host a sizable population of Latin Catholics, mixed Orthodox groups, progressive Protestants, and a growing religiously neutral society. Outside of the Christian groups, entire communities of American Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists were also uprooted and forced to flee Westward. California's population was better prepared than most communities to receive this influx of diverse refugees. The sudden uptick on non-white people groups unexpectedly left fringe fundamentalist groups vastly outnumbered in California. This leaves the other more conservative religious groups sympathetic to the Dominions, but unable to gain as much traction in any region of note, leaving failed Dominion communities in the fringes of arable civilization. The state brands them as renegade extremist raiders, stealing desperately-needed food and water from the public. The extremists remain disenfranchised, with occasional guerilla attacks on private transportation companies, quickly dealt with via corporate or state strike teams and drone retaliation. The majority of the Mormon population has migrated out of the state to make the "pilgrimage" to Utah, now a Super Dominion.

A major controversy in California society has been the revoking of religious tax-exemption, long protected by American interest groups. The most vocal critics of this move has been the Megachurches in California, with many of these churches unable to support their own decadence. Crippling wealth disparity offered little in the way of sympathy to ultra-wealthy oligarch pastors, of whom the majority attempted to flee the U.C.R. to Dominion bastions. The most enigmatic of these groups has been the Church of Scientology, long heralded by the celebrity Hollywood elite. The church has grown disturbingly quiet, with most of their communities retreating to their own self-sufficient properties, leaving more questions than answers.

### Urban and Frontier Life

Climate disasters forced many of California's population to migrate to the major city centers, where resources were still plentiful. Already having dealt with an untold number of unsheltered peoples even before 2023, several cities were unable to provide amenities to most of these people. Even then, many others still sought life on the fringes of habitable city zones, dubbed "The Frontier". Frontier life is harsh and uncertain, with day-to-day living compared to historical living standards not seen since the original era of Westward Expansion. The standard of living has resorted to the InCom method, which has found success all across the New American Wasteland. Technology is scarce, and food and water even more so. Despite this, many still insist on living outside the influence of the cities in InComs, getting by on ancient survival methods used for millennia by the original Native peoples.

### Health

In recent medical reports conducted by UCLA, the average Californian's life expectancy had dropped from 76 in 2021, to 68 in 2035. Reasons for this have varied, but the majority of health issues that plague California can be attributed to declining air quality from frequent macro-scale brush-fires in the outlying regions, and deteriorating smog conditions in the cities and industrial zones. According to numerous surveys, a vast majority of working-class citizens in California all experience varying levels of undernourishment, high blood pressure, respiratory illness, chronic fatigue, and post-traumatic stress. An untold number of migrant refugees that sought safe harbor in California all suffer from any number of these issues. The condition has been colloquially branded "Gold Rush Syndrome". This is compounded by rampant substance abuse through the use of alcohol and the use of black-market opioids in dwindling supply. Increased temperatures nationwide and lack of access to clean water also lead to rising cancer rates from exposure and heavy metal poisoning.

Despite the rampant ailments that exacerbate quality of life in the republics, California is also home to some of the most advanced medical facilities and resources in the world, with breakthrough advances in medical and pharmaceutical technology. Access to healthcare has been made available to every citizen with the expansion of MediCal, but hospitals and clinics have been stretched thin from supply shortages, despite the influx of refugees arriving with medical training.

The largest personal healthcare access Californian citizens have is the medical cannabis industry. Being one of the largest cannabis suppliers in the New American Wasteland, medical marijuana, THC, and CBD aides have gained popularity over virtually every alternative therapy, like addictive prescription opioids.

### Education

With varying rates of quality of education across the former United States, from prohibitively expensive private schools for privileged upper-class children, to nonexistent resources in the ultraconservative Dominions, California has become the de facto education center of the continent, besides the New England Universities in the US Remnant. California still has the leading population of students in the country throughout the University of California-affiliated colleges and technical schools, standing at approximately 7 million students across campuses in 2033. Generally, every California citizen has access to free public education from K-12, as well as two years of junior college to attain an associates degree. Despite the supposed access, multiple studies have found that the public education system is "broken" from rampant over-regulation, and still has yet to address the for-profit private schools that can afford better resources for their students, compared to the public system.

## Culture and Society

California still stands as a major center for global entertainment. In a world of rampant climate disasters and declining societal norms, and compounded by limited access to mediums to enjoy most forms of entertainment, the need for bread and circuses seems unimportant compared to survival. However, a cultural renaissance, brought on by the influx of refugees, gave California's entertainment industry a boon of artists and influencers.

### Literature and Visual Arts

With the scarcity of advanced technology in the frontier, multiple literary agencies and art companies experienced a revival of media in demand for consumption. Untold collections of books were brought by refugees on the journey, that were burned in most parts of the nation controlled by the Dominions. With access to the internet limited to the cities, a revival of frontier-era traveling art shows and mobile libraries brought desperately-needed distractions from the stressful tedium of survival.

### Cinema and Theater

The land of Hollywood never lost steam, especially in a time of unprecedented critical events. The film industry experienced a revival in older films on practical analog film, played in derelict movie theaters for the masses that lacked overpriced streaming services. Stage productions also experienced increased popularity in the frontiers, with traveling actor guilds putting on productions of classic and new theater, comedy, and variety entertainment. In the developed zones, new streaming entertainment was brought to the public on new CalNet social media sites.

### Music

California has long been the birthplace of multiple genres of music born during times of extreme civil strife, such as 1960's Rock and Roll and West Coast Hip Hop. A revival of protest music across multiple genres was seen during the large demonstrations across college campuses and throughout major cities. Nu Punk, Thrash Rap Metal, and Flip music were all birthed during California's revolution.

### Mass Media

After the rampant misuse and abuse of American mass media broadcasters, California struck down new stringent ethics codes for media broadcasters to abide by. Despite the new rules, most old media was dubbed foreign American propaganda after the revolution, and most of the broadcasters were relinquished of their original privileges. The new state-sponsored California Broadcasting Network is the new leading public provider of national news and current world events.

### Food

Always a hub for multiple cuisines, California is currently undergoing a public effort to roll back convenient but unhealthy fast food, offering labor incentives and tax breaks for businesses to establish locally-sourced family-owned restaurants in former fast food establishments. Self-reliance has overhauled modern farming and gardening, and most Californian landowners and tenants use what space they can to grow their own produce and trade in their communities.

With meat supplies being more and more scarce in the climate crisis, California has led a campaign to jump-start a locally-owned cultivated meat industry. Investors from China have shown interest in providing industrial bioreactors, with the expectation of reaping the return on their investment.

### Sports

With most major sports clubs capitulated nationwide, Californian athletes have reorganized local sports clubs for the enjoyment of the masses. A home to prestigious sports associations, many well-known sports teams of varying games sought to salvage their associations in California. UCR sports leagues took the place of previous American professional leagues. Southwest League Baseball, California Basketball Association, Southwest League Soccer, Western Hockey League, and divisions of the reorganized North American Football League have all taken the forefront of sports in California. The Las Vegas Raiders were returned to Oakland, and the Golden Knights were relocated to Bakersfield, while the Phoenix Coyotes were relocated to Navajo Nation.