Barony of York

The **Barony of York** was an isolationist, xenophobic independent state in North America.

## History

One of the many new nations that emerged in the wake of the Rain of Death, the Barony of York survived as a completely independent state for nearly two decades. What made this even more extraordinary is that it did such in the middle of North America, the heartland of the reborn United Earth Government.

For whatever reason, the city of Cincinnati in what was then southern Ohio survived the Rain of Death relatively intact. While it was spared a direct Reflex Cannon attack, it was still struck by secondary bombardment and suffered considerable damage. In the aftermath, the city was left in the middle of a devastated region, surrounded by the ruins of those that had been less eft fortunate and suffering from a complete breakdown of law and order.

Caught in the city as much by chance as anything else was Darren York. A senator for the region as a part of the federal Republican party, he had long been an opponent of the United Earth Government and anything to do with it at all. York blamed the United Earth Government for what had happened, seeing it as their fault for attracting the Zentraedi to Earth in the first place. Due to circumstance, he had been left as the senior most figure in the city and did what he could to take control of the situation.

These steps included giving the National Guard units in the area whatever powers they needed to enforce the peace. While some stability was managed, it came at the cost in lives and liberties as York, with the military's backing, took complete control of the city. With no indication that the federal or even state governments had survived (an assumption that proved correct), York declared Cincinnati to be an independent city state. He then charged his forces with securing the surrounding area in order to protect the city and secure supplies.

By the start of 2013, York had renamed his small state as the Barony of York and appointed himself as baron of the new nation. His forces had managed to carve out a stretch of territory along the old Ohio-Kentucky border, forcibly incorporating a number of other survivor communities. While he was approached by representatives of the reborn UEG, York soundly rebuffed their overtures, declaring that the Barony of York would remain independent. Behind the scenes, many felt that York simply didn't want to surrender any power at all.

The start of the Zentraedi uprisings had a marked effect on the Barony. Already something of a racist bigot, York became a xenophobic human supremacist seemingly overnight. He outlawed Zentraedi within the nation and ordered that any Zentraedi found within the country be forcibly deported. These efforts varied from simply forcing them across state lines at gunpoint all the way up to sending busloads of micronized Zentraedi to UEG cities.

However, this move may have been as much about his own fears as it was a distraction from other issues. The Barony had been left with relatively little arable land, and what it had was incapable of supporting is population. While food rationing was commonplace (and deporting Zentraedi may have been serving as a way to reduce the number of mouths to feed), it became obvious to York that his nation may soon face famine. However, a saviour was found in a most unlikely source.

To the south lay the Arkansas Protectorate, a nation that was effectively run by Zentraedi. Much of the land was agricultural, and it had become a net exporter of food to other North American states. York managed to negotiate a trade deal that included sending the unwanted Zentraedi population to the Protectorate in exchange for food. This move proved to be surprisingly popular, with many Zentraedi seeing the Protectorate as being a far better option than the openly racist Barony. Even after the UEDF effectively took control of the Protectorate, the trade between the two states continued.

The Malcontent Uprisings created their own problems for the Barony. As a human-supremacist nation, it became a target for attacks from Malcontent groups operating outside the state's boundaries. The situation was exacerbated as, as due to its isolationism, the Barony lacked modern weapons. Most of its arsenal was made up of older weapons that were less than effective against full-sized Zentraedi opponents. In order to address this capability gap, the Barony reached out to the black market to find sources for Mecha and advanced weapons, but its lack of wealth and resources hampered its ability to secure them. Ultimately, the Barony was forced to share intelligence with the UEG to fight those groups, a situation that Baron York personally despised.

The end of the uprisings bought little peace for the Barony. While the threat of rogue Zentraedi attacks was diminished, the Barony now found itself completely surrounded by the UEG and without any allies at all. Furthermore, without any legitimate trading partners and with few resources of its own, the economy faltered. Baron York became ever increasingly paranoid, convinced that the UEDF were planning an invasion to depose him and force his nation into the fold. In 2021, he ordered the construction of a massive border wall to secure the Barony, a move the nation could not afford.

In early 2023, Darren York signed over a portion of his authority to his son, Darren York Jr. Outwardly, this move was about generational change and the need to allow the state to continue, but the truth was that the senior York was in failing health and needed to step back. Even though he remained firmly independent, Baron York II made overtures towards the UEG to at least somewhat normalise relations and end the country's isolation. However, he also made it clear that the Barony of York would not join the UEG at any point.

By the Second Robotech War, the Barony had largely become irrelevant on the global stage, being an insular island in the middle of the UEG's heartland. During the war, the nation closed its borders and resumed its isolationism, offering no aid to the Southern Cross in the conflict. However, given its armoury of nearly three-decade old conventional equipment, it is likely that any military assistance would have been meaningless anyway. The nation was never directly attacked during the war, although there were reported skirmishes with rogue Bioroid forces in its aftermath.

As the UEG collapsed, the Barony did what it could to shore up its defences. Baron York II emptied the country's coffers, spending what he could on hiring former Southern Cross soldiers to his flag in order to build up his army. He also engaged in trade with the Mercantile Republic, buying whatever weapons they could afford. Baron York II refused to attend the Pinnacle Base summit, but privately he believed that the threat of an Invid invasion was a hoax intended to force nations back into the UEG's fold.

All of these efforts were ultimately for nothing. The Barony was destroyed in the opening moments of the Invid Invasion, simply obliterated from orbit by the Invid's first strikes. Much of the former Barony's territories were subsumed by the Invid's Reflex Point hive complex, with the rest left in ruins.

## Geography

The Barony of York incorporated portions of the pre-war states of Ohio and Kentucky, mostly around the border between the two states. The country stretched from the ruins of Louisville in the west to Portsmouth in the east, with Cincinnati representing about its furthest northern reach. Aside from the capitol, Cincinnati was the only major city within the nation. Otherwise, most of the population lived in small towns scattered across its territories, both pre-war communities and new ones established afterwards.

While before the Rain of Death the region had been home to farmlands, much of it was reduced to wastelands in the alien bombardment. The mountainous regions in the nation's south were less heavily damaged, and retained pockets of pre-war wilderness. The result is that the country has very little arable land, and had to import much of its food supply.

## Government and Politics

For the entirety of its existence, the Barony of York was ruled by Baron Darren York, although after 2022 more powers were assumed by his son, Darren York II. The state was effectively a military dictatorship with York deriving all his power from the nation's armed forces. While York took on monarchist trappings to add an air of legitimacy, ultimately his rule was maintained largely by force.

The Barony of York was isolationist to the point of Xenophobic throughout its existence. The government refused any offers to join the UEG, and instead remained stubbornly independent. Officially it was strongly anti-alien, and Zentraedi were forbidden from living within its boundaries. It saw the Arkansas Protectorate as being 'occupied territory' and denounced its leadership, but that also did not stop the Barony from trading with it for food.

Otherwise, the Barony of York had no significant allies. While it traded with the Mercantile Republic for weapons, the two states had no real relationship otherwise. Similarly, while the EBSIS made overtures towards the Barony (presumably in the hope of gaining a foothold in North America), Baron York's ideological opposition to the Communist state meant that the two never had any degree of engagement. Its only other trading partner was the Republic of Quebec, which became a major food supplier. Even then, trade was hampered by the York Dollar being essentially worthless outside the nation.

The York Baronial Armed Forces were equipped with a mixture of pre-Rain of Death UEDF weapons and equipment inherited from United States National Guard units. It was made up entirely of conventional weapons and vehicles, all of which were considered to be hopelessly obsolete by the late 2020s. The country's lack of international relationships and useful exports made obtaining more advanced equipment difficult at best.