Lonestar Wasteland

The Texas Commonwealth: or as it’s better known, the **Lonestar Wasteland** is a graveyard for conflicts and Empires. After the nukes fell in October 2077, the Lonestar became one of its main victims, with Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio and Fort Worth essentially blasted away; with Dallas taking the brunt of the fire, leaving it a Wound in the earth, so blasted that even now it’s uninhabitable. The only city mostly spared was the Capital; Austin, as most of the Defense Weapons struck down the ICBMs heading for the city; leaving it and its inhabitants mostly spared. From the safety of Austin birthed a nation the Provisional Commonwealth of Texas or PCT, but so would the fires too. Over the years, the PCT would try to maintain the Wasteland, sending teams from the surviving 23rd Marines to try to preserve any sort of stability in the region. In the end due to the pressing amount of radiation, chaos and so forth, the Provisional Government opted to keep Austin secured, baton down the hatches and focus inward for the foreseeable future.

## Background

### Early History

The Texas Commonwealth was one of the thirteen commonwealths of the pre-war United States of America. Created in the mid 20th century, it was comprised of the former states of Texas and Arkansas, and borders the Four States, East Central, Gulf and Plains Commonwealth.

### 21st Century

In 2052, a television documentary into the withered husk of the Texas oil fields brought the oil shortage into the American households, and revealed how deep the energy crisis ran. By 2077, their baseball team was to face off against the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, an event cut off by the occurrence of the Great War.

### Texas Wasteland

Not much is known about the former state of Texas after the Great War. John Cassidy often wondered whether Texas survived the War at all. However, Tycho is known to have gone as far as the Gulf of Mexico in Texas and then headed back west. After his quest with the Chosen One was over, Cassidy went on to search for Texas, breaking south through NCR and past Dayglow.

By 2150, two nations ‘dominated’ the land, the Provisional Commonwealth of Texas or PCT, and the Lonestar Confederation, which resides in the ruins of San Antonio and Houston. These two groups would constantly clash, but in 2150 a much greater threat emerged: the Ghoul Insurrection. A large group of Non-Feral Ghouls had begun to grow a large army of people believing in the worship of radiation, the belief of Ghoul Supremacy; seeing themselves as a true evolution of humans and a master race and begun to gather large swaths of feral ghouls. In 2151 this Insurrection launched an attack against the two nations, letting themselves be known as the Ghoulish Front. This war would wage on for 20 years, along time but the Front predicated itself on terrorist attacks and secrecy. By 2171 a Ghoul Front member would betray the group, and eventually leak the location of where their main Headquarters and many outposts were, which lead to the PCT and Lonestar Confederation to launch joint attacks against the front, and by 2173 the Front would be all but destroyed as their headquarters and leadership would be decimated in a brutal attack.

For some years after there was a peace between the nations, but eventually in 2190 war broke out again over border disputes between Austin and San Antonio. With this the First Lonestar War would begin, with PCT forces turning the areas between Austin and Houston into a warzone, leading to a bloody ten-year conflict. Eventually the Lonestar Confederation had lost San Antonio to the PCT, and would lock down Houston, but the PCT decided to level Houston before letting the Confederation survive another year. By 2201, in the bleak midwinter, Houston would lay burning, and the Confederation lay completely defeated. The PCT would by this point control most of Southern Texas, but in 2230, the worst would come to pass. After years and years of peace and prosperity under a albeit tyrannical Austin Government, a new menace would ravage the Lonestar Wastes once again.

### Attis' Army

General Attis, one of the Masters top General had suffered a series of defeats across the West after the fall of the Masters Army, retreating long ago into hiding in Texas. By now Attis had regained some strength, coming into the region during the Ghoul Insurrection, he waited and harvested humans during both the Insurrection and First Lonestar War, slowly creating a large Supermutant Army out of ‘The Wound’ a place though uninhabitable; but a sanctuary for Attis’ Army; although the sandstorms would rub the green from their skin, becoming red solely from the sand rubbing them down to their muscles. Attis would use the Wound to launch attacks across the Eastern and Heart Tradeway, targeting undefended settlements and those easy for the pickings. This would spark a war with the PCT, who found themselves outmatched against Attis’ Army. The Conflict left them sending lost their forces north to protect Austin, leaving San Antonio and the Ruins of Houston unguarded; quickly leading the two cities to be overrun by much smaller groups, which the PCT unofficially ignored. By 2241, the USAG was mostly down to its bones, as most of Northern Austin was turned to urban fighting and total warfare. It was only in 2243 when a Texas Ranger strike team sent one of their best teams they had into The Wound, the Texas Rangers cared little for the survival for the Austin Government but was instead doing this for themselves and the people of the wastes. The Team of Sixteen sent were a mixed bag of veterans, inexperienced men, and those in-between. They completed their task, returning only with five, but alongside the corpses of their comrades and the corpse of Attis, they left a part of themselves, their soul. and left the Texas Rangers shortly after. With Attis’ defeat the wasteland would slowly recover, with the Army splintering off, mostly returning back to the wound. Despite this victory the PCT was nearing collapse; spending until 2275 to try to recover.

Some Brotherhood paladins were sent there to investigate strange rumors of mutant beings surfacing near the area formerly known as North Texas. It turned out that Attis was gathering his mutant army there to search for the FEV stored in Vault-Tec Industries' Secret Vault under the ghoul city of Los. After the paladins were missing, some initiates were sent to the town of Carbon to find them. After fighting the war and defeating Attis' Army, 10 Paladins ad 15 Scribes stayed back to secure land and establish a new chapter.

### More Migration

In 2275; Caesar’s Legion loomed over the Lonestar Wasteland. A nation of conquered tribes, slaves and a clear Roman parallel; they saw the Lonestar as the next step after they took California. They sent one Legatus Maximus to soften up the region for a potential invasion within the next twenty years. and so gave him 5,000 men and sent him forward. For the next 11 years he would pillage the countryside, launching attacks across the Lonestar and butchering anything along the Eastern Tradeway. including leading assaults against the barely recovered Austin Government. By 2281 though, things weren’t looking so well for the Legion; with Caesar’s death and the rapid collapse of the Legion, Maximus was left with little to zero support. Much worse was a Group of Great Khans had begun to setup shop in Amarillo, directly leading assaults on Legion fortifications and strongholds. It was once again though the Texas Rangers who dealt with the issue. In 2286, the Texas Rangers would send another Sixteen-man strike team to assassinate the Legate, led by Colonel Siegforn, one of the surviving members of the group sent to kill Attis. It was a failure; a total wash, leaving Maximus only wounded. Maximus would take this opportunity to directly target the Rangers; leading a full-on war against them, using experiences from their war with the Rangers in Arizona to nearly wipe them from the Wasteland. but intervention from an unlikely place came. Maximus one morning was found dead, all signs pointing towards him being killed not in a struggle but by clearly someone he knew or at least get close. With Maximus’ death, the Cohort fell apart, quickly turning in on itself and heading back to the remains of their Legion. with this the Lonestar Wasteland was once again mostly safe.

### The Winter

In 2291, the Lonestar Wastelad was hit with a hard winter. The Legion is completely and utterly fallen apart with a certain Courier having defeated both them and the NCR during the Mojave Campaign. securing that region as solely independent. The NCR has taken the opportunity to attempt expansion by seizing parts of the Legion in the Bullhead Campaign, which has been largely successful. This success has led to them setting their eyes on the Lonestar, sending the 5th Expeditionary Brigade to begin setting up cause, support and claiming territory under the Banner of the New California Republic. Meanwhile a large remnant of Legionnaires has under the leadership of Vulpes Inculta; moved Far West and seized large swaths of Oklahoma; turning Oklahoma City into what is known as Incultium, as Vulpes turns the legion into his vision of what the future could have been. In Amarillo the Great Khans have forged a great empire; based off of the Mongolian Empire and bits of Japanese Military Culture. In Austin the Provisional Commonwealth of Texas has finally recuperated from the decades of struggle and war; and is once again ready to make a move under the United States flag.