The Collective of Anarchist States (CAS)

One of the largest factions in the system, formed from the break-up of the United States of America in the aftermath of Black April, with many rogue states (primarily the northeast - backup link) descending into anarchy and, by default, joining the CAS. The official logo is a thunderbolt called "The Random Power."

## Formation

The United States still considered itself one nation for years after the collapse, despite it often being said it was no longer united, and the total breakdown of infrastructure meant the senators focused on local affairs, ignoring DC. After the lack of federal support, New York was the first state to declare independence, just falling short of officially seceding, and, in the same boat, California did the same. The military threatened action against the rogue states, but these were idle threats, as the U.S. military had been greatly reduced to the point the handful of soldiers left were unable to be paid or mobilised due to the lack of fuel. This caused the neighbouring states to sympathise and capitulate with the rogues.

When the "True Texans" worked to reunite the decimated country but "better" than before, overrunning many of the neighbouring states, the eastern rogue states accepted membership in the CAS, viewing it as more favourable than being taken over by the Texans. This marked a huge shift in military power toward the CAS. To deal with this threat, the remains of DC declared war on the CAS, and the "Eleven Hour War" ended with the destruction of the White House and DC falling under control of the CAS, who were just looking for an excuse to invade. Not long after this, the remains of NATO formed the CORE to deal with the growing Anarchist threat. Of the remaining eastern states not subsequently overtaken by either the CAS or Texas, Florida declared its independence, and North and South Carolina merged into one independent country, although it struck a deal with the Anarchists that they would help the CAS where possible in exchange for protection from Texas forces.

This remained the status quo for decades, until a mega tsunami wiped out the entire East Coast, in particular New York City. As a result, CAS forces were redeployed from the border to aid disaster victims, which allowed Texas to move in and take over the southern CAS region, including Carolina. Other factions almost universally condemned the Texan assault as in poor taste at best, a provocation of the CAS into war at worst. However, the fact the CAS did not immediately retaliate caused the other factions to suspect the CAS military force was less than thought.

## Political System

As anarchists, many of its citizens are angry at the idea that the CAS even has a political system, but at its heart CAS is a meritocracy where those in the highest power have worked their way up from the bottom based on their successes alone. In fact, the main taboo is to use one's money to buy power, such that "being devious little arse kissers" to gain power is highly discouraged, to put it lightly. After Black April and the subsequent collapse of society, members of the CAS gained an intense loathing of the tactics that destroyed the known world to the point of severely punishing anyone even suspected of doing this.

Only the meritocracy exists, no political parties or elections. Power can only be acquired through starting from the bottom and working one's way to the top as an advisor. Ironically, no power is officially given to the highest officials. Advisors can only "advise" (hence the name), and those receiving the advice have it in their best interest to take it. The alternative is it can be of benefit NOT to take the advice and prove another way is better, in which case an underling can "oust" their former "boss" and send them back down the corporate ladder. This puts a high level of stress on the top members of the "ruling" class, as they are always under threat of being ousted, like in King of the Hill. As a result, only the most gifted and driven advisors survive.

The founder, Norman Gates, retains the true title of First Advisor even centuries after his death, while other First Advisors are only truly "Acting First Advisor." The next highest level is Second Advisor and form a team under the acting First Advisor.

## Military

While the Advisory system is used for almost all forms of management, the military follows a more standard hierarchy, although the "Volunteer Force" is rather haphazard due to the members' political beliefs and reluctance to take orders. As a result, the CAS has a heavy reliance on A.I. controlled military automatons such as the Inlays (originally developed by the United States military but hijacked by the CAS). The only thing seeming to keep the CAS together is reliance on the central A.I. "The Oracle", which has unprecedented "Big Brother" control over many aspects of life in the CAS, something lost on the CAS population.

The nature of the CAS means they will not directly attack others first. Instead, they will goad their opponents into attacking them before launching a counterattack. The CAS will also generally not occupy land where they are not wanted, but they do employ a burnt earth policy to cripple their opponents. Afterward, they will launch a (hypocritical) CAS propaganda campaign against their defeated opponents, emphasising the benefits of joining the CAS. If successful, they will move in and take control of the area.

## Legal System

Also, many of its citizens are angry at the idea that the CAS has a legal system, but the idea of "The Two Laws" exists, where

1. "You may not, by action or inaction, profit at another member's expense" and
2. "There are no more laws!"

These are deliberately vague and open to interpretation, and the responsibility of the Oracle and high advisors. In addition, there are "advisories": laws and rules that no one HAS to follow, but it's a good idea to do so, as not following the law/rule tends to have bad results, often to one's health. As a social engineering experiment, it is effective, because it's harder to rebel against a rule when it's not explicitly forbidden and also the downsides are clearly explained.

One important exception is for child-rearing purposes, lest they become chavs (which NO ONE wants).

## Economy

After Black April, and the majority of the world's currencies losing all value to hyperinflation, bartering became popular, with Anarchists paying people in casino chips. The "Chip" became standard practice, although most transactions are electronically conducted with biometric identification. The CAS has an essentially capitalistic economy, and it's not a problem making money and blowing it on fancy material goods. However, as mentioned in the section on the political system, using said money to gain power is verboten.

The CAS is open to trade, although the First Law mentioned above in the Legal System section does NOT apply to those outside the CAS, almost to encourage robbing outsiders. In fact, Anarchists are prone to haggling, where "Give us that for free, and I won't shoot you in the face" is a valid first offer.

Taxation is completely voluntary for members of the CAS but mandatory and vigorously enforced for transactions in or out of CAS-controlled regions. Of course, while income tax is voluntary, those who do not pay it forfeits services funded by said taxes, such as health care and emergency services.

## Religion

Officially, the CAS is agnostic. Unofficially, you can believe whatever you like, as long as you keep it to yourself. Proselytising goes against the First Law and will be severely punished. This is from Norman Gates's beliefs specifically against organised religion (despite members of the CAS, ironically, worshiping Gates), although personal worship is fine in his eyes. Gates himself was agnostic, and his main concern was that organised religion was all laws, and laws are bad.

## Factions

While the CAS likes to appear unified as working for the common cause, the truth is, as anarchists, they have many different ideas of what the "common cause" is. Just within the CAS there are several factions, the larger of which are the True Anarchists and the Gateists (or "The Cult of Gates").

True Anarchists are exactly that, an unorganised group of hooligans rebelling against the CAS "rules." This makes them little threat, as they mostly roam the unguarded wasteland between cities committing random acts of vandalism.

The Gateists are dangerous, fanatical, humourless, and, ironically, organised (much to the target of their worship's anger, if he knew about it). They do not believe Gates was a mere insane dictator, but a deity who built a ship that could travel in space and time and will return to Earth when "the reckoning" comes.

## War with Texas

After the CAS fire the Tower of Babel and take out the vast majority of Texas's anti-missile defences, First Advisor Lara Black calls Crow to demand Texas's surrender. After assessing the options, Crow calls the CORE for assistance. The Texans agree to join the CORE, but the CAS refuses to believe Texas would join the CORE. When Crow stalls for time and manages to get himself locked in the toilet, the Advisors are furious at being mocked and launch missiles on Texas. Of twenty missiles fired, seven crash or explode without reaching the target, and one is off-course as a result of pre-programming and was not meant to be included in this salvo. The Texan Capitol is destroyed, with an estimated 500,000 Texan casualties, 460,000 of which are civilian.

Crow loses power in his bunker, leaving the Texan generals as acting leaders and giving the CAS Texas's unconditional surrender. The CAS sends an automated force to the Texan border in case of resistance from the Texan populace who has not yet heard of the surrender. Once Crow reconnects with the remaining Texan forces, he orders Travis to go with the guerilla tactics plan they had discussed. Further, the remaining Texan forces should act as independent cells, and they should not seek to rescue Crow, nor should they listen to the Texan generals, branding them as traitors.

In a subsequent negotiation, First Advisor Black hands half of the Texas territories over to the Americans in exchange for a non-aggression treaty and withdrawal from the CORE.