Arrival: The history of the Prometheorg
City-State begins 35 years ago in an alternate universe. In this alternate
universe, the Last Gasp War took place roughly 30 years before the war that
started the Great Cataclysm on Rifts Earth. While the devastation on this Earth
was almost the same as that on Rifts Earth, the mystical and psychic convergence
that caused the Great Cataclysm didn't occur on this Earth. In the centuries
following the Last Gasp War, Earth's government was rebuilt by corporations and
global conglomerates. One such conglomerate, the American-Russian Mercantile
Organization (ARMOR), rose to supremacy in the Solar System and took control
of Mars. Other conglomerates and corporations gained control of and terraformed
many of the other planets and moons in the Solar System, mainly Luna, Venus,
Mercury, and Jupiter. While the Earth became a protectorate of the Solar
System Alliance, the SSA became a pawn of ARMOR. Approximately 50 years
ago, in this other timeline, Earth began to revolt against Mars control.
Approximately 35 years ago, the RMS Prometheus and several other ARMOR
Battleships were sent to Earth to help put down the insurrection. The
Prometheus, 2 other Battleships, and 30 escort cruisers flew into the
heart of a massive Space Rift. Upon recovering from the effects of the
Rift, the now reduced battlefleet proceeded to Earth. Greatly mistaking
the various ships in orbit as Rebel warships, the battlefleet attacked.
One Battleship
was destroyed outright, while the second was shotdown. The Prometheus was forced
to make an emergency crash landing near the crashed wreckage of the other two
Battleships. Out of the 30 Heavy Cruisers and 200 fighters that went into the
fight, only 10 cruisers and 60 fighters made it out in any type of flying condition.
While 8 of the cruisers are still spaceworthy, the Prometheus will never fly again. Faced
now with the knowledge that they aren't in their own universe and with no way
of finding their way home since outer space is controlled by beings with ships
and weapons far superior to theirs, the Martians have made Rifts Earth their
new home.
Based out of Prometheorg, a city made out of the wreckage of the crashed
Battleships, the ruins of Danville, Virginia, and enveloping the Prometheus, ARMOR controls the surrounding 100-mile area. Besides Prometheorg, there are also two smaller towns which are a combination of the unflyable cruisers and the towns nearby their crash sites. Leorg is the combination of the cruiser Leo and the Virginian town of Lynchburg. Feliorg is the combination of the cruiser Felius and the town of Farmville. With the massive Piedmont Mountains and the swamps of North Carolina to its south, ARMOR has been forced to expand northwards into central Virginia.
Aggression: With their need for more land to support their
growing population, and their basic need to dominate everyone they come in
contact with, over the next twenty years the ARMOR city-states slowly spread
their power and influence further north. Bypassing Washington by going west,
ARMOR began building small forts on the southwest edge of the Monster Zone. Then
in the spring of 88 PA, a scout platoon of Terrines ran into a group of D-Bees
being chased by a well-armed group of humans. What followed was a brief, but
deadly exchange of fire. All of the D-Bees and half of the ARMOR scout platoon
were killed, while several members of the RDF pursuit party were killed or
injured. When the pursuit party pulled out, a couple of scouts were assigned
to follow them back to their base. Over the next couple of months, dozens of
their scouts reported that the attack parties were based out of this medium
sized town. Believing that Detrickville was the capital of this growing
city-state, the ARMOR military leaders began planning an assault to capture
the city and its satellite towns intact.
Ignoring requests from the scout arm of the military to wait until a more
detailed survey could be made, the military leaders launched an all out sneak
attack on Detrickville and several of its surrounding towns. Dedicating five
Heavy Cruisers, 320 Terran Fighters, and nearly 60,000 Terrines to the
invasion, ARMOR caught the Detrickville garrison completely by surprise, both by
the timing, and the shear size of the assault. The next day, a relief force was
sent out from Columbia. Expecting that forces from other outlying towns would
attempt to recover their hometown, ARMOR lay a trap for what they thought would
be the returning army of the city. In a picture perfect ambush, the ARMOR forces
caught the Columbian relief force completely unprepared. ARMOR decimated the
Columbian force and followed the survivors back to what was thought to be a
border fortress. While their heavy tank and APC forces chased the relief
force, the shock troops were readied for a jump-drop from the Battlecruisers. As
a precursor to what was soon to come, more than 300 Terran Fighters swept
Columbia's CAP fighters from the sky. They then began to bomb and strafe the
barracks area and most of Columbia. The one area they quickly learned to stay
away from was central Columbia, an area in which upwards of 30 fighters were
destroyed by the anti-aircraft fire. In the meantime, in a drop operation that
was an exact copy of their invasion of Detrickville, the Battlecruisers swept in
on a tangent inside the outer walls of Columbia and dropped more than 15,000
Terrines on the Columbian forces rallying in their barracks areas. In the
ensuing brutal, hand to hand combat that followed, nearly 10,000 Terrines and
15,000 Columbians were killed. While the shock troops fought inside the wall,
ARMOR's armored troops fought outside the wall. While the Columbian armored
troops were easily smashed, the Mending Wall proved more difficult to smash. As
quickly as holes were blown into the wall, they began to heal themselves. Facing
the possibility of no help getting through to them, the remaining Terrine
jump-troopers gathered their wounded and retreated over the city wall after
almost twelve hours of fighting.
Not willing to leave Columbia alone, ARMOR High Command began sending scouts
around the city. It didn't take long for the scouts to find the rail-lines leading into and out of Columbia. After cutting off and destroying the smaller lines, ARMOR lay siege to the major line to Baltimore and the various gates leading into the city. Over the next two weeks, ARMOR held Columbia under siege. This siege gave Baltimore the time it needed to mount a massive counterattack. Using magical and psionic abilities and powers ARMOR had never faced before, Baltimore pushed the ARMOR Army back to the first towns it had taken, and finally back to Detrickville. Finally, after more than three months of fighting, the ARMOR military leaders decided to retreat from the battlefield. Leaving a small force of 500 Terrines to hold off the assault on the city, the Heavy Cruisers and the remaining Terrines retreated from the city. Fighting to the last man, these last Terrines held out for more than 2 hours before being overrun. All told, ARMOR had lost more than 40,000 Terrines in a little more than three months of fighting.
Aftermath: Following the disasterous attack on Baltimore, the ARMOR military leadership underwent a massive reorganization as hundreds of officers were retired,
executed, or committed suicide. All of the officers promoted to take thier
places were combat veterans who had a better understanding of the unique conditions
of Rifts Earth. Besides the sudden influx of younger Martian and Martian-halfbreed
officers, this reorganization also saw the commisioning of several dozen Terrines
and Humans to command positions at the battalion, regimental, and brigade levels.
With a new outlook on battle conditions on Rifts Earth, ARMOR began reconstituting
its armies.
With
a more than 60% casualty rate among its Terrine forces, ARMOR began rethinking
the constitution of their genetic makeup. Many analysis were done into why the
Terrines suffered such immense losses during the short war. Besides their
inexperience when it comes to dealing with magic and psionics, it was learned that the
Terrines were outmatched by many of the forces they had been facing.
The decision was made to remix the Terrine genetic makeup, and make them more
compatible for warfare on Rifts Earth. From the Atlantic Ocean, ARMOR captured and
used a Mega-Shark to replace the Great White Shark genes that gave the Terrines
their toughness and ferociousness. An ARMOR long-range scout party captured a CS Dogboy scout patrol. Using genetic material from the captured Dogboys, ARMOR bred into their new Terrines protection from psionic and magical attacks. ARMOR also used the Dogboy genes to augment the Terrines' utter loyalty to their officers and the ARMOR City-State. While the
new Terrines don't look much different from the old Terrines, the difference
shows on the battlefield. The new Terrines are tougher, stronger, and more
ferocious than any of the old Terrines could ever be. Although the First Generation Terrines are not being bred to the numbers that they were before the war,
there are still more than 25,000 of them on active duty. While ARMOR
may like for their new army to be composed completely of the Second Generation
Terrines, the High Command does recognize that the Second Gens aren't as intuitively smart
as the First Gens are. To counterattack this weakness, many of the old Terrines have been promoted into the NCO positions of the army to train and pass
on their experiences to the new recruits. While some deserving Second Gen Terrines may
be promoted into open NCO slots, most of these NCO slots have been reserved for up
and coming First Gen Terrines.
Since the war nearly two decades ago, ARMOR has slowed its plans for expansion.
While it still sends patrols into the Monster Zone, and over the mountains to
its west, ARMOR has pretty much decided to stay within its pre-war borders until
it has built up its military forces to make another push north. Based around a
strict society that is a mix of military and corporate culture, ARMOR offers a
stability and strength that has attracted thousands of emigrants from the
surrounding areas. With this newfound boom in numbers and strength, ARMOR has
been able to expand its sphere of influence over an area extending more than 200
miles to its north. While it is actively hostile towards Baltimore, ARMOR does
have a good relationship with Golden Age Weapons, with whom it does some active
trading. As far as GAW-Norfolk, and their CS allies are concerned, Prometheorg
is just another growing human kingdom. ARMOR has been very careful to assign
only human and Martian units to their border with GAW-Norfolk. ARMOR has
decided not to have any dealings with the CS, leaving any dealings
with them to their Human proxies in GAW-Norfolk and its immediate area. As such,
all Terrine units have standing orders to destroy any CS or GAW patrols
they come upon anywhere other than around Norfolk.