Editing Rust

Rust

A post-apocalyptic/modern warfare scenario set in Detroit, USA.

Premise;
Due to a series of economic hammer blows, the US economy suffers a momentary free fall. Unfortunately, this coincides with a disputed election where the topic of bailing out insolvent states was made to be a major, if somewhat unwarranted, issue. Congress and the Senate became deadlocked, and the election itself, undertaken in a fragmented and chaotic situation, produces no clear winner as the outcome is debated in the courts. This situation, while unpleasant and difficult, is not beyond the abilities of the authorities to control.

That year, just at the beginning of spring, a new disease emerges that sweeps the globe. The disease, popularly known as The Brown Sweats, is a dengue fever variant that is spread by contaminated body fluids. As it breaks down the sweat and sebaceous glands, causing the skin to bleed, it is extremely easy to contract this disease. This is known as fomite transmission, and the disease is remarkably resilient in the environment. It has a high mortality rate, and is rumoured to have originally been an engineered bioweapon.

The resulting collapse following the economic, social and political impacts tears nations apart. The USA withdraws its troops from across the globe as the military is drastically downsized before the fall, and nations accustomed to US forces providing military security are set upon by neighbours. The USA fragments into many parts, but the two main forces are the Separatists ('Alliance') and the Federation.

Separatists desire to shrink the USA into several cooperating blocs of like-minded states, where the Federation seeks to prevent this. These forces are usually, but not always, state National Guard fighting US Army units. As some US army units have gone over to the Separatists, and some Federation states send thier national guard to help the army, the categories are very blurred. Regardless, both sides are usually armed with the same equipment from just before the fall when the national guard units received US Army equipment as units were deactivated. The US Marine Corps does not feature in this scenario, and both sides claim they are thier allies.

Other paramilitary groups operate in this setting, and the players will be usually drawn from these groups. They include pre-war recognised groups such as the Detroit Police Department and other law enforcement agencies, to unofficial groups such as militias, to private groups such as Blackwater, to international groups such as UN observers protecting Red Cross efforts. All the official state groups are separatist, with federation favouring individuals leaving the groups and usually joining the main force Federation troops.

The Canadian army is massed near the border, and the Federation Army has closed the border. The border tunnel was blown in six months ago and is full of water, and the Federationers hold the bridge. Alliance troops regularly try to capture the bridge to open up supply lines out of Canada.
There are refugee camps in Canada but the Federation isn't allowing anyone over the border. Young people trying to cross the border are summarily conscripted, weapons are seized and suspicious individuals hung as traitors. (In fact, any of the two main armies will do this if they catch you).
The UN relief workers have recently pulled out of Detroit after several of thier convoys were targeted by IEDs, probably by paranoid militias who think this is all some sort of UN plot. The UN is now head-quartered in The Hague. Since Russia, China and the USA are all fighting civil wars the security council isn't a lot of use at the moment.

The main antagonists in Detroit are street gangs now armed with military grade weapons, various flavour of militia ranging from good people such as yourself all the way down to the Hutaree nutjobs trying to bring on the end of the world, Blackwater undertaking shady missions for who knows who, military stragglers, lone armed individuals simply labelled 'bandits', main force army patrols from both sides and a few other odd bods. One particular menace is a white supremacist streetgang/militia that is infiltrating from the south called 'Volksreich'. As there is a large proportion of African-Americans in Detroit, the Volksreich are indiscriminate in thier violence towards them.

Your group will be centred on a small police station in central Detroit. The Detroit Police Department has collapsed, and the country is under martial law wherever main force troops are. There is no water, power or sanitation in the city.