Prologue.
War. War never changes.
In the years leading up to the the Great War that plunged the Earth into an abyss of nuclear fire, the United States of America had annexed Canada in the hope of securing both its untapped natural resources and a bulwark against a communist invasion from the north. What they got instead was a hotbed of partisan rebels and native uprising where GIs were forced to fight block by block in unforgiving urban combat and inch by inch through scenic pine forests-turned terrifying deathtraps to rival the jungles of Southeast Asia. Before the first shots of the Great War were fired America was already waging one of the most bloody, repressive and costly campaigns in its history.
Anybody in the Post-American wastelands with any knowledge of history knows of the bloody and ill-conceived annexation of Canada. What most don't know is that even before the Americans got involved, Canada was a nation on the brink. Dwindling resources forced oil, gas and uranium mining companies to push further and further into Canada's vast northern wilderness to feed the industrialized south's desire for comfort and ease, as well as the pre-annexation government's unwillingness to stand in the way of the Americans unlawfully drawing upon Canadian resources in protecting the oil interests in Alaska, sparked protests from First Nations groups and environmentalists that grew increasingly frequent... and violent. A new generation of educated and charismatic tribal leaders, as well as figures such as John Caribou, a famous hockey player who traded on his celebrity status to campaign for the rights of his people, pushed back against those who would rape their land.
When a terrorist attack on the largest of the US' oil pipelines gave the Americans the pretext for annexation they were looking for, industrialists pushed the Canadian government to capitulate, knowing the Americans would show no mercy in putting down the protesters. While this was true as far as it went, it only emboldened the militants, who themselves now had no reason to show restraint against such a hated enemy. And so a once peaceful nation sunk beneath the tides of war.
Despite the setbacks, however, the US military was very busy in Canada. Forced labor camps were established, housing both Canadian POWs and dissidents from back home, put to work building new weapons or used as guinea pigs in hideous experiments. But it was in Canada's greatest city, Toronto, that the US occupation force was developing its masterwork.
As the tallest building in North America, the CN Tower was considered ideal to be converted into a military communications base that would form the linchpin of the US' sattelite defense network. Protected against every conceivable kind of jamming and filled with revolutionary digital electronics, the tower would be used to command an orbital weapons network that could obliterate America's enemies in seconds with no possibility of retalliation, freeing the superpower from the restrictions of mutually assured destruction, allowing it to rule unopposed.
The system was to go online in October of 2077, but fate had other plans. Sabotage by Canadian partisans resulted in a massive explosion that ripped the tower in half, crippling the sattelite defense network. The Americans scrambled to rebuild the defense network before their ongoing conflict with China turned nuclear and the rest, like America itself, is history.
While all this was going on, the remnants of Canada's legitimate government and military had gone underground, taking refuge in a secret lab in the wilderness of North Ontario that had been researching cryogenics. When the bombs fell, they entered a frozen sleep to await the day when the radiation would drop to a safe level and they could return to rebuild. Now, over two centuries later, the sleepers are awakening to a nightmarish new world.
In a world where they must face the consequences of what they did and what they didn't do, the last survivors of the Old World will be forced to change or die.
But war? War never changes...
War. War never changes.
In the years leading up to the the Great War that plunged the Earth into an abyss of nuclear fire, the United States of America had annexed Canada in the hope of securing both its untapped natural resources and a bulwark against a communist invasion from the north. What they got instead was a hotbed of partisan rebels and native uprising where GIs were forced to fight block by block in unforgiving urban combat and inch by inch through scenic pine forests-turned terrifying deathtraps to rival the jungles of Southeast Asia. Before the first shots of the Great War were fired America was already waging one of the most bloody, repressive and costly campaigns in its history.
Anybody in the Post-American wastelands with any knowledge of history knows of the bloody and ill-conceived annexation of Canada. What most don't know is that even before the Americans got involved, Canada was a nation on the brink. Dwindling resources forced oil, gas and uranium mining companies to push further and further into Canada's vast northern wilderness to feed the industrialized south's desire for comfort and ease, as well as the pre-annexation government's unwillingness to stand in the way of the Americans unlawfully drawing upon Canadian resources in protecting the oil interests in Alaska, sparked protests from First Nations groups and environmentalists that grew increasingly frequent... and violent. A new generation of educated and charismatic tribal leaders, as well as figures such as John Caribou, a famous hockey player who traded on his celebrity status to campaign for the rights of his people, pushed back against those who would rape their land.
When a terrorist attack on the largest of the US' oil pipelines gave the Americans the pretext for annexation they were looking for, industrialists pushed the Canadian government to capitulate, knowing the Americans would show no mercy in putting down the protesters. While this was true as far as it went, it only emboldened the militants, who themselves now had no reason to show restraint against such a hated enemy. And so a once peaceful nation sunk beneath the tides of war.
Despite the setbacks, however, the US military was very busy in Canada. Forced labor camps were established, housing both Canadian POWs and dissidents from back home, put to work building new weapons or used as guinea pigs in hideous experiments. But it was in Canada's greatest city, Toronto, that the US occupation force was developing its masterwork.
As the tallest building in North America, the CN Tower was considered ideal to be converted into a military communications base that would form the linchpin of the US' sattelite defense network. Protected against every conceivable kind of jamming and filled with revolutionary digital electronics, the tower would be used to command an orbital weapons network that could obliterate America's enemies in seconds with no possibility of retalliation, freeing the superpower from the restrictions of mutually assured destruction, allowing it to rule unopposed.
The system was to go online in October of 2077, but fate had other plans. Sabotage by Canadian partisans resulted in a massive explosion that ripped the tower in half, crippling the sattelite defense network. The Americans scrambled to rebuild the defense network before their ongoing conflict with China turned nuclear and the rest, like America itself, is history.
While all this was going on, the remnants of Canada's legitimate government and military had gone underground, taking refuge in a secret lab in the wilderness of North Ontario that had been researching cryogenics. When the bombs fell, they entered a frozen sleep to await the day when the radiation would drop to a safe level and they could return to rebuild. Now, over two centuries later, the sleepers are awakening to a nightmarish new world.
In a world where they must face the consequences of what they did and what they didn't do, the last survivors of the Old World will be forced to change or die.
But war? War never changes...
