CS490: The Game Project

Second Strike

       Second strike capability: The ability to survive a first strike with sufficient resources to deliver an effective counterblow (generally associated with nuclear weapons). (Nato)

        After the turn of the 21st century, the world saw major dispute. The Middle East was a hot spot of terror and destruction based on religious and ethic fighting. For many years this region stood on the edge of all out war. In a region with so much economic potential, few people were rich and many were starving. Fortunately in 2016 a statesman named Ali Alhab, through brilliant political manipulation, brought the region together. Referred to as the Bismarck of the Middle East, Ali allied the Middle Eastern nations together into NAPEN, the New Alliance of Petroleum Exporting Nations. NAPEN grew in power through a multi-staged strategy. First they reduced petroleum prices to record lows. The world soon abandoned the notion of “green energy” and embraced petroleum. New breakthroughs in fossil fuel engine efficiency reduced emissions to tolerable levels. The world was dependant on oil and the research required to replace it was simply too expensive. Alternative fuels saw huge budget cuts in the United States and elsewhere as oil usage reached a new record high. NAPEN soon had the world in its grip; it could manipulate prices as it saw fit, for the world needed the petroleum.

        Over time NAPEN became jaded with its wealth and prosperity. Ali soon demanded that NAPEN become a permanent member of the UN with veto powers. NAPEN began to tighten its noose on the western world. In 2036 Ali retired and was replaced by the young Ahmed Hashimi. Hashimi took a more moderate approach with the NAPEN, but by 2078 NAPEN had raised prices enough to be declared an outrage by the UN. Since NAPEN was now a permanent member, there was little the organization could do. In 2090 the US was ordered to reduce its nuclear capabilities as part of a global disbarment initiative. Every nation was allowed 5 nuclear weapons; NAPEN had none, and was allowed to produce five.

         In September of 2099 the vast oil fields of the Middle East dried up. The world, now fully dependant on oil, was devastated. NAPEN dissolved into local factions ruled by military radicals. Throughout the world riots broke out. Countries dissolved and mass hysteria was prevailed. Cities lost power for days as the last remaining oil was squandered. Virtually every country declared martial law. When military loyalty failed, nations broke in rebel parties who fought for control of the remaining petroleum reserves. The folly of abandoning renewable resources was apparent.

         The United States was especially hit hard by the loss of power. Looting and riots broke out, but the military was able to contain the nation and maintain some semblance of order. President Samuel Philips issued executive order 724 ordering all available resources be devoted to developing new energy sources. Through a series of government acts, together known as the Restoration Acts, Americans were required to grow their own food, preserve resources at all costs and to serve in public works projects aimed at rebuilding the nearly powerless nation. The police force was quadrupled to maintain order while the nation searched for a new energy source.

In 2105 a team of nuclear physicists in Los Alamos National Laboratory, the birthplace of the nuclear bomb, made substantial breakthroughs in fusion research. Lead Scientist Wolfgang Shoellcoft discovered an efficient means of funneling energy which made it possible to focus a beam of energy into an infinitesimally small point. Similar to a laser, the concentration of in-phase energy enables the high temperatures of fusion to be readily reached. Once the reaction was started, feeding in hydrogen gas was all the fuel it needed. Fusion reactors brought light back to a world of darkness.

         But the damage had already been done. The industrialized nations managed to remain intact, but most of the world’s population now lived in lawless states. War broke out on every front. Century old disputes were now settled with the force of nuclear weapons. Rebel groups, eager to become the next superpower, overran military bases and deployed massive nuclear strikes on their enemies. India and Pakistan exchanged fire, as did rebels in Russia. The radicals of the NAPEN nations attacked the western world with weapons to complete the jihad started over a century earlier. Europe and the US returned fire with every hidden nuke they had in a strike in which not a single Middle Eastern city survived. The world was put into a second dark age.

         At about the same time, a group of scientists in Alaska accidentally discovered a new petroleum based alloy. The Alaskan oil fields had nearly faltered, but a secret research lab still existed. Rajmohan Rajagopalan, a material scientist eager to develop new metal alloys for armor, accidentally tainted a mixture with petroleum. The resulting fluid was highly volatile and nearly destroyed the facility. Rajagopalan discovered that once the fluid struck electrical wires, however, it immediately hardened into a solid. Dubbed Electroplastium, the new alloy was a remarkable substance. It was virtually invulnerable; all energy that struck it was reflected back. Electroplastium requires a constant flow of electricity to maintain its solidity. Once power is cut, it reverts back to a volatile fluid. Furthermore, the power it reflects is equal to the power it draws. Rajagopalan discovered that the most efficient way of sustaining it was through pulses of electricity which were in-phase. Anti-phase pulses resulted in destructive interference with the material, and caused an electrical backlash.

         Until the material was perfected, it remained in the secret lab. Unfortunately Rajagopalan conspired with a powerful group of Siberia rebels. He destroyed the lab and erased all knowledge of electroplastium from the US. He fled to Siberia with the rebels and the secret of electroplastium. He continued his work in secret base deep in the arctic, out of the eyes of the ravished world.

         The United States, after losing many major cities to nuclear strikes, grew strong once more with the introduction of fusion power. Samuel Philips declared that the US should lead a coalition to free the world from tyranny and to avenge the lose of life to the rebels. The entire nation was united under the Liberation Acts and devoted itself to building a strong military. The Liberation Army was soon second to none. Fusion enabled extremely high power devices such as lasers and rail guns to be implemented on an unprecedented scale. Navy ships equipped with a rail gun battery could wipe out portions of cities with a single shell. The rebel bases were eradicated one by one. Europe the was first to be freed, followed by the Far East. Rebel groups, could not compete with the power of the Liberation army. Just as Russia was being freed, vast tracts of oil in Siberia were discovered by an expedition team.

         Around this time the New World Power faction of the Russian army reared its ugly head. Lead by the bloodthirsty Yuri Kakistoc, the Siberian rebels were a ruthless force. The NWP was armed with Rajagopalan’s electroplastium technology for it was they whom he fled from Alaska with. In his secret lab he expanded the capabilities of electroplastium ten-fold. When the Liberation Army attacked the NWP, they suffered crushing defeat. Electroplastium armor proved to be all but invincible to US ground forces. NWP expanded across Asia and Europe with unprecedented speed. Kakistoc declared his army to be the Golden Horde of the 22nd century. He demanded that the Liberation Army surrender at once.

Samuel Philips called for every able man, woman and child to rise up against the NWP. Soon the Siberians controlled all of Eurasian Continent. Once the NWP pushed the US liberation forces to the coast, however, they were halted. US navy ships equipped with rail gun batteries cut through Kakistoc’s ships armor. Rail gun projectiles simply had too much energy to be stopped by Rajagopalan’s second generation electroplastium armor. The NWP also lacked advanced fusion generators. Without the ability to produce massive amounts of power, the electroplastium shields had limited reflectivity. Kakistoc executed Rajagopalan for his failure to bring him victory and ordered his remaining scientists to produce armor that was completely invincible. While their forces were halted at the shores, the Liberation army could not push them back any further.

         The NWP hardened its defenses and ruled its territory through absolute fear. Their high technology enabled them to implement full scale totalitarianism, and armed with the invulnerability of electroplastium they enslaved the people of Eurasia. Democracy was strictly abolished; dissenters were executed immediately. Kakistoc was known to the people as the Ruler; everyone else was Slave. Everyone under his rule was forced into hard labor camps scattered across the continent. They built massive power plants and high tension wires everywhere; the electroplastium plated buildings of the NWP required enormous volumes of electricity to maintain. The Kakistoc’s headquarters were located deep in Siberia, within an icy fortress.

         Soon the secrets of fusion reactors were discovered by the NWP. Scientists who were stranded when the NWP attacked were tortured and forced to tell. During this time US rebuilt its nuclear arsenal; even if the US was able to discover the composition of electroplastium, there was no oil left in the United States to produce it. The Liberation forces retaliated against the NWP with an unprecedented strike. Fully two hundred nuclear warheads were directed at the NWP headquarters. The awesome firepower that was unleashed had little effect on the NWP; Kakistoc had been expecting such a blow. Sufficient power facilities on site reflected the nuclear attack. However, a fifty mile radius around the fortress was melted and turned into a glowing hotbed of radiation, cutting off the Fortress from the rest of its empire. The Kakistoc was forced to tunnel underground past the radiation in order maintain communications.

         On New Year’s of 2113 Kakistoc declared that the US would not last the year. Just as the NWP was preparing a fleet of fusion powered fighter jets, one crashed on the island of Bermuda in the Atlantic. An expert scientist team lead by Shoellcoft realized the US did not have the time, nor the resources (petroleum) to reproduce the technology found in electroplastium. The time to strike back at the NWP had come. The vessel was refitted with a second generation Fusion reactors and Lt. Conrad Johnson was named commander. The military had only this one chance for survival. Using the Enemy’s own weapon, Bowie was about to enter hostile territory for a Second Strike.