Thread: twilight 1964
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Old 12-15-2009, 08:52 AM
RN7 RN7 is offline
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UTAH

Salt Lake City had no real military value and the ICBM hit came as something as a surprise to the residents of the state. There is a general feeling amongst the most pious that the nuclear strike was God's wake-up call to the Mormons, a visible show of His displeasure with the secular way the faith had been turning in the 20th century. Despite the horrendous damage and loss of life, many will tell you that the nuke solidified the faithful into the dominant power that they are today. With their largest city in flames, Utah has become a virtual religious police state to survive. The true power in Utah is and always has been the Mormon church. They were amongst the best set up of all of America's social groups, since are a hostile, paranoid lot that are determined to survive, and part of their doctrine called for each member to keep a year's supply of food on hand. The Church organized the citizens quickly following the destruction of Salt Lake City, and began setting up local militias and food distribution centers throughout the state. All remaining federal offices, property, power-generating facilities, mines, and other industrial facilities have been taken over by the state government until the present emergency is over (if ever). Food, clothing, electrical power and petroleum are strictly rationed, with the lion's share going to native Mormons. Most of the elected officials in Utah were church members, and slowly the state government was replaced by the church elders. Acting on tacit approval of Governor George Dewey Clyde, the President and Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints declared the former state of Utah the "Holy Mormon State of Deseret" in an official ceremony in 1963. Strong pressure was put on the remaining gentile population of the area to convert or emigrate. Utah has become a militant theocracy, with a strict set of rules based on the Book of Mormon similar to that of Brigham Young in the early days. Alcohol and tobacco are forbidden, but polygamy is making a comeback. Outsiders are welcome, but only if they adhere to the religious laws that govern the area. Utah has a strong military, but so far have shown no interest in expanding their territory. Utah recognizes the authority of the military government in Colorado Springs but acts under it's own agenda nearly all of the time. MilGov has made assisting Utah’s government to recover a top priority for 1964. Despite what MilGov thinks, however, Utah doesn’t need their help at all. With their high level of organization, security and forward thinking, even a blind man can tell that the "Mormon Nation" will most likely survive better than any other group in the country.

1) NUCLEAR TARGETS
Date Type Target
10/28/62 SS-7 Salt Lake City

2) ORGANIZED MILITARY FORCES
None, though in reality the entire Mormon Nation is an organized military force, armed well enough to keep virtually any army at bay.

3) SALT LAKE CITY/PROVO/OGDEN
The fist of God: Late on October 28, 1962, Salt Lake City was nuked by a Russian SS-7 ICBM. The 6 megaton warhead was a low-air burst which blossomed above North Temple Street in the northern part, obliterated the airport, the monorail interchange, and most buildings almost to the Salt Palace and the State Capitol. Today the northern half of the city is a devastated graveyard. Fire-blackened, twisted metal skeletons that had once been skyscrapers rise like ghosts, and interspersed between them are the ragged stumps of what were smaller buildings. Vehicles of every description litter the highways and roads throughout the urban area. The earth surrounding the actual crater has been melted and fused to glass and is visible from the air. Despite the damage from the nuke, the area is still home to some 1,000,000 citizens spread out across the northern third of the state from Provo to Logan. Much damage has since been repaired through prayer and twelve-hour shifts by Mormon workers. The northern ruins are now prowled by a number of gangs, including an ultra-violent one led by a man called "Dead Head", because of his badly scarred face, a result of radiation.
Overflow: The nuke-damaged northern areas of the city are slowly becoming inundated by a greatly expanded Great Salt Lake that has risen far out of it's normal lake bed due to the nuclear autumn and the heavier than normal snowfall in the Wasatch Mountains and is on it's way to filling the prehistoric lake bed of Great Lake Bonneville. Jagged skyscrapers jut out of the salty water and the Salt Palace is half-inundated. The golden treasures salvaged from the Palace have been moved into undisclosed safe places in the mountains.
Leadership: As noted, the leaders of the church are in complete control over most of the state's population and resources. The "Deseret White House", the HQ of the Mormon Nation's leadership, is located deep beneath the Wasatch Mountains near Granite in the eastern suburbs of Salt Lake City. The massive repository of Mormon genealogical records buried in a vault in Big Cottonwood Canyon is just as important in light of the religion's emphasis on genealogy.
Army: The urban area was also home of a large MilGov enclave centered on the 4th Infantry Division, which was moved down here in mid-1963 from Seattle with the difficult mission to re-establish relations with the Utah state government. After almost a year of trying, it was obvious that MilGov wasn't going to have much luck here and the unit was pulled out and moved south to Phoenix (see that state).
Natives: To the east and north of the cities are a couple of small Indian tribes trying to eke an existence out of hunting, primitive farming and trading. Mormon townsfolk trade the Indians medicine, technological trinkets, ammo, metals for produce and meats. Relations are good, both sides trust each other and there are even some intermarriages--much to concern of the Mormon church. Essentially, townsfolk pity the Indians a little for their hard and primitive lifestyle, and the Indians are amused at townsfolk trying to survive in the cities, but neither side is hostile to each other.
Baptism: There is a rumor going around the western United States (and soon the rest of the nation) that the salty waters of the Great Salt Lake can wash away the keliods and scarring of radiation burns. While this is totally untrue, it has been a beacon of hope for so many people. For the better part of a year now, trickles of radiation-poisoned refugees, mostly terminal cases, have been coming into the state to cure themselves beneath the waters. The Mormons, always forgiving people, have set aside the northeast shore of the expanding lake as a refuge for these people. Although the Utah government officially is not helping them in any organized way, many altruistic Mormons are doing what they can to ease their suffering.

4) NORTHEASTERN UTAH
The Last Resort: This huge ski resort, located in the Ashley National Forest north of Vernal, is now the home of a growing number of Utah's anti-Mormon thugs and criminals. These punks were driven out of the cities and have found a home up here in the mountains. They are led by a quadriplegic dwarf named the "Poet", an escaped ex-insane asylum inmate who is a genius at organization and leadership. His real name is Ezekiel Sherman Dustan, from Pennsylvania, who was on the western leg of a multi-state crime spree when the bombs fell. The resort has limited electrical power, thanks to several alcohol-burning generators that the Poet has rigged up. He has gathered a considerable army of former street criminals and thieves, about 1,000 by now, and more are straggling in every week. Fortunately, they are more concerned with drinking and killing each other in duels than causing any trouble for the Mormons.

5) SOUTHWESTERN UTAH
The Saint George-Washington-Hurricane area is now ruled by an ultra-fundamentalist Mormon sect under the watchful eye of Prophet Malcolm Briggs. His lieutenants rule over the individual towns in his name, but overall command is in Briggs' hands. Life under the fanatical religious rule is tough and brutal, civil rights are unknown, the citizens being treated as slaves, even the professing Mormon ones are subject to arrest. Oppression and suppression are common facts of life as Briggs tries to "purify" the populace of secular thoughts. Naturally, many resisted at first. Brutal actions soon stopped such resistance, and now the people live in constant fear. Only a few continue to resist, under the banner of the "Southern Utah Liberation Front", but they are hampered by the size of the Prophet's forces and by their lack of equipment and training. The Mormon leadership in Salt Lake City is aware of Prophet Briggs' actions, but as long as he stays away from the cities and keeps proclaiming the faith (now matter how twisted his interpretation may be) they are closing their eyes.
Cedar City: Now a small, wretched, dirty, rubble-laden pest-hole full of bitter, frightened people. Its seeming abundance of junk piles and ruins, as well as a huge junkyard set against its northern wall has earned Cedar City the nickname "The Heap" by it's inhabitants.
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