A Bad Thought [Thunder Empire]

[Webstral]

I was thinking about the relationship between SAMAD (Southern Arizona Military Administrative District) [Thunder Empire] and the gangs & warlords in Phoenix the other day, and I had a horrible thought. Throughout 1999 and 2000, Fort Huachuca doesn’t have anything like the manpower to intervene in Phoenix. The task force missions conducted throughout this timeframe are sufficient to conduct search-and-destroy missions throughout large parts of Arizona in support of surviving municipalities. Liberating parts of Phoenix or establishing a logistical base is out of the question.

And yet, SAMAD is going to need some things from Phoenix. There’s a huge need for bicycles, tires, spare parts of every description, machines, and so forth. It’s only natural that Huachuca will want to get hold of some of these items by barter with the local survivors in Phoenix. Once some sort of trade relationship is established, it’s natural for the arrangement to grow quickly. The gangs and warlords want food, medicines, and items they can’t make for themselves and can’t salvage. Some warlord is going to realize that ongoing access to goods from SAMAD is better than a once-off smash-and-grab of a trade mission from SAMAD. Said warlord might even seek out a trade arrangement with SAMAD, offering a location, security, and some sort of contract spelling out the responsibilities of each side.

This warlord is not necessarily going to be a good man. He may, in fact, be the Phoenician Baron Czarny. Doing business with him serves SAMAD’s short-term interests. However, it should be obvious that the warlord is going to use whatever he gains from the relationship to bring as much of Phoenix under his control as possible. Some of the other surviving groups in the Valley of the Sun consist of decent people who will be killed or enslaved as a result of the warlord’s expansion. Originally, I conceived of Huachuca as seeing this fact as a lamentable but unavoidable cost of doing business. Now I’m wondering if this isn’t part of a cold calculation on the part of the Huachuca command. If Phoenix, or a large part thereof, has been united under the banner of a single warlord, then a decapitation stroke can bring the whole establishment into Huachuca’s hands at some future date. I’d expect this of the Soviets, but envisioning the Americans at Huachuca thinking this way puts a bad taste in my mouth. Yet, there is an unavoidable logic to it.


Webstral