Coalition States

The Coalition States (CS) is a fictional political body in the "Rifts" role-playing game created by Kevin Siembieda.

Geographical Location

The Coalition States is located in what was the central United States of America and Canada. The Coalition controls parts of the states of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Ontario, and Quebec. The Coalition also has large holdings along the Mississippi River, and throughout the rest of the central United States.

Political Organization

The Coalition States is ruled by a human-supremacist totalitarian dictatorship, under the leadership of self-proclaimed Emperor Karl Prosek. The Emperor has absolute power, and is also head of the Coalition military. However each of the five Coalition States is technically self governing.

CS Chi-Town

The largest state is by far the state of "Chi-Town", consisting of the northern half of the current-day state of Illinois, and part of the adjoining states. The capital city is also called Chi-Town, built near the ruins of Chicago. The city of Chi-Town is also the seat of the Coalition government, as well as its military. The city Chi-Town is the single largest population center in North America in the world of Rifts Earth, with more than 2.2 million residents, a sizeable military force for defense, and a sprawling mass of shanty-towns known as the 'Burbs surrounding the city.

The city of Chi-Town (as well as several other Coalition cities) is considered a Mega-City, in that the entire city is housed inside one giant Mega Damage structure, which consists of more than thirty levels, each several stories high, and several sub-levels. The Chi-Town 'Burbs houses another 3 million denizens, who are not Coalition citizens, but are instead waiting for admittance to the city, or just squatting. Similar 'Burbs can be found around all of the Coalition's fortified cities, but Chi-Town's are the most infamous.

CS Missouri

Missouri is a politically insignificant state, which is mainly under the control of the central government in Chi-Town, but which is the bread basket of the Coalition.

CS Lone Star

Lone-Star (the US state of Texas) which is home to the Lone-Star Complex, a Pre-Rifts base developed by the US government to study and carry out genetic engineering. Lone Star City is under the command of "Dr. Desmond Bradford", a brilliant and loyal geneticist. The Coalition claims all of the Pre-Rifts state of Texas as the State of Lone Star; but in reality, they only control the area around the Lone Star Complex. The rest of the state is home to loosely affiliated brigands, mercenaries, thieves, and other undesirables who call themselves the Pecos Empire.

CS Iron Heart

Iron Heart (part of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and southern Quebec) is the manufacturing backbone of the Coalition, and the place where most of the CS's high tech weaponry and equipment is manufactured.

Fort El Dorado

Fort El Dorado was a fortified independent kingdom with close ties to the Coalition. After the Juicer Uprising, the leaders of the Kingdom, as well as the surrounding towns and villages of the Arkansas territory such as "Newtown", desired stronger ties with the CS.

Armed Forces

The Armed Forces of the Coalition States include a large and powerful Army and a budding Navy and Air force. Until about 105 PA, the Navy and Air Force were both subsidiary branches of the Coalition States Army (appropriate, as the CS are largely landlocked, more so with the secession of Free Quebec). During recent years, the acquisition of former American military equipment including three Nimitz class aircraft carriers and associated Ticonderoga class cruisers and Arleigh Burke class destroyers has considerably bolstered both the power and prestige of the Coalition Navy, as has the commissioning of the new CSS Chi-Town class amphibious assault ship/aircraft carriers.

The symbol of the Coalition States is the "death's head" emblem which appears on most CS military hardware in some form. Coalition troopers in their trademark skull-headed helmets are referred to as "Dead Boys" and the most common mecha in the Coalition forces is the SAMAS (Strategic Airborne Military Assault Suit) powered armor. A typical Coalition combat squad consists of one fireteam of five Dead Boys supported by a fireteam of four "SAM" power armor pilots and coordinated by a single UAR-1 Enforcer mecha.