The War Between the States
_
It's been six months since the bombs fell.
We weren't expecting the first attack to come from within, but it did— and the results were devastating. Washington, D.C. was the first target. New York was next. Over 30 more U.S. States were destroyed in an instant.
From those places that could still gain Internet links, we heard worse news. The other major superpowers— China, India, even the aging Russia— were experiencing similar crises, torn apart from within by their own missiles.
It was a few weeks later that we found out the cause.
A new world power had emerged, or so said the voices on the radio, and TV, broadcast from who knew where. They said they'd cleaned the world of the corruption of our nations. They said they'd build a new order. They said the war was already over. They said it was time to accept the fate of our world.
Instead, we're fighting back.
The U.S. Government, what's left of it, moved across the country. We're now in a bunker, somewhere in Washington— the state, that is. Exactly where is a secret.
There's about 5 or 6 other states that still have the infrastructure to fight. They're also different in another way: Each state had their own set of nukes, hidden away, just in case.
There's only one problem: Someone's trying to wipe us all out.
And, like before, it's coming from within._
~
Welcome to Global Thermonuclear War 38: The War Between the States! You are all members of the few remaining states of the U.S., trying to track down the traitor among you.
The following roles are in the game:
Innocent x4 ~ An ordinary state. Has nukes. Paranoid. Having the rest of your country reduced to slag'll do that to you.
Defender x1 ~ You own a missile-defense system, and can protect people! However, if your chosen protection target takes a direct hit, you cannot protect them from any further ones on following days. (The defense system protects a target from both the day vote and the action(s) of the traitors.)
Traitor x1 ~ You, on the other hand, desire nothing more than to discover the secret location of the New States Government.
An important note: As we have 6 players and only 1 traitor, the balance of play is a bit lopsided in favor of the innocents. Thus, the following rule is in effect:
If the Traitor receives the majority of the vote on Day One, he will be shielded from the hit. This only applies to Day One, and not any later days. The shielding, if triggered, will appear as though it was a regular defense by the defender. If someone is protected on Day One, it's up to you to figure out what happened.
Rounds last 48 hours, closing at midnight PDT. Role assignments are random. Ties will be settled by coin flip.
~
_In a deep bunker, the man behind the desk checked that all the screens were working properly. Nuclear blasts would ruin any electronic equipment they were let near. They'd ruin the users too, but that was incidental. Fortunately, plain old copper wire still worked— and there was enough of it left for unsteady links to remain.
The sixth screen flickered, video appearing with a slight dusting of static.
Faces appeared on all of them, people in sober clothing in bunkers halfway around the continent.
"Can you hear me?" said mrxak , as the static faded. Maine had escaped the devastation just by its location. Alaska and Hawaii had also been untouched, but from what reports there were, they had been taken over already.
The man in the Washington bunker nodded. "I can. Is everyone else's audio working?"
Mackilroy nodded, tapping the microphone as a check. Deep beneath the deserts of New Mexico , what had started as a group of 'crazy conspiracy theorists' had turned out to be a group of far-sighted individuals when the bombs fell. "We're doing fine here, for now."
There was silence from retep998 , who held up a sign. 'NO AUDIO— WE ARE WORKING ON IT.' Wyoming had somehow missed the devastation completely. retep998 was one of the few people who actually transmitted from somewhere with natural light. The screen showed a forest.
Of course, where in Wyoming was a well-kept secret.
prophile cleared his throat. For some strange reason, he was surrounded by animals. The man in Washington looked at him balefully, just as a parrot flew onto his shoulder.
" Rhode Island never had any famous pirates," the man said.
prophile shrugged. "We've had to keep the surviving animals somewhere. They won't be any trouble."
The man in the suit nodded, and turned to jrsh92. jrsh's feed was more staticky, and the camera was still being aimed. However, he said, "I can hear you; you can hear me, right?" when prompted. Georgia hadn't been as lucky, and only the extreme depth of jrsh's bunker was protecting him. Signals were always a little difficult traveling there, though.
The man nodded. "We hear you."
That left Crow T. Robot. The representative for Michigan cleared his throat. "I'm ready."
The man nodded. "We have a problem," he said. "One of you is a traitor. We will hold sessions of elimination to find who. Those ousted will be nuked." He paused, to take a breath. "I understand this sounds severe, but we lost contact with JacaByte this morning. If we do not find this traitor, it's likely we'll all die. One, by one."
The man folded his hands, indicating a moment of silence. The state of Virginia would be missed. One more patch of land turned to glass. One more shot at fighting back, eliminated.
The man spread his hands. The silent moment was over.
"Gentlemen," he said, "begin."_