Against the Storm: A Fortress Farm Novel Read online

  Guide to the World of Fortress Farm

  In the world of the Fortress Farm series, a supposedly benevolent artificial intelligence system puts the entire world’s electrical grid to sleep, causing modern society to collapse into chaos. In the aftermath, new civilizations rise up. Good, evil, and something in between struggle for survival and supremacy in a world that feels a lot more like 1930 than yesterday.

  Fortress Farm Series Includes:

  The Pullback

  Shield of the Okaw

  Dawn of Darkness (Compilation of The Pullback and Shield of the Okaw)

  Red Hawk Rising

  Fortress Farm Trilogy (Compilation of The Pullback, Shield of the Okaw, Red Hawk Rising, Three Additional Stories plus Guide to Fortress Farm)

  Against the Storm

  Fortress Farm Terms:

  Solar Storms—Similar to the Northern Lights, waves of particles from the Sun illuminate the night sky all over the world. While not an overnight catastrophe, the storms do cause inconveniences in a modern world built upon sensitive electronics. The world’s economies are already ailing, and the drain of damaged electronic devices hampers any attempt to jumpstart trade and innovation. In response, the US Government pushes through legislation known as The Pullback which creates trillions of new dollars to pay for grid updates. To pay for the new spending, all US military forces are withdrawn from overseas and onto just a few coastal bases, leading to the omnibus bill’s name. To provide the necessary computing power to control the new network, the artificial intelligence system known as GRAPEVINE is tasked with monitoring the Solar Storms and protecting all electronic devices from its effects.

  The Pullback – Mega-omnibus spending bill that effectively gives a blank check to the Federal government to spend whatever they need to combat the Solar Storms. Partially paid for by eliminating the United States military, pulling back all troops from overseas and stationing those left in defensive bases surrounding Washington DC. The massive spending gets the support of both Conservatives and Progressives in Congress (Con-Pro Coalition) by steering rivers of money into the districts of prominent leaders. The bill also concentrates all money into select urban areas, emptying most rural communities.

  GRAPEVINE – Artificial Intelligence finally gets its big break with funding from the Pullback Bill. Touted as the solution to all electro-magnetic problems caused by the Solar Storms, a massive computer brain called GRAPEVINE reaches out from its Silicon Valley home, taking control of any and all electronic devices in the world. Spreads both by hardwire connection and also via WiFi. There is nothing unaffected unless specifically built to be segregated from the world wide network.

  Great Reset – The night the entire electrical grid, internet and communications ceased to function. After the Great Reset, a literal Dark Age falls across the world, leaving billions of people without access to food, fresh water, heat or security.

  Biofuel – Fuel made from organic materials. Ethanol and soy diesel are the two most widely known biofuels in America before the Reset. Because of economic pressures and the relocation of most of the population to densely populated city centers, less vehicle fuel is needed leading to many of these facilities to be closed before the Reset. Diesel engines can easily be modified to run biofuel, allowing residents of the Republic to have heat and power long after the Reset shuts off the main electrical grid.

  Fortress Farm – While the small town residents of the defense cooperative (SDC) retreat into School Shelters for defense and resource conservation, the more remote farms are still vulnerable to bandit attacks. Each Fortress Farm silo has reinforced concrete walls several feet thick, providing enough protection to withstand even an F5 tornado. Surrounding earthen walls are bolstered by large drainage tiles from a local concrete plant. In the event of an attack, residents can retreat inside the walls. At night, all residents sleep in the concrete towers, safe from anything short of heavy artillery. The basic defenses for a Fortress Farm can be created in just a few days, which combined with School Shelters provide protection for every Republic resident.

  Quarterbushels (Quarters) – The hard currency used in the Republic after the Reset. Each Quarter coin, formerly the twenty five cent piece in US currency, represents one quarter bushel of soybeans. This means of exchange becomes widespread throughout the surviving communities of the Midwest. Demand is so high for the coins that certain industrious individuals make salvage trips into the cities, where some coins are still hidden in old bank vaults. Because of the large volumes needed, paper scrips soon supplement the coins, but the term still remains. i.e. That vehicle is worth about 1500 quarterbushels

  Wizards – Rural America is still populated by a generation of retired engineers from the major industrial companies that once were headquartered there. In the Okaw, these men and women are mostly veterans of Caterpillar, John Deere, and the power plants that fed the larger urban centers. Both by training and birth they are true mechanical geniuses. Many are gentlemen farmers and use their time making improvements to what they consider the modern world’s substandard quality of machining. Even before the Reset, they are tasked with helping to make cooperative biofuel refineries work. After the Reset, their expertise allows the Okaw, and subsequently the Republic, to create machines to defend themselves from larger more powerful forces that would otherwise overwhelm them.

  Snapping Turtles – In the aftermath of the Reset, the leaders of the Republic realizes they’ll have to make salvage trips into city ruins to find spare parts and other important items they cannot yet produce on their own. After several disastrous trips into dangerous areas, the Wizard engineering corps design armored trucks to protect the salvagers during their travels. The odd shaped vehicles are dubbed Snapping Turtles, reflecting both their shape and the powerful bite their weapons proved. Also called Mark 1s in a nod to the original tanks of World War 1.

  Mark 2 (Rhino) –Wizards soon discover that the multitude of bulldozers around their rural area can be armored. While much slower than Snapping Turtles, the Mark 2 is nearly unstoppable against anything short of a tank or RPG. Because they are too slow for salvage missions, each Fortress Farm is assigned several Mark 2s to use for farming. The heavy armor and weaponry prevent bandits from attacking the otherwise exposed farm workers.

  Razorback – Technically referred to by the Wizards as the Mark 3, Republic troops call their ultimate weapon the Razorback (so called because of the ridges running down the back of the machine used for cooling the diesel engine cocooned inside steel plates). But the odd appearance is anything but funny to the enemies of the Republic. A purpose built weapons platform built off of the tracked chassis of a track hoe, the Razorback can rotate its weapons 360 degrees while still on the move. Most have a crew of two, one main gunner and one driver. Expensive and difficult to build, the Razorback is nowhere near as numerous as the Turtle or the Mark 2.

  Raptors – Converted crop dusters, now turned into close combat attack craft for Red Hawk Republic forces.

  ARK Skyships – Originally based off of airship transports recovered from a local production facility, ARK now produces their gas filled vessels, called Skyships. These are used to keep their far flung empire connected, and also for close combat support.

  For more pictures of the world of Fortress Farm, and research links related to science behind the fiction, please visit RedHawkRepublic.com

  Major Midwest societies 12 years after the Great Reset (state names left for geographical reference). Excluding the Northern Caliphate, these are referred to as the Free States.

  1. Red Hawk Republic — The Republic began as a cooperative of farms and small towns united by their biofuel and food sources. Because o
f high unemployment and neglect, the remaining locals attempt to form their own economy even before the Great Reset crashes the electrical grid. After the Reset, the informal farm cooperative is well positioned to transition to a self-defense cooperative. Shelby County is the heartland of the SDC and is home to the families of Founder Phil Hamilton and Sherriff Clark Olsen. Eventually the Republic is formed comprising Okaw Valley, Old Main, the former territory of the New American Empire (now split into the provinces of America and Lafayette), Grand Shawnee (formerly Little Egypt in what was once Southern Illinois), parts of the former Blackhawk Confederation (Western Illinois and Eastern Iowa), and assorted other small communities. Phil Hamilton’s eldest son Alex is now the Founder of the Republic, ruling from the capital city of Philippi (formerly Shelbyville before the Reset). He is assisted closely by an inner circle comprised of his wife Rebekah and her mother Julia Ruff, brother Sam Hamilton, Commander Martin Fredericks and Bishops of the Unified Church. Sisters Lori and Essie Hamilton also hold important leadership roles.

  2. ARK—Tony Diamante and his law firm R.K.A., better known as ARK and made up in large part by his family, get fabulously wealthy from channeling Pullback spending through their allies in government and construction. The Diamante’s are electronics experts, and have suspicions that the GRAPEVINE artificial intelligence now controlling the country’s economy and electrical grid may not be as benevolent as the masses think. Using their profits to build firewalls around their own onsite supercomputer known as RenOne, Tony and his Peacekeeper security forces are well prepared to act when the lights go out on society. Quickly moving to establish control, Tony eliminates the leadership of his rival law firms and brings their organizations under his. Peacekeepers then create a safe zone in the skyscrapers that made up downtown St. Louis, allowing the rest of the surrounding area to destroy itself in an orgy of violence. Once on the opposite side of the law, the Diamantes now become the law after establishing a modern feudal system in the ruins of a once great city. Pre-Reset connections providing black market food deliveries lead ARK and the Red Hawk Republic to become allies despite their radically different backgrounds and forms of government. ARK’s territory now reaches west via numerous satellite states throughout the Great Plains.

  3. Vincennes— The overnight collapse of all electrical power and communication found one of the last remaining whole units of US Marines making the trip from their former base in Texas to their new home in the Federal District (what was once Washington DC). Camped just outside of the small city of Vincennes, Indiana that night, the next morning brought quick action from General Hopkins and his men. General Hopkins convinced civilian authorities that the situation was serious and not just a temporary inconvenience. While retaining civilian control, the mayor and city council quickly signed over all security matters to the Marines. In short order, the General himself became the de facto government. A form of martial law remained in effect, though once citizens realized the horrors of what was happening outside the protective umbrella of one thousand highly trained and well-armed Marines, little dissent was present. The Wabash River separates Vincennes controlled area from the Red Hawk Republic’s territory. The Free City of Evansville is a point of contention, supported by the Republic and in the middle of Vincennes claimed territory.

  4. Northern Caliphate - The Somali immigrant community in the Minneapolis area suffers less than most when modern conveniences evaporate after the Reset. With strong religious ties and a powerful Islamic leader the Somalis form a new Caliphate that encompasses most of Minnesota by the second year post-Reset. Their expansion is checked by the Great Lakes Republic in what was once Wisconsin, the Provincial Canadian Government based in Thunder Bay, and the Blackhawk Confederation. Believing the Reset to be a sign from Allah, they form the Northern Caliphate with the Shia Muslim community of Michigan to wage Jihad against any they consider infidels. After destroying all organized opposition, the New Levant now spans from Lake Eire all the way to the Dakotas. Their southern expansion is only checked by the combined forces of the Red Hawk Republic and ARK.

  5. Mt. Horab — Arising from the city once known as Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Mt. Horab becomes a homeland for the religious sect known as the Buckles. Because of their strict adherence to the Bible, Buckles are not welcome in the mostly secular communities that surround them. However, the Unified Church based at the Domicile in the Red Hawk Republic’s capital city is a staunch supporter, meaning the Hamilton family is also. Mt. Horab controls the river south of ARK, putting them in direct conflict with their much larger and powerful neighbor. The Republic’s support of Mt. Horab is a major point of contention among the Free States.

  Other groups present in various Fortress Farm volumes:

  The Olsens – Sheriff Clark Olsen was a founding member of the Republic. His widow and their son are assigned to take over Southern Illinois and turn it into a functioning province of the Republic. Maryanne and Eric both blame the Hamilton family, and Alex in particular, for the Clark’s death. While they are loyal to the Republic Clark helped found, their hatred for Alex clouds their judgement.

  Unified Church – In the time of the Reset, most had fallen away from faith in a higher power. With a return to the ways of nature, a religious revival of sorts took place. There were few Biblically trained people left, so all Churches in the Republic merged, agreeing to core principals common to all. While religious freedom is guaranteed to all Red Hawks, the Unified Church is the dominant force in spiritual life. Clergy, as well as adherents, are known by their distinctive Green & Silver vestments and symbols.

  Jenkins family—A strong family that lived in the Federal District. When the Reset happened, they banded together with their Church and extended family to take over a century old brick school building which they turned into a fortress. Matriarch Charlotte Jenkins then led their followers to rural Virginia where they thrived until crossing paths with the reconstituted Federal Government. Survivors decided to make their way west, where they’ve heard of Free States where they can live as they please.

  Fruit of the Valley (Also referred to as The Assembly or the Enlightened)—Rowan Shayam, the man who created the artificial intelligence system known as GRAPEVINE, also establishes Continuity: a faith that believes a person’s Profile can live on the Network forever. Following a dogma that allows improvement of your Profile through a system called Progressions, only worthy Profiles will make the cut. His faith is tested when the network crashes, but his partner Angela and other followers help him see the path and he begins to expand the faith throughout the survivors of Northern California. Followers of Continuity await the Awakening, the moment when the Network is restarted and power returns. Followers of Continuity are also hidden throughout the Free States.

  Secretary of the Interior Herman Johnson—Once a professor at Stanford, Johnson was the real power behind the Federal Government at the time of the Reset. After learning of an inevitable ice age, he convinces the global elite to help him eliminate a large portion of the world’s population, but in a “managed” process. He also holds the reins of the secret followers of Continuity. He is now the head of the Continuity of Government forces seeking to reestablish Federal control in the areas designated as safe zones not impacted by the coming ice age.

  GRAPEVINE—The artificial intelligence system once tasked with saving modern life from the Solar Storms, used by followers of Continuity as a global kill switch to reduce the earth’s population to a more manageable number.

  Ditchmen—There are some who see the Reset as a chance to take advantage of others. Criminals, non-medicated psychopaths or just those who have always harbored resentment to civilization take to the unpopulated rural areas. From there, they band together like packs of wild dogs, raiding and pillaging the unprotected. Millions of square miles throughout the Midwest give shelter to clusters of these savages who lose a bit more of their humanity with every murder and theft. Republic Deputies coin the Ditchmen name, because of how the bandits use the drainage d
itches cutting across farm fields to travel unseen.

  Rateaters—The same psycho-type as Ditchmen, Rateaters live in the ruins of cities instead of rural areas.

  Gangstars— A Pre-Reset criminal organization that pulls the meanest and brightest gang members into a mafia type structure. Known to have many politicians and bureaucrats on their payroll, the Gangstars seized control of cities when the chaos of the Reset hits. Also major producers of Syn, the synthetic drug that allows minds to be altered and easily influenced. The Gangstars were defeated while attempting a surprise attack on the Red Hawk Republic’s capital city of Philippi. Their few surviving leaders are now in hiding in the wildlands.

  RedHawkRepublic.com

  Prologue

  ARK Refugee Camp

  Formerly East St. Louis

  Three Years after the Battle of Philippi

  Year 10 A.G.R. (After the Great Reset)

  Hazy smoke hung in the damp air like a blanket, the product of dozens of campfires. Malik and Robbie had suffered in miserable conditions for months now, spending most nights out in the open. No night ever allowed more than a few hours of sleep as they took turns keeping watch over their few meager possessions. The Masen cousins were all that remained of their original group. All their followers had succumbed to illness or the fights that broke out over a can of food here or a dead squirrel there.

  Their reward for such perseverance was a squalid refugee camp built just across the giant Mississippi River from the gleaming buildings of ARK City. The crowd here was a mix from all over the upper Midwest, mostly refugees fleeing the ever-expanding Northern Caliphate. These were the lucky ones who could find something that could float and headed south on the big river’s currents. Eventually the ones that made it through obstacles of nature and man gathered under the shadow of brilliant white and silver buildings holding the capital of one of the few forces powerful enough to stop the Caliphate.