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Santa Monica

Corporate State


"Prosperity over all else."

After the "Republic" of Santa Monica fell to the Amanita hordes, it's current dictator, CEO of the Tsingtao Corporation and President of the ACCC Huell Kang sat looking out towards the city from a corpo-carrier, holding a hand over his lost left eye, which was clawed out by a flying fungal monstrosity. As him, his staff and assisting Eizonese forces watched the skyline light up with beams, missiles and burning mycotic swarms, he remembered that his eye was worthless compared to the Atorian jewel- the most powerful city on the continent. What most others didn't see that Kang did was an opportunity- a chance to wrest the city from vying corporate hands once and for all. This led him to enact Plan 351 or the "Triad Liquidation."

In the ensuing fighting, officially, the corporate forces of Halcyon and Reprise were lost to mycotic forces. Few surviving witnesses above ground report that both Eizonese and SaMo mercenary forces systemically wiped out all remaining corporate assets, but ultimately most people were more concerned with rebuilding and surviving in the ruins of the city. Civil authority in Santa Monica was already strict; corporate-backed police forces were always well-armed and served the government (consisting of hand-picked corporate officials) well enough in subduing strikers, criminals and insurgent elements. Kang used the ensuing chaos and lack of civil structure to rebuild the state, unrestrained by his two formal rivals for power.

Kang reinvigorated the formally defunct office of the CCI (Central Committee for Intelligence) to expand spy networks internationally and domestically. He professionalized the police force (replacing mercenaries) and created a large network of robust and specialized enforcement agencies that report directly to him.

The President's Purge


Kang kept the government mostly in-tact following the reoccupation of Santa Monica. Halcyon and Reprise connected officials still represented various sectors within the cities. The Head of the CCI, Peter Baulmer reported directly to the President that elements within the ACCC aligned directly to the rogue corporations of Halcyon and Reprise were plotting a coup. Informants embedded in the remains of these two corporations also reported to the CCI that they were arming insurgent groups with advanced weaponry and even purchasing nuclear weapons from foreign states to utilize against Santa Monica. The President's paranoia began to grow, in parallel to increasing reports of both corporate and insurgent activity. Kang wasted no time, and began to draft a list of those he deemed dangerous.

He presented this list to a meeting of nearly three-hundred delegates, officials and representatives of interest groups, businesses and sectors. He bluntly reported to the assembled crowd that he had before them a "list of known traitors" and sympathizers to those who take up arms against the ACCC. After his personal guard took those crossed out on the piece of parchment, only seventy-five officials remained. He lit a cigar and politely issued an executive decree to the remaining personnel that he would be immediately revising the constitution to fit the needs of the current political climate, and asked all present to voice their concern if they had any to speak of. All voiced their affirmation.

Today, Kang still rules his 'jewel' with an iron fist, utilizing an ever-expanding network of plainclothes informants and policemen to crush dissent before it rears it's ugly head. Utilizing a mix of force, policy and purchasing power, Kang and the Tsingtao Corporation own nearly all existing industries, banks and investment firms. Both state and corporation have become indistinguishable. The new constitution renders all those living in Santa Monica an "employee."