[kirk]

Half of the CAS gets nuked, and the other half is rendered uninhabitable due to biochem weapons.

If that got started, I think you'd get almost unified action against Aztlan -- WW(whatever number we're up to).

The corporations would be a wee bit peeved at the loss of customers. Nations would be wondering if they're next and since it turned into a mad dog survival battle, well...

Adios, Aztlan

[Mirikon]

Yeah, you don't think Ares might be a bit peeved at the loss of one of their best customers? And how many people would complain, really, if a Thor shot or two 'accidentally' landed in Tenochtitlan?

[Patrick Goodman]

And how many people would complain, really, if a Thor shot or two 'accidentally' landed in Tenochtitlan?

How could you tell?

I find it ironic that, big a Texas afficianado as I am, the vast bulk of my work in SR is set somewhere else. I really need to do something about that.

[JustADude]

Half of the CAS gets nuked, and the other half is rendered uninhabitable due to biochem weapons.

Dammit Jethro! I tol' you not to make the chili!

And which half was that supposed to account for? 

[kirk]

Half of the CAS gets nuked, and the other half is rendered uninhabitable due to biochem weapons.

Dammit Jethro! I tol' you not to make the chili!

And which half was that supposed to account for? 

Both. There's where it was cooked, and where it was eaten.

[FastJack]

Half of the CAS gets nuked, and the other half is rendered uninhabitable due to biochem weapons.

Dammit Jethro! I tol' you not to make the chili!

And which half was that supposed to account for? 

Both. There's where it was cooked, and where it was eaten.

Cupie doll for the winner!

[Wakshaani]

I find it ironic that, big a Texas afficianado as I am, the vast bulk of my work in SR is set somewhere else. I really need to do something about that.

I'm tellin' ya, the instant we get a CAS book, I'm so *very* there. I have ... plans ...

[Patrick Goodman]

Well, I've got a story in Denver I've gotta finish first before I can even think about a Texas/CAS book. We'll see how things shake out.

[Crimsondude]

Yeah, you don't think Ares might be a bit peeved at the loss of one of their best customers? And how many people would complain, really, if a Thor shot or two 'accidentally' landed in Tenochtitlan?

Are they? CAS is home to Lone Star, which is not an Ares ally, and Cavalier Arms, which is a Ares Arms competitor. It was also the North American beachhead for Saeder-Krupp, which makes a couple weapons, until it moved to Portland.

If they are heavily invested, then they'll have too much trouble trying to survive themselves because, well, weakened AAAs tend not to stay AAAs for very long.

[Mirikon]

Ares Arms has several facilities in the CAS sector and is a major weapon supplier to the CAS military.  at has given it an in with the PCC, since the PCC and the CAS o en engage in joint operations and exercises, and both have an interest in containing Aztlan. With the recent  are-up between Aztlan and Amazonia, the PCC and CAS have beefed up their defenses—along with Ares Arms’ bottom line. To meet this increased demand, Ares Arms has taken over some of the Knight Errant facilities that fell into disuse when KE lost the CAS contract.  ese facilities are not as secure as the purpose-built Ares Arms buildings, since they were intended to keep people in rather than out. To meet demands from the PCC, Ares Arms has expanded operations in its recently purchased MetalStorm division in the PCC sector.

So yeah the CAS is a big customer for them. And really, any smart salesman could pitch the "Remember how Lofwyr can turn out all the lights in Europe with a single command like he did in the Crash?" line to convince people that they should avoid SK's military products.

About the only places in North America that Ares isn't heavily invested would be most of the NAN and Aztlan. So yes, Knight would be quite upset if someone decided to take out one of his best customers. And if they could do something to hurt Aztech in the process of keeping their customers alive, happy, and shelling out the cred, then that's bonus points.

[Crimsondude]

Oh, they're still pretty big in the NAN. As I recall from NAN 1, Desert Arms (the PCC weapons company) licenses Ares tech and then in classic SR style makes it much better. Same with Sioux. They have their own defense industry, but Ares is still the giant in North America. Even in the UCAS they can be on the political out with Colloton, but they're still hugely significant.

Still, fact is that Aztechnology could annihilate the CAS in about an hour if they really wanted to, and there's nothing anyone can do about it, and if Ares did try anything there's just a good a chance that they'd get curb-stomped by the rest of the Big Ten because megacorps don't go to war with each other.

[kirk]

(snip)

Still, fact is that Aztechnology could annihilate the CAS in about an hour if they really wanted to, and there's nothing anyone can do about it, and if Ares did try anything there's just a good a chance that they'd get curb-stomped by the rest of the Big Ten because megacorps don't go to war with each other.

yes and no.

The CAS suffers from two major vulnerabilities, one economic and one cultural.  The cultural is actually more important so I'll do the economic first.

The economic is that the CAS portion of the US is hit, regularly, with hurricanes. The US eats the regular cost of repair and recovery. The CAS is smaller and, as noted elsewhere, most of the big corps are homed elsewhere. Regardless of any other thought, corporations are more willing to spend recovering at "home" than where their customers might be. The CAS is, compared to the other north american nations, poor.

Exacerbating this is their culture. Quite simply, the CAS is barely a nation. There's a proverb I first encountered researching Afghanistan but it applies: me against my brother, my brother and I against my cousins, we cousins against the world.  Southern culture is inherently very untrusting of "outsiders". The famous southern hospitality and courtesy isn't because they love their neighbor, it's to reduce the likelihood of unwanted bloodshed. 

A smart attacker will hit the multiple fracture points as part of the attack and splinter the nation putting state against state and city against city - and in some cases (Atlanta v Georgia) city against state.

The problem is that this same culture becomes a quagmire once invaded. The Georgians may despise the Mississipians, but they're blood brothers against the Aztlan (or UCAS or anyone else). Think of the problems the US and Nato have had in Afghanistan. Now picture what it would be like if that nation had access to a developed first world manufacturing base and trained a first-world military.

Aztlan would shatter the CAS in a few days with commanders "dipping their toes in the Atlantic" in a week or two. Pacifying and controlling the CAS would take at least a generation, and would require a huge portion of the Aztlan resources to accomplish. That would make them vulnerable to other nations, and possibly to a hostile takeover from one of the hungry almost-AAAs.

[Mirikon]

Again, I'll make the point of what happened to Tir Tairngir after they invaded CalFree the first time. Now picture the same thing, but over an area the size of the CAS. Plus, if the Azzies invade the CAS, they also have to deal with the PCC. And you can be sure that Ghostwalker (if he's back from wherever he went in the Praxis story) would be less than pleased if Azzie forces came anywhere near Denver.

[kirk]

For what it's worth, there's one major thing in the CAS that is a constant personal irritant. That's the mississippi river still exiting near New Orleans. Oh, I'll continue to play it that way.

But keeping it from jumping to the Red River and out the Atchafalaya is expensive and gets more expensive every year. Add the internal dissension and the war with Aztlan and the loss of economic support from the US (no corps of engineers) and, well, I figure the Mississippi River should make a right turn as it leaves the  state of Mississippi, leaving the old riverbed as the offhand spill. (and eliminating Baton Rouge and most points south as Major Ports.)

It's a minor irritant, all things considered, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

[Wakshaani]

I think that there's a serious underestimation of CAS power here.

FOrgetting for the moment that it has the largest military in the Americas, it has an economy quite a bit stronger than the UCAS (The CAS dollar is three times (or more!) the value of the UCAS dollar, for instance) and the magical power is higher than the UCAS, despite having two-thirds the population.

There's some serious mojo in the CAS, backed by fantastic military budgets and really skilled troopers.

The CAS probably has crap for social programs, however, lacking health care, retirement benefits, unions, etc.

The CAS navy is known to be quite a bit stronger than Aztechnology/Aztlands, with a much larger, and better-trained, military as well. Their weakpoint is the lack of special forces and, more over, a big isolationist streak that prevents them from getting involved unless directly threatened.