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RogueSynapse
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One of the more well known areas of the State of Florida is none other than Urban protection Center Outpost 284. Located in the heart of Miami, the protection center houses approximately 600 Denizens and less than 200 Civil Protection Officers. Outpost 284 is a collection of pre-war infrastructure that has been terraformed and modified to fit the various housing needs of the local population. Former tourist attractions now acted as warehouses for Civil Workers' Union supplies. Apartment buildings that once comforted vacationing families now provided shelter to priority citizens of the Union. Every aspect of the once humble city now became a cog of the Combine Occupational Efforts.
Despite such a vigorous amount of change in such a small amount of time, palm trees still grew tall and wide, the sun still coated the region in sometimes unforgiving heat, and the salty wave could still be smelled from the interior of the city. Opinions of the city varied depending upon who you asked. Some believed it to be a desirable placement as far as relocations went, while others considered it to be just as savage as any other Urban Protection center. The city also became well known hotspot for Civil Administration meetings which required members to meet in one physical location, as the Miami board rooms were considered a luxury to pay a visit to.
As for the less luxurious components of life in Outpost 284, the lack of life was a bit of an issue. The streets of the Miami city lacking in population for the much needed development and reconstruction of the former city. Attempts to make Miami into an actual notable city in the eyes of the rest of the world have yet to be recognized given the issues associated with the rest of the United States. Efforts have been slow and difficult, but as of now, it remains nothing but a shamble, a blueprint for things yet to come.
Just beyond the Union occupied streets of Miami resides the Downtown District and City Outskirts. An area devoid of Union eyes and life itself. The area is well known for having overgrown buildings and a variety of undesirable creatures. The Union refuses to touch this area or attempt to reclaim additional land following failed attempts to do so earlier in the occupation. As a result of this, the area has become a popular hotspot of traders and additional factions to reside within.
Some believe that the reason the Union refuses to expand or attempt to combat the outside inhabitants is the result of secret peace agreements between Union officials in Miami and the mostly Resistance delegates that operate in the surrounding territories. For the longest time, these boundaries have been respected and understood by nearly every being that roams the state of Florida. The Outskirts have not always been completely peaceful however, as caravan raids and hijackings were a frequent threat that deterred large scale groups from moving goods through the region. Nevertheless, the overgrown parking garages can still be found packed with people from all walks of life that are looking to rest up or begin a new life in the sun soaked region of the United States.
Long before the Occupation, people would travel from all over to enjoy the relaxing beaches and local tourist attractions that the state had to offer. That is far from the case in recent times. The beaches of Miami (and all of Florida for that matter) have devolved into nothing more than a breeding ground for trouble and chaos. The same locations that once housed hundred of sunbathers now acted as a home for thousands of Headcrabs and Antlions to burrow deep below the warm sands in hopes that a brave soul will attempt to fish out a meal in the leech filled waters of the coast. The infested beaches acted as a major deterrent that instilled trepidation into trade ship owners that would refuse to come to shore and risk being pulled under by something far more insidious than they would like to deal with.
For many years the local beaches remained idle. Umbrellas and beach toys once belonging to families long ago remain idle in the sand. Collecting seaweed as the tides come and go. Sometimes you can catch a lone lump of skeletal remains of an unfortunate being that met their end to one of man beasts that lurk below the sandy shores. The beaches stand as nothing more than a visual time capsule for a bygone world that may never be again.
The Broken Bottle Tribe are a collection of Florida natives that have banded together to survive among the harsh conditions of the local landscape and combat any influence of the Combine war machine. Many members of the tribe operate out at sea and live among large man made barges that can house up to 70 members at a time. Usually only coming to shore for damage endured during annual air raids. The group remains very selective about who they allow into the tribe, as they remain fearful (maybe even paranoid) about CCA informants that may be seeking out weaknesses within the group in an attempt to disrupt them from spreading internally.
The tribe exists as a passive collection of people that do not seek out warfare. The tribe shares a common philosophy that salvation will come, so long as survival of the tribe continues. Combat is only used by the time in defensive efforts to preserve what little they have in the dangerous world that surrounds them. They live off of a limited cuisine of leeches they catch at sea and other local wildlife they can get their hands on. While not considered to be the most primitive tribe that exists in the modern world, they are far from state of the art when it comes to methods of development of survival.
Each member of the group is referred to as a 'Shard'. The idea being that the entire tribe is one component of a broken bottle. In total, the tribe houses about 400 'Shards' that remain in close quarters to the area in which they were founded by Florida local Blake Beckham in 2026. The group still persists till this very day, waiting on salvation to come.
The Greenwood Gators are a mysterious collection of people that thrive among the Florida swamps. They are a robust collection of Florida Natives and Vortigaunts that have been in hiding for an extensive amount of time. They are considered to be an extremely territorial group of people that do not take kindly to Outsiders. What is known about the group is that they are known for experimenting with the mysterious powers of the vortessence in an attempt to find a solution to the Combine question. There has been little success known as far as the efforts of the group are concerned, but this has done little in the way of slowing down the efforts of the Greenwood Gators.
The group chose a collection of swamps that were nicknamed by pre-war locals "The Greenwood Swamps" to establish their home community and quickly established a network of huts and treehouses to ensure Speedy travel among the modern fasted swamps of the region. It is believed there are approximately 300 to 500 total members belonging to this particular faction with numbers constantly in fluctuation due to unreliable sources. The group has been successful in sustaining their own Survival through a combination of pre-war Agriculture and Xenian husbandry. The Greenwood swamps have become overpopulated with a new breed of Bullsquid known to the locals as Gatorsquids. This is both provided the group with and needed sustenance through hunting and farming efforts, as well as deter prying eyes from investigating the collection of people any further.
The Fort Lauderdale Trading Company is a massive network of former military personnel and contributing citizens that act as one of the most reliable trade Networks this side of the United States. The group lack any particular ground to call home, and instead decide to move from several camping grounds as various trade routes begin and end. As the trading company moved from place to place, new members are acquired while older members settle down which leads to a rapidly changing numerical count as far as members are concerned.
The efforts of the group have provided each member with a desirable lifestyle that consists of both an active work cycle and a rewarding personal life after hours. Because of the wide variety of members the trading company possesses, painting a history of the group becomes somewhat sophisticated and troublesome. It is widely accepted that the group was born out of a raid that occurred in an attempt to liberate former US Army supplies from the Fort Lauderdale region. After the successful acquisition of weapons, the group began moving North to trade and deal out the supplies to local resistance groups. The success achieved by this act only snowballed the group into becoming a larger Trade Network that would become well-known throughout the Florida and Miami region.
Gatorquids are known to be local Terrors to the inhabitants of Florida, and have been a staple of the region since the early days of the occupation. Gatorsquids are very similar to Bullsquids and almost every fashion. Where the two differ are in specific details that make them arguably more threatening than their Bullquid counterpart. The first are more noticeable difference exist in the skin of the creature. Long-term exposure to the Florida sun has made the hide of a Gatorquid a completely different texture to that of a normal Bullsquid. The skin of a Gatorsquid has often been compared to that of a crocodile or alligator. This bulky and horse set of skin makes them impervious to most blunt force damage and more difficult to spot among the mud filled swamps in which they often reside in.
They also possess the far superior ability of swimming. Gatorsquids have adapted to the Florida landscape and can now Traverse the wetlands with relative ease as they chase fishing ships and lone hunters in the night with complete ease. In addition to these enhanced features and desirable living conditions, the Gatorsquids have been able to thrive off a surplus supply of food, allowing for them to become large with fat and muscle from the bountiful diet they have at their disposal. Some reports even label the creatures as being twice the size of a regular Bullsquids. It's hard to find a Florida local that has not yet had an encounter with a Gatorsquid that they would rather forget.
Because of the fact that the Miami beaches are often riddled with headcrab occupied beaches, it should come as no surprise that many of the seaside districts have become overrun with The Walking corpses of tourists and locals that have met a terrible end at the hands of the Xenian menace. South of Miami is a particular area in which many scavengers and explorers will outright refuse to Traverse through out of fear of running into one of the many hordes of Undead. In some regions of the Miami outskirts, it is possible to hear nothing but the waves crashing while hundreds of Undead cry out in pain among the debris of a forgotten world.
Despite the fact that these massive creatures are capable of doing irreparable damage to the region, locals are sometimes giddy with the site the creatures bring in hopes that they will either bring about damage to combine infrastructure or be successfully eliminated by hunting parties in order to supply food for local communities. A slayed Sand Hydra is capable of providing food for a community for more than a month. It is unknown how many are in existence but it is speculated that the number is only shrinking. The Sand Hydras seldom persist in areas where they are welcomed and not hunted by the locals or blown out of the Sand by Union Gunships. There have even been attempts to capture and utilize their massive power for manifested goals of travel and destruction. No attempts have been successful thus far.
Who would you be if you were in a place like this? Would you try to make some sense of the hustling and bustling that occurs on the busy streets of Outpost 248? Would you run to the outskirts, never looking back in the hopes of carving your own Slice of Heaven out of this once Bountiful Paradise? As crazy as this world may seem, one thing is certain. That is for you to decide.
