The Last War: The North American Combine

A single law, a single order, a single superpower dominated the Western Hemisphere of the 21st Century, sprawling from the frozen Arctic to the hot jungles of Central America. It was the North American Combine, one continent, one nation.

Powerful and rigidly authoritarian, the Combine government shadowed every part of a citizen's life. Economic strength became synonymous with political power, and there was little distinction between a corporate prince and a government official. The population was simply one of the Combine's natural resources.

But it was a well-managed resource. No one went hungry, and everyone got all the education he or she could absorb. The Combine rewarded ambition and talent, ignoring race, sex, parentage . . . ignoring everything, in fact, except political deviation. The North American Combine taught "strength through unity," and enforced that unity. English was the official language; no other could be used outside private homes, and no other was taught except to intelligence agents. Everything was standardized, streamlined and mass-produced. The Combine's goal, clearly understood by its leadership, was world domination, and the Combine war machine was unparalleled. Here the first Ogres were crafted, forged in the huge Seattle-Vancouver megaplex, the physical incarnation of Combine will and power.

2065 saw the first challenge to the new state, as the Québécois, unwilling to lose their French heritage and language, rebelled and declared a new state. The reunification of Québec saw the first combat use of Ogres – Mark Is spearheading deep into the rebellious state, unstoppable juggernauts storming the streets of Montréal.

With its gloves off and its hands bloody, the Combine entered a phase of open conquest. The Central American nations were "liberated" the next year, with the Caribbean following quickly. Only then did the Combine pause in its expansion.

The next logical target was South America, still rich with natural resources. But aid from the Paneuropean Federation kept the Combine from swallowing these nations whole.