Jan 5, 2020 5:18 am
THE ROBOT WARS
Most say it started with the death of John Henry after his showdown against a steel-driving tunneling robot. Other folks think it was sabotage by a shadowy cabal of nefarious scientists. The rest say it was bound to happen no matter what. Whatever the cause, humanity was not prepared for the cost when the robots that once stood as a symbol of America's bright new future, turned instead into a raving horde of rampaging automatons.
It was 1871, and a war-weary America was unprepared for a robot uprising that spread across the country like wildfire. Common townsfolks found it impossible to mount an effective resistance against the bulletproof horde of fearless automatons. By the winter of '73, using heavy cannons and armor-piercing Gatling guns, humanity managed to push the robots west across the Mississippi.
A Country Divided
For 11 years humanity has held that line. The east banks of the Mississippi have become a line of cannon-studded fortifications, while everything west of the Mississippi was ceded to the automatons. Life in the east struggles to survive in cramped confines. The people's hope dwindles. One crackpot inventor after another "hawks" his surefire way to disable the robots for good - only to fail miserably.
But now in 1883, one such scientist, Nicola Tesla, offers a real solution to stem that tide of despair. Fresh to our shores, Tesla has a load of experimental devices and a government contract to outfit a voluntary expeditionary force, cross the ol'Miss, and head deep into No Man's Land.
Let's ride out!
Most say it started with the death of John Henry after his showdown against a steel-driving tunneling robot. Other folks think it was sabotage by a shadowy cabal of nefarious scientists. The rest say it was bound to happen no matter what. Whatever the cause, humanity was not prepared for the cost when the robots that once stood as a symbol of America's bright new future, turned instead into a raving horde of rampaging automatons.
It was 1871, and a war-weary America was unprepared for a robot uprising that spread across the country like wildfire. Common townsfolks found it impossible to mount an effective resistance against the bulletproof horde of fearless automatons. By the winter of '73, using heavy cannons and armor-piercing Gatling guns, humanity managed to push the robots west across the Mississippi.
A Country Divided
For 11 years humanity has held that line. The east banks of the Mississippi have become a line of cannon-studded fortifications, while everything west of the Mississippi was ceded to the automatons. Life in the east struggles to survive in cramped confines. The people's hope dwindles. One crackpot inventor after another "hawks" his surefire way to disable the robots for good - only to fail miserably.
But now in 1883, one such scientist, Nicola Tesla, offers a real solution to stem that tide of despair. Fresh to our shores, Tesla has a load of experimental devices and a government contract to outfit a voluntary expeditionary force, cross the ol'Miss, and head deep into No Man's Land.
Let's ride out!
