Nebraska is now divided in two parts. The western half is a barren dustbowl of snakes and wandering bandits, and the eastern half is controlled by the evil Krell Empire. Most people couldn't tell you for sure which half is worse to live in.
Omaha, SS-16
Lincoln, SS-18M1
Sioux Army Depot, Sidney, SS-19
Offutt AFB, Omaha, SS-17
The ruins of Omaha: Five nukes hit the Omaha area, one on the city itself and another four MIRVs on the SAC base to the south. Little remains of the city but the ruins of the far western suburbs and few if any people live here full time. The southern outskirts of the area are patrolled irregularly by Krell soldiers to keep scavengers from bringing irradiated loot down to Krycheck City.
The ruins of Lincoln: Perhaps annoyed by the unrelenting arrogance of the Nebraska football team, the Soviets blitzed Lincoln with a 25 megaton warhead. Nothing now remains for miles but slightly hilly, barren dirt.
"Krychek City": Formerly Nebraska City, a river town south of Omaha, a major Krell settlement, by virtue of the intact Highway 2 bridge across the Mississippi River. This bridge is one of the few in the region capable of supporting heavy loads still, and is of prime importance to the Krell's plans for global domination. The town was renamed Krychek City after Krell General David Krychek, who in 2004 led a daring armored assault against the marauder band that was holding the bridge. It is perhaps apocryphal, but it is said that General Krychek single-handedly killed a hundred marauders with just his sword and pistol. The town has grown large over the last century, on both sides of the river, and now holds some 3,200 people, not counting a heavy garrison of Krell Warriors safeguarding the bridge. Home of a major foundry, provider of most of the raw steel for the Krell military. The foundry and associated infrastructure was hauled here from Sutherland, out past North Platte, in the 2010s when the Krell�s dominion extended further west than it does now. A converted farm combine factory nearby is turning out tanks, rifles and cannon in limited quantities. Much effort is devoted to farming and many slaves are imported to work in the fields feeding the soldiers. Krychek City is currently trying to construct a modern water treatment plant and is looking for parts as far away as South Dakota. It is hoped that this plant will help with the abysmal health situation, which often kills hundreds a year through cholera and dysentery. Despite the vital importance of this bridge, it should be noted that over three generations of total security in the town have made the security of the bridge quite lax. This is especially the case upriver, where once a flotilla of armed barges assured that nothing could float down to the bridge to attack it. These barges have mostly been moved down river to Kansas, where the main action is.
ICBM silo: Surrounding Lincoln Air Force Base was an Atlas F ICBM complex, now long abandoned, their missiles deactivated in the 1960s. One of the silo complexes was just east of Krychek City and has been refurbished to act as a command center for the local governor, as well as a secure supply depot and redoubt.
The Krell Army of Nebraska: The Krell Army in Nebraska is now some 4,600 men, dispersed in Krychek City and in garrisons stretching north to the enclave at Sioux City, Iowa. For the most part they are armed with newly-made copies of the venerable Springfield rifle, and assorted blade and staff weapons. They have limited support weapons apart from a scattering of bazookas and 4.2 inch mortars. There is a large cavalry element to the Army, and horse patrols can be found ranging far past Highway 81 to the west and deep into Iowa to the east.
Columbus: An outpost of the Krell, the furthest west in the state. The local governor is nasty and brutal man named Andrew Simon, a long-time Krell official from Kansas. Simon is currently trying to keep local farm production up to feed the 400 slaves under his control. He is backed by a force of 100 Krell Warriors, who often spend their time killing off the slaves in games of sport.
The Grand Island Fortress: Before the war, Grand Island was known for their massive trucking rework facilities and trans-shipment repair yards. Grand Island survived the initial strikes mostly intact, but suffered from the civil unrest that followed. At around this time, the Krell Army was forming to the east and was looting and pillaging everywhere it went. The few surviving National Guard and US army units in the state were wholly unprepared, understaffed and underarmed to meet these threats. They retreated to a local rally point to rearm and resupply. That rally point was the Cornhusker Army Ammunition plant five miles west of Grand Island. They immediately set about securing the civilian population from the inevitable Krell invasion. They secured the town and built an simple earthen wall in a rough circle 10 miles around the city. The next year, when the Krell came calling, they were repulsed in a bloody fight that left half the attackers (and 15% of the defenders) dead. This was the first major defeat that the Krell hoard ever experienced, but it would not be the last. The Krell army retreated to eastern Kansas to re evaluate their tactics. Over the decades they have repeatedly tried probing attacks at various locations around the city, but the results are always the same. The Krell officers get battle experience and their soldiers get dead. The newly renamed Grand Island Fortress would expand their holdings 50% over the next 30 years, and cut the I-80 Interstate in two places. This last act would force the Krell to abandon their North Platte holdings as unsupplyable and cut off the Krell Empire from the western part of the state. The earthen works wall was slowly replaced with a 30 foot wall that today surrounds Grand Island with a 50 mile oblong circle from downtown to any point of the wall. 40% of the population of 6,500 supports the city defenses. Modern weaponry (mostly M-14s) are produced at the Cornhusker Ammunition plant and nearly forty 105mm howitzers (direct fire only) are dug in at fixed points around the city walls. In addition, eleven Kansas ANG M48A3 tanks are likewise dug in around the wall, also for direct fire support. The dug-in tanks have working guns and the turrets can turn 15' left and right per position, but are totally immobile. Three additional tanks are kept fully mobile by the cannibalizing the running gear of the dug in tanks for tracks, transmissions, and engines. Lastly, every 50 yards around the wall is a hardened machinegun position with a water-cooled M2HB in a casemated mini-turret and a home-made 60mm mortar firing black powder mortar bombs. The town survives by farming, building munitions at the ancient army plant and trading with Gypsy Truckers and Ballooners from around the area. The truck works rebuild semi's of any type and their armor plated convoy trucks are prized as far west as Utah. The city is a free trade zone that will happily trade with anyone that does not mean them harm. Naturally, being a surrounded city has fostered a siege mentality that makes them skittish towards strangers, but once befriended, they are allies to all who oppose the Krell.
Broken Bow: In Broken Bow there are a group of survivors who are currently traveling across the state to the presumed safety of South Dakota. They came from Lexington, where they were burned out by marauders during the summer. They are about 160 strong, although about half of those are women and children. They have decided to winter in Broken Bow where they found a running spring. The group has many percussion cap rifles and melee weapons and has ringed their camp with barbed wire and pit trenches, fearful that the gang that attacked them is still out there looking for them.
Lexington: Deserted and burned since the abovementioned marauder attack during the summer. Many charred skeletons are still tied to crosses where they were burned.
Kearny: The mostly rubbled remains of this town are now home to a small nomad clan known as "The Holy Rollers". At one time in the distant past, this was a band of Fundamentalists Baptists who traveled the plains looking for converts. At first, they took voluntary contributions from locals, but soon began to "demand tithes" for their services, whether or not they were asked for. Over time, they lost that faith-based mission and became bandits more than anything. The name stuck, however, but lost its original meaning. The leader changes with the times and whoever is strongest, and the current one is being plotted against by at least five contenders. The gang has at least ten motorized vehicles ranging from motorcycles to an ancient pick-up truck, all gasahol powered. They are armed mostly with old shotguns and melee weapons, with a few percussion cap rifles thrown into the mix.
North Platte: At one time in the early 2010s, North Platte was the largest Krell enclave outside of Kansas, thanks to the large concentration of railroad supplies located here after the war. North Platte was also home to a gigantic diesel locomotive repair shop, which proved quite valuable during the Krell's early attempts to keep a working railroad system operational in its territories. Unfortunately, North Platte was just too far removed from the power centers that were being set up along the Missouri River banks in those early days, and the Grand Island Fortress was strongly threatening the Krell supply line along I-80, so the decision was made to pack up all that could be unbolted and haul it all east. By 2020 the town had been stripped bare and the last Krell forces left. Once they were gone, North Platte was slowly reoccupied by drifters and refugees and never again became anything more than home to a few hundred struggling farmers, still occasionally raided by Krell slaver parties or roving bandits. Currently, this town's 200 citizens are under the thumb of a racist bandit gang called "The Gorgonites", a white-only rabble led by "General Thomas" that have been terrorizing the Nebraska badlands for several years. They have two old Buicks with metal welded on as armor, a few M-14s and a 3.5" bazooka, all stolen from an ambushed Grand Island patrol. They have been executing minorities and the aged, trying to make North Platte a "pure" white community. They often bring their views to area towns, converting at the point of the sword, so to speak. This was the group that burned out Lexington this summer.
Ogallala: A community of some 50 farmers who have long ago walled the town's center in for protection. Many of the people here are converting to a new militant form of Christianity brought to town by a man who calls himself "Jesus of the Road". This man perhaps came from Valentine to the north.
Valentine: Home territory of a quasi-religious cult that has survived the war and the past 150 years with its weird and often violent teachings intact. They are now dedicated to the worship of death and gruesome self-torture, certain that only through symbolically dying themselves can they redeem the world.
NEW!!!! An adventure module set in northwest Nebraska, Chadron, the Krell Invasion.
People who have contributed to this entry:
John Raner
Jeff Sichta