Holdout Groups
Following the events of the Bright Night Contingency and the majority collapse of the United States, various groups of people were left stranded in remote parts of the US, particularly further west. Many of those people have since returned to areas designated as safe-zones in the Eastern United States, but many groups have remained in the north and west despite efforts by the reformed American Provincial Government (APG) to assimilate them back into society. These groups have come to be referred to as holdout groups.
While most groups are typically non-hostile and simply wish to live off the land, other groups operate like bandit clans, looting and attacking other holdouts and occasionally raiding along the civilised borders. Their targets are typically 'frontier' towns located along the edges of safe-zones and 'dark-zones' - areas which have not been cleared or secured by APG forces.
Due to the ongoing recovery efforts in the east, very few resources have been dedicated to dealing with these holdout groups, which now run rampant along the frontier and the 'wild' west. Occasionally G.O.C. and Foundation task groups are sent to quell particularly troublesome factions, but such operations are rare.
Washington Holdout Groups
Two groups are known to be present in the far pacific northwest state of Washington.
New Confederacy
While most holdout groups are loosely organised and lack a cohesive leadership structure, the New Confederacy stands out as notably well-organised and structured. Evidence indicates that the group was originally formed by Walter Patterson, a known Neo-Confederate and alt-right advocate prior to the collapse of America. The New Confederacy loosely models itself off of the Confederate Armies of the American Civil War, and has occupied a relatively large chunk of territory in the western state of Washington.
NC members use a variety of equipment from no armour up to plate carriers, and from wood-stocked hunting rifles up to AR-15s. The NC portrays itself in propaganda as an 'army', although they lack the infrastructure and logistics to make them a anything more than a ragtag group of militia.
Ascended
The Ascended are surviving members of the