Roots of Lucha Britannia

The Roots of Lucha Britannia
From the archives of the United Resistance Movement(URM).


Hyper-power

In the final days of the 20th Century, the final super-power became the sole hyper-power, unchallengeable by either nation-states or the United Nations.

‘The State’s’ budget on weaponry accelerated. Eventually comprising more than three-quarters of the World’s total defence spending, and magnifying their power projection to such a degree that ‘New Washington’ effectively rendered the rest of the world impotent to slow the juggernaut of the ‘State Bosch’ domination.

A little after the millennium, conventional war-fighting became obsolete. Army versus army was no longer an option under the new military reality, which represented certain annihilation to any force reckless enough to oppose the ‘Bosch’. Guerilla tactics featuring small ‘active cells’ utilizing small-arms, homemade explosives and improvised weapons, fighting an all-seeing, all-powerful, nuclear-superstate, became the norm the new century of warfare.

The ‘Bosch’ military-industrial-complex expanded its reach through the early 2000s, colonizing Central Asia and the Middle-East. The suppression of dissent proved near-impossible, since ‘Bosch’ propaganda failed to dent the thoughts of the occupied peoples, and increasing levels of brutality became the only way to secure compliance. Acts of resistance and terrorism against US targets intensified as the ‘Bosch’ military grew ever-more trigger-happy. Anticipating this backlash in the late 1990’s, the ‘Boche’ military establishment had published their blueprint for a new century of warfare, Joint Vision 2020:

“…may face a number of adversaries who, in combination, create an asymmetric threat. These asymmetric threats are dynamic and subject to change, and our Armed Forces must maintain the capabilities necessary to deter, defend against, and defeat any adversary who chooses such an approach. To meet the challenges of the strategic environment in 2020, the joint force must be able to achieve full spectrum dominance.”

Full Spectrum Dominance

By the early part of the ‘naughty’s’, the gloves had come off, and The ‘State’ was no longer pretending democratic aims. The paradigm had changed: dwindling resources and rising unrest had convinced elites to take the unprecedented step of enshrining arbitrary brutality and detention against members of the public into law, purely as an intimidation mechanism to keep the population pacified. ‘Disappearances’ became routine. It was now clear that control was to be maintained exclusively for the benefit of the powerful.

The New World Order was to be neither ‘by the people’, nor ‘for the people’. Resources were simply too scarce for the poor, and so a massive die-off, perhaps comprising as many as half the planet’s people, was necessary. Naturally, billions of people would be expected to oppose this official policy of public neglect, but a massive increase in police and military numbers and strength, accompanied by swathing new powers of detention and even immediate execution, effectively rendered the people powerless to resist. This put a stop to the possibility of public opposition ever gaining traction. World dictatorship was a fait accompli; and the United Nations gradually became irrelevant and fell apart.

Militarily, economically, politically and culturally, The State was the dominant force on the planet. But however powerful The ‘State’ had become, ‘full spectrum dominance’ was not yet a reality. The ‘State’ was often frustrated in the battle against guerillas, who crawled from the woodwork with increasing frequency, hitting hard by favoring economic targets over military interests. As a result of this resistance, ‘Boche’ corporations lost billions of dollars as pipelines, refineries and depots became the focus for suicide bombers, rocket-propelled grenade attacks, and home-made explosives deployed against cargo and transports.

In its capacity as protector of the Fortune 600, The ‘State’ needed to bring its methodology of surveillance into the 21st century to deal with the new economic terrorism. Spearheading the design and development of new surveillance technologies by offering massive subsidies to security companies for R & D, The ‘State’ allied with corporate interests to develop and pioneer the use of total CCTV surveillance, even in private homes, and the compulsory ID card, which were introduced into the population with consummate ease after a series of spectacularly emotive and abjectly deceptive propaganda campaigns, which exploited and heightened public fear of terrorism to an unprecedented level of hysteria.

Trialled on captive populations in the Middle East, and then imposed on the ‘Bosch’ population, it was a matter of time before ‘New Washington’ broadened its ID card surveillance program to include every country in the world, and with this expansion, The State now installed Radio Frequency ID chips in each identity card. Every person on the planet was now required to carry an RFID tracking device, not for his own welfare, but for National Security. Even before the end of the great Lucha Wars, The State had legislated that all new-born babies were required to be implanted with an RFID chip at the point of birth. Hiding from the state was not an option.

Gradually, as the technology miniaturized and mass production technology reduced its cost to fractions of a cent, RFID became ubiquitous. Everything bought and sold was required to contain an RFID microdot embedded within it. Every commercial transaction had to be traceable, and in the end, the National Security Agency was able to keep constant tabs on eight billion people.

RFID technology was adopted and modified across the board, designed to knock out any and all challenges to the dominance of the de facto ‘Bosch’ World Government. Because everything bought and sold was now chipped and tracked, commerce was impossible without the NSA knowing the most intimate details of every transaction. All retail and wholesale organizations were required to be hard-wired to NSA mainframes, which meant all chemicals which could be used to make explosives, all metals which could be used to make shells, firearms, bullets, or IEDs, everything traded or transported was tracked from raw material to finished product. Under this relentless grip on resources and manufacturing processes, weaponry could not be fabricated, and warfare, whether symmetrical or asymmetrical, was now feted to be a thing of the past. One could not level so much as a penknife at The ‘State’, one could certainly not use a firearm or blow economic interests up, and direct political action in the interests of bringing democratic change was impossible. The new surveillance structure was total, ‘New Washington’s’ power grab was complete, and no challenges were permissible or even possible…

 PACT

Because of these new advances in surveillance technology, true totalitarian government was finally within reach. Any public dissent was immediately visible to ‘The State’ like never before. Freedom of speech implies freedom to oppose, and so the free flow of ideas was stemmed by government. ‘The State’ began to pass draconian laws restricting social freedom, particularly proscribing cultural activities which appeared to fuel dissidence.

For example, drinking alcohol outside of the home became illegal to prevent the danger of people coming together and confederating in their own interest. The concept of ‘soundspace’ was enacted into law; defined as ‘the space within which a person or a person’s effects can be heard’, a person was now legally responsible for all thoughts or opinions which could be heard in his ‘soundspace’, and would thus be punished for ‘collaboration’ with anything subversive expressed within his earshot. Designed to force people into silence and eradicate dissent, this was highly effective. (The concept of ‘soundspace’ was also a convenient source of revenue, since it was taxed by the cubic metre.)

Music was now required to be submitted to state controls: all music recorded had to be sent immediately to the new ‘Bureau of Recorded Materiel’ for inspection. If passed fit for public consumption, all such state-sanctioned music was to be enjoyed with headphones exclusively; the use of any amplification, even within one’s own home, now constituted a breach of a section within PACT pertaining to ‘Riot and Revolt’. If convicted of ‘polluting soundspace’, one risked a ten-year sentence.

Volume of public speaking was then taxed by the decibel, making it too expensive to speak out in the open or make any vocal or recorded loud noises. This reduced the state's citizen’s daily communication to quiet whispers.

To prevent the danger of satire inspiring dissidence among the population, independent comedy was prohibited. From the passing of PACT onwards, The State would assume responsibility for licensing all forms of entertainment. Civil Servants would henceforth either censor or write the scripts, music and jokes for all movies, television, and all advertising and marketing. Cabaret, dancing, and all forms of ‘licentious behavior’ were now imprisonable acts.

Colorful or flamboyant clothing became a sign of rebellion or dissent and so a type of non-uniform uniform was introduced and then enforced by the 'Department of Practability' thus plunging the RetroFutureVerse into muted tones of Grey and Brown.

Any deviation was considered a crime, at first punishable by a fine, and then by imprisonment.

Repeat offenders of any minor crime were often taken away for 'study' by the State and offered 'counseling' which actually meant torture and 'reprogramming' or experimental procedures using genetics or quantum mechanics or drugs or parapsychology or a combination of all the above.

Independent radio stations were closed, their broadcasters imprisoned, and their equipment confiscated. Finally, even the surviving subterranean pirate radio stations were destroyed: in a massive State clampdown, hundreds were raided and their proprietors executed. Soon, the airwaves were silent with the exception of State broadcasting.

Each television company made deals with the State which permitted them to continue broadcasting on the proviso that every word and picture must be filtered through a State-operated control room staffed with a Pentagon censor, before being granted State Transmission Clearance. Literature-based publishing companies were subjected to the same permanent surveillance, being required to hire government censors and editors or lose State Issue Clearance, which always meant going out of business. In the same wave of media repression, the internet was fully corporatized, and was transformed overnight into an online mall; all electronic activity in the public sphere had ultimately been reduced to making purchases or receiving State propaganda.

The State passed the Public Activities Act, which would become publicly infamous as ‘PACT’. This unprecedented legislation comprised a monumentally authoritarian decree, which was to be ‘fully enforced in all territories under the protection of The State’; this effectively meant the entire planet. More draconian even than the very worst regimes in history, this was the single most repressive legislation the world had yet seen.

Clubs and other social groups not instituted by The State were to be dissolved, since The State dare not risk people congregating together. Parties were banned, and people were forbidden to gather in groups of more than three non-family members without State permission. Debating societies, chess clubs, Mensa, all quizzes and game shows, night-schools and community colleges were outlawed, as potential hotbeds for intellectual dissent.

Perceiving a clear and present threat, martial arts clubs, boxing clubs and shooting ranges were shuttered. To stamp on any potential resistance or defence against measures taken by The State, all combat activities not instituted by The State were now highly illegal and could cost the offender his or her freedom or life.

PACT declared that ‘any and all militaristic, violent or pugnacious activity, whether offensive or defensive; and all training for such (except for uniformed officers of The State) can be punishable by penalty of death’. In true Orwellian irony, this profoundly restrictive rule was advertised as being ‘for the purposes of public protection’. Even scouting, previously sympathetic to government, was taken over by the State and transformed into the intimidating and militaristic National Youth Guard, which was ultimately made compulsory for all boys over the age of ten.

Outside the confines of the State towns and cities, the now called 'Outer Zones' were off limits. The State declared every city a plague free zone and there was to be no contact with the outer zones due to fear of contamination.

No one would even want to wander through the heavily guarded walled gates if they could, as no one would want to encounter the irradiated mutated leftover creatures from the atomic debris, failed experiments and genetic manipulation.

Some said there were zombies, some say just normal folk who were infected with a plague. Some said that outside there was sanctuary and that the state was 'exaggerating' about fear of so called infection.

A new drug was prescribed to the people en masse. 'Prozirium'(tm) 'helps you see a better day'. This was a attempt to quell peoples emotions & anger, to help them become good citizens.

A New Hope

A new form of struggle was necessary to fight this de facto world dictatorship. New methods of opposition were needed, and because the hyper-power had completely colonized all forms of technology for its own ends, low-tech opposition was the only way to proceed. In the understanding that everything except the individual himself was peppered with RFID chips, the New Resistance could use one thing and one thing only to oppose state power: the physical bodies of the resistance fighters.

Inspired by the Tupamaros of Uruguay, and the Zapatistas of Mexico, the New Resistance was prepared and able to oppose a nuclear-armed hyper-power with the physical force of their bodies alone. The kidnap and ransom of government officials and corporate heads soon became the main currency of resistance, and to achieve a successful heist the only thing one needed was the physical power of the wrestler.

The highly trained 'Luchador'! Fast, Strong, Agile, cunning, tough, all these things and more. Able to blend in when necessary, or talk their way out of tricky situations should an undercover mission go awry.

While this proved a workable form of opposition, there were some necessary refinements. The identification of kidnappers presented problems: due to the unfortunate identification of one guerilla cadre, an entire active cell unit was compromised and subsequently murdered by the state. The identification was obtained with the passing of the tiniest scrap of information, gleaned under torture. This debacle served the lesson that in future, total anonymity had to be ensured at all costs. To prevent recurrences of such tragedies, each fighter was required to conceal his identity under a mask from all other resistance members, to the end that nobody could be identified, even by one’s most intimate comrades.

Each mask had to be sourced from antique fabric, since only fabrics more than twenty years old were free of RFID technology. Only completely trusted cadres from the innermost sanctum of the New Resistance were permitted to sew the masks together, for reasons of security, because one’s mask was one’s life. Masks were absolutely the key to the success of the resistance: indeed, a compromised mask containing secretly-planted RFID chips would mean certain discovery and death at the hands of the state. Thus the rule was cast in stone that the only way a mask would or could ever be removed would be in the public unmasking of government agents who had been planted within the organization.

Every effective unarmed fighting methodology was adopted and drilled to perfection. The fighters built their skills, becoming a weaponless force to be reckoned with the best in history. The New Resistance met secretly to train, drill, and perfect the fighting arts, disguising such meetings wherever necessary as State-organised ‘Party Political meetings’ or ‘Military Training’ events.

From these meetings, “Lucha Britannia” was born…