Jack of Harts

The States of Dixie grew immensely powerful and rich in the years leading up to the Second Civil War. Their factories armed the American military, and most of the military bases were in those States, or States friendly to them. Most of the fuel and food that fed them came from Southern States as well. Even the President and Vice-President were Southerners, coming from populations labeled “oppressed minorities” by previous political generations. So when President Samuel Mateo Lopez, and Vice-President John Jefferson Freemon were Impeached, the States of Dixie did not take kindly to the act. They may have even told the new President to perform certain impossible anatomical acts when he demanded that they bend the knee to him. His reaction is why Dixie calls it the Second Civil War, rather than the Second Great Depression as most of the American States do.

John Jefferson Freemon was the hometown hero in the western Virginia Blue Ridge Mountain town of Lexington. He had been the captain of his high school football team. He continued to play football for the local Washington and Lee University and led them to multiple championships. He became a successful doctor after graduation and saved many lives. He served in the Virginia legislature, and then in the United States House of Representatives. And finally, he won election to become the Vice-President of the United States of America. He was the most famous face in Lexington, Virginia, and his friends and family loved him for it. His patients loved him. He was a genuinely nice man, and the only people who hated him were his political enemies. They hated him enough to Impeach him, and he returned home to a heroes’ welcome.

The Cowboys have built small Cowboy Country establishments on nearly all friendly worlds throughout known space. Most people consider them akin to the various veteran bars you can find in most towns, because they usually act that way. The standard Third World Cowboy Country sports a bar that serves anybody in front and party rooms in the back. An upper floor holds offices for Cowboys and the Tarrant County Sheriff, while a landing pad atop the building is capable of holding anything up to an Avenger. Few outsiders ever see the basements, which consist of bunkers full of supplies and weapons fit for an army. More affluent worlds tend to have larger and more elaborate Cowboy Countries. An interesting point is that most of them have official signed agreements with the local governments putting them under their own legal jurisdiction. They truly are small Cowboy Countries.