Raptormm4: Difference between revisions
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Raptor's first political experience in Cascadia would be the [[October 2023 Cascadia presidential election|October 2023 General Election]], which saw Flatvent_One face off against incumbent President [[EmpressCorgo]]. Raptor would support Corgo in this election, being opposed to Osoyoos' isolationist foreign policy and aligning himself with the Frontiersmen who were campaigning against Osoyoos. Ultimately, Corgo would win the election after the general election arrived at a tie and the House of Representatives broke the tie in her favor. Following Corgo's victory, Osoyoos seceded, promising revenge against Cascadia. It was around this time that Raptor would publicly mock Osoyoos supporters in the Cascadia Discord, usually by mocking their attempts at a "crusade" against Cascadia while residing in Africa. Raptor continued to be a political observer through the remainder of the Corgo and following Akeboun presidency. | Raptor's first political experience in Cascadia would be the [[October 2023 Cascadia presidential election|October 2023 General Election]], which saw Flatvent_One face off against incumbent President [[EmpressCorgo]]. Raptor would support Corgo in this election, being opposed to Osoyoos' isolationist foreign policy and aligning himself with the Frontiersmen who were campaigning against Osoyoos. Ultimately, Corgo would win the election after the general election arrived at a tie and the House of Representatives broke the tie in her favor. Following Corgo's victory, Osoyoos seceded, promising revenge against Cascadia. It was around this time that Raptor would publicly mock Osoyoos supporters in the Cascadia Discord, usually by mocking their attempts at a "crusade" against Cascadia while residing in Africa. Raptor continued to be a political observer through the remainder of the Corgo and following Akeboun presidency. | ||
[[File:CascadiaSpaceNeedle.webp|none|thumb|460x460px|Cascadians pose for a picture during the October 2023 General Election.]] | |||
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== Early political activities == | == Early political activities == | ||
Revision as of 05:46, 23 July 2025
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Raptormm4 is a Cascadian politician who served as the 14th President of Cascadia from May to July 2024. He is currently a Representative for the Frontier in the 35th Legislature, as well as the Director of the National Parks Service, Director of Intelligence, and Chancellor of the University of Cascadia. A native of Cascadia's Frontier region, Raptor spent most of his political career as a leading figure in the Frontier post-2023 and often pushed for reforms that were especially relevant to the Frontier.
Having originally joined Terra Aurora just a few weeks after it's start date in the summer of 2022, Raptor had established the town of Yellowstone before 42ing a few weeks later. He returned to the server and his town in October 2023, joining Cascadia with the goal of establishing Yellowstone National Park. He first entered politics in the aftermath of the Osoyoos Crisis, being elected a Representative for the Eastern District in the December 2023 General Election. During his first term in the House of Representatives, Raptor passed the Cascadian Conservation Act, which was a landmark law for Cascadian conservation that created the modern national parks system. Following reelection in the January 2024 General Election, Raptor was elected Speaker of the House, a role he would maintain for the following 2 terms, until being selected to lead the Department of Defense by President Paper1emur in March 2024. During his 5 months in the Legislature, Raptor helped push for the return of the Eastern District to the "Frontier District", helped establish some of Cascadia's earliest national parks, and advocated for foreign policy choices which improved Cascadia's soft power abroad. As Secretary of Defense under both President Paper1emur and President SergioTheCrafter, Raptor helped reform Cascadia's long-dormant Department of Defense, creating new armories, strategic goals, and realigning much of Cascadia's strategic assets to intelligence and clandestine activities as opposed to conventional PvP. Most notably, this period saw him propose the Military Command Restructuring Act of 2024, which restructured the National Guard's command structure, the Classified Materials Act, which created a system for classifying and protecting secret information, and The Espionage Act, which officially defined the crime of espionage for the first time. Raptor ran for president in the May 2024 General Election, ultimately defeating incumbent President SergioTheCrafter.
An environmental conservationist, Raptor's most prominent policy was the expansion of Cascadia's national park system, which by the end of his presidency had expanded to a total of 7 parks, with only 2 having predated his entrance into politics. His economic policy was the first to by led mostly by Treasurer RAWRyoutube, who would continue to serve as Treasurer for nearly another 6 months, ushering in a period of economic stability and steady growth. His foreign policy during his first term would mostly be spent dealing with the OFN, wherein Cascadia's closest ally Havaiki was dealing with a rebellion from Zealandia, and OFN-ally Vermont was attempting to mediate negotiations between Cascadia and the North Sea Republic regarding borders surrounding the NSR holding of San Fransisco. It was during these negotiations that Raptor caused the now-infamous "Fucking Ireland" Incident. He also joined the long list of presidents who attempted to fix the long-lasting ice rail problem, creating a National Commission on Transportation to organize transit efforts. Raptor would defeat SergioTheCrafter for a second term in a landslide victory in the June 2024 General Election. Raptor's second term was dominated by foreign policy, as near the beginning of the term Cascadia faced invasion from Texas, kicking off the Great American War. While Raptor led the initial preparations and response to the conflict, his plans would ultimately not come to fruition until similar ideas were put into action by Secretary of Defense FieryMatter a few months after his presidency. With the conclusion of his 2nd term in July 2024, Raptor would announce his retirement from presidential politics, instead choosing to focus on other roles in the government that were more specialized towards him.
Raptor left office with a roughly 15% increase in economic growth during his 1st term, and a roughly 30% increase during his 2nd term. However, with the Great American War, the 7/23 Nuking, and general stagnation following his presidency, the months immediately following would see very little economic growth. While Raptor is remembered fondly by many for his conservation efforts and military reforms, his inability to effectively organize recruitment and upgrade the nation shop has sometimes led him to be regarded as a president who mostly kept the ship steady during his tenure. Since retiring from presidential politics, Raptor has served as Director of Intelligence since the position's inception within the National Guard in March 2024, and as Director of the National Parks Service since that position's inception in November 2024. He was also appointed the 4th Chancellor of the University of Cascadia in June 2025, by President 4Floppas. In these roles he has centralized Cascadia's intelligence operations, which now rank amongst the server's most advanced, and continued to expand the reach the Cascadia's national park system, including the creation of Cascades National Park.
Frontiersman Life
Raptor originally joined EMC in the Spring of 2020, during Terra Nova, attempting to settle in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho. While his time on Nova was short, he returned to EMC with the opening of Terra Aurora in the summer of 2022. Around this time he and his friend Coltonsupergame founded the original town of Yellowstone, at the time one of the earliest towns in the region. Yellowstone would grow to about 3 buildings, including the town hall, before the two 42ed a few months later. Raptor and Colton both returned at the beginning of October 2023, reestablishing Yellowstone and joining Cascadia shortly thereafter. After joining Cascadia, Raptor was welcomed to the nation by nearby Frontiersman Akeboun, who rode on horseback to Yellowstone. Yellowstone was founded with the purpose of conserving the natural environment surrounding the Yellowstone Caldera and Grand Teton, with the main town being located in the approximate location of Jackson, WY.
Raptor's first political experience in Cascadia would be the October 2023 General Election, which saw Flatvent_One face off against incumbent President EmpressCorgo. Raptor would support Corgo in this election, being opposed to Osoyoos' isolationist foreign policy and aligning himself with the Frontiersmen who were campaigning against Osoyoos. Ultimately, Corgo would win the election after the general election arrived at a tie and the House of Representatives broke the tie in her favor. Following Corgo's victory, Osoyoos seceded, promising revenge against Cascadia. It was around this time that Raptor would publicly mock Osoyoos supporters in the Cascadia Discord, usually by mocking their attempts at a "crusade" against Cascadia while residing in Africa. Raptor continued to be a political observer through the remainder of the Corgo and following Akeboun presidency.
Early political activities
17th Legislature
Raptor first ran for a seat in the Eastern District of the House of Representatives in December 2023. He ran on a platform of creating new national parkland, improving national infrastructure, strengthening the economy, and supporting programs to vitalize the Frontier and California regions of Cascadia, policy priorities that would remain fairly consistent throughout his political career. He was elected over Mayor Cal of Buffalo Narrows by slim margins, entering the House of Representatives on December 17, 2023. Around this time, Raptor participated in one of the first major projects of the 2nd Setrus Administration, Project Fresno. Project Fresno would take several weeks to complete, demolishing several city blocks in the City's Northwest corner to be replaced with new apartment buildings and retail space. The project began on December 18, 2023, and wouldn't be finished until January 2024. Raptor's name would be noted on the list of those who had assisted the project.
The only bill which Raptor proposed during his first term in the Legislature was the one which he had set out to create to begin with, the Cascadian Conservation Act. The act established the modern national parks system, different designations for different types of parks, a protections for national parkland. The act was one of the first laws in around half a year to mention conservation, with the previous National Parks Service and small parks system effectively being defunct. The bill placed national parks under the direct control of the Department of Interior, rather than a separate agency. Originally, the bill would have included a reformed National Parks Service, however this plan was shot down by more experienced Representatives who remembered the previous agency which had gone unused. The original draft of the bill also included more stringent punishments for damaging national parkland, but again more experienced Representatives advised lessening the provision.
Speakership
Following a reelection victory in the January 2024 General Election, Raptor would become Speaker of the House, running for the position due to a lack of almost anyone else doing so. He would remain as Speaker for the following 2 terms, enforcing order in the sometimes chaotic House of Representatives which he oversaw. Most notably, he repeatedly fought to enforce the rules regarding House Debates, which are publicly viewable and most be put up 2 hours before a bill can be proposed to the House. Although there were attempts around this time to make House debates more private, Raptor would effectively shut down these attempts, as well as attempts to circumnavigate the time requirement for how long a bill must be debated before being proposed. As part of this issue, Raptor made more stringent debate requirements for resolutions, and set the precedent that a bill proposed in the previous Legislature must be put to debate again in a new term. Much of this debate was in the backdrop of a political fight between Raptor and Secretary of State Milgorn123 over whether or not Cascadia should adopt a formal claim map, to which Raptor was opposed since he believed it would limit their options in the future. This period of the Legislature was also notable for the Great North Icerail Crisis, during which Raptor attempted to maintain decorum in the House and would attempt to argue that the Department of Interior did have the right to maintain the ice rails that they built, though he also pointed out that the Secretary of Interior, Moxiecodone, had clearly failed to properly explain the controversial proposals involved to the public.
During his 2nd term as Speaker of the House, Raptor would speak with President Setrus, former President Akeboun, and Secretary of Defense Cheeseballfluffy about the establishment of an intelligence agency for Cascadia. The Office of National Intelligence was then established a division within the National Guard, marking the creation of Cascadia's first organized intelligence agency. Raptor would also help push for the creation of several new national parks during this time, most notably Hakai National Park, which remains one of the largest national parks in the nation. While acting as Speaker, Raptor also gained a seat on the Electoral Commission, the body which proposes the borders and names of the various electoral districts of Cascadia. A Frontiersman, Raptor was one of many upset that the Frontier's district continued to be called the "Eastern" district, and would fight for the name to be changed back to their traditional name. This battle would last for some time, and was opposed by Chief Justice SayerQT, who preferred cardinal direction names in an attempt to suppress regionalism. Raptor, with the support of Moxie, ultimately won out and the Frontier District was restored, alongside the Northern District being restored to the Great North District. There was an attempt by Raptor and Moxie to do away with cardinal names all-together, proposing that the Southern District be renamed to "Sierra" or "Mojave", however these plans met opposition from the geographically and culturally diverse South, where it was ultimately determined that "Southern" was the best name acceptable to everyone.
Secretary of Defense
Selected by President Paper1emur to lead the Department of Defense, Raptor became the 13th Secretary of Defense on March 17, 2024. Raptor had originally preferred to lead the Department of Interior, where he could work on environmental conservation and infrastructure projects. However he accepted the position nonetheless, having only a few weeks prior established Cascadian Intelligence. He originally planned to serve as Secretary of Defense for only one or two terms, before serving a term as Secretary of Interior, and then attempting a run at the presidency. Ultimately however he would never serve as Secretary of Interior, instead spending two terms as Secretary of Defense under President Paper1emur and President SergioTheCrafter, both whom placed their entire defense policy in Raptor's hands.
National Security Reforms
During his tenure as Secretary of Defense, Raptor mostly focuses on overhauling the nation's poor security policy and infrastructure for the National Guard, which is the nation's primary volunteer militia force. The first of these reforms was the Military Command Restructuring Act of 2024, which repealed previous conflicting and grammatically inconsistent legislation surrounding the National Guard's command structure and replaced it with a command structure similar to that of the real-world U.S. Army. This command structure remains in place in the National Guard today. Across both of his terms as Secretary of Defense, he also proposed two landmark national security bills, the Classified Materials Act, and The Espionage Act. The Classified Materials Act created more stringent definitions and categories for classified information, and was one of the first laws to specifically provide for ineligibility to elected office as a possible sentencing. The Espionage Act meanwhile was the first law to formally define the crime of espionage, and was the first to provide a punishment for the crime of treason as defined in the National Constitution. Although the two laws have been used widely by the Cascadian government to enforce national security and protect operational security, to date no person has been formally charged with violating either act.
Raptor had originally intended to fully rework the National Guard into a fighting militia force, capable of taking on PvP at any time at any place in the nation. However, this proved to be a much more difficult goal than he had initially anticipated, with Cascadia containing relatively few PvPers and having few enemies in North America with whom to PvP. However, he did still succeed in creating a new strategic foundation for the Department of Defense and National Guard. In preparation for any kind of conventional war, as was feared could come from the NSR at the time, the National Guard created two new armories in Vancouver (Deadman's Fort), and Irvine (Fort Irvine). Both of these armories remain active today. There were also plans to construct a military academy and fort near Chaeronea, in the Frontier, but these plans would eventually be scrapped due to the scope of the layout and the town they would have been based in 42ing. As Secretary of Defense, Raptor also shifted the focus of the Department of Defense from conventional PvP activities to clandestine operations, prioritizing espionage and intelligence analysis as the nation's best tools to protect it's national interests. Most of the records of what exactly this entailed, however, remain classified.
House Clerk & Foreign Policy
During his tenure as Secretary of Defense, Raptor continued to be a member of the House of Representatives, and played a part in some diplomatic negotiations. While continuing to serve in the House, Raptor would become Clerk of the House during the 21st Legislature following the retirement of longtime Clerk AghastBlock. Along with keeping House records during the 21st Legislature, Raptor was also responsible for formally ending the long-defunct House Standing Committees. He also completed the term with a final move for public transparency in the Electoral Commission, making the Electoral Commission's meetings public once they had concluded. Raptor has saw a great deal of involvement in foreign policy during his two terms as Secretary of Defense. During the Paper1emur presidency, he faced the first of two major negotiations with NSR leader and San Fransisco Mayor NFISH. NFISH had reached out to the Cascadian government in March 2024 to try and reach an NAP with Cascadia and demand the return of chunks lost to Jeffcadian mayors during the San Fransisco Offensive of 2024. As San Fransisco was an enemy when the offensive occurred, the Cascadian government refused to return any conquered territory, and NFISH's attitude during the negotiations would kill any hope of an NAP as well. Raptor's involvement in these negotiations was fairly minimal, though he did closely observe them and began to draw up plans for a military conflict with San Fransisco and the NSR, in case they were needed. These failed negotiations are considered the beginning of the Cascadia-NSR Cold War. Raptor was also involved in monitoring the rise of the New California Republic, led by Ghostyuu as a Fallout larp project, in April 2024. Although the NCR and Cascadia never went to war, and the NCR ultimately died when its founders returned to the USA, tensions and paranoia of an NAU invasion of Cascadian territory ran high for around a week, necessitating some degree of military preparations.
Presidency
May 2024 Campaign
Raptor announced his long-anticipated campaign for the presidency on May 10, 2024. He was soon thereafter endorsed by Vice President Setrus, former President and sitting Representative Paper1emur, Secretary of State Milgorn123, Representative RuffWoof, and Lovelyfurball, among others. His campaign focused on promises similar to the policies he had fought for in the House, including strengthening national defense, expanding the national parks system, and improving nationwide infrastructure. There were also other focuses added to the campaign, most notably around his slogan of "A Square Deal for All!". The slogan was inspired by the words of irl president Theodore Roosevelt, from whom Raptor took a great deal of inspiration. By adopting this slogan, the campaign attempted to argue that for much of the last few months, if not years, the Cascadian government had been almost entirely focuses on what was happening in the urbanized areas of the Cascadian Metro and California, while neglecting the more isolated regions of the Frontier and Great North. In order to combat this neglect, the Raptor Campaign promised to consider all regions in the expansion of government programs and infrastructure, focus on catching up in the neglected parts of the nation before focusing again on the major cities, and create a homesteading system wherein citizens could apply for government grants to create new towns in areas that Cascadia wanted to settle. The campaign also promised to "return leadership to the presidency", addressing a perceived lack of leadership from recent presidents who had given their cabinet secretaries near-total control over their respective areas of policy. This perceived lack of transparency was also blamed by the campaign for the loss of population of slow economic growth during the spring of 2024. On May 19, 2024, Raptor won a decisive victory over Sergio, winning the Metropolitan and Frontier outright, winning all but the Great North in the final count, and winning 56.1% of votes cast. Sergio, a resident of the Great North, did manage to win twice as many votes in that district as Raptor, however strong Raptor majorities in the other 3 districts, where Raptor had support from neglected towns and liberal establishment leaders who supported his foreign policy, would ultimately win the election.
First Term
Internal Affairs
Most of Raptor's first term was defined by reforms to the nation's internal affairs. One of the first laws passed under the new administration was the National Commission on Transportation Act, which created an advisory board consisting of the Secretary of Interior, a delegate from the Department of Defense, and a delegate from each of the 4 electoral districts. This advisory board was given the task of researching and discussing the state of Cascadia' s transportation infrastructure, then reporting their findings so that the administration could adopt a thorough and thoughtful transit policy going forward. While the NCT was convened, it's members were fairly disengaged from the project and a final report was never reached. While there were further attempts by the administration to push the Department of Interior to begin working on ice rails, including cuts to the DOI's town projects budget in favor of transportation projects, there was ultimately very little progress during the Raptor Administration into fixing the transportation problem. Due to the DOI being almost entirely focused on to the transportation issue, there was also very little else happening in the Department, leading to a continued period of inactivity for the DOI. Raptor would later say that his failure to make progress in the transportation issue was one of his biggest regrets.
Raptor's mission of environmental conservation would continue during his presidency. During his first term in office, Strait of Georgia National Park would be established on Vancouver Island, and on June 6, 2024, Raptor would pass the Conservation Aid Act. This act created a fund which could be given to mayors in exchange for claiming land for national parkland which the Department of Interior deemed especially important. The goal of this program was to provide a financial incentive which could help convince mayors in environmentally sensitive areas to donate land to the national parks system. The funding provided by the act would ultimately be used to pay for 24 chunks of Glacier National Park, however the act was repealed in November 2024 by RAWRyoutube's Welfare Reform Act of 2024, which repealed the Conservation Aid Act and a handful of other more obscure and specialized welfare programs.
Foreign Policy
The foreign policy of the first Raptor term was defined by conflicts outside of Cascadia, usually within the OFN, and by the increasing threat of Texan invasion. One of the most critical of these conflicts was the civil war between Havaiki, Cascadia's closest ally by this point, and Zealandia, a secession movement in Northern New Zealand who had seceded after Havaiki refused to amend their constitution as Zealandian leadership wanted. Although the war was on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, the Raptor administration steadfastly supported their Havaiki allies, refusing any diplomatic relations with Zealandia and eventually making a public announcement stating their "full dedication to defending, supporting, and upholding Havaikian sovereignty." When the war first began, Raptor also issued personal assurances of support in OFN channels, informing Havaiki leadership that "If it comes to it, you'll have Cascadia's full support." Although the Raptor administration was entirely prepared to intervene militarily in the conflict, Havaiki would never end up requesting anything more than diplomatic support from their allies, and would ultimately emerge victorious without outside intervention.
The first term of the Raptor administration was also in the backdrop of the Cascadia-NSR Cold War, and saw officials from the Republic of Vermont attempt to mediate a NAP and border agreement between the two nations, both of whom were its allies. Initially, Raptor was skeptical of negotiations with the NSR, who he viewed as Cascadia's main geopolitical rival and adversary. However, he also understood that Vermont's support was critical in creating a North American bloc that could resist the NSR, and thus decided to at least attempt negotiations, at the very least trying to gain Vermont's support in the process. While the terms of the NAP were fairly simple, what was much more difficult was deciding on a border, and negotiations became deadlocked because of it. The NSR proposed that San Fransisco would be their core, untouchable territory, while almost all of the American West up to the Rocky Mountains (not counting their proposal for Cascadia's core territory, in the urbanized parts of the Cascadian Metro) would be neutral land accessible to both parties. Cascadia meanwhile proposed that their core territory would include all land in the American West outside California, with the rest of California being neutral land. Both sides found the other's proposal unacceptable, as Raptor was a Frontiersman unwilling to agree to anything that would allow the NSR to colonize up to and including the Frontier, while the NSR didn't want to be bottled up in California. Tensions and rhetoric only worsened between the two during a debate over whether or not the NSR was an American nation, since their capital was in Europe. The NSR believed that their presence in North America made them an American nation too, while Raptor, who had long been opposed to what he viewed as European imperialism, believed that the NSR was purely European, and had no rights whatsoever to America. The argument only got worse when the negotiation began to discuss the fate of Bakhmut, a former RMF siege town in the middle of the Cascadian Metro which was sheltering in the NSR, and NFISH's reveal that he had spies operating in Cascadia. The tensions came to a head when Raptor told NSR leadership that they were not an American nation, but a government from "Fucking Ireland". While swearing was a known feature of Raptor's speaking style, the NSR delegation still took great offense, and threatened to pull out of negotiations if Raptor did not apologize. Knowing that being the cause of the end of negotiations would harm relations with Vermont, Raptor pretended to apologize, and negotiations dragged on. The NSR became more interested in compromise after Cascadia, Vermont, and the NAU signed the North American Protection Pact (NAPP), in which the 3 North American powers agreed to maintain claim maps, respect each other's sovereignty, and most importantly, declare war on any outside power which invaded that sovereignty. Although the pact seemed like a standard mutual defense pact, it was specifically designed to protect North America from colonization, and it's creation was the end goal of Cascadia's delegation in Vermont. However, while Raptor did consider breaking off negotiations with the NAPP completed, the arrival of war with Texas forced his hand, as Cascadia suddenly had bigger priorities to deal with than the NSR. Cascadia and the NSR would sign the Treaty of Los Angeles on June 27, 2024, agreeing to an NAP, Cascadian core territory in Northern California and all lands north of Nevada, and a neutral zone south of the Cascadian core.
Also notable during Raptor's first term was the ascension of Pilbara and the Caucasian Republic as full members of the OFN, the signing of a border agreement with Yukon, and the rise of Texas. In late May, Cascadian Intelligence began to note a suspicious chain of Texan towns approaching Cascadian territory, and with Paso's previous anti-Cascadian rhetoric the Raptor administration quickly began to fear that a Texan invasion was imminent. When their fears were eventually confirmed, Cascadia began to make preparations for the upcoming war, began to plan out their own town bridge into Texas, began warning prominent OFN allies of the coming conflict, and quietly began to support Mexican rebels who were rising up against Texan rule.
Second Term
Foreign affairs dominated Raptor's second term, as the Great American War kicked off not long after he was reelected. The domestic affairs of this time were also entirely related to the ongoing war effort, such as The Homestead Act, which was an attempt to fund the creation of new towns in areas that defense officials feared may otherwise be claimed by Texas. There were also a great deal of emergency funds given out in the name of the war effort, due to the defense budget being smaller during that time and being needed elsewhere. This included hundreds of gold for claiming in California, for overclaim shield in Astoria, and gold being spent with the recruiters union in an attempt to improve the nation's falling population.
The Prelude to War
The intention of NorthPaso, the King of Texas, to invade Cascadia had become known near the end of the previous term, however it wasn't until after his reelection that Raptor truly began to prepare the nation for war. Right at the end of his first term, he had signed a law that secretively gave 200g to the newly independent Mexican republic of Michoacán, who had declared their independence from Texas a few days earlier. Before the war officially broke out, Cascadian defense officials put together a basic strategy for how they would fight the war, mostly influenced by the grand strategy pushed by Raptor and his Attorney-General, Akeboun. The plan was to surround Texas on all sides, using their superior numbers and allies to put pressure on Paso from every flank. Cascadia knew that Texas had "[The rebelling] Texas Republic to its north, Mexico to its south, Cascadia to its west, and if they go in on us, Vermont to their east," as Raptor told the leader of Michoacán around June 16, 2024. Cascadia was prepared to face the onslaught of war, and the administration waited patiently for Paso to cross the line and officially enter Cascadian territory in California.
The Great American War
On June 18, 2024, the borders of Texas officially reached California, which Raptor described as Texas "just about reaching the fuck around and find out line." The following days were mostly spent preparing a strategy for the seemingly inevitable conflict and preparing allies for war. OFN nations were informed that Cascadia was in a particularly dangerous situation with Texas, and that they should prepare. Havaiki was specifically warned that Cascadia would likely be entering into a war, to which Havaiki promised its support when the time came, just as Cascadia had done for them during the Zealandia War. Cascadia had attempted to convince NAU officials, who at the time still had the best claim to Mexico and a great deal of money and influence, to support a war with Texas in order to kick Texas out of Mexican territory. The NAU, which felt the war wasn't serious and was generally isolationist, declined to participate. On the night of June 22, 2024, Cascadian officials, led by Raptor and his Secretary of State, Milgorn123, issued Texas an ultimatum. Texas could either leave California in peace, or Cascadia would do whatever was necessary to defend its territory. Texas responded the following evening by rejecting the ultimatum, causing Raptor to request the legislature issue an Authorization of Military Force in Texas, which amounted to a declaration of war. The AUMF passed on June 24, 2024, at 8:07 PM PT, though it would not be publicly announced to the rest of the server until over an hour later, by which point Texas' own declaration of war had been issued, at 9:16 PM PT.
The Cascadian strategy set up by Raptor at the start of the Great American War was based on the idea that Texas would eventually overextend itself, overestimating its own abilities, while Cascadia and its allies would use every advantage available to them to push them back into Texas. Raptor believed that the war with Texas could be used as a rationale for Cascadia to reform in many of the sectors that had otherwise been slow to do so, including territorial expansion through the Homestead Act, a declining recruitment situation, an OFN split by internal arguments, and a Department of Defense that was not yet large enough to fight a continent-spanning war. The Cascadian plan from the onset of the war was to fight Texas in California, holding their ground and limiting Texan gains, while their allies began to put pressure on Texas from other flanks. Eventually, Cascadian planners believed this would cause Texas to focus on defending its homeland, allowing Cascadia to push towards Texas as well. Psychological warfare, which would attempt to encourage defection amongst Texans by teaching them of Paso's historical wrongdoings and reign, was also an important component of this plan. Raptor and many other intelligence officials were of the belief that "Texas could not be conquered," but it could however see regime change to a democratic government. By June 28, 2024, Raptor and others in the Cascadian government began to plan a set of towns to bridge into the Texan homeland, including where siege towns would be set up throughout the Texan Metro. Many of these locations would later be independently chosen by Secretary of Defense FieryMatter for his own offensive. Raptor also attempted to gain further allies while fighting Texas, most notably Mesoamerica, which sought to liberated Central American from Texan colonies, notably in the Yucatan.
While the Raptor plan for the war was sound in theory, the problems that Cascadia faced before the start of the war continued as it began. A declining population and recruitment crisis meant little to no new mayors for towns in Texas, which delayed a proper offensive. On the front line, Texas made its most successful offensive in the first week of the war, and by June 26, 2024, had established the siege town of OBLOCKFENTGANG on the borders of Oceanside (present-day Astoria), threatening the core of Cascadia's Metro. This required the government to give Oceanside a 600g loan to prevent OBLOCKFENTGANG from increasing too rapidly. The Texan siege town of Mackenzie_CFOB, just north of Corgo's Pass, was the furthest extent of the Texan offensive in Cascadia. The speed of the Texan offensive had set off some alarm bells in the Cascadian government, especially amongst those who had begun to desperately recruit for their towns to prevent being overclaimed by Texas, and the rate of Texas' recruitment (mostly in Houston) was surprisingly fast. Things also began to go awry for Raptor on the allies front too, as while Havaiki, Pilbara, and Mexico immediately began to do what they could to help, Vermont, whose participation was a core component of Raptor's plan, quickly faced war weariness. Unbeknownst to Raptor, Vermont was a nation of pacifist builders led by those with little experience in leading a war, and thus quickly crumbled in the face of a Texas offensive following the end of Texas' offensive in Cascadia. Vermont's governments went into turmoil, as Texan siege towns nearly reached the Vermonter capital, and many political factions in the nation began calling for anything from an end to the war to even becoming Texan allies. Cascadian and Havaiki diplomats would eventually manage to convince Vermont not to surrender immediately, though dealing with a feeble Vermont trying to back out of the war entirely would be a continuing problem for the rest of the war. Amongst Vermont's problems war also their small treasury, which made it difficult for them to respond to the Texan offensive. Raptor responded by offering them a 750g low-interest loan from Cascadia, though this was declined by Vermont officials who were failing to make up their mind as to whether or not they would even remain in the war. In California too, problems began to arise, as Texas managed to overclaim historic areas of Lost Coast, causing the town to defect to Texas for protection. This defection was cemented by the mayor's paranoia after the 7/23 Nuking.
Ultimately, Raptor would decide not to run for a third term in office, instead deciding to focus on intelligence operations, and placing the mantle of leadership through the war on his chosen successor, Lovelyfurball, who had proven himself as a military leader in Israel.
Post-Presidency
Following his retirement from presidential politics, Raptor has mostly focuses on his work with the National Parks Service and Office of Intelligence, though over time he has become increasingly involved again in mainstream Cascadian politics. In late 2024, Raptor was heavily involved in the creation of Cascades National Park, the expansion of the National Parks Service through the Raptormm4 Conservation Act, and the founding of the Cascades Club, a lobbying organization for conservation issues in Cascadia. Raptor also remained commander of the office of national intelligence while it was a division under the National Guard, and became the Office's first Director when it became independent of the Department of Defense in November 2024. The work that Raptor has done with the Office of Intelligence remains mostly classified. Raptor was appointed Chancellor of the University of Cascadia on June 6, 2025, promising to reinvigorate the national university by focusing on research and the dissemination of knowledge, rather than larp classes that have never materialized. Raptor was elected to a new tenure as a Representative for the Frontier in the 35th Legislature, on June 15, 2025. He ran on the promise of continuing to support conservation issues, expanding home rule, and reforming the Department of Interior.
