Coalition of Ordered Governments
From Gears of War
- "COG" redirects here. For the Coalition's identification tags, see COG Tag. For the Coalition's soldiers, see Gear.
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- "I shall remain vigilant and unyielding in my pursuit of the enemies of the Coalition. I will defend and maintain the order of life as it was proclaimed by the Allfathers of the Coalition in the Octus Canon. I will forsake the life I had before so I may perform my duty as long as I am needed. Steadfast. I shall hold my place in the machine and acknowledge my place in the Coalition. I am a Gear. "
- — (Oath of the Coalition, sworn by all Recruits)
The Coalition of Ordered Governments was at first a Socialist Governmental Faction, theorized by Alexiy Desipich and founded by Nassar Embry[3] and his Allfathers through the eight principles: Order, Diligence, Purity, Labor, Honor, Loyalty, Faith, and Humility. It was, however, weak and insignificant during the starting days of this government party. Everything was at peace and there were no real political issues to tend to, let alone gain credit for. However, everything changed after the Lightmass Process was developed by Dr. Helen Cooper. The originally useless Imulsion now became a cheap energy source. This process combined with Imulsion created so much energy that it meant the utter collapse of the economy. This made the less fortunate countries wage war for Imulsion, and thus began the Pendulum Wars.[4]
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[edit] Standard and Symbols
- "Fenix is here because society is formed from people pulling together, not breaking away into separate groups. Unity. Because no man can exist on his own. No country can, either. That's why we have the Coalition of Ordered Governments."
- — Major Fuller[5]
The Coalition's symbol is a Gear, supposedly to reference the its acronym; COG (A cog is another word for gear). The symbol represents the machine and the mutual support that gears need in order for the machine to work and go forward, like Serans in their struggle to survive. Another symbol was the eagle sitting on a gear.
[edit] Government Structure
The Coalition of Ordered Governments is headed by the Chairman who is elected by the Council of Sovereigns who govern from the House of Sovereigns in Ephyra city. During the Pendulum Wars Chairman Dalyell had the legal rights to fight the Union of Independent Republics but did not have the powers of Chairman Richard Prescott during the Human-Locust War who used the Fortification Act to limit civil liberties and personal freedoms. One of the most notable branches of the Locust-Human War era government is the COG Department of Conscription which handled the conscription of former Stranded.[6][7] The COG also had a civil protection service.[6] The Department of Health ran the New Hope Research Facility before it shutdown.[8] After the E-Day, the COG still was able to manage the day-to-day bureaucracy with Mayor Gerard Leland and Governor S.D. Garrand showing some forms of Democracy in the Post E-Day Coalition.
[edit] Education
All of the pre E-Day schools in the COG where government controlled, and heavily taught the principals of the Octus Canon. The schools in the COG taught basic education and the concept of unity for both people and nations. All students had to wear uniforms to remind them they are all the same. After E-Day the only purpose of schools was to keep kids from turning into random gangs on the streets of Jacinto.[2]
[edit] History
[edit] Pendulum Wars
During the Pendulum Wars on Sera, it was responsible for peacekeeping and helping the needed, gaining strength and popularity rapidly, eventually becoming the chief political faction.[citation needed] While the war raged on, the political party issued many decrees and acts that gained them credit as well as widespread fame. Their fame however was brief, as shortly after the devastating 79-year conflict came to an end, the COG was faced with a new crisis: The Locust Horde and more specifically, the Locust-Human War.
[edit] Emergence Day
When the Locust Horde attacked on Emergence Day, the COG struggled to take quick action against their new enemy. The Locusts' surprise assault caught the COG off guard. They rallied to war only too late, with the Locust already dominating the majority of Sera's urban, military, and industrial centers. Given the Locust habit of looting captured cities and fallen enemies and using their stolen assets in their war agains the Humans, the COG leaders (notably Chairman Prescott) saw only one solution. They began by re-enacting the Fortification Act, which placed all surviving citizens under martial law. Then, the human leaders ordered the evacuation of all survivors to the Jacinto Plateau, a safe-haven from the Locust who could not penetrate it as easily from below due to a base of thick, solid granite. Those unable to escape were issued the following message:
- "For those citizens who cannot make it to Jacinto, the Coalition appreciates your sacrifice. Please forgive us, this is the only way."
- — Coalition of Ordered Governments
Orbital laser weapons were fired on a scorched planet, burning away all Locust occupied areas -- and the unfortunate civilians who were unable to evacuate. Humans won the E-Day invasion, but at a terrible cost. Nearly 90% of Sera's surface was left a barren wasteland while the Locust, secure in their subterranean cavern homes, survived. The war would continue for over 15 long and bloody years.[9][10] The actions of the COG on E-Day would forever brand them Fascists in the eyes of the Stranded.[11]
[edit] Fortification Act
After the E-Day attack the Council of Sovereigns passed the Fortification Act,[4] which was highly popular (in COG controled areas) but limited personal freedoms, levied all able bodied men into the military, and Rationed all food stuffs[6]. It also had the COG Department of Conscription handle all former Stranded, and turned them into conscripts[6][7]. Women that couldn't give birth were placed in either non-combat positions as pilots or medics or took part in "war work" by working in factories and hospitals. Some women entered "breeding farms" and received extra rations for doing their part in repopulating the human race.[6][2][12]
[edit] Jacinto Remnant
For the first time in a long time there's hope for the future for the COG. They sacrificed Jacinto to destroy the Locust and mostly succeeded. There seem to only be mostly disorganized straglers left. After abandoning Jacinto the COG made an attempt to survive in a ruined but not obliterated city on the mainland and failed. Abandoning that plan, the COG moved to Vectes Naval Base on an island safe from Locust incursion due to a deep sea floor trench. There the remnants of humanity are able to rebuild in peace from the Locust with the only threats being Stranded groups in the nearby islands. With the addition of 4,000 more people from a former UIR nation which joined the COG as part of a deal to join the survivors on Vectes, there's even more hope now. While living on the island, they discovered former 'Indies', the COG's enemies during the Pendulum Wars. Luckily, these men were only interested in joining the COG, and were allowed to move in, but with some trepidation. The COG's current plan is to rebuild on Vectes and on day reclaim the abandoned mainland from what's left of the Locust.
[edit] Military Strength
- "It was tough not to feel disappointed. Three weeks out in the field, and we'd only found one Gear. One survivor. The APC was packed with ammo and supplies, but still...we needed people a lot more than we needed supplies."
- — Jace Stratton
Before the E-Day attack, the COG had numerous soldiers: ranging from elite commandos operating on the field, to standard Gears who fought on the front lines. The Coalition possessed vast armies, a small but capable navy, and a skilled air corps. During the Pendulum Wars, men and women served side by side in the 79 year conflict. Every Gear had the necessary equipment and rations to support him or her on the field. The Coalition numbers were boosted from volunteers the Pesang people and troops from vassal nations. After the E-Day assault, the Coalition was forced to deny their enemy the advantage, and scorch the planet with the orbiting Hammer of Dawn satellites, destroying all major population and military centers. After the retreat to Jacinto Plateau and leaving millions to die and large amounts of military hardware behind, the COG's engineering corps were forced to get creative with little "kit" they had left.
By the 14th year of the Human-Locust War the Coalition only had a few brigades of troops, the population of a medium sized city, and a undernourished engineering corps.[13][14] With Stranded conscripts from Operation Lifeboat unable to boost the shrinking COG army force, High Command was forced to pardon hundreds of thousands of prisoners, levy the sick, young and the old into the Armed forces, and order all women to repopulate the rapidly decreasing population.[15] The COG Department of Conscription was created to deal with former Stranded.[6]
Due to increased rations, Gears were loathed by part of the human population for being fed more, while, for the most part, humanity was starving. After the sinking of Jacinto, and after the move to the islands, the former inhabitants of the islands disliked the COG Gears because of their violent tendencies, and because they believed that the COG would just cause them more trouble with the Stranded, and survival in general.
[edit] References
- ↑ Gears of War:Jacinto's Remnant
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Gears of War:Aspho Fields
- ↑ Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pp 75
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Gears of War: Destroyed Beauty
- ↑ Gears of War: Aspho Fields pp 51
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Last Day
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Gears of War 2
- ↑ Gears of War 2 collectible
- ↑ Gears of War Trailer
- ↑ Gears of War 2 intro
- ↑ Gears of War
- ↑ Gears of War: Hollow
- ↑ Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 73
- ↑ Gears of War: Aspho Fields pp 128-129
- ↑ Gears of War: Destroyed Beauty pp 8
| Coalition of Ordered Governments | ||
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| Military: Coalition High Command · COG Army · COG Navy · Engineering Corps Government: Civil Protection Service · Council of Sovereigns · Defense Select Committee · Department of Conscription · Department of Health · Intelligence Agency History: Alexiy Desipich · Nassar Embry · Allfathers · Austere Canon · Octus Canon · Fortification Act | ||
