Richmond Militia

The Richmond Militia was a pre-war militant group that opposed the pre-war US government. After the Great War, they later formed Richmond City, and became the Richmond Republic.

Background
The Richmond Militia began in 1994 during the militia movement of the 1990s, however it was quickly shut down after an FBI raid in 1998, after which it faded from history.

In 2052, however, the beginning of the Resource Wars sparked a revitalization in the organization, which returned after numerous veterans and activists joined together in protest of the US joining the conflict, lead by the veteran Markus Mercado. Though armed with military grade weaponry, they were not considered a large threat by the government.

In 2054, an unknown source in the government leaked information about Project Safehouse to the militia, who reacted violently. Project Fortification was put into place by Mercado, which ordered the creation of numerous secret bunker communities across Virginia, connected by radio and isolated from the outside world. The first community to be built was based around Berkeley, and quickly became the headquarters of the militia.

In 2056, the same source leaked the location of Vault 83's construction site. Mercado ordered a regiment of militiamen to halt the construction, with force if need be. In a short skirmish, the on-site security drove the militiamen off, killing one of them. Due to this violence, the FBI began an investigation into the militia. The investigation continued for numerous years until in 2075 the FBI launched a raid on Berkeley, where Markus Mercado was captured and imprisoned in Sussex State Prison for further questioning.

In 2076, the militia launched a surprise assault on the Sussex State Prison, and by the time the police arrived, Markus Mercado had already escaped. Seeing this as the last straw, Mercado declared that the militia officially seceded from the United States, claiming Richmond and the surrounding area as its territory. A civil war broke out in the region, with a military riot suppression force being sent to battle them. The civil war continued for months until the Great War in 2077. The Richmond Militia took shelter inside their bunker communities, and many of the riot suppression forces were killed in the resulting blasts.