Industrial States of America

From the video game "Crimson Skies", the fictional Industrial States of America was formed from six of the states around the great lakes namely Illinois, where can be found the capital of Chicago, as well as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. A manufacturing giant, the ISA is nominally governed by a president, currently Franklin August, in practice however a secret group of businessmen influence government policy. The main problem for the ISA is a lack of access to markets, since the neighboring People's collective to the West with which it fought a series of border skirmishes throughout the 1930s, and the Empire State to the East are both hostile. To the North Ontario and Quebec have proven willing to ship ISA produce, albeit for exorbitant handling fees.

Nonetheless the ISA emerged from the chaos surrounding the break-up of the United States with a good set of cards. In addition to its manufacturing assets and transport infrastructure, the ISA retains a large agricultural sector allowing it to provide adequate food for its citizens.

The main ally of the ISA is Germany, which provides 'technical advisors' to boost the ISA's available forces. This alliance has resulted in great prosperity for the ISA, of which the merger between Messerschmidt and General Motors is only the most visible symbol. This alliance has however led to tensions, not least with Ontario which enjoys British support, but also with the Empire State, which suspects the ISA of colluding in the deployment of a German flotilla off Empire State waters.

The ISA is also notable as the home of the Red Skull legion, led by the infamous Jonathan 'Genghis' Khan. One of Khan's first acts was to make use of a zeppelin stolen from Utah to carry out a series of raids within the People's Collective,nearly resulting in a war between Utah and the Collective,before returning to the ISA. Khan and the Red Skull Legion now operate as only one of the many pirate gangs based in the ISA. Newer ones are often smashed by Khan, but the older ones have obtained letters of marque from the government, and now work for the state.