Santa Fe Ring

What is the Santa Fe Ring…..? Well that is a good question and one that we will be looking into with this article; detailing the known facts about the Santa Fe Ring, it’s origins and what it means for the rest of the free world, as well we will dive into the many rumours related to the Santa Fe Ring and the Gunfighters within. Throughout this article we will tackle many of the questions my readers have about this order and where they came from and why they involved themselves within the Battle of the Baja 2075; as well why no one really has ever heard of them before today save a few very secretive and dangerous men, this my readers is the Santa Fe Ring Uncovered and prepare yourself for a roller-coaster of a ride as we dive head first into the legend that is the Santa Fe Ring.

For starters the Santa Fe Ring we know today is not the same one from the early 19th century that held the southwest territories in a choke hold, participated in the Merchant Wars of 1878 – 1879 and went to war against the infamous Lincoln County Regulators. That was a unification of corrupt politicians, land barons and attorneys that wanted exclusive control over the territories and to become the rightful rulers of the regions when they would eventually become states within the still growing United States.

The Santa Fe Ring of old was eventually brought to an end by the joint forces of Nero Caprio, Alex Montgomery, William Geronimo, Roy Longstreet, Walter Gunner, Emerson Appleton and the Outlaws Five; these soldiers and outlaws would pick up where the Lincoln County Regulators would fail in the summer of 1881 (the exact date is unknown). This band of bonded and wanted men would take it on their own to restore law and order to the wild west that would be the New Mexico Territory and for the next handful of months this band of killers would paint the west with the blood of the Irish and send many members of the Ring to Boot Hill or the gallows. This band would hunt down each and every member of the Santa Fe Ring and through a hail of bullets they would secure victory and justice for those murdered during the Merchant Wars and restore peace to the region.

On February 3rd 1882 the last of the original Santa Fe Ring would be put to death within Phoenix Arizona and the old ways of the Ring would be put to bed forever; thus would rise the knew Santa Fe Ring and one that would control the region with an iron fist and as well ensure justice for all. Ironic that band of Outlaws would be able to restore law and order and thats just what they did, Santa Fe would become their stronghold and these men would allow for the troubled city to grow and prosper as they made it quite clear that Santa Fe was not a welcoming place for would be desperadoes and criminals.

The new Santa Fe Rings leader Nero Caprio would not be able to stay within the city or the region for long as he was a member of the United States Cavalry and would be called to duty numerous times to engage in war for America; though even in his departure his order would be commanded by Alex Montgomery another US Cavalry member that was retired do to injuries received during the Lincoln County Merchant Wars; many of the original Santa Fe Ring Squad would be retired US Cavalry or natives that were used as test subjects for the Federal Immortality Project of 1850. Thus granting them freedom to remain within the territory and make certain that the corruption never returned to Santa Fe……well they would eventually be forced within the underbelly as the city expanded and the west was won, though the Santa Fe Ring would never fully vanish and they would become the ever watchful eye.

During the 1900’s the Santa Fe Ring would be driven fully underground as vigilante justice was unacceptable within a civilised society, though off the record law enforcement would often seek out the Ring for help in solving the unsolvable and bringing the wicked to justice the “Old Way” in order to save the city a very open and public trial. The presence of the Ring could be felt within the underbelly of Santa Fe as would be criminals would live in fear of the gunfighters of old; they wouldn’t dare to wonder outside of the city do to the native presence within the Ring and what was worse for the criminals of the southwest was the ever growing threat of the Phoenix and it’s version of the Santa Fe Ring a direct ally of the New Mexico Hunters.

With Nero Caprio being away fighting within multiple wars and rarely within Santa Fe directly with the expectation of some leave time for him to nurse his wounded and broken body, the Ring would be under the command of his right hand man Alex Montgomery who would begin recruiting and expanding the Ring to compensate for the ever growing population of the city and holding true to the premise of secrecy…..”One doesn’t speak of the Santa Fe Ring.” an ethos the order has held till today. We only know about the Santa Fe Ring do to historical records and a few snitches that are now within protective custody as they would surly be killed by the Santa Fe Ring if discovered for breaching the silence and General Nero Caprio is not a man to ever cross.

Well from the years 1900 – 2000 the Santa Fe Ring acted as protectors and guardians, though they would as well be the heart and soul of the underworld; making sure that if you wanted to break the law you needed to go threw them and well that could have disastrous consequences for the would be law breaker. Santa Fe’s crime rate would show that between the local Police and the Ring the city would be deemed a safe place to live minus a few regions; that would be till the legendary Tommy Jamestown aka Sixxkiller would come to be and terrorise the city and begin his nation wide killing spree right under the noses of the Santa Fe Ring.

This would be a black eye for the Ring that prided itself on it’s enforcement of law and order and keeping the peace, though for some reason the killer would slip away from Law Enforcement after being arrested only months after his first dozen murders…..I am not one to spew conspiracy theories as I prefer facts, but seeing the Santa Fe Ring & Outlaws Five are allies one could say nepotism was involved seeing Tommy is the first born son of Oliver McKeen Jamestown and member of the dreaded Outlaws Five add in the fact of Santa Fe founding member Roy Longstreet being the sheriff and it simply smells of inside job.

Though I will delve into the Sixxkiller situation once I tackle the rumours of the Santa Fe Ring and till than lets stick to what is known about the Ring and their activities during the 20th century. With the ever growing city and the people migrating to Santa Fe from all over and especially Mexico do to it’s proximity to the boarder and the ever growing drug trade within the United States the Santa Fe Ring would become very busy and wouldn’t be immune to corruption from within.

The order created to defeat corruption and prevent it from growing out of control like a cancer the Ring would witness itself becoming a victim of it’s growth. During the middle of the century around 1950 -1970 while Nero was off fighting in Korea and than Vietnam the Ring would start to splinter and fracture from within as the newer younger members of the Ring would look at the older members as antiquated relics of the past and see the future s one full of wealth and prosperity; these younger members would strike out on their own and form splinter cells that would engage in criminal activity under the flag of the Ring. They would begin working with the Mexicans and Texans in drug trafficking, murder for hire, kidnapping and extortion of public officials; while some engaged in typical gangland activities these youths felt immune from justice as they were Santa Fe Ring and the justice system would bow down to them.

Now one can’t blame the young for this thought process seeing they saw the elders of the Ring as nothing more than old cronies that were holding the back and no different than their parents. Well for the young they made one big miscalculation the elders of the Ring were nothing like their parents and in fact they were all gunfighters of the old west, these men painted the west with blood and were the reason the west was wild. They all fought within the Civil War and they shed blood to rout out the evil that is corruption, with Nero away and the reigns of the Ring within the iron grip of the man they called Dirge this wasn’t going to end well for anyone as the Ring would suffer direct division and a war amongst the members would break out.

The war of the Outlaws would begin May 3rd 1954 and last till December 24th 1984 and for the next thirty years blood would run through the streets and the cities crime rate and murder rate would explode; thrusting Santa Fe onto the map and causing the cities elected officials to seek federal aid to quell the ever escalating war between the old and new of the Ring. This would thrust the Santa Fe Ring onto the map and within the public eye, though many simply cover this up as a war between gangs and never directly mention the Santa Fe Ring though of the record and in journals of the lawmakers of the time would mention the heated and bloody days of the Santa Fe Ring and how they wish they hadn’t aligned themselves with notorious outlaws.

In a vein attempt to quell the war the elected officials would summon the US Military to restore law and order. All this would do would bring further tensions as the presence of the military within the city province would cause the citizens to grow suspect and uneasy of a government overreach; this would also have one disastrous consequence for the newer members of the Ring that felt they were untouchable as they outnumbered the old timers. The entrance of the US Army on June 7th 1984 would mean that Colonel Nero Caprio would be back within Santa Fe and now directly able to get involved, the bosses return in 1984 even if for a short period of time would mean that the Ring would be set straight and hundreds of upstarts would end up carrion food in the desert.

Nero would strike out to destroy the upstarts and burn their empire to the ground. He was not going to watch as the children destroyed what he created, and when he would learn that it was greed based…..well Nero would use whatever means necessary to restore peace to Santa Fe and let any and all Ring members know that the War King was back and not following the guidelines and dictates of the Ring would not be tolerated. Many young upstarts would be put to death during those first few months and many others would be rounded up by Nero and the military with the aid of the Ring and sent to federal prison for life or to be executed. Though it would end up being William Geronimo’s two sons Rodger and Lyndon that would use their youthful appearance and roguish charm to infiltrate the leadership of the upstarts and in true old west fashion the boys would paint the walls red with blood and send a very brutal message to any would be upstart that ‘Never judge a book by it’s cover”.

Between Nero and the Geronimo boys the upstart war would come to an end on Christmas Eve 1984 when the original Santa Fe Ring would gather outside the home of the final members of the upstarts a band of youthful offenders that used the Ring as way to gather wealth, drugs and influence; they aligned themselves with the Drug Lord of the west Padre and were very much protected and feeling immune. Little did they know that outside their home the Ring gathered and prepared for the final blow on the upstarts and they were not in a jolly mood, backed up by the Santa Fe Sheriffs office and members of the nearby Apache tribe the upstarts would be greatly outnumbered and outgunned even with the aid of Padre’s money and men, this was going to be a slaughter and for Nero this was simply “Justice in the barrel of a gun”.

So as the sun set on Christmas Eve 1984 and the neighbourhood lite up with holiday cheer and festive spirits, the men waited for night to blanket the street; Sheriff’s men went door to door to tell the citizens to stay indoors and lay on the ground to spare them from a rogue bullet and once the last sliver of the sun vanished into the horizon Nero gave the signal and all hell broke loose as the thunderous echos of gunfire could be heard for miles; bullets tore into the home from all angles for nearly twenty minutes, machine guns thundering and gatling guns shredding the siding and throwing glass everywhere. Screams could be heard piercing the night from all those within as they tried in vain to escape the onslaught, even those running outside where gunned down with hundreds of bullets. After the initial onslaught that could be heard many towns over, the Ring and it’s allies would enter what was left of the home and survey the location finding countless drugs, money, weapons and stolen goods; they would break off to remove the loot the drugs and stolen goods would be taken by the Sheriffs Office and the Ring and Apache would split the weapons and money. Though their job wasn’t done yet and they had one final message to send to Padre and any and all criminals of the free world…….that being “This Is Ring Territory!”. They would gather the bodies of the dead, and wounded and pile them up in the living room next to the holiday tree or what was left of it, they would pour gasoline on the bodies and throughout the house and than gather on the front lawn.

As they gathered on the lawn the moans and cries of the wounded could be heard from within “one sheriffs officer reports” this was a very disturbing sight to behold “how easily the Ring was able to commit murder and how they knew that none of them would ever see the inside of courtroom. He goes on to report that they ignited bottles of oil and chucked them into the gas soaked house and stood there watching it burn singing traditional Apache songs of the season and as well holiday carols as the home raged into a five alarm fire with the wounded trapped inside and the Sheriff himself rerouting the fire department and handing out the Christmas bonuses to the officers on scene. Sheriff Longstreet would only call for fire once the house was fully destroyed and a glowing pile of embers and coals, he goes onto stat that this sickened him and he knew that he simply had to stay silent or it could be his home next; seeing the Santa Fe Ring was back and it owned the city.

This would be the moment many of the sheriffs deputies would simply resign and move away to other cities seeing that they couldn’t stomach the extreme nature of the Ring when pushed; and for those that remember those days we all knew the Ring was involved but nobody spoke of it seeing everyone from the garbageman to the mayor was either part of the Ring or under their control; for a group so invested in defeating corruption they were surely good at it. After the Christmas Eve Inferno of 84’ the city once again fell under calm after a thirty year underworld war, the Ring once again was intact and the upstarts where nothing more than history and rumours spoken about in hushed tones. Colonel Nero Caprio would end up being stationed nearby and he would remain within arms reach of Santa Fe till 1990 when we went to war with Iraq during Desert Storm.

From 1990 till Nero’s return in 1991 Padre and other drug lords would try to take claim of Santa Fe and well the Dirge would not let this insult go unpunished knowing that if Nero was to return and see the drug gangs back in Santa Fe in force well all hell would break loose. To save his boss and friend the headache of dealing with the drug gangs Alex Montgomery aka Dirge would take the war to them and unleash hell once more in an all out conquest; with the aid of the Geronimo boys and other Apache toughs Dirge would take to the streets and hunt down the cartels and once again Santa Fe would be under attack; Meanwhile over in Saudi Arabia Colonel Caprio would learn of the war from his wife and he would reach out to his allies in Phoenix to lend a helping hand.

Santa Fe would once again be launched onto the national map for it’s gangland warfare and the homicide rate would explode as the Ring and Phoenix Guard would tear through the streets on a seek and destroy mission. When the smoke cleared August 14th 1991 many hundreds laid dead, the jails were full of cartel and ring members and once again the streets where safe for the average citizen; though Santa Fe would have it’s issues throughout the remainder of the 20th century and into the early 21st the Ring would once again be able to contain the issue and keep the cartels on their toes and with Nero once again back at the nearby base till 2001 when he would be deployed to Afghanistan. The Ring would begin to wage a shadow war on the cartels, and drug gangs within Santa Fe in an attempt to clean house they would as well help bolster the police force with there members.

Now basically everything would remain the same from 2001 – 2018 within Santa Fe and the Ring; Nero would eventually retire from service in 2010 during a engagement with insurgents when Nero would be seriously injured from IED (Improvised Explosive Device) that would shatter his right leg and destroy the ligaments in his ankle; he would be lucky to keep his leg but the injury to the rest of his body would finally retire this career FIP (Federal Immortality Project) soldier. Though retirement would not be the end of Nero and now able to focus 100% on the Santa Fe Ring he was never going to allow what happened in his absence to happen again; Nero would clean house of anyone that questioned the authority of the Ring, he removed anyone that showed any raciest tendencies and purged the city of street gangs and went to work cleaning up the corruption within the cities political system and forced out any law enforcement officer that questioned the legitimacy of the Santa Fe Ring.

This was not an overnight process and for the man they call the Peacekeeper this was a time of bloodshed and countless slayings, many men would go missing and end up victims of the desert; the Peacekeeper would simply shoot those deemed problematic in the back of the knee and leave them to die in the desert to become buzzard food. Over the next eight years Nero would prove to the word that the War King was back in town and this was his turf, with his allies in Phoenix lending aid and the Outlaws Five swooping through from time to time you couldn’t walk down the street without bumping into a member or ally of the Santa Fe Ring. The police where owned by the ring, city government was under their control and many of the local businesses where owned by members of the ring or Nero himself.

Now in 2018 is when things went to hell in a hand basket, once the Great Tragedy raged across the nation in August of that year and the following Nights of Blood, many of the western cities and towns would be ravaged under the terror of the native forces and for Santa Fe this would as well be the truth. Many of the regions cities would rise up against the invasion and with the aid of renegade natives they would end up securing victory quickly; not long after the start of the Nights of Blood Nero recently elected to official office would go missing after visiting the Santa Fe VA (Veterans Affairs) Hospital and would be reported by military officials as KIA (Killed In Action). This wouldn’t sit well with both the Ring and the citizens of Santa Fe that loved Nero for what he had done for them and how he brought law and order to their city.

The Ring once again under the command of now duly elected Deputy Mayor Alex Montgomery who would not allow himself to accept the fact that Nero was dead would continue to apply the pressure to the native forces of the Pueblo Nation and through his allies within the Apache Renegades Santa Fe would not feel peace till long after Nero’s return in January of 2019. During this time Santa Fe would be fighting for it’s independence from the Pueblo Nation and as well aiding their allies within Phoenix and Texas. So as the Inishmore Invasion raged on across the pond early that October of 2018 the Santa Fe Ring, Phoenix Elite and Apache Renegades would take up arms and fight for the freedom of all men against the native forces that stood to enslave, imprison and execute any and all European Americans and with the newly founded Aztlan (Mexico) applying pressure from the south it wasn’t looking good for all involved.

From October 2018 till January 2019 Santa Fe would be under a steady attack and many thousands would lay dead, the city as it once was would never be the same, many old structures toppled, large buildings collapsed and much of the outer regions under the constant attacks from the natives of the Pueblo; it would only be a matter of time before the city fell and the Ring was destroyed. While Nero was away and fighting for his life his beloved Santa Fe was bleeding out slowly and the Ring was collapsing, only the members of the FIP program would remain and new recruits where thrown to the meat grinder; everything Nero loved was dying and this would also include his beloved Susan and his children and grandchildren that would end up perishing when their home would be hit by a bomb from the Pueblo. Nero’s closest friends Alex Montgomery, William Geronimo and Roy Longstreet would arrive seconds to late to save his family; though they would fend off the nearby enemies and were able to recover the bodies of his beloved and many of his most treasured possessions that where within his basement safe.

His family would be buried within the Renegade Apache burial ground as Nero was a fully accepted member of their tribe and had been given the tribal name the Peacekeeper. Everyone held up hope that the reports of Nero’s passing where untrue and by the end of the year reports were coming in from London England of Nero’s survival from the London Underground; this would bolster moral and the people once again would give the native forces hell. The people of Santa Fe would donate money to buy their mayor a plane ticket home first class seeing the US Army was no more and they already considered him dead; the next problem would be getting Nero back to Santa Fe seeing the Pueblo would not allow the known leader of the Santa Fe Ring and city mayor off the plane let alone into the city alive.

Between the quick thinking of the London Underground and Sid Malcolm a plan was instituted that would get the badly wounded Nero back home where he could receive proper medical treatment and take up command once again. Sid Malcolm spoke to his contacts within Texas to get a quick transfer of passengers in Dallas, having Nero swap places with a few POW’s and than transport him across the boarder in a stolen Pueblo Helicopter. So when Nero’s plane crossed the boarder just as expected the native military fired upon it with stinger missiles and ignored the helicopter as it made it’s way straight to Santa Fe; now this was a calculated risk and if one thing had gone wrong Nero would have been shot down and do to his condition most likely perish in the crash or die the explosion.

Once the helicopter landed in Santa Fe Nero was ushered off to a secure location to be sworn in as mayor and undergo emergency surgery for his many injuries that where still problematic. After his surgery and I mean only a few hours after his first of many surgeries Nero would begin to be debriefed of the situation and take up command, first sending aid to the Texas line and allowing the Phoenix forces commanded by the cities mayor Adolf Gunner to use Santa Fe as launching zone into the Texas Uprising of 2019. He would than begin to focus on the defence of Santa Fe and in between his seven required surgeries Nero would command the resistance from his hospital bed and by December 3rd 2019 Santa Fe would be victorious and become a true Sovereign State. The Natives of Pueblo would decree that Nero was the God of the Hunt and a man should be truly respected and revered; this would upset many within the Pueblo Council seeing that they were bested by a white man and one that had been clinging onto to life throughout the battle. The Pueblo leaders would continue to send tribal assassins to remove Nero but each attempt was thwarted by their own people who began to praise the War King and create a rift within the Pueblo Nation that had just lost Las Vegas and Phoenix as well; they wanted blood and vengeance but with there own people divided it would have to come through a shadow war as many refused to take up arms against the Peacekeeper, the God of the Hunt or simply the War King.

While recovering from his many surgeries and relearning how to do the simple things like button his shirt, tie his tie and even open a jar with his newly fused and paralysed arm Nero would begin to open a line of communication within the Pueblo Nation especially with the Apache requesting a ceasefire and peace between the states; initially his requests would fall on deaf ears especially with the Navajo but Nero was persistent and even while he retrained his body to shoot and fight, he was repelling the Navajo that would breach the Mayors Office. It would take another six months and by the end of 2020 the Natives of the Pueblo Nation would agree to peace with Santa Fe and the Santa Fe Ring; even going as far as to eventually open up trade with the city and her people. Nero now fully in control and out of the woods medically could begin to focus on the reconstruction of his beloved city and bolster the defences from any rouge native attack or Aztlan that still wanted to butcher every gringo inside New Mexico.

The Santa Fe Ring still repealing attacks from the drug cartels and Padre the had taken up a territory outside of Santa Fe by this point, it we be time for the construction of the cities now famous dual wall structure and impenetrable gate; the Ring would assault the nearby UCAS Air Force Base and with the aid of the Phoenix Elite and Apache Renegades they would sake the base and send everyone who rose against them to an early grave; for the UCAS this would be a huge black eye as they would loose a base they where told was safe and secure; now for those within Phoenix and Santa Fe it would be a treasure trove of equipment, vehicles, weapons and munitions seeing they were under a time crunch the Ring knew it had to move quickly before the UCAS military would retaliate.

With the War King at the helm he directed the forces on what to take and what to burn, he downloaded military codes and documents from the command room and even took the uniform of the general to bring back to Santa Fe to wear. The Ring, Elite and Renegades striped the base down within a few hours and by the time the UCAS was able to breach the Navajo and Apache forces that delayed them the outlaws of the Ring where back home and the UCAS was left with a burning base and billions in lost revenue. Santa Fe on the other hand was now fully equipped with tanks, fighters, attack choppers, drones and many, many big guns and more munitions then they could use. Much of the supply was shared with her allies and this siege wasn’t the last as the Santa Fe Ring with there allies would sack multiple UCAS Army, Marine and Air Force Bases all throughout the southwest to bolster the weapons and supplies of their city and this would include the raiding of the infamous Area 51 in Nevada with the aid of the Outlaws Five, Regulators and Vegas Elite; they would secure some aircraft, seeds, livestock, medical supplies and billions in credits and they only managed to breach the initial levels before the UCAS Special Forces forced them out, this engagement would leave many broken or dead and even Nero would not walk away uninjured.

The Santa Fe Ring is one thing they are consistent and they have proven time and time again that they are an unstoppable force that will go to any extreme to protect and defend their city from harm or corruption; though I have a hard time believing that Nero is not the definition of corruption seeing he controls the entire city of Santa Fe and on paper it looks like a shit hole but in reality it’s a paradise. My contacts tell me that Santa Fe is a hidden gem inside the Pueblo Nation; real food, clean air and water, no major corporations and a very low crime rate; I will stop you here don’t think of moving to Santa Fe cause you must be vetted by Mayor Nero first and the Ring must approve your application, if you try to sneak in well that will end with a swift exile or execution and seeing that Santa Fe and the surrounding 100 miles is a “SERIOUSLY ENFORCED NO FLY ZONE” unless your in one of their aircraft or have clearance you will be shot down. According to my contacts the Santa Fe Ring adhere to secrecy and will not tolerate outsiders unless welcomed by Nero personally; they will also boot anyone that shows the slightest bit of racism to anyone but elves and ya elves are not welcome in Santa Fe and they exile any and all elves from the city limits were they go well thats not the Rings concern.

Now I have no verification or evidence of what the city looks like besides very old pre-war images and seeing they control UCAS Air Force equipment their are zero satellite images seeing any UCAS satellites that get within range of Santa Fe are redirected by their expert electronic warfare specialists…………………………………..