The UDA (United Denver Army) is a faction formed in Northern Colorado, it was formed 3PA (Post Ash-fall) by a group of Veterans and survivalists. It's Headquarters are located beneath the Denver International Airport and the surrounding district.
Story
Before The Eruption
A couple of years before the eruption a group of doomsday preppers started hauling supplies to Fairplay, CO, their leader Samuel G. Hyde aged 30 was an avid fan of Russian Culture, he decided to buy massive shipments of AKs and Makarovs, He stored it all in his home in Fairplay, a quiet mountain town southwest of Denver, the group was conformed of 20 people most of wich were ex-military or had outdoor experience.
The group started growing to the point where more than 50 people would show up to the weekly meetings in Denver where they would discuss about weapons and possible catastrophes, when seismic anomalies started happening they all reunited one more time in Samuel's house and waited for the eruption.
After The Eruption
Once the ash fell the survivors in Fairplay started collecting supplies from supermarkets and abandoned homes, since most people evacuated before the eruption there were almost no people left in fairplay, they knew that they had to go to Denver for them not to starve, they tried using a jeep to travel but the ash had damaged all types of transportation. they knew that for them to get to Denver they had to get more supplies, their only bet was going to a military base in Pueblo, a city south of Colorado Springs, they assembled a group of 10 people to go to the base and recover ammo, food and any other thing that seemed resourceful.
The Road To Pueblo
After Samuel and 9 others went Southeast towards pueblo they saw that the entire state was covered in ten inches of ash, they already felt that the temperature was dropping fast, after an encounter with some bandits with primitive weapons they lost 3 people, this left the scouts little to no morale, apart from those bandits there were no other sentient humans, they soon discovered that prolonged isolation in the ashlands rots away the brain and starts mutating into a ghoul-like creature, after traveling for a day they decided to set up camp in a warehouse, little did they know that that warehouse was full of mountain house products that would supply the group with food for a couple of years, once they finally arrived at the Pueblo Chemical Depot they were met by a group of guards of another faction based in Colorado Springs, after speaking to their superiors an agreement was made between the two factions to pool their resources, a vassalization agreement was signed and the UDA was formed. The two factions traded supplies, ammo, guns and other resources, lending a handful of men to the returning scouts. upon return to Fairplay they were ready to go to Denver.
Fairplay grew to a comunity of about 600 habitants in the span of a few months, most of wich were from other local towns with the common goal of reaching Denver. It had the most basic necessities but they got most of their food by hunting instead of farming due to the low fertibility of the ash covered soil.
Denver Expeditions
The followings months leading up to the first Denver expedition, Archer Mulligan was given a full platoon and any necessary resources to get to and secure Denver.
First Expedition
A group of 32 men departed from the now city of Fairplay, packed with the most basic equipment the UDA could afford, traveled through the now destroyed Highway 285 with the objective of reaching and securing Denver.
The expedition was a complete failure, half of the men had died by disease, enemy attacks and being mauled by wildlife, all of that before they had even reached Lakewood. Some deserted and left the group completely.
The main reason for it's failure was the fact that no one had experienced the true harshness of the ashlands before. Not much information is known by the public since the subject is taboo.
Second Expedition
Archer, now badly wounded and depressed for not reaching denver was contacted by Samuel and given a final chance to reach Denver before winter. He assembled a platoon of the most experienced survivors in town and departed this time from I-70. After a few skirmishes with starving Ash Jumpers, they stayed within the highway, clearing any obstacles for future trade routes. After a few nights they finally reached Denver, they set up camp in a few abandoned buildings, trying to conceal their presence and radio'd Fairplay that everything was set up. They finally had a presence in denver.
Denver Arc
The UDA was split into two, one half would protect Fairplay and the other would go to Denver to assist the scouts and bring supplies. they tried avoiding anyone till they reached their objective: Denver International Airport.
There was baerly anyone in the city, most died or left in a hurry, leaving their cars where they stood for months. it was a sight seeing the whole city, abandoned and frozen, there were patrolls securing streets and various stores looking for any large group of survivors.
They finally did, A group of 46 people had settled in Denver convention center, so they decided to spend a few days there. they noticed that the inhabitants were more agressive, jittery and dumber. realizing they had no real form of air filtration, they came to the conclusion that prolongued exposure to the ash turns people into....
The whole city was completely abandoned, it was sureal for the scouts seeing a once prosperous city frozen in ash with bodies nowhere to be found, windows broke, buildings covered in ash and the cold, cold blanket of ash. This didn't stop them from reaching their objective, Denver International Airport.
Airport
Once the scouts reached the airport, their main goal was finding if the rumours were true, they started exploring the airport, eventually they found a secret entrance to a tunnel system after blowing a hatch open with some explosives and thermite.
What they saw after climbing down the stairs stunned them, they had landed right on the doorstep of the elite's bunker. After various failed attempts of breaching the door, Yuri, a tech expert found a way to disengage the locks, the 5m tall door opened to reveal a dark corridor with flickering lights and sparks going off.
Samuel himself decided to lead the group into the bunker, slowly opening the door at the end of the corridor, after carefully opening the hatch, a claw ripped Samuel in half, throwing blood and guts everywhere. The group was shocked, seeing their leader mangled by an unknown thing, they all magdumped into the beast, after a solid two minutes of pure gunfire, they stopped to see the monster,
They knew that they had to be careful, so they sneaked around the halls until they reached the reactor room, where they turned on the reserve power supply. a pile of semi-consumed bodies in lab coats laid across the room, this time, with another beast on top, eating a corpse, they magdumped at it again, this time on a better formation.
After sneaking their way, eliminating any beasts they came along, eventually they got familiar with the layout of the bunker, they made it to what seemed to be the center, a spacious sort of 'war room' with half eaten corpses still sitting on their seats. Some recognized the corpses as owners of big buisiness and politicians, some with signs of having commited suicide.
Archer was elected as the new leader, since he was the one that had the most experience leading groups and the art of war. The group of 300 had settled on the bunker, many reparations had to be made over the years to bring the bunker to it's best state.