Post by gamedave on Feb 8, 2009 16:50:18 GMT -5
Here's the sitch:
Vanaa'u is a micro-state in the South Pacific, consisting of a volcanic island archipelago. The country shares its name with its largest island, where more than half the country's population of 56,000 resides. The capital of Tuva Tulu, with a population of about 10,000, has the nation's only international airport and port facilities. A dozen or so smaller islands are scattered over several thousand square miles of ocean, with populations ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand.
Up until the late 1800s, Vanaa'u was fairly isolated, seeing only occasional visits from Spanish, Portuguese, and English ships. After the Spanish-American War, the United States annexed Vanaa'u as one of its new Pacific territories, receiving a League of Nations mandate in 1921. During World War II, Tuva Tulu was briefly occupied by Japanese forces, but the islands were largely bypassed by the conflict. After the war, the United States granted Vanaa'u formal independence. Vanaa'u continued under a commonwealth agreement with the United States, until finally declaring full independence and joining the United Nations in 1978.
From the late 1800s, Vanaa'u's economy has been almost mostly dependent on fishing, although since the 1950s Vanaa'u's government has also attempted to diversify into tourism, and more recently eco-tourism. The rich volcanic soil supports a productive agricultural sector, and exports of tropical fruits is the third major pillar of the economy.
Recently, geological surveys have revealed substantial trace amounts of a number of rare-earth elements. Geologists now believe that the ocean floor depression that the Vanaa'u islands ring, originally thought to be a volcanic caldera, is actually an impact crater. They theorize that an asteroid rich in rare earths impacted here, weakening the crust and giving rise to volcanic activity, raising the islands. This same volcanic activity has brought quantities of the rare earths from the asteroid to the surface. Commercially significant quantities might be mined from the igneous rock of the islands, while a truly massive amount of such elements is thought to still be buried in the impact crater.
This discovery has brought with it a number of multinational corporations, eager to exploit this new find. With resources dwarfing a micro-nation such as Vanaa'u, it is likely that these corporations will exploit more than the mineral resources. There are five major players, with representatives in Tuva Tulu, negotiating for exclusive mining rights.
Noramco (the North American Mining Corporation) is one of the world's largest mining concerns. Despite the name, Noramco is a massive multinational, with an ownership group based in Belgium, and mining operations in dozens of countries world-wide.
CMC (the Consolidated Mining Corporation), is another massive mining concern. Officially a private corporation chartered in Hong Kong, it has close ties to the Chinese government and military. It is the largest mining company in mainland China, is active throughout Southeast Asia, and is actively attempting to expand its operations world-wide.
Drakon Industries is one of the largest heavy industrial concerns in North America. Its golden boy president and CEO, Victor Langstrom, used his family's engineering and metallurgy firm as a base which he has used to build up a major multinational involved in steel production, aerospace, electronics, civil engineering, construction, and defense contracting. Its mining division is only a mid-level player, and the Vanaa'u project would by its largest undertaking to date. However, it does have extensive technological resources to draw upon for the complicated challenges of mining in a volcanic region and the even more difficult seabed mining.
Strasser Mining is a small, specialty mining firm, which specializes in high tech solutions to mining in extreme conditions. It would ordinarily serve on a large scale project such as this as a sub-contractor and technical advisor. However, its president, CEO, and chief engineer, Heinrich Strasser, is currently in prison for criminal negligence, environmental crimes, and industrial espionage. After his arrest, the near-bankrupt company was acquired by TLC Holdings, a thinly-veiled front for the sovereign wealth fund of Tienden, a small East Asian export powerhouse. With the backing of TLC Holding's massive resources, Strasser Mining is making a play for its largest project ever in Vanaa'u, counting on its edge in cutting edge mining technology and experience in extreme conditions.
Similarly, Hardesty Advanced Technologies is another small specialty mining concern. Unlike Strasser Mining, Hardesty Advanced Technologies has a reputation for sound environmental stewardship and even more advanced and innovative technologies, but as a result, its operations are not as cost-effective. The Vanaa'u project, which would be by far the largest Hardesty has ever attempted, is a joint venture with the Legacy Group, and international financial and investment group. Jack Hardesty III, the president, CEO, and chief engineer of the company, is personally overseeing negotiations in Tuva Tulu.
Of more pressing concern, which threaten to turn the whole situation into an international crisis, are the following two sets of reports.
Agents of the would-be world conqueror, the Overlord, have been spotted in Tuva Tulu and in various locations where rare earth minerals have been identified. Soundings from surveys of the seabed in the area also seem to indicate significant submarine vehicle activity, and several robotic vehicles of a type known to be used by the Overlord have been seen in, over, and under the ocean in the area.
Moreover, a golden humanoid capable of moving at speeds to fast to see has been spotted wandering the slopes of Vanaa'u's volcanoes, and has reportedly destroyed at least one robotic probe whose description matches those commonly used by the Overlord. This description is consistent with the being known as "Hyper", one of the three self-described "Ascended". The Ascended are massively powerful beings, each one an Alpha-class metahuman, with cryptic goals, and a total disregard for collateral damage.
The forces of the Overlord and the Ascended have come into conflict once before, in a three-sided conflict with COUNTERForce and its METAForce super-team, on the island of Isla del Sur, off the southern coast of Chile. The result was thousands of casualties, and the near total destruction of the island. Should the Overlord and the Ascended come into open conflict in Vanaa'u, the tiny nation would likely be devastated, and the casualties could well mount into the tens of thousands.
Vanaa'u is a micro-state in the South Pacific, consisting of a volcanic island archipelago. The country shares its name with its largest island, where more than half the country's population of 56,000 resides. The capital of Tuva Tulu, with a population of about 10,000, has the nation's only international airport and port facilities. A dozen or so smaller islands are scattered over several thousand square miles of ocean, with populations ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand.
Up until the late 1800s, Vanaa'u was fairly isolated, seeing only occasional visits from Spanish, Portuguese, and English ships. After the Spanish-American War, the United States annexed Vanaa'u as one of its new Pacific territories, receiving a League of Nations mandate in 1921. During World War II, Tuva Tulu was briefly occupied by Japanese forces, but the islands were largely bypassed by the conflict. After the war, the United States granted Vanaa'u formal independence. Vanaa'u continued under a commonwealth agreement with the United States, until finally declaring full independence and joining the United Nations in 1978.
From the late 1800s, Vanaa'u's economy has been almost mostly dependent on fishing, although since the 1950s Vanaa'u's government has also attempted to diversify into tourism, and more recently eco-tourism. The rich volcanic soil supports a productive agricultural sector, and exports of tropical fruits is the third major pillar of the economy.
Recently, geological surveys have revealed substantial trace amounts of a number of rare-earth elements. Geologists now believe that the ocean floor depression that the Vanaa'u islands ring, originally thought to be a volcanic caldera, is actually an impact crater. They theorize that an asteroid rich in rare earths impacted here, weakening the crust and giving rise to volcanic activity, raising the islands. This same volcanic activity has brought quantities of the rare earths from the asteroid to the surface. Commercially significant quantities might be mined from the igneous rock of the islands, while a truly massive amount of such elements is thought to still be buried in the impact crater.
This discovery has brought with it a number of multinational corporations, eager to exploit this new find. With resources dwarfing a micro-nation such as Vanaa'u, it is likely that these corporations will exploit more than the mineral resources. There are five major players, with representatives in Tuva Tulu, negotiating for exclusive mining rights.
Noramco (the North American Mining Corporation) is one of the world's largest mining concerns. Despite the name, Noramco is a massive multinational, with an ownership group based in Belgium, and mining operations in dozens of countries world-wide.
CMC (the Consolidated Mining Corporation), is another massive mining concern. Officially a private corporation chartered in Hong Kong, it has close ties to the Chinese government and military. It is the largest mining company in mainland China, is active throughout Southeast Asia, and is actively attempting to expand its operations world-wide.
Drakon Industries is one of the largest heavy industrial concerns in North America. Its golden boy president and CEO, Victor Langstrom, used his family's engineering and metallurgy firm as a base which he has used to build up a major multinational involved in steel production, aerospace, electronics, civil engineering, construction, and defense contracting. Its mining division is only a mid-level player, and the Vanaa'u project would by its largest undertaking to date. However, it does have extensive technological resources to draw upon for the complicated challenges of mining in a volcanic region and the even more difficult seabed mining.
Strasser Mining is a small, specialty mining firm, which specializes in high tech solutions to mining in extreme conditions. It would ordinarily serve on a large scale project such as this as a sub-contractor and technical advisor. However, its president, CEO, and chief engineer, Heinrich Strasser, is currently in prison for criminal negligence, environmental crimes, and industrial espionage. After his arrest, the near-bankrupt company was acquired by TLC Holdings, a thinly-veiled front for the sovereign wealth fund of Tienden, a small East Asian export powerhouse. With the backing of TLC Holding's massive resources, Strasser Mining is making a play for its largest project ever in Vanaa'u, counting on its edge in cutting edge mining technology and experience in extreme conditions.
Similarly, Hardesty Advanced Technologies is another small specialty mining concern. Unlike Strasser Mining, Hardesty Advanced Technologies has a reputation for sound environmental stewardship and even more advanced and innovative technologies, but as a result, its operations are not as cost-effective. The Vanaa'u project, which would be by far the largest Hardesty has ever attempted, is a joint venture with the Legacy Group, and international financial and investment group. Jack Hardesty III, the president, CEO, and chief engineer of the company, is personally overseeing negotiations in Tuva Tulu.
Of more pressing concern, which threaten to turn the whole situation into an international crisis, are the following two sets of reports.
Agents of the would-be world conqueror, the Overlord, have been spotted in Tuva Tulu and in various locations where rare earth minerals have been identified. Soundings from surveys of the seabed in the area also seem to indicate significant submarine vehicle activity, and several robotic vehicles of a type known to be used by the Overlord have been seen in, over, and under the ocean in the area.
Moreover, a golden humanoid capable of moving at speeds to fast to see has been spotted wandering the slopes of Vanaa'u's volcanoes, and has reportedly destroyed at least one robotic probe whose description matches those commonly used by the Overlord. This description is consistent with the being known as "Hyper", one of the three self-described "Ascended". The Ascended are massively powerful beings, each one an Alpha-class metahuman, with cryptic goals, and a total disregard for collateral damage.
The forces of the Overlord and the Ascended have come into conflict once before, in a three-sided conflict with COUNTERForce and its METAForce super-team, on the island of Isla del Sur, off the southern coast of Chile. The result was thousands of casualties, and the near total destruction of the island. Should the Overlord and the Ascended come into open conflict in Vanaa'u, the tiny nation would likely be devastated, and the casualties could well mount into the tens of thousands.