The Icy Depths [IC|Closed]

[G-Tech Corporation]

In the year 2057, humanity suffered the greatest economic crisis ever known. The Great Crash, as it was called, left most of the globe destitute and desperate.

The cause: severe unrestrained exploitation of natural resources has destroyed almost all usable raw materials on earth and thus destroying the entire global economy; the world is starved of commodities, a man gaunt with hunger.

Governments all around the world expended huge quantities of money and diminishing resources searching for other sources of resources to supply their nations in decay, a frenzied race that sparked wars that shunted humanity into even more desperate straits.

The answer was found by scientist in the World Oceanographic Union(WOU); the Polaris sea. A great ocean situated in the north pole that contained the greatest mineral deposit of the entire planet found in the ocean, it had only just become accessible with the decline of the ice caps.

Nations didn't hesitate then, they sent most of their submarine fleets to conquer the pristine ocean. Private companies, ne'er do wells, and even civilians hopeful for wealth and freedom, all have raced into the depths to claim their share of the undersea bounty.


The conquest of the Polaris Sea has begun.

Current Map

[G-Tech Corporation]

Turn One

The men and women of the Scolopacidae began their journey. The begin in the north of the map.
The men and women of the COCO began their journey. They begin in the east of the map.
The men and women of the Emden-Volk began their journey. They begin in the south of the map.
The men and women of the Underwave Pirate Corps began their journey. They begin in the west of the map.
The men and women of the HumPresCorp began their journey. They begin in the north west of the map.

---

To both sides of the Pied Piper rocky outcroppings loom, and a flat continental shelf slopes away to the south.

A geothermal vent pours forth scalding water to the south of the Spirit of Lithuania, and the lay of the land seems to climb to the north. To the west towards the center a continental shelf continues.

An underwater outcropping juts from the ocean floor before the Mishima.

An underwater vent is sighted to the north of the Brigand.

To the east of the Last Resort as it enters the Sea a massive chasm is visible, and around it is the continuous continental shelf.

[The United Thingys]

"Look Captain! An underwater vent to our north!" said Georgie, the first mate.
Captain Jones looked.
"That's cool Georgie. Take us over. And keep an eye out for other ships."
Georgie steered the Brigand towards the vent.

[Thrice Crownlands]

"Mr. Viceroy sir. We've arrived at the edge of the Polaris sea." Not that it would have been possable to tell the difference without their guidance system. The water, while slighter clearer then it was closer to the shipping lanes they'd been traveling through, diden't really have any point of markage. You know, besides the massive thermal vent that was erupting like a volcano to the south... which lead to some interesting possablities.

"Look at all the raw energy..." Harkez stared out the porthole, pondering. "It'll do wonderfully for a power source in the future. Certainly enough to power our settlement." He pressed down on the intercom button spreading his voice throughout the ship. "Attention, all hands be ready to set up the Nautical Settlement Hub. I want it laid down one nautical unit west of here. Little Lithuania is here to stay."

[Sulamalik]

"We're picking up a potential mineral extracting site to our north. Captain, orders?" Said Navigator Orakwue, after receiving the information from the recon station seconds earlier.

"Note that in the logs and record the coordinates but continue heading due north. We should scout out the area, if there's nothing in the immediate area, we'll swing back and begin constructing a base." Captain Quarbani Singh said, while absently mildly running twisting a strand of his beard. A nervous habit he had never gotten rid of.

"Affirmative sir, plotting a course due north. Standby for relay to stations."

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

"Captain, we have spotted a Deep Sea Chasm surrounded by Continental Shelf. It appears stable and may hold valuable resources. I recommend we establish a hub there" said Mr. Yuri, the man in charge of the sensors.

"Agreed, helm, bring us on a course towards the western side of the Chasm. Send to Cargo to prep for the creation of a hub" said Captain Freeman.

The crew of the Last Resort were here in the Polaris to stay. They would stake out their settlement and ensure the continuation of humankind.

[G-Tech Corporation]

Turn Two

The men and women of the Red Army began their journey beneath the waves. They start in the north-east of the map.

---

The Brigand of the Underwave Pirate Corp moves north. Sonar reveals that the medium depth ocean bottom continues to the north and west, but the continental shelf drops away into deeper water to the east. The crewmen sigh some massive aquatic form towards the deeper water, but it moves off before they can get a closer look. +1 Exp

The Spirit of Lithuania establishes a base, Little Lithuania, by building an undersea Hub. +2 Exp, -1 Fab. The Hub immediately generates two new Settlers and one Build point. Sensors from the new base reveal a vent to the south-west.

The Mishima travels north, and sensors reveal a rocky outcropping to the west. To the north the higher underwater plateau continues.

The Last Resort established an unnamed colony, by building an undersea Hub. +2 Exp, -1 Fab. The Hub creates two new Settlers and one Build point. Sonar from the ship reveals two rocky outcroppings to the south and east of the vessel, which is above the chasm.

A continental shelf surrounds the Guillotine, but to the west her sonar can make out a drop in the land away into the chill depths.

[Sulamalik]

"Another extracting site, due... this time due west."

The ship was quiet, with only the calming hum of computer screens to fill the room. After a long pause, Singh spoke: "This area is clearly accommodating to our needs. We'll need to establish a foothold in this region, to ward of prospective entrepreneurs. Navigator, alert the fabrication station, we are going to build our base hub of operations here, near the outcrop."

The navigator quickly communicate the orders to the rest of the ship. "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"I believe, this being your ship, you have the right to name our first settlement. Do you have any suggestions?"

The captain leaned forward, a flicker of excitement flashed in his eyes for a second. "My suggestion? Let's call this one... Nova Prospect."

[Thrice Crownlands]

The tiny bubble of civilization in the harsh, cold waters; Little Lithuania was already hard at work. Immigrants for the new space had already arrived and, alongside the original assemblers, were putting their new space to good use, working, living, and relaxing in the safe confines. However, there was something that was still bothering the Viceroy.

"The parts they're producing... do we have any way to put them to good use?" He asked the newly appointed Mayor of Little Lithuania.

"No, Viceroy sir. We could set up additional facilities... but we'd need to empty out our reserve materials. And, without any help from home..."

"No help is precisely why we need our own materials, Mayor. I'll commit the remainder of our supplies to you. All I need you and your men to do is assemble that building yard, and start turning those artisian works into gizmos and bolts. Understood?"

"Understood..." The Mayor stated, somewhat reluctantly, before he was escorted out of the helm, sent through the pressure hole back to the hub."

[The United Thingys]

"Hmm... An unknown creature you say?" asked Captain Jones thoughtfully. "Well in the absence of anything else to kill... Let's go for it! Forward the Brigand!"
Georgie hesitated.
"Are you sure about this sir? Some dangerous things live in the ocean..."
"DON'T QUESTION MY COMMANDS GEORGIE! JUST FOLLOW THE DAMN LIFEFORM!!!!!!"
"Okay, okay...."

The Brigand started to move into the deeper water leaving a trail of bubbles behind them. A muttering started among the crew. Was the captain mad? What did they stand to gain from this? How could he put them in such danger? But for now, it stayed a muttering.

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

'The hub has been established"
"good"
"what now sir?"
"Take us south to those rocky outcroppings"
"Aye-Aye sir"
"And radio the Hub, they are now Last Haven"
"Aye sir"

The Last resort chugged along the ocean floor, contently searching for ores.

[G-Tech Corporation]

Turn Three

The men and women of the Mandibles of the Abyss began their journey. They start in the south-east of the map.

The Mishima establishes a base, named Nova Prospect, by constructing a Hub. +2 Exp, -1 Fab. This new Hub immediately produces two Settlers and one unit of build.

The denizens of Little Lithuania construct a Building Yard, using materials from their base sub. +2 Exp, -1 Fab. The building yard is ready to be occupied. The Hub produces 1 build, bringing the base total to 2 build.

The Brigand moves east, pursuing the unknown creature. Sadly they do not sight it again, however sensors reveal an abyssal plain to the north and east.

The Last Resort moves south. Sonar reveals more continental shelf to the east, and shallower waters to the south. Last Haven produces 1 build, bringing the total build to 2.

The Hephasteus begins in the south east, and sensors reveal geothermal vents to the east and west of it on the continental shelf.

[The United Thingys]

The Brigand loomed over the abyssal plain.

"It's so... weird..." murmured Georgie.
"It's not that impressive said a muffled voice from Captain Jones' locker.
Georgie whipped around and stared.
"Um hello? I thought I was alone in hear? Is there someone in the locker?"
Silence greeted him.
"Oh well. Must be hearing things. I think this sub is getting to me." Georgie mumbled. He hesitated, then went on the intercom and requested Captain Jones' presence at the helm.

"WHAT'S UP GEOGRIE ME BOY!" Boomed Captain Jones.
"An abyssal plain to the north-east captain." Said Georgie meekly.
"Planes? That's more like it! Shoot em down Georgie! I'll go get me cutlass!" The Captain shot out of the room like a cork from a bottle.
Georgie shook his head and turned the Brigand towards the plain.

In the mess, the stir-crazy crew grew even more agitated and began to get angry with the Captain.

[Escalan Corps-Star Island]

The elongated ovoid shape drifted nearly silently across the deadline. Were it a surface ship, the Hephaestus would have been bristling with armaments, but as it was, the sleek, dark-teal hull remained unmarred by protrusions, save only for the dive planes mounted well forwards on the bow. Inside the control room, beneath the sail, Johann Lord Architeuthis tapped his fingers upon the readout that appeared on his screen. Glancing at the readings, which indicated hydrothermal vents, he thought for a moment before giving an order.

"Take the vessel northwards and establish a base for future operations. It shall bear the name Luminosa. And keep the torpedo-room crews on standby; I wish to be prepared for any others we may encounter in these waters."

The chorus of assent and obedience rang off the metal walls of the room. "Yes, Lord of the Deep."

Summary: The Hephaestus moves one unit north and constructs a HUB at Luminosa.

[The Peoples Republic of Minnesota]

Commissar Ramanujan sat in the center of the bridge area of the Guillotine. Comrade Illia Volyova and Comrade Nikhil Singh manned the pilot's station and weapons stations, respectively. Volyova was a Russian engineer who had served the during the brief tenure of the Neo-Soviets in Russia. She was the head engineer of the vessel, as well as the pilot. Singh was part of the small soldier contingent. His weapons console controlled the main weapon of the vessel, a massive machinegun affectionately nicknamed Vox Populi.

Commissar Ramanujan looked up from the maps he had been studying. "Comrades, it appears that we have stumbled into what will soon be the greatest warzone on Earth: the Polaris Sea. This is a perfect opportunity for us, we can seize the capitalists bases and use the vast resources of this place to aid the proletariat."

Ramanujan paused once again to study one of the maps projected in front of him in more detail.

"Take us west, Comrade Volyova. Get us around that damnable continental shelf."

"Aye, Comrade Ramanujan."

In the engine room

An elderly nuclear reactor powered the Guillotine. The device was originally of Soviet manufacture, but this was difficult to tell from it's appearance, as it had been colonized at some point by an extremely hardy moss that had so far resisted all attempts at removal. Beside it was the steam generator it powered, which was what produced the ship's electricity.

Comrade Engineer Dharani Dandgaval was jammed into the underside of the massive generator, scraping out some moss that had jammed the water intake valve. She was always careful with making sure that the similar coolant valves on the reactor were always clear, but she had been forced to neglect the generator due to damage they had sustained while fleeing India.

An alarm klaxon brayed out, informing her that the ship was about to start moving, and that she should remove any body parts she wanted to keep from the vicinity of the generator. "Bakrichod!" She tapped on a small console that controlled the generator, stopping the whole acceleration process.

Volyova spoke over the intercom.
"What are you doing, Comrade Engineer? We need to get this tub moving, or we'll be in a great deal of trouble."

Dharani pulled herself out from under the generator and walked to the wall-mounted communication system.
"I was doing maintenance on the generator. You can't just start these machines without telling me what you're doing! These things down here are dangerous enough as it is! If just a bit of mold ended up in a coolant valve, or growing inside the turbine..."

"I get the idea, Comrade Dandgaval. Just get this ship moving."


Dharani tapped on her console again.
"It's ready to go now, I just needed to get out of the way. It will need to be checked for vegetation again in a couple of days, however."


Summary: The Guillotine, despite some engine trouble, moves one square west.

[Sulamalik]

The construction teams had exceeded expectations, and the Emden-Volk base Nova Prospect had been assembled far quicker than estimated. Corporate headquarters had been initially hesitant about the idea of deep sea construction, the numerous risks and obscene start-up costs had sent shivers down most investors spines. However, once word leaked of other multinational corporations sending ships into the deep blue, they couldn't construct the Mishima fast enough.

Workers and bureaucrats from above the waves had been settled in second after Nova's housing blocks were pumped for water. Emden-Volk had made each resident sign stringent employment contracts, not that it made much of a difference, as long as the company controlled the ships, it controlled who could enter and leave the self-contained city. Now, the settlement began focusing on constructing upgrades to its shell. By the advisement of Captain Singh, Nova Prospect's administrator had order to populace to begin production on a Building Yard.