Geography:
General: Small nation composed of 3 main islands in the Gulf of Mexico, no real land disputes nor neighboring countries aside from those in North or South America
Drarta Island: Perhaps the only “real” island in the Exodian archipelago, its shores are lined by small forests and long stretches of sandy beach. Heavily populated, especially around the northern areas, and to the west has a large concentration of factories and urban areas. Land is generally low-lying and flat (think Florida). Very vulnerable to a sea invasion, our “border patrol” regularly maintains pillboxes and artillery areas in beaches more farther away from civilization.
Kamo Island: Really a tight cluster of smaller islands in rainforests and swamplands connected by bridges or filled in by man, it’s more hilly and higher than Drarta but not by much. Large population centers to the south, with relatively empty rainforests and swamps to the north. Much of Exodia’s rural population is here. Perhaps the easiest to defend, with our military being able to set up guerilla-style defenses in the rural areas.
Haliforn Peak: A large mountain with a high altitude, protruding from the sea. One single population center close to the peak, the few civilized areas you find are military police “mountain ranger” stations and official military bases. Only two ways to scale the mountain by land, almost always traveled to by air. Though technically very easy to defend due to our constant high ground, supplies to our defenders can be harder to come by, and the terrain can hinder our movement almost as much as the enemy’s.
New Collective City: The capital and the nation’s largest population center. Right on the coastline (with the Industrial Sector literally built on the ocean), it’s incredibly easy to defend from land attacks, but a strategic nightmare for air and sea attacks. Anti-aircraft weapons are regularly maintained on the rooftops of some skyscrapers, and several heavy artillery emplacements built a few miles off from the city provide additional resistance. Infantry and vehicle troops are regularly trained in urban warfare tactics for this purpose. Supplies are regularly available from both military and civilian stocks but can become a curse if captured by the enemy.
Dryvet Metro: A smaller city on the south of Kamo Island. Forests to its sides and it being landlocked help in its defense, and a large amount of supplies from civilian stocks. Military protection isn’t as big of an issue as with NCC, as we don’t expect it to be the target of an invasion. Regardless, we have a small military airfield near the city.
Blue Victoria: A Small city composed of a lot of villages joined by industrial areas and factories, it’s the only major population center on Haliforn Peak. They’ve been blessed by an harsh terrain and somewhat large military presence, with anti-air weapons and a small airfield on the outskirts of the city. While easy to defend from all types of attack, supplies can run short due to its inaccessibility.
Infrastructure:
Rail: Exodia’s railroad system is somewhat underdeveloped and harder to maintain due to our nation’s unnatural terrain between islands. While organization of routes and schedule are relatively easy to manage, the nature of the railroad itself leaves it very open to attack if it were to occur, with long bridges and tunnels with few defendable positions.
Road: Exodia’s highways are regularly maintained and can easily be cleared in case of emergency, despite civilian motorists and no speed limits that can become a bit of a nuisance. Travel is very fast and despite being rather vulnerable, is easy to defend with enough forces. Perhaps the main method of military transport, if not by air.
Air: With the exception of Haliforn Peak, Exodia is dotted with airfields for both military and civilian use, with most being used to quickly transport industrial goods via helicopter as an alternative to highways. They’re easy to defend, and even if one is knocked out, there’s always another nearby to take over.
Rivers: Medium width and relatively quiet, with most civilian craft fishing boats, yachts, or small cargo boats. Can be easily cleared and defended, but most rivers don’t connect with population centers or military bases, leading air or land travel a faster option. Hovercraft, functioning either as motorized “water cavalry” or transport, are employed by our Army for areas like this.
Harbors: The few harbors in Exodia are very large and connect directly to population centers or military areas, but the amount of regular civilian traffic can hinder naval operations or defenses significantly. Certain destroyers and patrolboats, and even some midget submarines, employed by our Navy, are purposes to defend harbors while luring in enemy ships, but can easily be overpowered if a large naval contingency is brought in.
Energy: Exodia has 3 nuclear fusion plants, which supply much of the nation’s power. Located in empty (and is the case of 2 plants) harder-to-access areas, they’re easy to defend by land or sea but present a challenge by air. Wind farms on Haliforn Peak, solar farms on Drarta Island, and a number of natural gas power plants near almost all cities provide additional power, and can easily be replaced by a nearer plant.
Water: We have several mineral springs on Haliforn Peak where we get most of our water, alongside a few rivers and our water treatment plants. Generally isn’t an issue unless supply gets cut off or a plant shuts down. Water reserves are plentiful and are easy to defend.
Food: Much of our land is infertile, and we import the majority of food resources from overseas. This can become a major problem in the future, and we’ve built up large food stores for that purpose. Our citizens and soldiers can always go to natural areas and hunt or gather, but it’s of course primitive and takes up a lot of time. Food shortage is a major dilemma for military strategy regarding an invasion, especially if our harbors or airports get cut off.
Communication: Exodia’s been blessed with many radio towers and satellites for all communication purposes, and maintains a large military communication network. While harder to defend, there are many radio towers across the islands and while a signal goes down on one, another can be brought up. Military technicians are trained to repurpose and use civilian communication efficiently in case the military network goes down.
Culture:
Patriotism: Exodians are fiercely patriotic and value the military highly- there is a mandatory 2-year conscription for all healthy citizens, and militia forces largely have replaced a national guard. Exodia’s known for their high military spending, for both defense and international purposes. Most children are taught self-defense and hunting, which are elaborated on in the military training in adulthood. Firearms, even automatic weapons and some explosives, are legal and almost readily available due to liberal gun laws and a booming industry. Exodians highly value not only their own personal freedoms granted to them in their homeland, but the personal freedoms and rights of others, and encourage an interventionist ideology.
Casualty: For a country so entrenched in military values and interventionism, Exodians hate the idea of casualties or the loss of loved ones. Tactics are designed to protect the soldiers just as they are attacking the enemy, and many are not willing to engage in potential suicide missions. The military’s pledge to keep its fighters safe is taken very seriously, and we usually won’t engage in any operation that puts our forces in a very vulnerable position, even if there’s a high chance of victory.
Propaganda: Although the state, when talking to the press, always puts the military in a positive light, the government doesn’t work with them directly, valuing our freedom of expression. If a media outlet wants to air an anti-war story, we’ll discourage them and criticize them, but overall let them do it. Schools are meant to be unbiased when discussing patriotism, particularly about Exodia, to encourage freer thinking, even if it means less future citizens thinking differently. the fierce patriotism associated with our country is firmly entrenched in culture, and taught by parents to children on their own. Overall, it doesn’t need to be forced at all.
Internal propaganda efforts are somewhat present in the military, though, although it’s usually not needed to be forced, as with the domestic propaganda. War heroes of the past, the founders of Exodia, are discussed and used as role models. Soldiers are usually very enthusiastic, but the morale can diminish, especially as we allow soldiers to spread their thoughts, even if it might be discouraging. Preachers and religious leaders usually will leave hints of encouragement in their sermons or speeches. Officers are taught to take such arguments and try to debate them, finding a way to boost morale, but will overall leave the soldiers alone to their thoughts if they refuse to give in. This value of free speech is patriotism and enthusiasm on its own, as most fighters are reminded that they’re battling for the rights of both themselves and the innocent.
Psychological operations are a large part of the Exodian military, with pro-Exodian propaganda expected to flood into an enemy population through all fronts, especially through the Internet, before a war even starts. Powerful loudspeakers are commonplace on large non-stealth aircraft and airships, and our airships-infamous for playing music loudly before the start of a bombing raid- will do such that, increasing the morale of friendly forces while doing the opposite to the enemy.
Population:
Equipment: Exodia’s firearms industry is highly prominent, with several large corporations turning out guns for all purposes. Almost all of our military equipment, too, is produced here somewhat cheaply. Unlike our food shortages, there’s a large amount of metal and similar resources to make equipment with, and almost all of it is home-manufactured. We export more weapons and equipment than we import.
Education: Despite the shorter schooling in Exodia, our population is highly educated, and is elaborated on even more in the military. Academic subjects such as algebra, trigonometry, engineering or physics are regularly applied to military duties such as shooting and maintenance of vehicles, even among common enlisted soldiers. Soldiers are required to take up a specialization, from engineering to medicine, among other things, and even simple things like being a “heavy” or a rifleman will involve an academic subject. While our forces are usually criticized for unprofessional manner, we boast some of the most knowledgeable individual soldiers in almost any military.
(Will probably be continued later, please share your thoughts)
