NationStates Jolt Archive

The morning mist was thick and damp, covering the horizon for the naked eye. It was just past 08.00 hours, and the shift rotation had just been completed aboard the HMS Viking, an ASW destroyer of the Infernal class. She had a complement of 202 souls, and were now out on a standard patrol, albeit further out from home than normal. It was a check to see how long she could patrol a long distance away from the home base. So far, everything was normal. The pebblebed reactor in her bowels produced enough steam to push the vessel up to a speed of 19 knots, not even half of her clocked top speed of 41,3 knots. The Cots weren't in a rush though. They were cruising the open seas, having just turned due east after having steamed north for quite some time. As the ISAR radar array swept over the horizon, it suddenly picked up something that wasn't on the sea-charts.

"Sir, I think you should take a look at this." the radar operator told the duty officer, who walked over and peered over the shoulder of the Petty Officer and looked into the radar screen. It showed land! Immediately, he picked up a phone that was connected directly to the bridge, where the captain of the Viking was sitting and watching the mist while the bridge crew preformed their normal duties.

"This is the Captain."

"Sir, its the CIC. We've got land on the radar screen sir. Distance 379 nautical miles."

"Are you sure about that Lieutenant? There aren't supposed to be any land there."

"We've just completed a diagnostic on the radar array sir. It's funtioning perfectly. We've discovered land."

"Understood. Give me a bearing."

"0-9-0 sir."

The Captain returned the phone to its cradle and sat up in the leather seat.

"Helm, new course bearing 0-9-0. All ahead flank. Notify the chopper pilots that I want a chopper in the air in half an hour." He paused and looked over at his XO, who were just walking onto the bridge, carrying a cup of coffee in his hands. "Sound general quarters. Let's see if we can't get some drill time from this thing."

The people on the bridge acknowledged the orders and started pushing the Viking up to 40 knots while someone else activated the alarm klaxons and called out "General quarters, general quarters! All hands to battlestations!" over the shipwide intercom. Someone else activated the weapons systems and brought the Mk-51 VLS tubes, six Mk-32 triple torpedomounts equipped with Mk-50 Mod 2 Barracuda ASW torpedoes, single 127mm cannon and various close defense systems to full readiness. Within two minutes, the ship was ready for combat, with the crew wearing fire-resistant hoods and gloves under their helmets and flakjackets. At flank speed, the Viking would be at the shores of the newly discovered land in a little under two hours. One of the three SH-86A Merlin helicopters carried aboard the Viking would be in the air in less than 30 minutes, and over the newly discovered land in 90.


87 minutes later
As the Merlin cruised at an altitude of 500 feet, the pilot looked down at the sea. The mist had cleared ten nautical miles from shore, which they could see now. It was a rocky coastline, albeit with several beaches stretching anywhere from a few meters up to a kilometer long beaches. A large forest with several clearings were roughly three hundred meters from the sea where the Merlin crossed over land, and some hills and small mountains were there too. Other than that, the terrain was flat. There were absolutely no sign of any population anywhere. It was truly a undiscovered country.

In the back of the Merlins were four members of the Marine detachment on the Viking, equipped with their standard AG11A1 assault rifles and survival gear, two sailors and three officers. With them were a Cottish flag and survival gear. As the helicopter decended, they saw a flock of wild deer look at the helicopter land from half a kilometer away. They acted as if they had never seen a human being or a helicopter before. This was going to be a new addition to the Empire. The helicopter would land on a fifty meter tall cliff overlooking the sea, two hundred and seventy-nine meters from the forest, according to later readings.

The first Cot to set his foot on the new territory was Lieutenant Commander David Hansen (Royal Cottish Navy). In his right hand was the flag. The Marines were the next ones to flock out from the helicopter, which powered down its rotor. LtCmdr Hansen walked around the area for a moment, savoring the feeling of being the first human being (to his knowledge) ever to walk on that land. As the Marines, sailors, officers and helicopter crew came over to him, he rolled out the flag and placed the radio to his mouth so the Viking could hear it. The Viking had made contact with Cotlandstad while the helicopter was flying to the new territory, and thus the Emperor and the entire cabinet was also listening to the words that were to become history.

"I hereby claim this land for the Realm of Cotland, the King of Cotland, and the people of Cotland, on this day the fifth of March in the year of our Lord, 2006."

LtCmdr Hansen then proceeded to press the flag, taken from the Viking, into the ground so it stood steadily. Once it was in place, the Marines presented arms and the others, except one of the sailors who was filming the event for prosperity, saluted the flag.

The landing party spent the next hour exploring while they waited for the Viking to arrive, Finally she did, and anchored up off the beach below the cliff. Two zodiacs were on the water and heading for shore in no time. The first settlement would consist of the crew of the KNM Viking. Later, it would be replaced by a proper colony.


Fourty days later
The large fleet, dubbed the 'Exodus Fleet' by the media was now coming within visual sight of the new colony, named New Cotland by the sailors of the Viking, which was still anchored off the cliff, now named Lions Peak, after the lion in the Cottish flag.

The arriving fleet consisted of four Ragnarok class battleships, three Enterprise CVBGs, two Amphibious Assault Battle Groups and a few submarines, as well as a hundred and twenty transport ships of all sizes carrying everything needed for a colony. Tools (most of the buildings would be made from wood from the emmense forest), materials, vehicles, provisions and fuel, just to mention a small bit of the things carried. Also carried were two Marine Expeditionary Units (roughly 40 000 Marines), two Independent Regiments from the Army, three Combat Engineering Regiments and plenty of helicopters and vehicles. Several cruise vessels would also start to bring colonists in when the colony started to take form. The first thing the engineers would do would be to take down some trees so they could get materials for houses, and level a area so they could make a airstrip large enough for C-130J Hercules and later C-17A Globemaster III transport planes to land. After all, supplies would need to be airlifted to the new colony in order for it to grow.

The Exodus Fleet arrived at the location of New Cotland, which had been found to be a part of a larger island chain thanks to surveilance satellites. While the many transport ships offloaded their goods onto floatable platforms and from there on to HLCACs, LCACs and various other landing craft, a small squadron sailed to claim more islands. The squadron consisted of a Ragnarok Flight II class battleship, one Tordenskiold class cruisers, three Indefatigable class and two Infernal class destroyers, and two Mjelde class frigates. An all-nuclear squadron of nine ships and roughly 4,200 souls, 400 of them Marines.

As they sailed on, they found a new island to the north of the original island. After doing some reconnisance using the RQ-15C Mack UAV on the battleship, the squadron commander decided that it was uninhabited and thus open for claiming. As such, two Merlins were loaded up with Marines and survival gear. The 24 Marines would set up a base camp for a future colony. This was done by planting the Cottish flag on the island, announcing that it now belonged to the Realm of Cotland, and setting up a radio beacon which announced its position and affiliation. This also happened on two other islands close to the original island. One to the northeast, and one to the southeast. The first Cottish colony would consist of four islands, but most likely not for too long. There were still eight islands more to take control over.


Six days later, a few transports arrived at the first of the three new islands carrying a Combat Engineering Regiment and 500 civilians wanting to set up a brand new colony. These were landed and established a large camp a bit inland. This island was also filled with riches from nature. Wild animals roamed the island, lots of trees and springs were present, and there were little in the way of obstacles. The engineers started work on a small town and an airfield, using their equipment and training. The soldiers cut down trees, turned them into timber and helped the colonists build houses and facilities. It was a happy time, with everyone pitching in for the common effort. Similar things happened on the other islands annexed, as the Cots were setting up their colonies.

On the main island, having been in existance for a week, buildings were beginning to appear. They were wooden structures, made quickly using the resources at hand. Pre-fab structures were also raised, while the military set up bases a bit away from the main colony. Still, soldiers patrolled the quickly growing town, ensuring that the peace be held. When the colony would be large enough and the various things normally found in a civilized society arrived, the task of keeping the peace would be handed over to the civilian police. The colony was quickly growing though. Concrete docks were being erected so the ships could dock, beaches cleared and an airfield was being built so supplies could be brought to the colony by air. Fleets of civilian aircraft were already waiting to bring various things to the colony. Journalists were also present at the colony, sending daily news reports about the colony back to Cotland. This was a sign of new prosperity for the Cots. Hopefully, it would last for a long time.

OOC: OK, so now I've taken control of four of the islands in the island chain. The population is still relatively low, just 45,000 civilians and a military protection force of about 40,000 soldiers. However, more will arrive with ships and aircraft when I get the runways finished. Eventually, the islands will house millions of people. However, that isn't for at least a few more weeks.

Three months later
The initial colony was coming along nicely. A total of 1,200,000 civilians had emigrated to the four colony islands and established several smaller villages and towns. The majority of them were busy in the agriculture which was getting established, but many also were there to work with the natural resources the Cots had discovered. More civilians were establishing new colonies on the islands where Marines had set themselves up a few months earlier. The Cottish presence in the island chain was becoming larger and larger every week. The military also had plans to expand into the new colony and build more bases...

Year 1 [after colonization]

The year had been filled with events. The Cottish Realm had claimed all the islands in the island chain for itself, and settled people on all the islands. Some of the islands contained only small settlements, while the center island and among the largest which had been named Ragløy contained the colony capital and two other towns, housing a total of twelve million citizens. Already, large buildings were being built in the capital city of Midgard. The largest yet was twenty stories tall, and housed the colony administration. Inside it, on the twelth floor, overlooking the busy port, a beurocrat did the maths and found out the new size of the colony. The Realm had claimed the seas inside the islands and maintained a 24 nautical mile territorial water claim off the islands, and thus had a water claim of more than twelve million square kilometers. The combined coastline of the twelve islands in the new colony was on roughly five hundred and seventy thousand kilometers, and the land mass was on almost three million square kilometers! It was an impressive amount of territory the Realm had claimed, housing more than thirty-nine million citizens in seven cities and sixteen towns [and the colony was still growing], but it would need to be defended.

Already, six mechanized infantry divisions, nine light infantry brigades, five airborne regiments and two rapid response units were on the island along with two aviation brigades, three air defense brigades, three engineer brigades, three combat engineer regiments and fourteen support brigades from the Army; four CVBGs, three AABGs, three bombardment squadrons, six destroyer squadrons, five frigate squadrons and four submarine patrol forces from the Navy; Sixty fighter squadrons, twelve fighterbomber squadrons, nine attack squadrons, three command squadrons, eight refueling squadrons and twelve transport squadrons as well as a few hundred SAM batteries from the Air Force were at the colony, and a local militia was being equipped and trained. When it was completed, it would consist of roughly twelve million militiamen armed with light weapons and guerilla tactics.

Transports were still flying and shipping in new supplies, mostly food and comodities, although the agriculture was being developed and were producing crops. The gold mine on the initial island had been started up and was pumping out the valuable ore, albeit not as much as the planners had hoped for.

The island chain had been found to be a part of a large continent, and some familiar nations apparently also had colonies here according to the satellite reconnisance. The Lightning Star and Ottoman Khaif were among them. There were also other known nations such as Praetonia. Another thing which was noticed as the vast amounts of unclaimed land. Perhaps a new expedition would be warranted in the future to get some valuable farmland...?

OOC: sorry to crash your thread but would you lease/allow me to build some military facilities some time later when the colony is fully established?, it would be my first overseas base(s).

Overview - De Velsignede Øyer [The Isles of the Blessed]

Size
The Cottish Colony of De Velsignede Øyer [The Isles of the Blessed] are made up of twelve large islands, ranging from gigantic to relatively small. The average size of the isles are at 243,872.64 square kilometers [151,498.20 square miles]. Combined, the land mass of the isles are on 2,926,471.68 square kilometers [1,818,425.00 square miles]. The Realm of Cotland claims as its territorial waters the pools of water which are surrounded by the isles as well as a territorial water claim of twenty-four [24] nautical miles [44.45 kilometers]. With a combined coastline of 569,038.32 kilometers [353,583.80 miles], this gives a coastal territorial claim of 25,293,753.32 square kilometers. Added with the pools of water inbetween, this is increased to roughly 50,000,000 square kilometers [31,068,560.00 square miles]. Combined, it will give De Velsignede Øyer a size of roughly 52,926,472.68 square kilometers [32,886,990.00 square miles].

Population
The current population of De Velsignede Øyer is holding at roughly thirty-nine [39] million civilians and roughly one [1] million personell from the military, though the number of civilians is rapidly rising. Not counting the military, roughly seventy-eight percent [78%] of the population is between the age of nineteen [19] to the age of fourty-five [45], while twenty percent [20%] of the population is between the age of zero [0] and eighteen [18]. The remaining two percent [2%] are older than fourty-six [46]. The population inhabits the twelve islands, with the main areas of population being in the seven [7] cities and sixteen [16] towns which thus far has emerged on the islands of the colony.

Geography and Nature
The geography of the islands are pretty simple. They are all relatively flat, with the highest point being Hill 219 on Hauganes Island [the island to the extreme east], which is two hundred and nineteen [219] meters tall. The lowest point is the Blessed Pitfall which is located some twenty [20] meters below sealevel on Musvåk Island [the island farthest to the northwest]. The islands are covered in forests with a few large lush plains, and is home to a rich animal life. Among the spotted animals here are deer, moose, antilope and wild hares as well as wolfs, grizzly bears and lynx. The islands are remarkably devoid of serpents and snakes, which is partly why they are called blessed. The soil has been found to be very fertile, and agricultural development has started. Some old ruins on Vandvik Island bear witness of former attempts of colonization. Archeologists have dated them back to the seventh century Anno Domini.

Isles
http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/344/develsignedeyer7qp.png

De Velsignede Øyer consists of twelve islands, as said earlier, and is positioned as you can see in the picture above. The seven cities are Midgard [I][capital], Ulvby, Fort Solli, Svei, Saxet, Ynos and Roth. Midgard is located on Ragløy [pop: 11,900,000]; Ulvby on Ulvøy [pop: 900,000]; Fort Solli is located on Mjås [pop: 4,200,000]; Svei is located on Seljeset [pop: 720,000]; Saxet is on Hauk [pop: 300,000]; Ynos is located on Haukanes [pop: 450,000]; and Roth is located on Kubler [pop: 890,000]. That made the cities contain roughly 19.36 million of the 39 million inhabitants of De Velsignede Øyer.

Military
The military presence at De Velsignede Øyer are pretty substantial, partially due to Cottish paranoia and partially due to the need to maintain law and order. It is expected that some military forces will be withdrawn from the isles when the colony is fully established. At the moment, the Cottish XXI Corps is located in the colony, scattered across the islands.

XXI Corps
-26th Infantry Division [mech]
-27th Infantry Division [mech]
-34th Infantry Division [mech]
-43rd Infantry Division [mech]
-76th Infantry Division [mech]
-99th Infantry Division [mech]
--36th Air Defense Brigade
--11th Aviation Brigade
--17th Aviation Brigade
--29th Engineer Brigade
--35th Engineer Brigade
--83rd Support Brigade
--85th Support Brigade

XXVI Airborne Corps
-11th Airborne Regiment
-20th Airborne Regiment
-24th Airborne Regiment
-26th Airborne Regiment
-30th Airborne Regiment
--27th Quick Reaction Force
--36th Quick Reaction Force
--87th Support Brigade
--88th Support Brigade
--91th Support Brigade
--25th Air Defense Brigade
--19th Aviation Brigade
--15th Combat Engineer Regiment
--16th Combat Engineer Regiment

And the rest of the support brigades and engineers were in the cities and
towns, helping out the civilians. The Navy patrolled the new territorial waters
and protected the civilian cargo ships, while the Air Force did the same in the
air, operating from twenty newly established airbases. There were at least
one on each island.

[OOC: GTG. Will update even more later.]

ooc: hope you don't mind, there's going to be two Midgards in Elysium. Midgard was the birth place of my president Rufus Shinra (see Mitzel Conglomerate (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=10471401#post10471401)) and the main city of FFVII (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midgar). As I recall the name of the human world set aside by the Norse gods.