NationStates Jolt Archive

THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF [the] CAMPBELL ISLAND GROUP

HISTORY

Discovery

In January of 1810, the sailing brig Perseverance, Captained by Frederick Hasselburg, was sailing under the employ of Robert Campbell and Co. of Sydney, Australia, when a large island was sighted several hundred miles south of New Zealand. On a later visit, Captain Hasselburg was capsized and drowned, along with a woman and a young boy, in what had been named Perseverance Harbour.

Pre-settlement

Through the C19th visits continued, mainly out of interest in the sealing grounds but also making use of the islands as a stepping-stone to further sub-Antarctic exploration: at one point, four unfortunate criminal fellows were left behind on the island by a sealing ship, and endured a long stay on the island before being discovered on one such mission of exploration.

Most visits were sponsored by backers in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, but one, in 1873, was a French mission observing the transit of Venus.

Early farming

In 1895, the introduction of sheep to the island seriously modified much of the vegetation, though, ultimately, such changes would be more or less confined to areas of past habitation and most of the island remained in its natural state, save for the massive spread of Norwegian rats, which eventually came to make Campbell Island the place of most concentrated rat population in the world, and saw several endemic species of bird forced to the brink of extinction.

The early C20th saw the islands used as a whaling station, for they lie close to courses used by migrating whales.

When farming on the islands became uneconomic, thanks to recession afflicting the industry, some four thousand sheep and two dozen cattle were left on Campbell Island, which was to be used as a base for meteorological activities during much of the century.

The last days of non-habitation

More recently, the rat population was erradicated, and livestock removed, allowing natural plant and animal life to recover.

Though they recently went for several years with out population, the little islands once held equal status to the likes of the Dominion of Canada!

Birth of nationhood

It is only in recent years that an independent Campbell has risen. Official history shows that now-President Hernando Hallmar (whose names, suspiciously enough, mean Bold Voyager and Big Ocean Stone) was miraculously washed ashore on the islands sometime during the Pinochet junta's administration of Chile (1973-1990). This is reputedly owing to Hallmar's arrest by the Chilean authorities, ordered because of his, "incredible persona and just inspiration" as he sought to organise a counter-coup against the military government, and his being dropped from a helicopter over the Pacific Ocean (a method used by the dictatorship to remove opponents). Recent attempts to find record or witness to Hallmar's popularity in Chile have uncovered little, but the President attributes this to the junta's destruction of records and the convenient fact that all of his most enthusiastic supporters were vanished by the military authorities, while the apparent impossibility of his surviving a journey of several thousand Pacific miles without so much as a lifejacket is simply described as the realisation of destiny for himself and Campbell Island.

Whatever the truth of his origins, Hallmar has built an independent nation upon Campbell Island, apparently accepting castaways, refugees, and, "a myriad of capitalism's victims around the world" in a noble effort to build utopia in sub-antarctica.

Despite the government's claims, rumours continue to circulate in support of a more sinister explanation for the island's sudden acquisition of almost eighty thousand residents.

"Cult status"

Dismissed as conspiracy nuts and crackpots by Hallmar's government, a number of foreign citizens from many nations have persistantly leveled accusations of brainwashing and kidnap against the Democratic Republic. Families, supported by a number of independent investigative journalists, claim that Hallmar is at the head of a cult-like apparatus that targets vulnerable young people in a large number of nations for indoctrination into a warped ideology, inclusive of Hallmar's hero-worship, and that, ultimately, the Democratic Republic of the Campbell Island Group abducts, "by force or deception" foreign citizens, whose identities are changed when they become brainwashed citizens of the new nation.

Again, the government forcefully denies that there is any truth behind these allegations, and says that while in some cases the Democratic Republic has become the focus of grief for families deprived of a loved one by crime or accident in their own nation, in others it is scapegoat for corrupt governments looking to distract unhappy citizens from their own failings as a nation.

GEOGRAPHY

Covering almost 115sq.km of volcanic rock, the Campbell Island Group represents what survives of an ancient volcano, last active several million years ago. The islands are sub-Antarctic, but are not glaciated.

Campbell Island itself constitutes the vast bulk of the group's land area, and though in large parts it is exposed to the elements and cut by flooded fjord-like valleys such as the 8km long Perseverance Harbour, which reaches 1.5km in width and represents an impressive mark on the island's brid-like shape. The similar but smaller Northeast Harbour is only slightly less imposing on the landscape. The southern and western coasts of the mainland are exposed and lined with tall cliffs dotted with small bays and peninsulas, while the east of Campbell Island, into which reach the impressive valleys, is more gentle. Volcanic rocks, sandstone, mudstone, and limestone shape the valleys, ravines, and low hills of Campbell Island, the highest point upon which is the southeastern elevetion called Mount Honey, which reaches 558m. The islands vegetation -including 128 native vascular plant species- features grasslands and dwarf forests, and there is also swamp and peat bog to be found.

Around the mainland lie numerous small islands, including Dent Island, located 1.5km from Cattle Bay; Jacquemart Island, off the southern coast; Île de Jeanette Marie, off the northwest; and, off the southwest coast, Survey Island, Monowai Island, the Hook Keys, and Wasp Island.

The subantarctic Campbell Island Group, which once belonged to New Zealand, lies 700km south of that nation, and though it is certainly a chilly place, it has proven its ability to support plantlife and the rearing of varied livestock.

ECONOMY

Natural resources on the island are limited by its small size, and exploration is limited by the relative youth and small population of the modern state. Limestone is quarried, and it is thought that some mineral deposits may exist, including zinc and other resources of some potential value. Peat is extracted for fuel and for use in gardening, but this is done mostly by hand rather than on a true industrial scale, and this is to make sure of long-term sustainability. Fishing and tightly regulated sealing and whaling grounds are to be counted amongst the nation's natural resources. Importantly, there is a government programme under way to initiate exploration for offshore oil, which so far looks promising.

All economic activity is ultimately over-seen by the government of President Hernando Hallmar, which insists that the nation is too small to live on the scant mercies of the global market and administers work and trade to ensure that, in Campbell Island, none are left behind.

Power generation and heating is by burning local peat and wood, and even blubber, and the import of coal, oil, and gas, though there are high hopes for turning Campbell into a net exporter of oil and gas in the future. Programmes are under-way to incorporate off-shore wind and wave power generation, along with cliff-top wind farms, and to fit public buildings with small roof-mounted wind and solar power generators. It is thought that Campbell's natural streams are too small for hydroelectical power generation to be viable.

FLAG

http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/campbell_island_group.jpg

The flag of the Democratic Republic incorporates three elements:

-The lower section, blue, is representative of the ocean upon which the island nation sits on guard between Pacific and Southern seas.

-The red castle speaks of the island itself, the bulk of it being Campbell Island while the turrets represent the major off-shore islands of Dent, Jacquemart, and Jeanette Marie, the embrasures atop each turret indicate the other minor islands and stacks that feature in the Campbell Island Group.

-The upper section, yellow, is for the southern skies that hang over Campbell, and as well the rich and light future into which the Democratic Republic is marching under the leadership of President Hallmar.

PEOPLE

The population of the Democratic Republic is confined almost entirely to the mainland, though the state is erecting facilities on some of the outlying islands, and these may include sites of military significance and private residence.

Some seventy-eight thousand (78,120 at last count) people of various ethnicity inhabit the nation, and they come from every corner of the world. The DR Campbell Island Group has at this time an unusually youthful population, but is largely a first-generation colonial society, so this is not surprising.

MILITARY

The Campbell National Security Guards are just over seven hundred personnel in the Armada, the Aero Wing Air Guard, the Security Regiment, and the Presidential Detachment.

The Security Regiment, essentially the army of the Democratic Republic, enrolls 300 Troops. Its equipment will include small-arms, anti-tank guided missiles, man-portable surface to air missiles, mortars, heavy machineguns, grenade launchers, anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, motorcycles, and light armoured off-road vehicles.

The Presidential Detachment is an elite wing drawn from the SR, and consists of 50 of the most fanatical Troops selected to defend the person and private property of President Hernando Hallmar. Equipment is similar to that which is available to the SR, but training is more intensive and customisation of some weapons and support systems is likely.

The Armada is Campbell's navy, though in practice it is hardly worthy of such a description, having around 150 Maritime Troops in its ranks. It intends to deploy one multi-role helicopter for search and rescue, maritime patrol, anti-submarine, and anti-ship duties, and to equip two patrol craft for similarly broad multi-role function including mine warfare.

The Aero Wing Air Guard is Campbell's air force and air defence force, accounting for roughly 200 of the CNSG's personnel strength. The AWAG will operate four multi-role aircraft for training, maritime strike, and air defence duties. It will also have an air defence gun battery and a surface to air missile system.


(More to come)

We noticed that you were on an extinct volcano. We would like to offer help in locating geothermal sources of power. In such a region as yours, there is likely to be readily available geothermal power sources. This would greatly improve the power base of your economy. If this is found we would consider building geothermal power stations in exchange for quarried limestone and other high grade building materials. We are also interested in introducing managed forestry if this is alright. We would guarantee hiring of 80% local labor in our operations. This would include full training for employees as well as benefits.

Regards,

Felix Cruonis, Minister of Trade.

Venus Bay, capital of the Democratic Republic, responded with some reservations over how much geothermal potential was contained in their tiny island, extinct as a volcano for millions of years and eroded by the sea, but expressed a willingness to allow Commonalitarianism's experts to survey the conditions. At less than 115sq.km in area and with a population of 78,120, the Campbell Islands were limited in both means and in need when it came to power generation by any method. President Hernando Hallmar expressed personal interest in Iceland's use of a sort of artificial geothermal energy involving, in his own words, "drilling, and explosives, isn't it?"

There is also room for discussion of forestry techniques, though it is notable that Campbell's low temperatures, large exposed areas, and generally thin soil mean that dwarf forest, or scrub, is about all that prospers. Wood is gathered only in a limited fashion, and though some forest has been cleared, in terms of population density, Campbell is no Macau or Hong Kong, at least. Certainly there are concerns about the ecology of a unique island group, the survival of useful peat colonies, and the balance between tens of thousands of people and countless birds and seals.

(Bump, people and military sections started)

Exponent wishes to make the Campbell Island Chain into a protectorate.

-Ministry of Foreign Affairs-

The nation of Polockistan welcomes the Campbell Island Group with open arms, and wishes to remain on friendly terms with the Campbell Island Group.

Congratulations on gaining your sovereignty.

Formin Mitchell Lynn

Mitchell Lynn

Venus Bay has not reacted well to Exponent's expression of its desire to make Campbell Island a protectorate, and Hernando Hallmar has addressed his people -and walked amongst them, reaching out and moving many quite deeply- to impress the seriousness of the situation and the need for even harder work to ensure disproportionate strength in the little nation of less than eighty thousand heads.

Polockistan, however, is celebrated for its acceptance of the Democratic Republic, and the President has declared that he will make a gift of a breeding pair of Campbell Island Teal, essentially an incredibly rare... duck, but quite a pretty little near-black sort, endemic to the islands, with only a few dozen remaining in the world. Flightless and nocturnal, but noted for whistling and running about at impressive speed and for no particular reason, the understanding is that they would make an unusual addition to a well managed zoo.

President Hallard has recently announced his intention to sell petrochemical exploration rights (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=482870) in Campbell's waters, and invites foreign interest in the formative scheme.

President Azullias arched his fingers and furrowed his brow as his foreign advisor finished up his daily report.

"So you're saying this new nation is...worth taking an interest in?"

"Yes, sir. They are small, have a less then perfect climate and almost no defenses to speak of. They do, however, have the potential to become quite successful. They are ecologically pristine, and could have strong tourism and energy sectors if invested in. Of course, everyone knows about N Y C's commitment to world peace. Exponent recently voiced it's desire to make the islands into a protectorate. They could use some military support as well."

"What about this Hernando Hallmar?" The president asked, pointing to the factsheet he had been given.

"Not the best character, I'll admit, but he seems to be fairly sane, and he has created a functioning government."

"I see he's a communist."

"Yes, but he doesn't appear to be a radical. As a capitalist nation with such strong social programs, he'd probably get along fine with us."

"Alright, I'll bite. Wire them and ask for a...hmmm...7% stake in any oil they find. We'll agree to build them an airport and port facilities. Also, detach a naval task force to the Southern Ocean. They can respond if Exponent does anything...rash"

"I'll get right on it Mr. President."

"Oh and John?"

"Yes sir?"

"I want you to keep track of this Hallmar guy. If he allows us to invest there, I want to find out if we can verify and stop these brainwashing accusations."

The Indomitable class battleship Messiah sailed smoothly into the harbor of venus bay. Once docked, Admiral Julius S. Grayhammer stepped off, along with a small group of men. "We wish to establish mining rights in your waters, as well as open trade with your nation. If needed, The Messiahcan stay in the harbor, to defend this city from external threats.

Interest from NYC and President Azullias was, well, interesting. The unannounced arrival of a battleship from Exponent had nerves fired-up in the small government aparatus, and the timetable for the arming of defence forces and contract-bound allocation of prospecting rights (so as to avert conflict) had been squeezed.

Hallmar replied promptly, simply to confirm that NYC's interest was welcome. He made use of (obviously foreign origin) satellite communications to forward a chart showing Campbell's territorial waters, claimed exclusive economic zone, and the detail of the seabed on the Campbell Plateau, and a table of proposed prices for sinking wildcat wells to explore oil and gas potential.

For example, geologists had suggested a relatively small chance of making a major find in area 4b, which was also quite small, and so the government asked only fifty thousand dollars for the rights to exploratory drilling there. Area 4a, surrounding much of the previous area, was rated much more likely to yield good results, and though it was of similar size, $1.2million was asked for as many wildcat wells as a bidder wished to sink in the area. Other areas that were both larger and more promising would cost several million per exploratory drilling mission within them.

At this stage, nobody knew how much oil and gas would be found, and the government was not prepared to sell extraction rights, merely rights to exploration. It was expected that small specialist firms would take these relatively light contracts, and then, if they found oil or gas in economically viable quantities, they would engage in multi-party talks with Venus Bay and major petrochemical companies. In theory, the small wildcat company would pay a couple of million dollars to Venus Bay, spend a few million more with exploratory drilling, find a few billion dollars worth of oil, and then a massive oil company would pay Venus Bay hundreds of millions to extract that oil, and the wildcat would receive tens of millions out of that profit to cover its expenditures and, hopefully, come out comfortably in the red.

Of course, if the exploration bids happened to come from massive firms with wildcat subsidiaries, that really didn't matter to Hallmar, so long as the end result was the same. If it was the NYC state that wished to become involved, that too was interesting. The President was still reluctant to sign away extraction rights at this time, but offered the state a chance to buy perhaps as many of the exploration rights as it wished.

(Reply to Explonent in a moment!)

In Venus Bay, the sight of a battleship, well beyond perhaps a Kiwi frigate, or a Yanqui destroyer during the war, this sort of thing didn't happen to Campbell.

Needless to say, most of the island's 78,120 residents were soon lined-up on the shore either side of the bay, or in the hills above, keen to see the massive ship. They came mostly from large tents in which the population lived while working on the development of the island into a modern nation state.

Needless to say, the ship wouldn't be able to dock, per se, but Venus bay was wide, and it might be able to approach for a shore party to use smaller boats to reach the old French-built jetty.

Hallmar greeted Admiral Grayhammer in cordial fashion, though a high wind and narrowly sub-zero temperature at the time, along with a backdrop of gawking, dirty labourers and several hundred tents stretched across vegetable patches, scrub, and bogland didn't exactly make it a regal affair.

He said that the Messiah was welcome to stay, and he offered limited accommodation of shoreleave for small parties if desired, but declared that protection was not necessary (though he didn't say that it was because, at the moment, Exponent scared him more than anyone else did).

Next, the President sent for a copy of the same documents offered to NYC, enabling Exponent to buy exploration rights for oil and gas, so that they could drill to look and find (not as yet to extract). On under-sea mining he was curious to ask whether it was possible, with modern technology, to do more than look for liquid and gas that could be pumped out. "I suppose" he said, "that we could sink shafts on land and then direct them out under the sea, to look for minerals" stroking his chin, "but the chances of finding anything with every shaft sunk seem slim compared to the difficulty."

Admiral Grayhammer read over the papers. "We will purchase exploration rights to everything from 1a to 4b, what does that cost?"

the Messiah
http://img286.imageshack.us/img286/5627/bbnindomitable35mt.png

In the meantime, about 20 men, Leafanistani looking, snuck into the iland from the other side. These goons started extorting whatever small business they could find, and pretty much caused problems. The goons were also well armed, with flak jackets, and brandishing ak-47's and marakov pistols.

Venus Bay

President Hallmar, after whispering with one of his fawning deputies -during the course of which he began visibly to shivver and rub his arms, stamping his feet, as if cold- made a reply to the admiral.

"Oh, this is most encouraging! Perhaps we -I, my treasurer, energy minister, development secretary, and our juniors- should bring the proper contracts and related legal documents to the bridge of your impressive ship, which, I must confess, dominates the skyline of our little nation at this time, and surely provides the best view and most... profound location upon which to strike this potentially valuable and historic agreement?"

The President looked up at the battleship with admiring eyes, seeming to indicate that a visit to the bridge would be sufficient to satisfy his ego and convince him to sign away exploration rights to his petrochemical fields.

"It is suggested to me that the initial contracts will be worth US$8.1million, for the exploration of all these mentioned plots" he said, scanning a hand across the chart, "We hope that you will find billions of dollars worth of oil and gas, where upon we shall meet again to negotiate extraction rights. I shouldn't be surprised if, a few years from now, there is a profitable oil rig named after you, Admiral Grayhammer!"

A group of Campbell Islanders had mustered, peering out from behind behind the long black hair of their president, apparently ministers and economists keen to see the bridge of the Messiah and sign contracts that, to these simple islanders, seemed to be worth an awful lot of money. They brought scrolls and a basket containing rare birds that presumably would be handed over as gifts at the signing, if it were to go ahead.

"Well sir, you are more than welcome to come aboard the ship. Right this way sir" The admiral said, leading a few men onto the dinghy headed back for the boat.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, more Leafanistani looking mystery men appeared. They seemed to be constructing some kind of stockade.

(OOC- Here is a tiny map (http://www.fiordland.gen.nz/campl.jpg) of Campbell Isalnd (looking a little like a bird in flight, if you see Mt Paris as being on the head, and the north cape as the wing). Venus Bay is at the end of Perseverance Harbour, above the word, "Dumas" (you'll note that a lot of the island's locations were named by the French expedition that came to observe the transit of Venus). The 'other side' of the island could be near Mt.Paris, but since that's not very far away, shall we assume the other landing is on the North Cape, further from the capital and what's going on there?)

Venus Bay

Hernando smiled in a happy way, and was followed by a few stout young men carrying the gifts and some of the document cases and pouches that were said to contain everything required for the contracts to be made legal.

A few other islanders, still hopping about and looking excited about the battleship, followed the dinghy in their own little fishing boats, hoping to get a closer look, touch the battleship to see if it felt like an island (it was bigger than many of the rocks that the Democratic Republic misleadingly called islands), or maybe follow the president aboard, depending on how well the meeting went.

Elsewhere

Islanders at first cast a few glances to the newcomers, but did little more, assuming that they were new converts to Hernando's wisdom: people came from all over the world, and were black, white, arab, oritental, and everything else as well, so few people looked especially out of place at a glance (though it was notable that not many were over fifty years of age). Few people were around when the newcomers landed, since almost everyone had headed to Venus Bay to see the battleship, and those that remained were the very hardest to move -either physically or emotionally- by anything far short of setting them alight.

When the stockade started to go up, most assumed that it was on the orders of the President. "Wall goin' up." said one. "Aye." Replied his friend. "Trouble brewin'." Said the first. "Aye." The second. "'spect tha' battleship's bad news, 'en, eh?" "Aye." "Don't 'spect a stockade'll stop it, any road." "No."

They two went on digging in the shallow earth and moving stones, part of an attempt to build up a more sheltered area for cultivation of vegetables.

OOC: lets make the landing on that place courejolles point

The now 50 men walked over to some of the nicer looking huts, and kicked their way inside. They took some valuable things, like TV's and radios, and brought them into the stockade. It was rather apparent these men were not soldiers.

On board the Messiah, Grayhammer announced "Well lets get this negotiation started"

(For an idea of scale, the main island can be assumed to be roughly ten miles across at its extremes.)

Courrejolles Point

Most of the huts and tents were unoccupied, due to the excitement at Venus Bay. Inside would be found dried fish, vegetables, basic cooking equipment, simple furniture, radios (but no televisions as yet), and possibly various time pieces from grandfather clocks to pocket watches (some being cheap rubbish, others being possible antiques), plus clothes. There was also some more damning evidence, though it may be ignored: letters, motivational quotes and slogans- the calling cards of Hernando Hallmar's global campaign of cultist brainwashing and abduction.

One middle aged man with a spade dared to shout, "Oi!" as the thugs passed with a radio that appeared to be the one he'd seen in the tent of a lady he quite fancied... his friend put a hand on his arm as if to calm him, fearing that events were ordered by the President and that it was another reallocation of scant resources. "You'll get yours when we get these damn cabbages to take!" he hissed.

Perseverance Harbour

Around the ship, Campbell Islanders were patting the belt, some of the braver or stupider individuals were diving under the chilly waters (it was seven degress celsius in the open air, presumably less in the water) to see how far down it went. A lot were jostling to follow their president on to the ship.

Aboard the bridge of the Messiah, President Hallmar approached the Admiral, his 'stout young economists' ambling about, looking curious and bemused by the massive vessel.

"It's an historic day that we meet, Sir!" Said Hernando to his opposite in the negotiations. He took the Admiral's hand and clasped it firmly, smiling widely and disturbingly close to his face.

"You noted, I expect, a wirey old helper whispering to me, ashore. I know that I lead you to believe that I was receiving a quote on the cost of the fields you wished to purchase for exploration. In fact, I am afraid, I was being forced to hear some disturbing news.

"Admiral... we are vigarous, and as such likely intelligent and vital men... I believe that you do me disservice. I am being lied to, am I not? Distracted, deceived, then, while my people are abused and my domain assaulted?"

Still holding the Admiral's hand, and having reached with his other hand to scratch his head on begining to say the difficult things he had to convey, Hernando suddenly pulled hard, wrenching the man from Exponent towards and indeed past him, pulling from his long hair a razor blade which within a small part of a second was at the throat of Grayhammer.

The suspiciously burly (or stout) economists and diplomats now exposed their gifts for what they were, having idled around the bridge until they were fanned-out around its edges. Diplomatic scrolls contained sticks of commercial explosives used normally for blast mining, and lighters were held up close to them. Baskets full of birds were dropped, the actually common fowl allowed to run free, making a terrible din, as knives, sawn-off shotguns, crossbows, and axes were brought from the portable coops.

"Give it up!" Shouted Hernando to the bridge crew, "Give it up or so help me I'll slice his throat! My dear followers will blast this bridge to pieces!"

"We've got explosives on the rudder, under the keel!" Shouted a shotgun-clutching accomplice, covering one of the officers on the bridge. Actually nobody knew how well their explosives would work under water, or what they'd do to a battleship (the physical impact of an under-water explosion below a vessel are known to be unusually great, but this was not exactly a professional operation!), but the assumption was that the foreigners had no more idea that the explosives wouldn't work than the Islanders had that they would.

Outside the bridge, Islanders from their boats, already tied to or floating beside the ship, were scrambling up the sides either by established means or by ropes thrown down by one of Hernando's helpers. If anyone appeared to stop them, the first defence would be that it was simply over-excited civilians trying to see the ship and not understanding that they were not allowed. Second would be that if you come any closer, we'll kill not just your captain but your admiral. Some boats were heading back to pick up more islanders and conscript them into the effort. Already scores were slipping and scratching around the massive ship.

OOC: Those guys on the other side are not working for the government. You will find out who's they are soon.

"What the hell are you talking about, have you lost your mind!! Do you have any idea of the major international incident you have just caused! Decieving you, if we cared enough to decieve you, we would have just sailed in here, guns blazing you fool!" Grayhammer shouted. Some of the marines on deck had picked their targets, and leveled their AR22A3's at the heads of the men with shotguns. The captain had his Walther PPK pointed at the head of this madman with the razor.

On the point, the 50 man garrison of thugs relaxed in their stockade, listening to the radio, smoking, and playing cards.

Hallmar pressed the blade of the razor a little harder against the Admiral's neck when the Captain drew his pistol.

One of the President's men tried to close the door to the bridge, assuming that assault rifles would have no chance of penetrating any viewing ports on the bridge of a modern battleship, and hoping to barricade the party on said bridge with its important hostages.

"Put down your weapons!" Shouted Hallmar's most vocal deputy, one of those with a sawn-off. "The jig's up! Observers on Mount Faye and signalers on Mount Lyall have told us what you're up to! We'll sink this bastard ship and kill the lot of you to block the harbour, if we have to! You're not getting more ships into Venus Bay! You'll have to come across the hills, and we'll be waiting!"

If the ship's crew really didn't know about the landing to the north it was going to be hard for the two parties to communicate their concerns with one another. Certainly this would go down in the history books as the day that a nation less than half the size of Saint Lucia tried to hijack a battleship, but whether it would end with such a hijack by blood or surrender, or with the destruction of said nation, well, it was anybody's guess.

The Islanders now really thought that they might take the ship. The Admiral was in mortal peril, the bridge was at least partly closed -they hadn't the internal schematics to be very confident on that matter-, and scores of islanders were clinging to the exposed deck, ready to distract snipers by, well, charging them and being killed. On the other hand, they were quite unaware that even if they did take it, they'd have a job explaining themselves when it was realised that Exponent's government wasn't actually behind the raid that they were reacting to.

Every now and again, Hallmar pushed the razor at Greyhammer's neck, possibly drawing just a drop of blood, hoping each time that the Admiral's wince would be enough to induce the captain and others on the bridge to surrender to his men. Beyond that, well... this was a spur-of-the-moment plan!

"LET ME GO YOU NUT!" Grayhammer roared "If you hurt anyone aboard this ship, your half ass country will be flattened, do you understand that?". The Marines on the bridge looked nervously at one another, gripping their rifles. By now, sailors and Marines on deck realized what was going on, and began throwing people off the ship into the water below, and the officers had told the men to prepare for riot control. Rubber bullets peppered a number of people trying to rush the ship.
"What the fuck are you talking about, I can assure you we are the only Exponent forces here. There is a fleet map there, it has the position of every Exponential soldier in this region" the admiral said, pointing to a map on the wall.

At the north end of the island, about half of the men moved out, and began to walk into the nearest town. The other half stayed at the stockade, and one of them even set up a hammock to relax in.

President Azullias read with mixed emotion the report he had been sent. It detailed all information discovered wince the openiong of the tiny, resource-rich nation to the outside world.

"I'm disappointed. Their ruler seems like a megalomaniac. I know we need these resources, but we have other, more trusty allies to procure them from. We have an image to uphold, and to deal with this man would, I fear, look bad."

"Sir, Exponent has a battleship docked in their harbor. They may need our help!"

"I know this rock is a pet-project of your's John, but it's not worth making a fool of a nation of 2 and a half billion."

"Let's at least order up some advisors...to make sure civillians aren't harmed." It was a good ploy. Deep down, despite being crafty and a brilliant leader, Azullias was a bit of a bleeding heart.

The president grumbled a bit to himself. "Fine. I'll authorize two battleships and a destroyer from...where's our nearest fleet?"

"Docked in Wellington, New Zealand, Sir."

"Not too far. Order them at full speed to the Aukland Islands. If anything develops by then that we feel requires intervention, its a short sail away."

"Yes, sir."

More small boats came. At the point, there was now almost 100 goons, and even an old T-55 tank. A man walked off along the beach alone. He was wearing a tight black shirt, urban camo pants, aviator sunglasses, and combat boots. He was well built. He had his Ak leaning on his shoulder as he walked along, smoking a cigarette. Under his shirt, he was wearing a flak jacket. He did not even began to think that other people on the island cared about his presence.

Aboard the Messiah

Hallmar was quiet for some time, but continued to hold an intense facial expression and was yet to loosen his grip on the Admiral.

"Well, how the bloody hell are we going to resolve this?" Shouted the President's most vocal shotgun-clutching associate, giving his boss time to think before voicing what Hallmar couldn't without loosing the initiative.

Out on deck, many islanders resisted the advances of the crew, threatening to detonate the mining explosives they had under the hull while others brandished improvised mêlée weapons against attempts to throw them overboard.

"This is a trick" said Hernando Hallmar, still on the bridge. "If I let you go, you'll attack the Republic.

"Still... if those aren't your men landing on my island... there's a stockade being errected on Courrejolles Point... you've seen the island on your approach... you can shell the stockade, if they're not your men, eh?

"You give the order to shell the stockade, I'll give the order for my people to clear the deck. We here, we'll stay on the bridge until my lookouts tell me that the stockade is destroyed, then... we'll remove our explosives and leave your bridge. We'll investigate, together, and maybe we can still arrange for those contracts."

While Hallmar put his thoughts to Greyhammer, the people who had landed in the north would find their search for a town somewhat frustrating. Venus Bay was the closest thing to a town, and beyond that they'd continue to find tents and huts dotted about, along with people trying to cultivate vegetables in sub-antarctic conditions. The terrain was sort of beautiful in a bleak sort of way, with hills and small valleys dotted with dwarf forest and scrub. At times they would find the going rather difficult as they stumble into swampland. And always there were seabirds and island-bound ducks.

From hilltops and cliffs they were watched by men with fieldglasses but precious little armament beyond bludgeons, blades, and shortbows. Until the petrochemical exploration contracts were signed, the Democratic Republic had little hard cash with which to realise its defence plans.

It was just a few cold, wet, windy cross-country kilometres to Venus Bay.

OOC: Im Exponent

"There is a stockade on the other side of the island?? Yea fine, I'll shell it" the admiral said. "Get me a position on it, and its gone"
On the deck of the ship men were blasting away at the vilagers with rubber bullets, and others were attempting to throw the men baack into the sea with lances and broomsticks, and others just using their fists.

At the stockade, the T-55 set out to meet up with the first group, as another 25 men set out down the coast. 50 men were still in the stockade, hanging out.

The other goon who went off on his own was sitting up against a rock on the shore, his ak next to him, smoking a ciggarette and watching the waves.

President Hallmar supposed that the situation wasn't going to be resolved unless he cut the Admiral's throat and his associates tried to take over the rest of a battleship, or he decided to trust Greyhammer.

He went for the latter option, hoping that the Admiral was telling the truth, would help to clear the intruders, and wanted to sign petrochemical exploration contracts rather than annexing the islands and possibly winning the ire of foreign powers who would rather trade with a peaceful nation prepared to sell them exploration rights.

"All right." He said. "All right. My associates can tell you the position of the stockade. I don't suppose it will stand much from those" he said, nodding towards the ship's guns. Hallmar slowly loosened his hold on the Admiral, and, assuming no sudden moves, eventually let go and moved the razorblade away. His countrymen kept hold of their weapons, but lowered them.

Hopefully this chapter would pass into soon-forgotten history, perhaps even be laughed about by older, richer versions of those involved.

The Admiral stood up. "Give me the coodinates" under his breath he muttered "moron". On the ship, the Marines still kept their weapons ready, just in case.

The first group of thugs were now nearing Venus Bay.