NationStates Jolt Archive

Somewhere near "Terra Recedentia"-

The Zhang-Sakura company's freighter Asian Dawn was running late yet again. They had delivered a shipment of gold to the Khaifah, which had gone well enough. Now, thanks to malfunctioning GPS equipment and a nasty typhoon off of India, they had been knocked senseless, floating about and hoping for the best, continuiously hailing whoever they could get on ship's radio.

The old Macaunese captain chewed his Manchurian Gold cigarette, spitting it out and mashing it with his boot. He'd been smoking more recently. He'd swore to his wife he'd quit, but he guessed the stress of the sailing got to him.

A wave rocked the vessel again, and he held steady onto the wheel to stay up. He wondered to God-ojala-whether the weather would clear...

--------------

Several hours later-

The weather let up some. He went out and inspected the crew, which was trying to fix storm damage and trying to care for the wounded. The reports looked grim, it only took a look off to the side to know that they were nowhere near anywhere recognizable. The captain fumed, and had his men continue to radio a distress signal on both the sattelite and conventional bands, as he sent a shore party to look for some food and supplies that could provide emergency rations for his men. Whatever was here, no matter how bad it could be, would be better than starving or thirsting to death.

The men onboard began radioing this message, saying, "Attenion all enarby units. This is the ZSCV Asian Dawn. Requesting assistance. We are stranded 2 degrees south latitude, longitude unknown. We are near an unknown location, it appears to be a cape-like formation, a tropical rainforest. We need help. Send rescue planes, send ships, send anything. Repeat--we need assistance."

A copy of this message, being sent over sattelite, was intercepted by Zhang-Sakura HQ-after all, the Company liked to keep transcripts of all emergency calls made on its network by its personnel for "quality assurance." The news of an unknown area was initially dismissed as useless, perhaps a navigational error.

But something else caught the attention of Zhang-Sakura later on...

....another message from the ship. It seemed the Dawn had stumbled upon something big.

"Attention unknown vessel. You have strayed into the space of the Sovereign Republic of Tongjing. We are coming to assist, repeat, we are coming to assist, over."

Thus came the reply to the ship, as several what looked to be Coast Guard-type cutters, though not as advanced, moved up close to the vessel. The markings on the side were in Chinese, which the crew could understand. But the Asian crewmen that came aboard to offer assistance began speaking in a patois of Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish that only the captain understood, the tounge being close to Macaunese. The exchange resulted in the ship being towed to a bustling, if slightly out of date port.

The Coastie then explained, as best as the captain could understand, "Senhor, I am Antonio Ching...Harbormaster of Nueva Macau. You seem unfamiliar with us, no? Welcome to the Sovereign Republic. You must understand, we are very protective, our neighbors are jealous of us..."

The Macaunese captain continued to talk to Senhor Ching in his office, as his men got medical and food aid. They had a lively chat over tea, and it became evident that the captain had stumbled into something different. Judging by the patois Ching spoke, and the basic history he rattled off with the monotony bureaucracies usually imposed, it seemed that this area had been colonized by different peoples, first by Chinese in the 1420s, then Portuguese traders--evidently, stuck in the same situation as our Captain--and finally Spaniards, who traced Portuguese accounts of "Tierra Lejana"-the Distant Land and upon order of King Phillip, landed troops and siezed the area by force, before the English and the sheer distance of the country put an end to direct Spanish control. What followed was strife between the Spanish colonizers, and the Portuguese and Chinese populations which had seemingly joined forces to take back the colony, and it was not until a century later that peace came with some sort of treaty, ending the strife.

Thus, things had been peaceful, though the Republic didn't venture much inland-it mainly consisted of a few coastal colonies, and some cities in the interior. The Macaunese captain kept hearing of "wildmen" in the interior of what Ching called "Islah Hermosa," evidently this island they were on, that seemed to delight in keeping the Tongjingese out of the interior.

Meanwhile, onboard the ship, things progressed in another direction. The XO had the men working with the locals to help clean up their vessel. However, the locals seemed to be a bit backwards-their cell phones, if they even had any, were the size of shoeboxes, and they relied on CB to communicate, distant ancestors of ZS's slick Nextel-style walkie-talkies. They even didn't know what GPS was.

But that wasn't the point. The point was that these people were not as advanced as they were, and to the loyal company men onboard, it was a good opportunity for the company to make some profit, or perhaps even move somewhere where they could escape the feds.

Thus, the XO, who himself was a company man, ordered his men to resume scanning the waves, and try to find any friendlies to help them get out.

After a while, some of the men began hearing Arabic, faint Arabic on the radios. It was garbled, possibly even encoded, but it was Arabic...something they could recognize for sure.

The XO listened in, and asked for somebody who knew Arabic onboard. One company man did, they did just make a stopover in the KLM. Thus, he listened in.

His judgement-they had stumbled upon their old friends in the KLM once more.

Thus, a message was radioed on the band, in Morse Code:

"Hello? Hello? This is the ZSCS Asian Dawn. We have located a small island nation here, one that is not on any Xenizen chart. Do you know where we are in relation to any friendly nation? Over."

After a while, some of the men began hearing Arabic, faint Arabic on the radios. It was garbled, possibly even encoded, but it was Arabic...something they could recognize for sure.

The XO listened in, and asked for somebody who knew Arabic onboard. One company man did, they did just make a stopover in the KLM. Thus, he listened in.

His judgement-they had stumbled upon their old friends in the KLM once more.

Thus, a message was radioed on the band, in Morse Code:

"Hello? Hello? This is the ZSCS Asian Dawn. We have located a small island nation here, one that is not on any Xenizen chart. Do you know where we are in relation to any friendly nation? Over."

Their message was pick up by an Sovermenny Class Destroyer AMSS Petropavl, the destroyer on a deep sea patrol and just by luck pick the message in Arabic

"This is AMSS Petropavl, the island you spoke up of is no on any charts...its a part of an larger landmass known as Terra Recedentia. If you wish, we can take you back to our main base in the region and we can connect your nation government to inform them about you, over."
"This

Their message was pick up by an Sovermenny Class Destroyer AMSS Petropavl, the destroyer on a deep sea patrol and just by luck pick the message in Arabic

"This is AMSS Petropavl, the island you spoke up of is no on any charts...its a part of an larger landmass known as Terra Recedentia. If you wish, we can take you back to our main base in the region and we can connect your nation government to inform them about you, over."
"This

The crew were excited....finally, somebody who would know what GPS and Starcraft were, and whom they just plain knew were friendly. They gave the captain a call, and he wrapped up his talk with Ching, getting onto the Dawn.

In the meantime, a message was sent back, saying, "We would like to stop over at your base, if possible, before proceeding home. Over."

In the meantime, Ching's government catalogued the activities of the crew(upon his recommendation) which had spent their downtime visiting the local shores. These "Xenizens" had strange money, spoke Chinese, but had odd customs and gadgets nobody knew about. Whoever these men were, they were people of some significance. All in all, a few government agents visited the boat again, but could only get promises of aid and assurances of help from the Zheng-Sakura Company when they inquired about alliances and technology.

OOC: Using Fluid Time...assume this happens two weeks after the Dawn docks in Nova Romulus.

IC:

Billy Zhang smoked his Cuban cigar in the office of his Hong Kong Headquarters, staring into the many monitors plastered around the office. Tuned to various news outlets, financial and otherwise, they told him where to invest, where to send mercenaries, and who to bribe or otherwise neutralize. His face was weary, yet filled with ambition...this business could get tiring, but he'd be damned if it wasn't addicting.

It was tough managing the most pervasive and hated corporation in all of Upper Xen. His massive Zheng-Sakura conglomerate had at least one division in every industry in Upper Xen, and held large shares of stock in many others, including GM of Upper Xen-a company he was expecting to take over shortly, were it not for a legal challenge from the XFLA, Upper Xen's biggest union, on behalf of the locals. He hated the XFLA. Free Labor his ass, he needed to meet the bottom line, and if they wouldn't go peacefully, then he'd deploy his Triad contacts to make them go. But alas, they'd always bring their own strongmen....

But enough of that. His secretary walked in, and said, "Mr. Zhang, here are the reports."

Zhang picked them up and looked at them.

The news was the same. The Free Republic of Mexico and the Free Republic of Egypt, Xenizen client states where the Zhang-Sakura Corporation was legally based for tax reasons, still wanted at least thirty million US Dollars in taxes--their lower rates were a relief, but not enough of one. Also, the unions and the consumer nazis were suing again, this time in Canton, bringing up numerous charges of sexual harassment and suing for compensation for insurance claims not yet paid in a mass class action suit. And, as always, there were hippies and animal rights activists vandalizing their research labs.

He promptly said, businesslike and launching into an almost robotic rhythm of action: "Helene, thank you. Call Mr. Iwata, Mr. Ching, and Mr. Ramirez, plus call Colonel Patel at Security Solutions, tell them I need more men to perform the usual security and legal services."

The secretary then said, "Very well," with a tinge of regret and a sigh. She hated calling those filthy criminal contacts of his. She knew damn well what they'd do once she gave Mr. Zhang's order. Assasinations, threats, bribes, appeals to baser instincts, outright assault with machine guns by paramilitary units and all sorts of nasty, mafia-like things that she'd rather not have to deal with.

Billy then said, "Just do it, and don't whine," disgusted at her lack of enthusiasm. He then puffed on his cigar, before the Secretary said, "Oh and there's someone here to see you. A Captain Hernando Mendes?"

Raising an eyebrow, he said with contempt, "Who the fuck is that?"

Helene then said, "He's the captain that left the Asian Dawn in KLM Territory. Some place called Nova Romulus. Here's his file," she said, as she handed Billy a folder.

Billy thumbed through it, and said, still businesslike and almost annoyed to have to deal with this sailor--"The hell is this? Marco Polo's travels? No wonder why Transport terminated him. He's been hitting the bottle."

Helene then said, "Well, boss, he's outside."

Billy then leaned forward and said, "Well, bring him in."

A few moments later, Captain Mendes entered, and Billy said, "Sit down," changing his voice to one of forced friendliness.

Mendes then said, "Thank you for seeing me, Mr. Zhang. I tried appealing my case many times, and they would not listen. So I-"

Billy then said, interrupting, "I can see why they wouldn't believe you. Who honestly has time to listen to stories of faraway lands and shit like that? You clearly lost the ship in KLM Territory, they had to fish you out. I read the file."

Mendes then said, "But sir! It's true.....I did visit a faraway land, named Tongjing. The KLM can corroborate that."

Billy then said, skeptical: "I have agents that invest in the KLM. You think they would've heard about that?"

Mendes then said, "I have proof, Sir. You do not believe me, no? Ask my crew. Look at this artifact. And tell me I am a drunk."

He then threw a knife on the desk, the point stabbing the dossier of Mendes onto the desk. It was a throwing knife alright, but it had elements of Portuguese designs on it too. And, for good measure, Mendes also threw some coins from Tongjing onto the desk as well.

He then screamed at Billy, "IS THIS ENOUGH!?"

Billy then drew an M1911A1, lept to his feet and shot Mendes in the knee, before saying, "That'll do. If it wasn't for the fact"--he gave the coins a bite, to make sure they were real--"these were real coins"--he then examined them further, humming along sadistically, as Mendes cried for assisstance--"yup, they're real--I would've killed you. As it is though, your men are now valuable, as are you."

He then shouted, "HELENE! Bring Doctor Lim here, have him fix Mr. Mendes' knee."

As Helene rushed to get the job done, he also said loudly, "Also, have Transport reinstate Mr. Mendes as a contractor, and if they've fired his men, reinstate them as well. And call Colonel Patel again, have him arrange for some Antonov aircraft and a few platoon's worth of men. If he can't meet those requirements alone, find another mercenary group that can complement Colonel Patel. If this discovery is as Mr. Mendes say it is, my tax worries are over!!"

Days later, somewhere in Xenizen North Ocieania-

"This had better be important, Mr. Zhang."

Colonel Rohit Patel was happy to help out Billy Zhang, patrolling facilities for him and occasionally staging raids on unwanted guests, for a fee. However, this demand for about 600 men and three Antonov jets was unreasonable. That was almost his whole force, and he had other clients to serve.

Zhang promptly said, "Look Colonel, I have a colony to claim. It seems one of my men has discovered a faraway land called Tongjing, in a continent called Terra Recedentia. Now here's the rundown. Your men will go on my ships to Terra, and then we will land to the north of this city"--Billy Zhang pointed to a map made by Mendes and his men upon request--"known as Nueva Macau. Some of Mendes' witnessed hills there, so there might be good defensive-"

Patel then broke in and said, "That is not the point. What of artillery? What of air support? You describe these people as having at least semi-modern assaut rifles, from about the 1970s. No way are we taking them on without any support."

Zhang then said, "That is why we go to the north, to the interior of the country. There will be people called "wildmen." Apparently, they don't get along too fondly with the local government, and should they not agree to our plans, we will attack. Anyway, they could prove useful in the long run."

Patel, shaking his head and with just a hint of resignation, said, "Fine." He scratched his head as he then continued: "I just don't like this plan. What if the locals take to the hills? And what if the Wildmen demand exorbitant sums of money and supplies? You really aren't considering a lot of things, these aren't just regular hippies or animal rights terrorists or armed strikers we're talking about. We're talking about destroying a local civilization's government."

Zhang then said, patting his shoulder and getting very insistent, "Leave that to me."

Patel sarcastically retorted, "Going to work your charm, eh?"

Zhang proceeded to break out into laughter, saying, "Dear Colonel, you underestimate me. No worries, we'll make a deal, come hell or high water."

Patel then said, "Well, if you say so."

The mercenaries boarded the Zhang Sakura vessels, awaiting transport to Tongjing. Guided by Mendes, they would be sailing to destiny...

The Terra Recedentia Al Muslimeen Settlement Agency has paid the following T.V. advisement

“ Come to KLM protectorates of Nova Romulus and The Republic of the Cape both have lands of wide and open spaces ready for the taking. If you decide to come, you can a plot of your own land and two years worth of tax breaks…come to Terra…land of hope for those who have lost it.”

The Terra Recedentia Al Muslimeen Settlement Agency has paid the following T.V. advisement

“ Come to KLM protectorates of Nova Romulus and The Republic of the Cape both have lands of wide and open spaces ready for the taking. If you decide to come, you can a plot of your own land and two years worth of tax breaks…come to Terra…land of hope for those who have lost it.”

250,000 people, mainly from Xenizen China, Japan, and Korea soon took advantage of the offer, eager to escape the crowded conditions in many cities and towns of Upper Xen, as well as Anglo and Mexican farmers from Tongjing and Xenizen Oceania that were dispossessed and wished to escape. Many of them began learning Arabic, and adult education classes saw a sudden upswing in enrollment in Arabic classes, to facilitate the citizenship process (KLM required that one speak Arabic to become a citizen).

The ships appeared off the coast of Tongjing Lejana two weeks later, and they landed their men and materiel onshore taking positions in the hills north of Nueva Macau. While Colonel Patel encountered the Wildmen, he made contact with their leader, and discovered they were actually a splinter group of Aboriginal tribesmen and other ne'er-do-wells that banded together to resist the local government. He managed to exact a small truce from them, after a small firefight.

Meanwhile, Zhang negotiated with the Nueva Macaunese for an agreement to enter Zhang-Sakura protection. Initially unwilling to do so, when a unit of heavily armed Zhang-Sakura mercs approached the town disguised as Wildmen (along with a significant force of Wildmen), the Tongjing Lejana government caved. Thus, the mercenaries moved into Nueva Macau, and Zhang-Sakura began establishing control over the locals, contracting local people to begin finding gold and other precious metals in the country. There was naturally opposition, but things were calm for now.

It also contracted parcels of land out in the country, and began importing new technology to improve the docks and the airport.

The Mercenaries flew their Antonov planes into the bush outside of Nueva Macau, and inside, they brought Zhang-Sakura construction engineers to begin clearing open patches of land for airstrips and settlements. Also, Zhang-Sakura also imported tons of Engineers and men from Upper Xen to try and improve the local airport, plus the local power generator, which was nosiy and ineffeicent.

Advertisements for land were posted in Upper Xen, and many Xenizens began to accept, buying up houses in the new settlements. In particular, the ZS looked for a variety of skills that would be applicable in this new land. And, the Zhang Sakura began building a new facility for their mercenaries to be based in....

The local government was still nominally in charge, and local laws still applied. For convience's sake they were kept to keep control over the people, and their police services were kept for ease of cost. But, the new arrangement officially left the government's defense in the hands of the Zhang-Sakura, and thus, their armies were left in command. But to prevent tensions, they hired local troops as well, trained by mercenaries, both Wildmen (offically Aboriginals) and the locals.

The port was to be worked on as well. Container ships and computers were to be integrated into the existing facilities, which were alright but not up to the challenge. They were almost done....

The settlement and upgrading of local infrastructure continued; the port was finished, and the coordinates distributed to all Zhang-Sakura vessels. They were kept a secret from other Xenizen companies, like the Lew Conglomerate, should they try to muscle in....

A few weeks had passed, and the survey teams were still looking for minerals and resources that could possibly be used. Meanwhile, more settlers and technology had flowed in, and since the beginning of the agreement, the Zhang-Sakura had expanded to accomidate the flow of settlers.

Again, resistance was only natural, and rioting began in Nueva Macau. In response, the local authorities and the ZS used their forces to put down the rioting, using rubber bullets and tear gas, even electric cattle prods. However, it was a sign of possible troubles to come, so under compulsion, the locals were forced to impose martial law. ZS mercenaries, both Xenizen and Aborginal, were deployed en masse.

The Corporation continued to send men and materiel in the wake of the crisis. Demonstrations were suppressed, and dissidents were jailed and sent to hard labor, their property confiscated and sold to colonists for less. Meanwhile, the corporation legally moved itself there, incorporating under local laws to escape taxation from Upper Xen's territories, or at least lessen them.