N.E.O. - A Vinto-Futuristic Nation RP (Inspired by S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Half-Life, and MGS4)

[Dog]

IF not the MONOLITH then I might do a capitalistic hellscape somewhere.

[Eldritch Puppy]

Oh my, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and MGS4 inspiration? Yes please. Would a military contractor company (fancy for mercenaries) that became so wealthy and bloated that it is now effectively an independant entity with its own industries, R&D departments and military bases on private islands and other remote locations be a good fit for this world?

[Ayazi]

I will keep watch of this, tentative interests on this.

[Yam I Am]

Oh my, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and MGS4 inspiration? Yes please. Would a military contractor company (fancy for mercenaries) that became so wealthy and bloated that it is now effectively an independant entity with its own industries, R&D departments and military bases on private islands and other remote locations be a good fit for this world?

@Eldritch Puppy

TL;Economics is hard and scary: Yes but also not really depending on what company you're talking about and operating under what conditions

Basically because of how international politics, business - and when you merge the two, business subsidies - work, getting something to this point is, to put it mildly, not really possible in the "80s cyberpunk megacorporation" kind of way...

...but you know as well as I do that there's always loopholes to use and abuse in the system. So, to answer my own question, we gotta break it down bit by bit:

Would a military contractor company (fancy for mercenaries) that became so wealthy and bloated that it is now effectively an independant entity with its own industries

@Eldritch Puppy

It really depends on the industry in question. It might be acceptable in the case of an umbrella/shell corporation which in turn owns several subsidiary companies all under the same industry of broadly "Defense" (i.e. They own one small arms company with one name, another aerospace company under another name, a PMC under yet a different name, but are all operated by the same parent company), but because of how funding and grants work in defense - alongside this tiny little document called The Geneva Suggestion Convention - mercenaries de jure replacing entire defense industries would, in all likelihood, cause a lot of backlash both inside the Military Industrial Complex as well as throughout the general public. Most companies in this era with that kind of influence tended to get broken up pretty quickly, thanks to some antitrust laws. However, there's nothing really stopping anyone from making an umbrella corporation and using plausible deniability throughout the defense industry proper to at least maintain some distance from "The Guys Who Made Your Hunting Shotgun" and "That Mercenary Group On CNN Who Pillaged The Iranian National Gallery Last Week".

You also have to get all that money from somewhere. That "somewhere" is usually governments proper. Most funding from defense contractors comes from those sweet, sweet government grants, and without them, most of our own real-life giant corporations wouldn't be able to sustain themselves to nearly the same degree. With that in mind, it might be an interesting idea to have your PMC proper act as a sort of "army-for-hire" for less well-off/third-world countries, in which you make money and you also take the blame for all the shit that you got ordered to do, and the governments which hired you get to save money via your contract fees and not having to deal with all hubbabaloo of officer schools, training, pensions, maintenance...yeah, you get the gist.

and military bases on private islands and other remote locations be a good fit for this world?

Eldritch Puppy

You can already buy private islands out in the middle of the Pacific and Caribbean. Though, do note that these are usually for private, individual ownership, much like how you buy a plot of land out in bumfuck Wisconsin so you can fulfil your lifelong dream of owning a chicken farm. You can technically avoid this by saying that this is owned by, say, the CFO or CEO of the umbrella corporation themselves, and they simply allow the operations of the company to happen on these islands, but keep in mind that both:

• The person who owns the island is paying for any and all expenses out of their own pockets, and can't write them off as taxes for part of the company.
• If shit does down on this island, the person who legally owns it is accountable for it, which is going to cause one hell of a legal headache for them if it's their company in question who committed the fuckup.

[Dog]

How is that map going?

[Yam I Am]

@Dog Current WIP of the world map. Stuff is all due to change, of course, depending on how the lore works out. But as of right now i'm mostly basing it off of Cold War-era maps.

[Eldritch Puppy]

mercenaries de jure replacing entire defense industries would, in all likelihood, cause a lot of backlash both inside the Military Industrial Complex as well as throughout the general public.

@Yam I Am

Of course, it's not my intention to make a mercenary army that's omnipresent and somehow able to stand up to a first world country's military like it's often portrayed.

However, there's nothing really stopping anyone from making an umbrella corporation and using plausible deniability throughout the defense industry proper to at least maintain some distance from "The Guys Who Made Your Hunting Shotgun" and "That Mercenary Group On CNN Who Pillaged The Iranian National Gallery Last Week".

@Yam I Am

Yeah I thought this would be necessary in some form. Umbrella corporation it shall be then, plus I like the legality shenanigans and shady connections atmosphere. The only downside is that I'll have to come up with a lot of company names.

With that in mind, it might be an interesting idea to have your PMC proper act as a sort of "army-for-hire" for less well-off/third-world countries

@Yam I Am

Pretty much exactly what I had in mind. Army-for-hire is the perfect term, since it comes as its own combined arms force.

do note that these are usually for private, individual ownership, much like how you buy a plot of land out in bumfuck Wisconsin so you can fulfil your lifelong dream of owning a chicken farm. You can technically avoid this by saying that this is owned by, say, the CFO or CEO of the umbrella corporation themselves, and they simply allow the operations of the company to happen on these islands, but keep in mind that both:

The person who owns the island is paying for any and all expenses out of their own pockets, and can't write them off as taxes for part of the company.
If shit does down on this island, the person who legally owns it is accountable for it, which is going to cause one hell of a legal headache for them if it's their company in question who committed the fuckup.

@Yam I Am

Couldn't the land be owned separately from the business by an LLC? That way the land and the business going on on it are legally separated?

[Yam I Am]

Couldn't the land be owned separately from the business by an LLC? That way the land and the business going on on it are legally separated?

@Eldritch Puppy

I suppose it could, since companies IRL do make "shadow companies" that basically only exist for the purposes of getting tax breaks, so it's plausible that some random real estate company bought out the islands in question and just write it off. Though, doing this is suspect for the government to accuse you of inside trading/cartels, and if there's one thing that can take on a PMC, it's a lawsuit from the IRS.

TL;My Answers Are Too Long: Yes and RPing the potential consequences could be kinda cool too

[Eldritch Puppy]

Perfect. I look forward to it for some quality techno-thrillering. Speaking of, is there actually a cold war going on?

[Yam I Am]

Perfect. I look forward to it for some quality techno-thrillering. Speaking of, is there actually a cold war going on?

@Eldritch Puppy

I'll say there's a "soft" Cold War going on. The Cold War in our timeline was very stop-and-go, and had a lot of periods where tensions would get really high, followed by relaxing relations when there wasn't as much to be worried about. I'm going to go out and say that the RP would likely start in a very relaxed Cold War where relations are probably good enough with one another to allow both Warsaw Pact and NATO countries to at least travel/trade with one another (There were much bigger fish to fry in the years after The Visitation, so I imagine that the current global scenario is just leftover from that period), but depending on how things go, tensions could begin heating up once more.

[Eldritch Puppy]

Alright, that's great. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this, consider me very interested.

[Dog]

Are nations like the U.S allowed?

[Yam I Am]

Are nations like the U.S allowed?

@Dog

Yeah, someone already asked if they could play the USSR over Discord and I gave the go-ahead for it, so if you're interested, go right ahead.

[Andreyich]

CCCP

Name:
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Flag:

Government:
Your government's system and ideology which is currently in power.

Territory:
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics officially controls the territories of the nations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgizia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

---

History:
The full history of your nation isn't necessary; Most have been around in some form for hundreds - if not thousands - of years. To keep it simple, it's better to answer the following prompts:

• Pre-Visitation: The USSR was one of two superpowers on Earth. Their armies were feared across the world and their nuclear weapons insured nobody would ever touch their territory after the glorious victory over the fascist menace in the second world war. The most recent test of the Union was the invasion of Hungary. The extreme unpopularity of the communist regime amongst Magyars forced the Soviets to invade such that they could preserve their satellite state, a short term goal that was accomplished.
• The Visitation: Like all the nations of the world the Soviets were astounded by the Visitation but of all nations they were arguably the best prepared. Some claim that Yuri Gagarin saw the very arriving aliens coming to Earth, though this claim is heavily disputed by historians. Regardless, their indisputable supremacy in space technology at the time let them warn the rest of the Warsaw pact and other allies to prepare for the world to change in entirety.
  
  The visitation naturally turned life upside down. Premiere Hrushev passed away from an aneurysm supposedly having come from a reaction to Langium, and a great many areas became claimed for the great number of "zones" within the USSR. However their emergency preparations for what was to come as well as the vast territories of the largest state on Earth insured - in comparison to other nations - a relatively smooth transition to the post Visitation world. Cities along with their factories were evacuated in feats reminiscent of the evacuation of industry to the Urals in the war against the fascists. The military assisted in construction of new housing for people displaced, and a head-start on learning to work with Langium was insured for the Union. Indeed, they were very soon able to begin assistance to the Warsaw pact and other international allies. Total catastrophe had been avoided thanks to the alliance of the labourers!
• Recent History: The recent history of the Soviet Union is very complicated. In the immediate terms the Soviet Union was hit arguably the least of all nations. But soon after there were secondary ramifications of the Visit that would become very apparent. With the death of Hrushev the Soviet political apparatus soon found itself very much divided, and though minimized the upheaval the Visitation created in displacing people and changing their ways of life created opportunists at every corner. The satellite state's populations accused the Soviets of not helping their supposed brothers in the internationale, and when assistance was sent the populace of the USSR complained that the government cared more for foreigners than its own citizens. Cracks in the Soviet system emerged as they could not keep their totalitarian suppression of dissident politics particularly in the regions around the Baltics, Caucasus, and the Urals.
  
  Further, though the state planned economy of the Soviets insured they had unparalleled capability to respond to the Visit's effect on the country in the immediate terms it made fitting into the new normal ever more difficult. If this was not enough the Sino-Soviet split was only getting harsher, and the Americans with their Imperialist allies were getting ever rowdier to distract from the problems of their poorly managed nations, but the Union would persevere!
  
  The reaction of the Soviet Union was facilitated by Alexei Kosygin who promptly became the new head of Premiere and head of State with some assistance from sympathetic KGB members loosely working off of the last words of Hrushev. However, few would anticipate how he would take on the Hrushev thaw. Beset by all sides Kosygin had to create a great many compromises that many would call the second Russian revolution. Reforms were made to all sectors of the Soviet Union and by extension the Warsaw pact. Parties apart from the Soviet Union were once more allowed to operate and participate in elections so long as they abided by the fact the USSR was a Union indivisible, it was Soviet (Councillary), Socialist, and a set of Republics. The economy was liberalized with a great reintroduction of private ownership of smaller assets such as a restaurant going as large as a factory or a Press. The same liberalizations were applied to the Soviet satellite states and an invitation was sent out to the many White Russian and other diasporas to return to the USSR without any fear of reprisal as the above reforms went even further once met with initial success.
  
  Things were looking bright for the Soviet Union as it made good use of its head-start on the research of Langium, its people were pacified and their living standards rising partially in thanks to this new esoteric substance.
  
  The USSR entered a small golden age that is now coming to a close, and only time will tell if yet another one comes like a phoenix or instead a stagnation or collapse comes. Kosygin's unexpectedly worsening health forced a retiring to have him replaced by the promising but extremely (for a politician) young General of the KGB who's rise to Premiere is shrouded in mystery: Anatoli Mikolaevich Pavlenko from Western Ukraine.
  
  Once more malcontents seek to take advantage of the upheaval of Kosygin's retirement. Many demand even greater liberalizations from Budapest to Vladivostok. At the same time though the USSR had a great headstart in the research of Langium their research was largely theoretical and in how to work with Langium by itself, their research into NLCs being only slightly above the global average; this is fundamentally a problem as the increasing commonality of NLCs have made the previously massive demand for Soviet natural resources ever decreasing. Further, the greater freedoms of press have made many people complain at the great militarization the USSR has maintained. Why must T-88s be in Mongolia when they are our comrades, it is asked every day.
  
  For now the people of the USSR are optimistic of the future particularly when contrasting to many of the other countries of the world. But this may change radically. The problems the USSR faces are all undergoing many solutions with a recent breakthrough in oil-based NLCs possibly being a bonanza of wealth. But this is just a stepping stone on one of the hardest paths the Soviets have faced yet.

Pressing Issues:
The USSR faces many issues. In many republics it has found that the people it gave newfound freedoms to only spit upon them demanding more leading to only more anti Soviet sentiment. At the same time the many decades of political leadership being educated abroad has left many unwitting fifth columnists in Soviet government. At the same time the growing power of the Senate has been at the expense of the Soviets with ever fracturing parties insuring little to no change can be made save that which garnishes more power yet for the Senate. Furthermore, the introduction of Langium has insured that demand for Soviet raw materials ranging from titanium to oil has drastically dropped; there is a race against time to develop new and better NLCs to insure that the riches of the Earth within the Soviet Union are not forgotten.

Budget:

[Yam I Am]

Map's finally done. Again, I can quickly make edits as need be.

[Dog]

U.S.A

Name:
United States of America

Flag:
U.S Flag

Government:
The United States federal government as it currently stands is a quasi-military dictatorship. The legislative and judicial branches are no longer powerful or important, enslaved, and controlled by the executive branch. Anything that Congress and or the Supreme Court do, does not matter, and is simply a legal formality. True power lays in the executive, where the interests of U.S based multinational corporations are absolute. The historical military-industrial complex has evolved to ever greater heights with American foreign policy is directly influenced by defense companies, where it was before just extreme influence.

Territory:
Historical U.S Borders and then some

---

History:
Pre-Visitation [1940s-1950s]
This era, before the visitation and following portal storms, marks the height of U.S power and influence. World War 2 launched the U.S into global superpower status, and the American government happily flexed its muscles as seen in its highly aggressive and highly questionable foreign policy. Unknown or ignored by the U.S government, cracks started to form below the face of superiority. The Vietnam War, the protests against the war crimes, the civil rights march, and much more showcased that the U.S government was not the most moral entity in the world - if it was in the first place.

Visitation [1960s-1980s]
The visitors came and went but left their mark in the U.S permanently. The spread of New-Langium Compounds quickly gave more than anomalous zones. All across the United States portal storms tore apart skies and devastated much of the American landscape. Both eldritch beings and Xeno entities poured out and ‘settled’ the U.S for their own. The federal government attempted to do its best to stabilize the situation, but things were quickly becoming worse as cities and towns became abandoned and overtaken. Losing a war that it can not win, the U.S government created and enacted a contingency plan in 1968. A massive evacuation occurred where the population was moved to cities left untouched by the portal storms and anomalous zones/effects. 85% of the U.S was left uninhabitable or too dangerous to live in. By the end of 1985, 93% of the U.S people lived in twelve mega-cities (City One to City Twelve).

Recent History [1986-1991]
The U.S, after the devastation of its homeland, still held onto its superpower status but in a decaying fashion. Unable to properly exploit its own resources since much of its land is inaccessible, the U.S began a campaign of imperialism to ensure a stable chain of resources to feed its people and industries. High-resource areas in Mexico, Canada, and much of Latin America was quickly taken over by the U.S (known as the Latin-American Wars). After the stabilization of its nation and resources in 1990, the U.S now looks to its old enemies to take down and new areas and markets to exploit.

Pressing Issues:
The U.S is not in the best of places right now. Civil Restoration, an organization under the Department of the Interior, is combating the spread of eldritch and Xeno creatures into the surrounding rural areas in the mega-cities. The demands and interests of the people are largely ignored, and the population is really getting pissy about it too. People want better rations, pay, housing, healthcare, and likewise. People are heavily overworked and are paid barely enough not to die. Much of the U.S is uninhabitable and native rebel groups are targeting overseas U.S resource bases.

Budget:

[Keyguyperson]

Alright, can't say I ain't interested. Might write up some barebones sheets and see what sticks to my writer's block wall.

[Andreyich]

@Yam I Am
Largely done my sheet, you can see the edits on the post. Any word on a discord for this?

[Dr Lovecraft]

I just noticed something;
Thus far, there are two fictional groups and two real world nations. The fictional groups are a religious organization and a science/tech corporation, while the real world nations are imperial America and communist Russia. The opposite groups are composed of opposing parties.
This is gonna be a fun RP.

[Andreyich]

Opposites attract. You will learn to fear theocratic transhumanist nazbol Russo American alliance.

Fun fact Russian cosmism is basically literally that and was popular amongst many Soviet thinkers.