In the late 1400’s, an irishman raised the banner of Portugal on a small island in the indian ocean. That irishman was Kieran O’Seachnasaigh, who in honor of St. Kieran the Younger, his own namesake, christened the new land Santo Círian, and whatever name had been used by the ones who were there already disappeared as they did - into the ground, beneath the fields of sugarcane which soon blanketed whatever arable land could be found. As the centuries passed, the name stuck, but the ownership of the island itself did not.
It changed hands between portuguese and spaniard, frenchmen and dutch, and eventually, finally, the english; gaining formal independence in the 1960's, as a constitutional monarchy with the queen as head of state, and then full independence when a socialist revolution seized power and declared a republic. Soviet advisors sent to aid with the modernization of the economy discovered the presence of an oil field just offshore, just in time for the oil-price spikes of the 70's.
The resulting economic boom brought prosperity to the island, prosperity that vanished when prices dropped, and the resulting discontent gave fertile soil for the (american-supported) democratic movement that toppled the socialist government and returned the island to a liberal democracy which never quite managed to return to the old living standards, but did manage to send the young back into the cane-fields. It did not, that is, until recently, when the depopulation of the persian gulf in the first wave of the invasion sent energy prices skyrocketing again. Of course, the renewal of drilling on the island meant the attention of the invaders that had cut off mainland supply in the first place...
C-IDF (Círian Insular Defense Forces):
The military of Santo Círian, and, following the execution of the civilian government on charges of communist sympathies and collaboration with the alien enemy, the acting government of the island state. Lead by general Paul Campstock (Soldier B), the military has control of the capital and port, and has outsourced protection of the water system to Ogun's Hammer, but despite its best efforts its attempts to re-nationalize Círian Petroleum have been stymied by the refusal of the company to recognize the legitimacy of the military government, and attempts at the platform's recapture by force have so far failed, with the already small air and water forces completely wiped out in the first failed assault. At present, their forces consist of one mech (Campstock's), 3 tanks, and 3 infantry companies, spread out across the island.
In reality, Paul Campstock was replaced by a shapeshifting alien on the first day of the attacks, and the rest of the military leaders willingly sold out to the invaders due to promises the true aim of the military is to destroy the oil rig as soon as possible, in order to further the energy crisis suffered by the human forces. They're aware that Ogun's Hammer would depose them should the truth come out, so they've been sent off to protect the water infrastructure and distracted with occasional half-hearted alien raids while the military prepares for their second assault, where the mercenaries will be distracted by the army while the growing alien threat attacks the rig from the seabed - an internet shutdown and radio jamming being deployed to prevent SCP from telling Ogun's Hammer about their true intentions.
Ogun's Hammer PMC:
A mercenary company helmed and founded by the mech-pilot Oyin Afonja (Superhero C), hired by the civilian government of Santo Círian as security shortly before the attacks as insurance. They fended off the initial alien assault, stood by and did nothing when the coup was launched, and tolerated the orders of the new government to avoid pursuing the invaders and hold the line at the sewage treatment plant. But professionalism only goes so far - they might be happy as long as the junta keeps paying their retainer, but the lack of any action to root out the threat, and the total shutdown of the airwaves and closing of all outside communication is beginning to make them grow suspicious. Their force consist of Afonja himself, his business partner Abdiweli Mohammad (Superhero A), and one infantry company.
SCP (Santo Círian Petroleum):
SCP was established with soviet aid as Santo Círian's state-run oil company, the chief source of national revenue for most of its existence. After the fall of the socialist regime, the company was privatized, but drilling ceased entirely as the countries ultra-heavy reserves proved uneconomic to extract at the lower oil prices that followed and the company went bankrupt. It was only far more recently that the new energy boom lead to the re-establishment of the corporation as a private entity, which was promptly acquired as a subsidiary by Marduk International. As the director of SCP, Leo Singh, was on the oil rig when the coup occurred, the junta was unable to seize control of the corporation, and its continued refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the island government is backed up by the force of the two biomecha (Lab Rat B x2) guarding the platform. The two mecha, Castor and Pollux, are the only guards of the platform, but they're more than sufficient - they quite easily eliminated the initial invasion force and continue standing guard against both human and alien assault.
Marduk International is, in reality, not merely a normal human multinational corporation, but a shell for the Lyran security apparatus. The felinoids who first seeded humanity - not only on Earth but also on Mars and Venus - do not much appreciate the meddling of other aliens with their experiment before it's had the opportunity to run it's course, and so have spread biomechanical technology to the humans in order to fight back the invaders. Leo Singh is, of course, a Lyran himself, and as an alien in human guise himself suspects the C-IDF of alien infiltration, though as of yet has no actual evidence.. still, their reluctance to accept nationalization is not just corporate interest by any means, rooted insteadd in deeper plans to maintain the energy supply of the human forces to prevent their extinction.
.png) |
I- Forest
An area of forest and mountain left undeveloped, though more as a source of lumber than as nature preserve. Hiding beneath the tree-cover, and venturing forth periodically to assail the mercenaries in IV are two Invaders, two Lernaeans and one Fortean. Though ordinarily their raids end in tactical retreats, if pursued here the aliens will not hesitate to fight to the brink of death - only as their companions actually start falling while they flee, and when they do it will be running not towards the camp in tile IV (obviously) or their mother in tile II but the city in tile III, that the fight might cause more collateral damage.
II- Crash Site
A small area of undeveloped forest, held close to the rim of the small mountain range of the northern half of the isle. Below the slopes lies an impact crater, 50' across and about as deep, the center of which is occupied by a 30' by 15' cylindrical capsule made of some strange alien metal. The outer walls of the alien pill are impenetrable against anything short of a nuclear shaped charge, but the queen-factory inside is totally blind and deaf as a consequence. It opens at a pre-set schedule every night at 12:30 AM, unsealing from the inside, pushing out the domed cap of it's front section on blood-slicked pistons, and waiting for exactly that time is the Pythian ravaging VII, dragging with it load of stolen agricultural machinery to feed to its mother. At the moment, one final batch of Invaders is being gestation-printed for the shortly upcoming assault on the rig, three amphibious Charbydians - at the landing of the players, two days remaining before they're ready for release and the invasion commences. Should the vulnerable queen be destroyed inside her shell, of course, no such release will ever be forthcoming, but if an attack commences every Invader on the island will rush to protect their mother (including Campstock).
III- City
The center of the island, Santo Círian city, the capital of and only settlement on the entire island nation. The C-IDF have imposed martial law - checkpoints around the city, 5pm curfew, total internet and radio blackout, ban on all communication - and brutally enforce their rigid measures. Stationed in the city are 1/3 of the C-IDF's infantry companies, 2/3 of it's tanks, and General Campstock himself, and his mech - angular, rugged, and currently equipped with Ablative Plate.
IV- Infrastructure and Camp
Both the sewage treatment camp, water tank, and power plant are all located just outside the city here. Ogun's Hammer is here guarding all that critical infrastructure, and suffers periodic lightning raids from the Invaders hiding in tile I, though all such raids have easily been rebuffed. Their camp contains Afonja and his clean, caped mech wielding a Sagittarius bow, Abdiweli and his clean, symmetrical mech wielding a Master Sword, and the one Infantry Company of Ogun's Hammer.
V- Oil Rig
The oil rig, just offshore and still pumping just past the reach of the junta. Castor and Pollux (both identically gaunt and smooth, Castor with a Flamethrower and Pollux with an Autocannon) stand over the platform like gargoyles, as Leo Singh continues to direct the company from the bowels of the machine below.
VI- Port
This is the port of the island, the only way anything can get to or off the island with the airways shut down. The C-IDF control it, and stationed there are 2/3 of its Companies and 1/3 of its Tanks, ready to move immediately against any assault. They still permit the landing of private vessels so that the island has some measure of supply, but nobody is allowed to step on or off the island without special permission from General Campstock himself.
VII- Cane fields
The sugarcane fields, lying fallow since the invasion as the farmers are to afraid to harvest- rightly so, as a Pythian Invader stalks the fields at day, attacking anyone it sees and dragging off whatever abandoned machinery, first into underground piles and then to the maw of it's mother in tile II.
.png)
