The Independent Territory of Borealis

Borealis is an independent nation-state found on the planet Terramatrix in the System – Dumassas.

https://youtu.be/GusIC3RMhbI

Population : Estimated 1000 ( 3021 )
Capital : Borealis Town
Ruler : Lord Administrator Prestor Sifuentes, CEO of Borealis Corporation.
Economy : Diamonds, tungsten, and supply services.

The name is descriptive, adopted by the planetary government during the colonial era to indicate where it lay in relation to the other territories of Terrimatrix. It is often referred to by its local inhabitants as “The Beautiful Land”, especially those who have dwelt here for generations. It also shares its name with the primary population center of the territory, Borealis.

Geography

Located in southern Terramatrix, the territory borders no other other nations, and due to its isolated location, has never completed a survey of the entire region it claims. It technically encompasses a land area of 1,183,085 km2 (456,792 sq mi).

Geographical features include numerous lakes and streams, and is a long stretch of ice-covered mountain and arctic tundra. The northern territory reaches over a broad region, so there is a large climate variation from south to north. The southern part of the territory has a subarctic climate while the northern regions have most of the lakes and has a polar climate.

Summers in the north are short and cool, with daytime highs in the mid-teens, and lows in the single degrees Celsius (45° to 55 °F). Winters are long and harsh, daytime highs in the mid −20 °C (−4 °F) and lows around −40 °C (−40 °F). Extremes are common with summer highs in the north reaching 36 °C (97 °F) and lows reaching into the negatives. In winter, it is not uncommon for the temperatures to reach −40 °C (−40 °F), but they can also reach the low teens during the day.

Thunderstorms are not rare in the northern coastal regions. In the south they are very rare, but do occur. Tornadoes are extremely rare, but have happened with the most notable one happening just outside Borealis town that destroyed a local series of microwave communications towers. The town itself has a fairly dry local climate due to the mountains in the west.

About half of the territory is above the tree line. There are not many trees in most of the eastern areas of the territory, or the northern coastal portions.

Government

Borealis was one of the two (2) semi-independent territories under San Marcos’ control, and operated as its own sovereign government, though with a minister assigned to oversee San Marcos interests in the region. The other territory was The (Territorial) District of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a series of tiny islands located in the southern region of the Tragnar Ocean, which provide nothing of note to the economy or industrial activities of any other nation on Terramatrix, other than their strategic position to control the region’s oceans, and its large satellite network.

While the bulk of the population is based from Borealis Town, there are roughly two dozen scattered resource exploratory camps, most usually holding only a handful of people, some as few as one or two. They are universally dependent upon the services provided by Borealis Town to support their efforts, and tend to move about the region, rarely staying in one location for more than a few weeks at a time.

A small military camp, Fort Samson is located towards the south pole, and is considered the furthest southern outpost on Terramatrix, though it is little more than an insulated handful of trailers capable of supporting a platoon of infantry and technicians. It was maintained by the San Marcos’ government to assert their long-term position as the region being under their claim, but was abandoned soon after the collapse of that nation in 3026. Today, the camp is looked after by an annual expedition from Borealis, who check the generators and buildings, affect repairs and return after a couple days.

Borealis Town

Borealis Town : Simply known as “Borealis” by most people, the town holds more than half the territory’s population, and operates as both territorial government and its primary employer. Borealis Corporation runs the entire territory, including the local government, as a franchise from within its own operations.

The town itself is a semi-permanent camp made of colonial structures salvaged from other sources, and a number of hydroponics bays to provide fresh food for its citizens. The town’s small fusion plant is capable of generating 67.9 MWs energy, more than sufficient for local needs. Its communications are a local landline network, supported by a satellite communications array that allows spotty connection to the rest of the world.

Local services include two bars; “The Wildcat Cafe” and the “Gold Range Bar”, the former of which provides live bare-fisted brawling. Given its wild and unexpected nature, deaths are uncommon, but expected. Beyond supply and repair services, the community has almost no other services to interest anyone.

There are no true permanent roads in Borealis, with the permafrost ensuring pavement is impossible to maintain for more than a season. Most locals have small quad ATVs or Jeeps for casual outings, and little else, as even corporate scouts have no need for anything more substantial. Some local corporations employ unarmed J-27 “Landram” Ordnance Transports, but there are few enough to make them uncommon.

Air transportation is limited, though a capable “international”-rated airport exists, with a short, but sufficient runway for both military and civilian long-range aircraft, typically the locally-produced DC-3D “Condor” STOL Air Transport or Victory C-3 STOL Frontier Transport. It also has facilities to support a small contingent of military fighter aircraft in need. The bulk of the airport, however, is equipped to act as an aerodrome, providing corporate efforts to resupply through Borealis’ own small flotilla of modern airships. Their three (3) Elemental Cargo Airships provide most of the cargo shipments to the territory, with corporations renting space aboard them. Bertling Logistics plays an important role in contact with the international community, and the recent merger with the Iron Dingoes demesne has extended Whippet Transport Lines own network to include the town in its servcies.

Local media is the sole radio station Radio Borealis, run on frequency FM 103.5, that provides community talk radio and popular music selections. Holo-networks are imported from Sangria and San Isabel, but tend to be expensive and only popular for its sporting events. Infrequent brawl broadcasts from Salager’s Arena tend to be exceedingly popular. Communications are often disrupted by snow storms and solar winds.

The town’s local military garrison provides home for a full platoon of “Territorial Police”, who are security forces from Borealis Corp; they have access to enough J-27 “Landram” Ordnance Transports to consider them “Mechanized”. They represent the entirety of formal military strength in the territory. This force was subsumed by the Iron Dingoes own landhold defensive force, and upgraded to Iron Dingoes Infantry Field Kit (3023) standards soon thereafter.

Industry

Borealis “Tinder” Diamond Mine

Borealis Corporation : “Keep Discovering” is Borealis Corp’s motto, and they are primarily a minerals exploratory company, doing some work in searching for new petrochemical resources, but mostly doing survey work for other mineral resources to sell to other companies for exploitation. From time to time, they have attempted mining gold claims, but until 3006 and the discovery of the Tinder Diamond Mine, they had never been serious about it. That mine continues to operate and provides Borealis with an income stream that ensures it remains in the region. In San Marcos, they had interests in plastics manufacturing and fertilizers, but were never considered a major company. The loss of their holdings in San Marcos, in the wake of the 3026 civil unrest, has pushed the company to devote all their efforts in supporting its remaining valuable asset.

Day-to-day operations of Borealis are providing utilities, power, waste removal and technical support for the other companies and independent contractors that operate out of Borealis Town. Their personnel account for roughly half the population of the community, and they run its local government, logistics and supply virtually all local consumables. They also run the only all-age school in the territory, though this has since been turned over to the * “The Dingo Cub Scouts” organization. Borealis Corp is Borealis.

MMX “Drakelands” Tungsten Mine, Borealis Territory

Grupo EBX : A large conglomerate from San Marcos, its mining operations locally included various gold, silver, radium, lead and copper mines, all of which have since ceased operation. Its long-running tungsten mine was also in the process of ceasing operations, planned for closure in mid-3025, when the riots in their home territory forced them to shut their doors completely.

Rather than return home, the local personnel of the company’s MMX branch continued to operate, and after the riots were over, renegotiated their contracts with their remaining operations. Although the Borealis MMX members wore the badges of their parent company, they largely operated as independents, with very little support from EBX beyond what they could pay for with their own local work.

With the take-over by Dingo Brand, and the influx of capital into the region, MMX suddenly re-opened its Drakelands Mine, and in late-3030 restarted exploiting its tungsten reserves for export to the world markets. These efforts were quickly supported by its parent corp EBX, and the company has brought in several teams of workers and heavy equipment in support of the mine’s operations, more than doubling previous extraction efforts before its closure in 3025.

Rockhopper Exploration : Once holding some interest in the region’s survey work, Rockhopper returned in force in late-3030. Soon after the Borealis Corporation‘s take-over by Dingo Brand, the company moved into its old offices and began establishing a fairly substantial survey team that under-bids many independent groups. Rockhopper itself has grown over the last few years, and is increasingly seen in world survey operations as the leading company to watch. They work closely with Borealis, and absorbed many of that company’s excess staff following the merger.

Vale : One of the largest minerals producers in Terramatrix, this San Marcos company has long taken an interest in the region, but while their agents continue to operate exploratory scouts in the territory, they have never opened mining operations anywhere nearby. Today, they continue to keep a fairly low key approach to work, and make enough to keep the offices open by selling resource surveys to whomever will pay.