The Federation
Established Nation
CLEAR SKY
"This world has too many people, they consume more than the planet can afford to give them, they do not care to return Mother Nature's favors. Your primary goal, recruit, is the depopulation of the planet so as to return our mother to her proper balance." - Quote from the Clear Sky Guide Book circa 1981
Fifth of June, 1986
Kilkenny, Bantyr
Weylin-Teagan Coke Plant #5
The plant sat on the river near the center of the city spewing it's waste into the sky, in these times the darkened skies meant work and money, it was a proud look to wear in a country that valued industry over everything. Hundreds of men walked toward the plant in their work clothes ready to take the morning shift by storm and continue the stream of money that kept them alive, the young women waved as the strong working men made their way down the avenue. A few would stop for idle chatter and to compliment the way they wore their skirts, an iconic scene one would see during these times during the cities morning routine. The smell of the coke plant was apparent even a mile or so outside the city limits, but they had become accustomed to the constant sulfur like fume that the factory belched out. Weylin-Teagan was the largest employer in all of Bantyr, the government's lax economic policy allowing it to become a monopoly over the iron and steel industry with a very strong hold on the coal market, they paid well to those who would brave the sweltering heat of their myriad of plants that dotted the country. The merging of the clan owned businesses between the Weylins and the Teagans was the greatest thing that had happened to Bantyr in a long time.
Gregg, as he was simply known, was a laborer at the plant the heat of the day coupled with the inversion created by the pollution from the plant made his walk toward the plant miserable. He hated his job unlike the other men who he worked with who saw being part of the great Bantyric industrial process as something to be proud of. His skin was tanned by working in the great heat of the factory and his lungs could feel the gaseous death flowing in and out with every breath. It was just a job to him, something he did until he could get out of dirty Kilkenny and to the universities of the south where he could expand his mind and become something great, maybe a famous ship designer or a civil engineer, he fantasized. His fantasy was broken quickly enough as the rare heat of the day increased as he neared the looming, sooty plant, white clouds billowing out of it's smoke stacks. This close to the plant the beautiful women and their blue skirts were nowhere to be found, the feeling of the environment and the men he walked with becoming much more serious. A man could die working a 'normal' day in this plant, to him it was if hell itself had planted a piece of Satan's own real estate right in the middle of the city. The tall fiery coke furnaces raged as they were opened, the alarm sounding, filling his ears.
The morning shift siren could be heard blowing in the distance despite the noise of the facilities operation amongst the army of men entering the gates were the third shift graveyard workers covered in black soot leaving the plant, their slack tired faces staring into the distance toward home. No matter how much energy a man had when he entered to work his shift, he always came out as a shell of his morning self, wanting nothing but to make towards their homes or the nearest bar. The plant operated 24/7 supplying the massive amounts of coke fuel needed to keep the steel rolling out of the steel plants.
Gregg held his lunch pail tightly as he entered the locker room, a room filled with nothing but pure testosterone as the men put on their safety equipment. Some choose not to wear their safety equipment properly thinking they were invincible, the supervisors did not care to notice this everyday violation of the company's safety protocol as they were to worried about keeping the plant operating at one hundred percent capacity. A sign in the locker room told the number of days since the last accident, the number missing entirely as no one cared to record such a trivial number. Gregg knew it wasn't safe as his mother told him almost everyday, but Weylin-Teagan was the only company hiring that was willing to pay the money an unskilled man like him needed to leave the wretched north. He exchanged a few words with his co-workers before he left the locker room, as he left he noticed a new face among the usual morning crew. He stopped to talk to the pale man, a skin color he would not retain for long working in this plant, however the man spurned his conversation, asking to be left alone. No matter, Gregg did not go out of his way to make friends of the meat heads who worked here. He followed the new guy out into the plants work areas noticing him take his lunch pail with him. It was an odd sight since food was not allowed out into the work area, but Gregg put it off as another asshole who wouldn't and couldn't be bothered to follow the rules around this place.
The day went on and the heat beat on Gregg as he worked to clean a shut down furnace, it had taken a few weeks for it to cool down enough for him to clean it out. The carbon falling to the floor as his shovel struck the walls. He looked down and out of the furnace to see the pale man manipulating a few wires and boxes around the cooling apparatuses, he went back to the shovel, but his curiosity got the better of him and he looked back out again. A flash blinded him and the heat scorched his face. The surprise and shock of the explosion knocked him off the ladder he stood causing him to fall. Thoughts of his future to be flashed in his mind before he died.
"This world has too many people, they consume more than the planet can afford to give them, they do not care to return Mother Nature's favors. Your primary goal, recruit, is the depopulation of the planet so as to return our mother to her proper balance." - Quote from the Clear Sky Guide Book circa 1981
Fifth of June, 1986
Kilkenny, Bantyr
Weylin-Teagan Coke Plant #5
The plant sat on the river near the center of the city spewing it's waste into the sky, in these times the darkened skies meant work and money, it was a proud look to wear in a country that valued industry over everything. Hundreds of men walked toward the plant in their work clothes ready to take the morning shift by storm and continue the stream of money that kept them alive, the young women waved as the strong working men made their way down the avenue. A few would stop for idle chatter and to compliment the way they wore their skirts, an iconic scene one would see during these times during the cities morning routine. The smell of the coke plant was apparent even a mile or so outside the city limits, but they had become accustomed to the constant sulfur like fume that the factory belched out. Weylin-Teagan was the largest employer in all of Bantyr, the government's lax economic policy allowing it to become a monopoly over the iron and steel industry with a very strong hold on the coal market, they paid well to those who would brave the sweltering heat of their myriad of plants that dotted the country. The merging of the clan owned businesses between the Weylins and the Teagans was the greatest thing that had happened to Bantyr in a long time.
Gregg, as he was simply known, was a laborer at the plant the heat of the day coupled with the inversion created by the pollution from the plant made his walk toward the plant miserable. He hated his job unlike the other men who he worked with who saw being part of the great Bantyric industrial process as something to be proud of. His skin was tanned by working in the great heat of the factory and his lungs could feel the gaseous death flowing in and out with every breath. It was just a job to him, something he did until he could get out of dirty Kilkenny and to the universities of the south where he could expand his mind and become something great, maybe a famous ship designer or a civil engineer, he fantasized. His fantasy was broken quickly enough as the rare heat of the day increased as he neared the looming, sooty plant, white clouds billowing out of it's smoke stacks. This close to the plant the beautiful women and their blue skirts were nowhere to be found, the feeling of the environment and the men he walked with becoming much more serious. A man could die working a 'normal' day in this plant, to him it was if hell itself had planted a piece of Satan's own real estate right in the middle of the city. The tall fiery coke furnaces raged as they were opened, the alarm sounding, filling his ears.
The morning shift siren could be heard blowing in the distance despite the noise of the facilities operation amongst the army of men entering the gates were the third shift graveyard workers covered in black soot leaving the plant, their slack tired faces staring into the distance toward home. No matter how much energy a man had when he entered to work his shift, he always came out as a shell of his morning self, wanting nothing but to make towards their homes or the nearest bar. The plant operated 24/7 supplying the massive amounts of coke fuel needed to keep the steel rolling out of the steel plants.
Gregg held his lunch pail tightly as he entered the locker room, a room filled with nothing but pure testosterone as the men put on their safety equipment. Some choose not to wear their safety equipment properly thinking they were invincible, the supervisors did not care to notice this everyday violation of the company's safety protocol as they were to worried about keeping the plant operating at one hundred percent capacity. A sign in the locker room told the number of days since the last accident, the number missing entirely as no one cared to record such a trivial number. Gregg knew it wasn't safe as his mother told him almost everyday, but Weylin-Teagan was the only company hiring that was willing to pay the money an unskilled man like him needed to leave the wretched north. He exchanged a few words with his co-workers before he left the locker room, as he left he noticed a new face among the usual morning crew. He stopped to talk to the pale man, a skin color he would not retain for long working in this plant, however the man spurned his conversation, asking to be left alone. No matter, Gregg did not go out of his way to make friends of the meat heads who worked here. He followed the new guy out into the plants work areas noticing him take his lunch pail with him. It was an odd sight since food was not allowed out into the work area, but Gregg put it off as another asshole who wouldn't and couldn't be bothered to follow the rules around this place.
The day went on and the heat beat on Gregg as he worked to clean a shut down furnace, it had taken a few weeks for it to cool down enough for him to clean it out. The carbon falling to the floor as his shovel struck the walls. He looked down and out of the furnace to see the pale man manipulating a few wires and boxes around the cooling apparatuses, he went back to the shovel, but his curiosity got the better of him and he looked back out again. A flash blinded him and the heat scorched his face. The surprise and shock of the explosion knocked him off the ladder he stood causing him to fall. Thoughts of his future to be flashed in his mind before he died.
Outside
The explosion destroyed the devices needed for safe operation of the plant causing white smoke to pour out of the plant, the coke stored for shipping to close to the plant operation ignited enveloping the entire plant in a cloud of deadly gases, secondary explosions rocked the plant killing many inside. The wind of the day blew the clouds of lethal gases over the city, the white seemingly harmless cloud choking every person who it enveloped. More explosions could be heard from the plant as people ran toward fresh air as fast as they could, most of them succumbing and breathing in the death that surrounded them, their burning lungs shriveling up as the dying crawled on the ground in futility. The girls who had previously watched the young men march toward the factory lie dead on the side walk, their bodies contorted by the struggle of their final moments. The proud city caught fire as the explosions littered the structures around the plant with burning particles. Screams could be heard as their occupants were slowly roasted. The fire crews responded as quickly as they could but their inadequate equipment stopped them from entering the deadly cloud to rescue anyone who could still be alive. The unquenchable fire swallowed the plant as it burned, the sound of sirens and explosions drowned out everything else.
Hours Later
The disaster in Kilkenny unfolded on the television as news helicopters circled the burning city describing in detail the deadly scene below. Military helicopters flew over the city dumping water on the fires below attempting to stop the deadly advance of flame. The national guard had been immediately called in when the President had learned of the explosion, uniformed men in gas masks and fireproof suits made their way into the city pulling survivors out by the truckload. Cormack Miles sat in his chair watching in glee as his planned attack had caused more damage and death than he had ever hoped for. He clutched his manifesto as he watched with his brothers and sisters, Clear Sky would rid the world of those who did nothing to take care of it and he would lead a new generation of like minded individuals into the world to carry out acts of terror upon those who spurned away the embrace of Mother Nature, those who looked to profit from her suffering. His would be a worldwide revolution on a scale unseen before. The skies would be clear again and underneath them Cormak's new world would live in perfect harmony with their mother.