Intercontinental Construction Cooperative

**Dev. Status** | Conceptual

*"Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby*

*Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around*

*And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby*

*When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still*

*I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin'*

*You know that I have from the start*

*So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart"*

- "Build Me Up Buttercup", The Foundations
The **Intercontinental Construction Cooperative** is a tech faction that can be utilized once their building is captured. A world-spanning construction contractor, the ICC plans for, develops, and maintains your structures (and those still yet in construction) and can construct cheap, but effective, defenses to supplement their allies' defenses (or in some cases provide the only base defense the faction has).

## Background

### A Time to Build, a Time to Tear Down

Recent history can make the case of man being the destroyer rather than the creator, but ancient history (and which that came before the present) state the opposite. Having the seven wonders of the ancient world at the top of their accomplishments in engineering and architecture, humanity has proved quite deft with the design and construction of buildings starting from when the first hut was put together as a shield against the elements.

But as civilizations blossomed, declined before ultimately disappearing, so did these amazing products of human ingenuity. Some fell victim to the wear and tear at the hands of time, others toppled due to natural disasters, some even listed as collateral damage from humanity's other side: the destroyer. The Shiva to the former's Brahma, the destroyer has razed countless buildings to their foundations during wartime, commonly as an attempt to deny the enemy potential hiding spots. Even on times of peace, run-down buildings are demolished to make way for bigger ones, to say nothing of the common fire accident that costs quite a lot in property damage.

It is safe to say that buildings only moved out of the frying pan and into the cataclysm. The Soviet desecration of Greece's Acropolis ruins during WWII would be their *mea culpa* against Western architecture, only topped by systematic desecration and demolition of landmarks accomplished by Syndicate companies to introduce their own structural designs. Civilians are not safe from property damage, either - stray artillery shells or ill-informed sabotage operations leave their homes to their foregone conclusion, forcing them to go through life without a roof over their heads.

### Weapon of Mass Construction

In the midst of a seemingly-bottomless mire of factionalism and hostility, there are still a few entities striving to render assistance to anybody regardless of country or ideology. For a few bucks, International Inc can make you feel secure even while beset by all those rival PMCs and terrorist groups running around. Not charging anything, the IAA generously provides financial and material aid to you, your family and your community when wracked by war or disaster. Knowing that Interpol agents are there to make sure no fugitive/serial killer/double agent is hiding next-door to your house is enough for you to go to bed safely.

But going by the discontent of many civilians worldwide, a robust shelter is enough to provide security (both physical and financial) and safety. Their sentiments have not fallen on deaf ears, as just before WWIII, construction companies began funneling money into a larger cooperative that can work on any infrastructure as long as the client has blueprints. Freshly-graduated architects and civil engineers were invited to have their first stint in their careers be on the *Intercontinental Construction Cooperative*, able-bodied laborers promised with wages enough to provide food for their families' tables. More high-profile construction companies such as Bechtel, Balfour Beatty and Ponos Constructions took notice of the up-and-coming contractor, and began to invest in it in hopes of their eventual acquisition when it's high time to do so.

In the meantime, the ICC markets itself as a contractor for cheap, but resilient and cost-effective buildings, although they are happy to undertake large-scale projects as well when presented with bags of money. All for the sake of proving that for every moment that Shiva dances, Brahma recreates right after.