Verdansk, Kastovia

Verdansk (Cyrillic: **Верданск**) is the largest and capital city of Kastovia. The city is featured in The Ultimate Crossover and serves as a major tourist area in free roam, and a setting in several Campaign levels, as well as Spec Ops levels and Multiplayer Maps.

## History

### Discovery and Early Years

Verdansk was founded in 1848 by Russian colonisers looking to seek out a new area for their country. After some other Russian colonisers founded the Republic of Kastovia 8 years prior, the hunt was on to secure a genuine capital city for the republic. In order to do this, the colonisers drew maps to determine which city would be a perfect fit, and in 1853, 5 long years after the discovery of this city, Verdansk was named the capital city of Kastovia. In 1862, the Verdansk City Hall completed construction, and then came other buildings, such as banks, business centres and general stores. By 1886, the city was fully complete, and in 1904, the city's population exceeded the 750,000 mark.

### World War I

When Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on June 28th, 1914, Russia stepped in to help Serbia at all costs due to their long-lasting alliance. The Russian army placed military bases in several key areas of their republic, and in tandem with using bases in their own country, they also used bases in other countries, like Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Kastovia. The Russians had a military base installed in Verdansk since 1910, amid global tensions due to the naval arms race. Kastovia was invaded by the Ottoman Empire in 1915, but their army stood their ground and fought valiantly to secure victory, as the Russians were also there to help Kastovia. After the unsuccessful invasion of Verdansk, the Kastovians helped the Russians in pushing back the Ottomans, the Austro-Hungarians, and later the Germans back to their homeland. The Kastovians came with multiple equipment shared from the Russians and Serbians. Also during that time, there was a weapon and vehicle factory located near the Arklov Peak Military Facility. When the war ended on November 11th, 1918, Kastovia joined the League of Nations, and was there to witness the writing of the Treaty of Versailles.

### Spanish Flu and pre-WWII

After the First World War, due to asbestos exposure in the trenches, several cases of the Spanish Influenza were reported in Kastovia, mainly in Verdansk. The Verdansk Flu Hospital (now known as the Verdansk General Hospital) was built specifically for treating patients infected with the Spanish Flu. In Verdansk alone, over 400,000 cases were reported, with 160,000 succumbing to the flu. The hospitals were in a state of chaos, and this caused several nations like the UK, the US, France and Russia to deliver aid to the Kastovians, and thanks to this aid, by 1921, Verdansk was officially influenza free. After 1921, Verdansk was back and business was booming more than usual, because more areas were being constructed during the 1920s, such as the Verdansk Train Yard, which finished in 1925, and the Verdansk Regional Airport, which completed construction in 1928. Other areas like the Gora Dam and the Zordaya Prison Complex also completed construction in 1929. In 1922, Kastovia became part of the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), became known as the Kastovian Soviet Socialist Republic. Verdansk was the main area for this region of the USSR, as production and oil usage greatly grew by 60% since the containment of the Spanish Flu. During the 1930's, Verdansk also opened up several tramway systems, which were used to quickly get from one area to the other without a car. This greatly influenced the need for more transport usage in the city, and more routes were opened in 1937.

### World War II

After the Germans pushed into the Soviet Union in 1941, Verdansk became one of the first cities to fall under the fascist regime, and enacted the Battle of Verdansk, which took place in September of 1941 until February of 1942. The result: German victory of the Kastovians. After the Germans occupied the Kastovian SSR, they started building underground bunkers in the city, where they were used to stockpile German weapons and equipment. In December of 1942, the Russians pushed through and liberated Verdansk from the Germans. While the Germans fled the city, all of the underground bunkers were either sealed off or completely obliterated by cratering mines. The Kastovian SSR joined the main portion of WWII in March of 1943.

### Cold War

During the Cold War, Verdansk suffered a major economic recession thanks in part because of the damage that was done during WWII. Also, during this time, the Soviet also placed other areas on the map, such as a radar array, a salt mine and a listening post atop the Gora Dam. In 1982, construction on the Acropolis National Arena began. This was a football (soccer) arena that would be used by the up-and-coming Verdansk Sparks Football Club. Construction was halted in 1984, as a bomb, which had been sitting in the same spot since the start of the German invasion, exploded, which crumbled the entire Downtown area to the ground, and also uncovered an old WWII era bunker. That bunker was discovered by a CIA task force. In 1985, a year after the big disaster, NATO and the USSR began rebuilding the city from the ground up, and also discovered the bomb was rigged by a Spanish member of the Perseus spy ring. The construction took place for 15 years, with the city being completed in 2000.

### Chlorine Gas Discovery and War Against Al-Qatala

On October 24th, 2019, several US Marines were deployed to Verdansk to seek out the presence of chlorine gas inside a depot just outside of the city. The US Marines were taken by surprise by the occupants in the depot, and were subsequently left for dead, with the terror organisation stealing the gas. On March 3rd, 2020, at the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Al-Qatala, under new leadership, launched a full-scale invasion of the city. As the invasion worsened, a temporary military alliance between Russia and NATO was formed, dubbed the Armistice. This alliance was started in order to launch an evacuation of the city. Several operations were greenlit by Armistice to take out high value personnel affiliated with Al-Qatala. The operations were a success, but in order to get rid of Armistice once and for all, Al-Qatala launched the chemical weapons into the city. In the ensuing chaos, most of the Armistice operators started turning on each other to survive. In December 2020, Viktor Zakhaev, the supplier of the chemical weapons in the city, was stopped by the remaining members of Armistice, and the ICBMs were switched off. In January 2021, the Kastovian Terror War came to an end, but it took the decontamination teams 10 months in order to properly disperse the chlorine gas. On November 15th, 2021, the island was officially claimed inhabitable by the World Humanitarian Project and the United Nations.

### Prelude to the Big War

In 2022, along with most other anti-Russian regions, Kastovia condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and called them out for committing several heinous crimes against humanity. In October, Russia responded and proceeded to mobilise their troops on the Kastovian border, and in December of that year, the Invasion of Kastovia began. In response to this, NATO and their allies declared war on Russia, which sparked the beginning of World War III.

### World War III

During the Third World War, Verdansk took several beatings from Russian artillery, and the citizens living in the city volunteered to fight the battle, with a few making homemade Molotov Cocktails as a deterrent. During this battle, a lot of areas suffered from slight to heavy destruction from the Russian troops, with the General Hospital being completely destroyed. The battle raged on until February of 2024, when the Kastovians declared victory over the Russian troops, with assistance from NATO strike teams. However, after their victory, the Russians launched a tactical nuclear bomb on Verdansk, killing all civilians and soldiers in its destructive path.

## Geography

Verdansk is divided into multiple different areas, and all contain several points of interest.

### Arklov Peak Military Facility

The Arklov Peak Military Facility is a small military facility located in Northern Verdansk. The area features several warehouses and storage units along with barracks and a training range. Hangar 12 is the main airplane hangar in the base, while Hangars 21 and 22 are 2 smaller hangars, and there is also a runway where cargo planes and fighter jets can be seen taking off. The base also has 2 comms towers in the immediate vicinity.

### Gora Dam

The Gora Dam is a massive dam located in the northwest of Verdansk, the artificial lake created by the dam is frozen most of the time due to the frosty climate, as for the rest of the Gora River. The dam has 2 main entrances, east and west, and a fire station is located right next to the dam.

A highway tunnel which leads into the Verdansk Regional Airport is also located next to the dam, 2 small villages, Bloc 16 and Bloc 18 are located next to the dam as well, and they feature a police station, a few houses, garages and hamlets, and a restaurant.

### Jarvdinsk Spomenik

The Jarvdinsk Spomenik is a large monument commemorating the losses of Kastovian troops during World War II. The monument is a pair of wings. Bloc 23, another small village in the city, is located directly to the north of the spomenik.

Just south of the spomenik is the Riverside Village, which features a police station, along with a pharmacy, a school and a restaurant. A wooden bridge is also located right next to the village and leads to Bloc 16 next to the Verdansk Regional Airport.

### Karst River Quarry

The Karst River Quarry is a large salt mine that finished construction in 1961. It is situated between the Arklov Peak Military Facility and the Karst River. It features a massive gravel pit with an excavation site and an oil refinery next to it. A railroad and a train station which is part of the north-eastern railway system also connect the quarry with the Lumberyard and Port of Verdansk in the southern region. The railroad also allows a route to cut into the northern mountains.

### Lozloff Pass

Lozloff Pass is a large zone located south of the Karst River Quarry and the Arklov Peak Military Facility. In the pass, there is a small village with an Acropolis National Bank, a Guns & Ammo store, a Burger Town and a GRZ car dealership next to the apartment block.

The pass also has 2 small villages, Bloc 14 and Bloc 15, featuring small houses and a service station. 2 comms towers can also be found within the area. In the south, there is a camp for the World Humanitarian Project.

### Verdansk Regional Airport

The Verdansk Regional Airport is a large airport located north of the western region. The building features several terminals and shops, such as pharmacies, clothing shops, jewellers and cafes, as well as a Burger Town restaurant and a lounge. A multistorey car park and a few sky bridges can be found south of the airport and highway junction next to it which leads into the Gora Dam in the north and the Storage Town in the south. A few apartments, along with a subway entrance and a Nimotsu car showroom are located east of the parking structure. A small park of beech and sycamore trees can also be found next to the sky bridges along with the "Mother of Verdansk" statue in the centre.

Outside of the main terminal there are 2 main runways, a control tower, and an underground tunnel.

A maintenance area can be found next to the airport, which includes several warehouses and hangars. A police station as well as a fire station and an electronics store can be found in the area next to the maintenance area. Some water tanks and a comms tower can also be seen as well.