Western Europe Corporation Wars Setting (Post DoL)

WECW setting is a post DOL world of Western Europe where goverments of the Old World gave way to corporations at the apex of power. Read this Design Document to know more about this post-apocaliptic world with it's Knight Houses, mysterious Deadlands with lot's of interesting stuff discovered here by necronaughts and many many other cool stuff.

# Chapter 1. Corporations and their possessions.

## 1.1. Life Zones and it’s infrastructure.

After the beginning of the mass terraforming of land plots by Corporations, many Corporations have already become de facto small states, with their own laws in the form of corporate charters, with their own borders in the form of Life Zone borders, with their citizens in the form of employees and with their treasury in the form of accounts of the rich, on the Metabank with which each of them sits. Everyone who lives in the Life Zone somehow works for the Corporation that owns this very Life Zone, otherwise they are simply evicted to the wastelands, where they become Outcasts. There are many ways to work for a Corporation. Here are just the main professions:

·                Farmer/cattleman;

·                Electric;

·                Builder;

•                A worker in one of the various factories, starting with the processing of coal or food, ending with a military plants owned by the largest companies whose possessions extend to more than one Life Zone;

·                Metabank serviser - this is one of the most prestigious and at the same time unstrained professions: sit down and keep an eye on the condition of the cameras with the riches, sometimes fixing them. But it's hard to get into this position, th The exact details of the selection of employees for this position are kept secret by any Corporation.

Most factories that emit toxic waste have been moved outside the Life Zones, and are under constant protection of Knight Houses soldiers, while military plants in addition operate in secrecy mode, so that competitors do not find out about the unique weapons produced on them.

The employees themselves live in small cubicles in huge underground anthills, in which a waste recycling system is also built in, a sewer with filters for reuse of the same water, a dining room with not the richest assortment of real products hailing from nearby farms and slaughterhouses. When they are on shift, they sleep in barracks nearby to the factory where they work.

Among the other infrastructure of Life Zones, a classic set of educational institutions can be distinguished: a Hospital, administration, parks, cottages on the surface for middle and senior managers of the Corporation.

## 1.2. Metabanks.

Metabanks are the center of any Corporation, its foundation. The thing is that if you control the Metabank, then you control the lives of those who lie inside, and since these are most often representatives of the wealthy class, this means that along with their lives, you control their monetary condition, which is what all Corporations use to form their budget. And that's why most of the wars between Corporations are for them.

The Metabank itself is a bunker, not much different from the military Old States bunkers from the outside, but inside it is columns going a couple hundred meters deep, which are racks with capsules in which the rich lie, connected to the Metaverse and the life support system. Most of the maintenance work is carried out by a built-in repair system in the form of various robots with simple AI, obeying an automatic diagnostic system.

The operability of this automatic maintenance system is monitored by the Metabank Servicers for the most part of their worktime.

## 1.3. Corporations Tech.

Taking advantage of the unimaginable amount of space on the Metaverse servers, Corporations allocate a small part of it (approximately 80 terabytes) in order to store all their technologies there, as if in a safe:

·                Drawings of most of the buildings that can be found in the Life Zones, since they are mostly panel;

·                Drawings of various factories and a description of the technologies with which they work.

·                Geological scanning data of the nearby area for the availability of resources

·                Drawings of civil vehicles: trucks in which it is possible to transport goods between Life zones, cargo planes, drilling machines, etc

·                Military technologies, from which it is possible to distinguish the technology of production of various power armor: heavy, medium, light, for mining, for military purposes, etc. But most of them are not used by Corporations because of their high cost, giving sets of light and medium power armor to Knight Houses to protect their convoys as a maximum. In addition, Corporations can build military vehicles in a limited number, both ground and air.

# Chapter 2. Trade between Life Zones and Corporations.

## 2.1. Communication of Life Zones through communication systems of the Metabanks.

Soon after the appearance of the first Corporate states, relay systems were opened in Earth orbit, allowing to communicate from one Metabank to another, which soon led to the organization of a large trading network of different Corporations among themselves, first within local regional networks, then nationwide, and europeanwide at the 2083.

At times, due to bad weather, communication may be disrupted, but most Corporations prepare for this in advance, since meteorological stations being built in all Life zones regularly predict future bad weather about a week before it begins. By this time, all Corporations are trying to close all their deals before the onset of bad weather, which can last up to 3 months (at least this is the record of 2085 that has not yet been broken, when a radioactive storm in the south of the 'Paradis sur Terre' Life Zone began on the 20th of May, and ended only on September 14-15).

## 2.2. Corporations trading through merchant convoys.

The first successful merchant convoy between two remote Life Zones was sent from the Spanish 'Jardín verde' Life Zone to the German 'Garten der Aphrodite' Life Zone at a distance of approximately 2000 km on August 23, 2083 and arrived at its destination on November 15 of the same year, having spent 2 months and 23 days on the way, marking the beginning of global Corporate trade in Europe. Many historians call this time (2083-2094) the golden age of Corporations.

As part of the convoy, there are mainly huge transport trucks with trailers, which look more like armored trains with wagons than trucks in our understanding. Two similar smaller armored trains usually travel with them in an escort – these are the guard posted by the Knight House to the convoy. Rarely does one of the Outcasts decide to attack the convoy, but this happens, in which case the knights and squires, with the support of guns from trucks, quickly destroy all the attackers, and then continue on their way. Stopping for too long can cost the owner Corporation a pretty penny, which naturally no one likes, neither the Corporation itself, nor drivers and soldiers deprived of salaries for the next 2 months ahead.

Corporations sell&buy almost everything they have: food, resources, weapons in small quantities, with the exception of Metabanks for obvious reasons and some unique technologies.

## 2.3 Trade with British corporations across the English Channel.

Shortly after the beginning of the golden era of Corporations in 2083, Life Zones of Great Britain were reopened, and contact was also established with them. Soon, in 2085, a couple of military bunkers were discovered, after what soonly British Life Zones have become suppliers of high-tech devices and, including weapons in exchange for food and other household resources, which they often lacked. There are also rumors that the British have some Pre-DOL era technologies, but they, of course, are not going to share this.

The problem with trading with British Life Zones is that in order to reach them, it is necessary to cross the Devil's Canyon, as the British themselves call it, although in fact it is a long-dried English Channel. But the name is still quite appropriate, because in this semi-canyon/semi-steppe, there are truly an incredible number of raiders due to the unique high cost of goods in convoys traveling through this area.

Therefore, the largest Knight houses have long made a fortune guarding convoys going through the English Channel, which they spend not in the last turn on the same unique weapons and power armor wich they were guarding.

# Chapter 3. Knight Houses.

## 3.1. History of Knight Houses.

The history of Knight Houses as a phenomenon in Western Europe stretches back to that short period of time between the DOL and the beginning of the terraforming of the Earth – from the second half of the 2070s to 2081 (the exact date of the DOL is unknown or is classified information), when humanity on the surface was on the verge of death. In those days, people degraded significantly, and in order to preserve at least some Kind of order, they voluntarily rolled back their development to the Middle Ages, including reviving the tradition of Chivalry to protect against other Outcasts.

Later, at the dawn of the era of Corporations, when the first of the Life Zones appeared, Corporations noticed and assimilated the medieval kingdoms in the neighborhood, turning knights into their PMCs. Fortunately, they fought before the arrival of Corporations with weapons of the 20th century in rusty and de-energized power armor and it was not difficult to retrain them for power armor and laser weapons of Corporations.

Squires are worth mentioning separately, as is the hierarchy in Knightly Houses in principle. Once a year, closer to the middle of June, Knightly Games are held in all Living Areas controlled by the Knight's House: a festival of various martial arts, where children aged 9-13 are selected for the ranks of future knights. Some parents themselves send their children for selection, because living as a Corporation worker is naturally worse than being a squire in a Knight's House.

The selected candidates are initiated into squires: soldiers in ordinary body armor with standard weapons of the late 20th century (such as American soldiers of the 2000s, but with an admixture of medieval style).In the future, they will undergo training and cruel selection, someone will remain a squire, someone will become a knight. A particularly distinguished knight will become a one of the Lords of the House, which is governing by Lord Council.

## 3.2. Knight Houses tech.

The technologies of the Knight's House directly depend on which parent Corporation it has. Someone generously bestows his Knights with technological gifts, someone does not, relying on squire regiments and armored corps, but still for the most part all Houses are similar:

Squires wear uniform resembling a mixture of the uniforms of medieval squires and soldiers of the armies of the late 20th century/ early 21st century. They are armed with all standart infantry weapons and most of all resemble our modern armies, with a division into snipers, anti-tank specialists, medics, engineers, driver mechanics, etc. Do you want to see the organization of squire regiments? Look at the armies of the world at the time of 2000. The only thing is that the Knight Houses have almost no tanks, maskimum armored personnel carriers.

Knights wear light or medium power armor and various energy&ballistic weapons:

·       Heavy laser rifles;

·       Plasma guns (energy shotguns in fact);

·       Ion emitters (rare, powerful. Most of all they resemble PPC from battletech or lightning cannon from Wh31k)

·       Power weapons (various swords, halberds, etc. using energy to enhance their effectiveness in the manner of the same Wh, connect to power armor and use its energy)

·       Light autocannons

·       Rocket launchers

All ballistic weapons have some variants of ammunition like at ammo, fire ammo, cryo ammo, chemical ammo.

One knight can only carry one weapon and aim himself, although the interface of his armored helmet helps him in this by providing information about the trajectory of the projectile (consider this as a sight in shooters).

They don’t have bioimplants, sometimes they replace them with cybernetics, most often preferring classical medicine and retiring a crippled knight. But they receive such meager money that the pension has become a sign of shame for the Knight. It's better to die fighting than to beg for a money the rest of your life

Combat vehicles is not very popular to use, most of the technopark Houses are armored trains for escorting convoys. If there are tanks, they are supplied to them by a Corporation whose vassal is the House and are using to form armored corps to support squire regiments.

## 3.3. Knight houses vassal relationship with Corporations.

All Knight Houses are vassals of one Corporation or another: The Corporation supplies recruits and equipment with vehicles, ensuring unquestioning loyalty of the House. Corporations use Knight Houses as their army, and knights are only happy, because in battle they will most likely fight against other knights of another House, which means an opportunity to defend the pride of the House and show that their House is better than the enemy's. There are duels on power weapons between the lords of two opposing armies of Houses, just like other medieval rituals

Often entire Houses were destroyed before they had lived a year, but there are also those who have been living since the very beginning of the era of Corporations. They are called the Great Knight Houses: The House of Ludwigs from France, the House of Augustuses from Germany, the House of Habsburgs from Hungary and the House of Ferdinands from Spain. It was these houses that participated in most of the historically important wars of the Corporate era.

# Chapter 4. Outcasts from the Wastelands.

## 4.1. Raider clans.

Raiders for the most part fully justify their name. Going first into small gangs, which already comprise entire Clans of these nomadic robbers, these Outcasts are mainly engaged in attacking Corporations merchant caravans for lack of more.

In the days before the beginning of the era of Corporations, the raiders were still engaged in robbery and racketeering of the local population, but now only either completely madmen or a really big Raider Clan can decide to attack a Living Zone, and defenders will most likely know in advance about incoming assault.

Although it is usually not possible to see a really large Clan of Raiders – punitive missions of Knight Houses prevent the formation of such large Outcasts formations, crushing a potential threat to Living Zones in the bud.

Raiders themselves mostly use what they were able to take with them when they were expelled from the Living Zone, and what they were able to loot. The most enterprising Clans do not use, but sell the loot to unofficial dealers from Corporations, in return receiving old Corporations equipment and vehicles that increases the effectiveness of the gang. A lot of Corporate secrets in their Golden Age got to their competitors through the raiders.

It is not possible to exterminate the raiders, exactly like other Outcasts, because they are a product of the Corporate system as such, i.e. how many do not kill them – new ones will take their place.

## 4.2. Mutants.

Also, do not be surprised at the multiple mutants among the Outcasts, after all, they live in the radioactive and toxic Wastelands that the Earth turned into after LOD, because almost every raider gang and sect that spawned after LOD like mushrooms will have mutants and other spawns of Wastelands.

Mutations themselves can be completely different, and to varying degrees disfigure the owner – “Here, as the mother of Radiation will dispose of” mutants prefer to say. Some mutations can harm the host's body, or they can give various unique abilities, whether it's night vision or a stomach capable of digesting even stones. No one has compiled a complete list of all possible mutations, because no one is interested in it, and even if someone took it up, they would spend many years trying to collect and structure millions of varieties of mutations.

Unlike humans, mutants are just more or less a single people, with their own religion and culture. If any agreement is concluded between the two Outcasts groups, then it will be accepted by mutants from both groups.

## 4.3. Sectarians.

The most diverse sects, just like people united under a single ideology, also inhabit Wastelands along with mutants and raiders, conducting their blood rituals, reading books of different orientation. This is the most diverse “caste” of all the Outcasts.

Despite the fact that it is almost impossible to find two similar cults, they can still be divided into two groups:

1.     Classical sects with a religious bias, for example, the Church of the Mother Radiation, whose flock is mainly made up of mutants;

2.     Just ideological meetings, for example, the group of raiders “Weißes Blut” clearly inspired by the image of Nazi Germany, despite the fact that they operate in the south of the Czech Republic.

Almost any Wasteland sect can be summed up under these two groups, but there is also no exact list of them for exactly the same two reasons as the list of mutations.

Also, do not forget that cult agents can be introduced into the society of the Living Zone, for the subsequent seizure of power and obtaining significant resources of the Zone, but so far, according to known data, no one has succeeded. But such a threat cannot be ruled out in any case, because there are constant checks of the population for mutations and other foreign signs

## 4.4. Other Wastelands habitants.

The above-described Outcast societies make up 90% of the total population of the Wastelands, but occasionally Corporate merchant convoys meet such people and inhumans who cannot be attributed to any of these groups.

For example, on May 25, 2084, the convoy of the Tungsram Corporation was following near the Hungarian Living Area “Győr”, which is on the place where the city of the same name once stood, and noticed a strange large boulder rolling almost beyond the horizon. As it turned out further, it was not a boulder but a huge Ball of Flesh – a representative of the megafauna of the Wastelands. Fortunately, it turned out to be non-aggressive, so they did not do anything drastic with it. But rumors have been circulating from that day to this day.

Or here is the cult of the Seven-Eyed Sun, located near Leipzig, and conducting strange rituals, which, however, could end the bad weather season much earlier than expected by meteorologists. Little is known about the cult because its members began to hide extremely much after Corporations began hunting for their secret of weather control.

And these are just two examples out of many similar ones…

# Chapter 5. First Corporation War.

## 5.1. Beginning of the CW1.

The First Corporate War was a natural escalation of those contradictions, of which there were many in the Golden Era of Corporations. It all started with another merchant convoy crossing the English Channel on June 15, 2086 to Europe. It was notable for the fact that it was the first convoy of the British Corporation AVON, working in the field of cosmetics and bioimplants, and in general the first British convoy to Europe. Before that, Europeans themselves came for British-made goods.

But this convoy is not destined to achieve its goal, because it is attacked by raiders in the English Channel, although the highly skilled soldiers who attacked the convoy look little like outcasts. Shortly after the attack, the British from AVON, with the help of the Spanish Roca and the French Tefal, the beneficiaries of the thwarted deal, deployed an agent network throughout corporate Europe, a couple of months later they were looking for the culprit in the face of AVON's competitors - French Yves Rocher, also engaged in cosmetics and implants.

After the discovery of the culprit, the forces of the Knight Houses belonging to Roca and Tefal, represented by the House of Ferdinands and the House of Ludwigs, already known to you, approach the border of the possessions of Yves Rocher, which owned three Life Zones, and invade the territory of one of them, “Bénédiction D'artémis”. This is how the First Corporate War, hereinafter referred to as CW1, began on September 25, 2086.

## 5.2. Description of the main events during the CW1.

The garrison of the “Bénédiction D'artémis” fell quickly, losing 60% of the personnel, mainly consisting of squires, while the rest surrendered. It was an easy victory, but the knights of the Houses of Ludwigs and Ferdinands wanted more than the smallest colony of the enemy. So they did not stop walking deep into the territories of the Yves Rocher Corporation, to Paris, on the ruins of which there was a Life Zone “Sainte-France”, where the headquarters of the Corporation was located.

A lot of military equipment and knights in their power armor were killed in that battle. And the squires died almost completely on both sides, gaining a total of 1,200 people dead. But the battle was still not equal, because the provincial Knightly House of Yves Rocher, the House of Philipps, could not resist against two Houses at the same time, especially when one of them is a Great Knight House. Therefore, the defeat of Yves Rocher was a foregone conclusion. This short but bloody war put an end to the Golden Age of Corporations, beginning the era of Corporate Wars on November 16, 2086.

## 5.3. Consequences of the CW1.

Shortly after the completion of the “holy revenge” of Roca and Tefal, a similar case occurred, but on a smaller scale: the Pannonia Corporation discovered a leak of personal data of its customers, as a result, the Czech Komercni turned out to be guilty. As a result of the hostilities, both sides suffered some losses, and therefore decided to declare peace on the terms of Pannonia.

Then there was a conflict between Siemens and Nokia in the spring of 2087 on the basis of the first accusation of industrial espionage. Even later, there was a CW between the German “MAN” and “Maybach” because they accused each other of carrying out financial fraud. And then another CW, and another, and another…

Corporate wars have become commonplace, never eclipsing that First Corporate War. This continued for the next 3 years from the end of CW1, until on May 15, 2089, the 3rd force in this geopolitical anthill appeared on the scene: the Peacekeepers.

# Chapter 6. Peacemakers.

## 6.1. The formation of peacekeepers as a faction on the geopolitical map of Europe.

After the DOL, there were still survivors on the surface, including the governments of the states of the Old States, who evacuated everyone who was nearby to bunkers, from where people had already gone to the Life Zones belonging to the authorities. Of all the States of the Old World, France, Germany and Hungary have survived.

Having no control even over their territories, the troops of the Old World, somewhat degraded during the isolation, decided to unite into a single formation – Peacemakers, whose task will be similar to UN peacekeepers – to prevent a major bloodshed of the CW1 level, albeit at the cost of a small bloodshed.

Since then, and to this day, having quickly gained credibility with weapons and words, the Peacekeepers act as intermediaries protecting the peace of Europe from external and internal enemies.

## 6.2. Peacemakers field of activity.

Peacekeepers are mainly engaged in peacekeeping missions in the territories of military operations within the framework of the CW, also help local Knight Houses in clearing wastelands from large Clans. They also patrol the borders of Corporative Europe, patrolling the borders with extinct, according to current information: Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Well, one of their fortresses also guards a dangerous isthmus in southern Spain between Europe and Africa. (keep in mind that in my setting I decided to use our geography, not DOL one)

Peacekeepers mainly use Corporate vehicles&equipment, just as Knight Houses for their purposes, because pre-DOL era technologies are mostly either out of order or lost by Peacekeepers. But some of rare archeotech is still in use

They also spy on Corporations for violations on their part. Violators are caught and lynched, which the Peacekeepers use in order to maintain their dominant status in Europe.

## 6.3. Peacemakers relationship with Corporations.

Peacemakers have different relationships with different Corporations. With some they are stretched, with others, on the contrary, warm. Everyone wants to be friends with the Peacekeepers, because if you are their ally, then the data about your dirty deeds may not come to the surface.

Some even supply Peacekeepers with weapons and equipment in order to appease them, and most of them succeed. Those who found themselves in direct disgrace of the Peacekeepers will soon face unpleasant things: sabotage, theft of corporate secrets and other incidents leading to the death of the Corporation as a political unit.

# Bonus Chapter: Potential vector of the development of the WECW setting

## 7.1 American Corporations expedition.

The first option for expanding the setting of WECW is the expedition of American Corporations to Europe in order to establish contact. New technologies, new wars, a new round of the setting. The most preferred option.

## 7.2. Potential collaboration with Konstantin’s JoJack setting.

A collaboration with Konstantin 9723.

"On the territory of the Russian south, what Europe has been fearing all this time happened: Outcasts from the Wastelands took root in the society of the Life Zone and seized it, and then again and again. At the moment, this socialist group has 3 Life Zones, and no one knows what to expect from them next...’

## 7.3. Rediscovery and establishment of contacts with the Far East survivors.

An option similar to the first, only this time Europe itself is sending an expedition to Asia, to China in order to establish contact with the survivors. Who knows what they will find there: monsters unseen before, or pre-DOL era technologies…

# Epilogue

That's All what i did this far. If u liked it u can ask me (Igor The Bylarge) on Temple of Enlightment (LOD official discord).