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CITY 62 - CITY OF CONSCRIPTS
<:: Status: Socio-Stable ::>
<:: Status: Socio-Stable ::>
"Welcome to the Arteria, kid. You'll get used to the cold. Everyone does." |
Current City Administrator: GIDEON MÄKILÄ
<:: Overview ::>
City 62, known to locals as Turku, is an ancient city in Finnish history, so ancient that its existence was the impetus for Finland's name. It has traded hands for years and was considered the first capital of Swedish power in the region. Pleasant and humid during the summer and biting cold during the winter, it rests on the mouth of the Aura River, a once-proud beacon of Finnish history, now reduced to a shadow of its former self, beneath the jackboot of the Combine. The imposing CITY 62 CITADEL SUPERSTRUCTURE towers above the skyline, even above the 62 Nexus, a building retrofit from the ancient Turku Cathedral. Turku is considered to be the unofficial headquarters of the Militant Arm-Arteria, thanks to the presence of the Conscript Reorganization Program and Academy 'ARTERIA' attached to the city's walls for easy deployment into the Outlands for training exercises. The rest of the city is divided into two sections: an industrial center for goods production and a harbor to import and export said goods through a Supply Depot on the docks.
<:: History ::>
The first-known documented location of the city of Turku was in 1154, featured on the world map of Al-Idrisi. Finland was in constant conflict with Baltic Germans and the Novgorod Russians throughout its early existence. The tension in the area boiled over when the Livonian Order in Latvia went on a crusade; the dominos were placed and were kicked over as quickly as they were set. Pagans in the region fought hard against the ineffective Order but buckled in combat as Scandinavia turned against them.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, the then Christianized kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden launched crusades against the country. Sweden’s close distance to the Finnish lakes helped them take bites out of their land. As an important trade city, Turku was the first to fall – as the years marched on. Crusade after crusade tore through Finland, soon the entire region would be brought under Swedish control, and the Finnish would taste the fury that brews RESISTANCE for the first time.
The Russian Years would begin after the Finnish Wars against the Swedish and Russian Empires resulted in the ceding of Finnish land in 1809. Under the Grand Duchy of Finland, Russia would levy furious taxes on the Finnish, alongside a strong campaign of Russification on its people, seeking to displace the population there and replace it with only Russians. In the wake of the Russian Revolution in 1917, so too would the Finnish boil in war, fought between Red and White factions seeking to control the nation. Turku was controlled, at the time, by the Reds, but thanks to assistance from the fading German Empire, the White Guard would reign victorious, and a republic would be founded by their government.
Pictured: Turku Cathedral, c. 1814
Turku's history would remain mostly uneventful through the coming years, avoiding the onslaught of the Soviet Union as it invaded from the east. Throughout the 50s and 60s, a massive construction campaign arose as the rise of apartments and automobile traffic forced the city to accommodate the changing times. By the time Turku had reached the 21st century, it was a glorious beacon of progress, truly rewarding itself with the name "Paris of Finland."
Pictured: Winter in Turku, months before the Black Mesa Incident
It was truly unfortunate, that the Black Mesa Incident would dismantle it all. As portal storms swarmed through every corner of the Earth, Turku and Finland would be ravaged by the chaos. Finland's minuscule military, resources, and precarious geopolitical position sunk fear into the hearts of all in the nation. With the help of the effective government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs making trades and deals for food and military assistance, private included, many of the urban centers of Finland would be protected. The millions of lakes would begin to house the dreaded Ichthyosaurs and demolish fish supplies, Antlions would tear through fields of crops in the south. Finland was beginning to lose hope, and it seemed that the worse was yet to come.
On that fateful day in 2003, reports from Russia drifted to Finland, about an unknown force waging an effective and catastrophic war. Within minutes, cacophonous noise was heard all across Finland, from the Arctic to Finland Proper. Gunships descended on cities, dropship deployed chitinous alien creatures that poured through the portal storms like insects. Hundreds of thousands of Finnish men, young and old, were conscripted into the army. More civilians took up arms with hunting rifles, knives, camouflage suits, and more, but these aliens seemed magical. Like a sign from the ancient god Ukko, their world was coming to an end.
The President of the time abandoned Helsinki, as the alien force descended upon the capital and tore it to pieces. Much of the surviving government, sans most of the executive body, fled to the neighboring city of Turku, where they scattered to find anywhere to repair the nation. Every surviving member was to find every radio station that they could and order them to keep fighting, but Gideon Mäkilä had other plans. He could tell where this war was going -- only a few hours had passed and dozens of nations had already capitulated. Africa in its entirety was lost, most of Asia was destroyed, and Europe would be next. Delivering a speech to all of Finland, he alone declared the surrender of Finland, right as the Combine came to squeeze out the rest of the executive man.
Because of one man's cowardice, the pride of Finland was destroyed, forever to be trampled by the Combine's indomitable will.
Now, thousands of Finnish men and women are conscripted into the Militant Arm-Arteria, where they are taken to Academy 'ARTERIA' on the outskirts of City 62, trained to be an effective force, even if they aren't nearly as powerful or effective as the Civil Protection. For this reason, the city is often nicknamed 'City of Conscription.' Thanks to the efforts of now Administrator Gideon Mäkilä and the Legislative Assembly, City 62 is a decent place to live; food, medical care, housing, work, and more are supplied by the Mäkilä administration, and the citizens live happily under the imposing City 62 Citadel. Notably, the city is a bulwark of Collaboration and Humanist Theory in Northern Europe, one of the few cities outside of Sector 10 to apply it. But, new developments have been made in the outlands that threaten to upset this peace...
...graffiti, showing up in all parts of the city, depicting lions arranged in four.
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