Ral'Parthia

Ral'Parthia is a chain of islands in the Counterweize Region. Originally called Geth, the character of the island changed dramatically during the early part of the New Day.

History

Geth

Note: write the history of Geth sometime

Ral'Parthia

Ethnic Cleansing in Serpentia

During the Long Night, a group of people called Ral had been brough to Serpentia and Shenzen to work in Samuel Fate's few industrial centers. In actual fact the Ral were simple off-worlders drawn from existing industrial regions because they had the skills needed to build new factories and refineries. However, they brought with them a secret religion which did not mesh especially well with the bastardized secretive versions of Cardinalism which existed under Fate's regime.

Through the millennia, the Ral maintained a sort of specialized status. During the Long Night in Serpentia, you either worked as a slave in the mines, a slave on the collective farms, or if you were very lucky got to live in one of the factory cities and work. With no formal education, most workers learned trades from there parents, and as such Ralians had a virtual monopoly on the highly sought-after skilled jobs.

This led to very deep-seated disdain for the Ral, who even after living among the locals for so long, were still hated. They were painted as collaborators, willing workers for Fate's brutal regime, and were the subject of considerable discrimination. When Fate was destroyed, new governments quickly sprang up to fill the power vacuum. The Ral had always been a minority, if a fairly large one, and with what passed for democracy, the color of their skin and different beliefs were enough to set them apart.

In the year that would later be known as N.D. 9, the newly-formed free governments of nations across Serpentia and Shenzen embarked upon a campaign to rid themselves of "undesirables". The Ral were the main target of the cleansing, but any other groups deemed 'unfit' were targeted as well. Originally, in Serpentia most specifically, the plan had been to round up every ethnic Ral and put them to work as forced labor, "turning the tables" as it were. However, with war looming against neighboring Foundation-controlled Modia, a more expedient solution was proposed.

In late ND 9, with winter fast approaching, the Ralian ghettos were emptied out, their inhabitants herded onto ships, and hastily rushed across the sea to the continent of Geth in the Counterweize Region. The evacuation which had little planning, was surprisingly well-organized. In just 29 days, over thirty-six million people were transported to Geth, over one hundred times the native population. Ten million would not survive the winter.

Forced Re-Settlement

The Ralians were dropped on Geth with little more than the worn and tattered clothes on their backs. Absolutely no thought was given to where they would live or what they would eat, and the governments who had ejected them very likely intended that most die in the harsh, untamed wilderness. This brutal act of subjigation, however, was enough to solidify the Ralians.

Almost a third died in the first winter, but those who survived immediately set to work. Since most had been educated, after a fashion, they had extensive knowledge of chemistry, geology, and hydrology. Geth was chosen partially because it had little water on the surface, but the Ralians set to work daming rivers and streams. Though they had little agricultrual knowledge, they adapted quickly, and by the following fall had learned to live off the land enough that not a single Ral perished in the second winter.

By N.D. 11, they had spread out and begun to build towns. The small population of technologically-regressed locals were absorbed into the Ralian's new society, and many of their religous practices became part of Ral culture. They named the new land Ral'Parthia.

Birth of a Nation

Ral'Parthia proved to be measurably rich in natural resources, with vast reserves of tungsten, aluminum, iron, nickel, and rare-earth metals, as well as a major oil field. There was initially some concern it would be claimed by the Trans-Draconic Federation(due to proximity to dragon-controlled Iami, but the lack of any gold discovered made it uninteresting.

The resources were, however, sought-after by the Earth-Sphere Confederation, who were no regretting "wasting" the place on the Ral. By this time, Shenzen had built up a considerable naval power, and thought it would be a simple matter to concur "primitive and remote Ral'Parthia". They had, by this time, advanced weapons, industrial capacity, and the ability to move an army a million strong across the sea. Though both the TDF and Foundation objected, Shenzen launched it's invasion in N.D. 33.

What followed was one of the most one-sided battles in history.

Battle for Ral'Parthia

The ConFeds had, after expelling the Ralians, learned to use much of the advanced technology left behind by Samuel Fate. They'd quickly taught themselves to build new ships, guns, aircraft, everything they needed. Their belief was that, without these factories and their advanced machines, the Ralians stood no chance of matching them technologically.

In their haste, they had forgotten an important fact of history: Ral had been brought to Aren because they knew how to BUILD those advanced machines. The Ral's leaders had, from the bitter months of that first winter, made up their minds that since this land had been given to them, they would hold it against all comers. When the Shenzen invasion fleet sailed, the answer was simple: let them come.

When Shenzen's war party arrived, they faced a guantlet of mines, torpedoes, and fast-attack boats. The ConFeds had made quite a big deal about their battleships, then armed with massive sixteen-inch guns. This was all well and good, except they were still optically-guided. Ralian's radar-guided five-inch naval guns were far more accurate, and made up the deficiency in firepower by landing more shots. Moreover, the Ralians had secretly built an intensely powerful navy of their own.

The defense of the Newland(as Ralians called it) was not meant to stem the invasion, only to blunt it. Attacks focused not on warships but on troop transports, sinking them by the dozens. Of the million soldiers who left Shenzen, only 700,000 arrived to storm the beaches. They found themselves facing a well-prepared, in-depth defense, and an enemy perfectly content to die rather than give up one single inch. Worse still, while the Ralians were willing to die for their young country, they proved much more interested in killing for it. They made particularly heavy use of poison gas and nerve agents. As these were expressly forbidden by the Battle Charter, the ConFed forces arrived utterly unprepared for them.

In fact, the Ralians had, it seemed, taken the "banned and forbidden weapons" section of the Charter as their guidebook. In addition to the regularly-expected methods, their in-depth defenses included spike pits, minimal metal landmines