NO LONGER UPDATED // The Illium Empire

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

Welcome, my fellow Simptropians! This here is my very first CJ As it is my first, I don't expect it to be near as fancy as any of the others, but I am having a blast making it.

 

In today's Update, I'm going to first show you the two current tiles I have. The first, Illium City, is intended to be the Capitol City of the Illium Region (which is a self-made 1:1 scale of Ace Combat 6's "Gracemeria"). The second is Nos Astros County. Note: Most, if not all of this is fictional. Names have been used from several sources, including Stargate SG1, Mass Effect, and Real Life.

 

Anywho, STORYTIME! Note: I'll be addressing the general public as if they were a high-ranking military commander of another Ally nation.

 

 

 

:::Welcome to Illium City:::

 

 

Rainy night tonight, sir. We'll be flying into Illium International. Might want to buckle up. Pilot says there could be some turbulence on approach. If you'll look out your rightside window as we land, you'll see Illium City's industrial district. Most of our dirty manufacturing has moved farther inland. Illium City enjoys clean air thanks to a boost in high-tech industry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry about the bumpy flight in, Commander. Thankfully, we're riding along I185, which was repaved a little over a year ago. It was rated the smoothest ride in the country. Oh! We're crossing Memorial Avenue! On the left is our crown-jewel of shopping, the Illium City Mall. On the right is Steven M. Davidson Memorial Hospital. Possibly our greatest remembered war hero, Staff Sergeant Davidson gave his life for former Queen Sariah and ensured her safety 20 years ago. Almost any Illian can recite the story verbatim. He drove his Tank straight into a wall of infantry and light vehicles and kept them occupied long enough to keep the palace from being overrun by enemy forces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anywho, moving on, we're now crossing over University Drive. On the right, you'll see the University of Illium. Finest university in the nation! Sir, if you'd like, I can pull some strings and have your daughter begin next semester here. Intelligence says she's a great Cello player, and the U of I Chamber Orchestra is ranked #1 in the world!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We need to make a stop by the Capitol District before I drop you off at your new house. That large central building is our Parliament building. Just to the right of it is the Sariah Memorial. Queen Sariah, you'll learn, is probably the 2nd best leader we've ever had, following our current leader, Queen Alexis II. Behind the Sariah memorial is the Ministry of Defense. That's our stop. We're going to run inside and get you full security clearance. This won't take long at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alrighty, let's get you to your house. This is it! 4535 Talon Cir. I'll pick you up at 9am. Sleep well, sir!

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Good Morning Sir! I hope you slept well. Today I'm we're going to visit a neighboring county, but it's quite a drive. Let's stop for coffee! Now that the sun's up and that rain's gone, you can see the beauty of the neighborhood we've put you in. This part of the city is called Grapevine. This and Arbor Glen near the financial district are the two wealthiest areas of the city! How about that view?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:::Nos Astros County:::

 

 

Well, sir, we're entering Nos Astros county. Here is where most of the food for Eastern Illium City is grown. The two small towns, Prosper and Jasper are located within this county. Prosper has exploded in population in the past two years, going from just over 800 to almost 4000 residents after I185 finished all the way through. Jasper has been around for a while, but now that the I630 Bypass is connected with I185, it's looking like a good area for population growth too. Here's a quick map of the city limits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First, sir, we'll stop by Jasper in the southeast portion of the county. The mayor is an old friend of mine. It's a quiet town of about 700. I'm planning on retiring here, if they ever let me go! *chuckle*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next stop is in the City of Prosper. We're travelling on Regional Highway 42 right now. On the left, sir, you'll see Prosper High School, home of the Prosper Broncos, which serves all of Nos Astros County. Well, for now, at least. And here's the Food Lion, our local Grocery store, and the pharmacy. We are coming up on I185. On the left is the Holiday Inn hotel. Prosper is generally a popular spot to stay when travelling in and out of Illium City.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crossing under 185, on the right, you'll see Nos Astros medical center. This is a recent addition to the town, and it helped spawn the growth of Prosper. It needs a staff of almost 500. While a good portion travel from the city, most of the staff stay here in Prosper or in Jasper. And this intersection, RH 42 and Main Street, is the original town center. Plans to widen and make a roundabout are still on the table at town hall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And our last stop for today is the newest portion of Prosper. This mostly developed after the hospital was built. Five years ago, it was just an empty road. The only thing around were the cattle loading stations on the railroad and a couple of ranch houses, and nothing but fields. There are more plans to expand further north from here along RH 94 (which runs between the cattle loading stations.

 

 

 

 

 

Until next time!

[Benedict 3,119]

Great first update.

[De Ja Vu 117]

Nice job on Illium city. You should make a slum city and call it Omega

[emperordaniel 1,281]

Fantastic first update! I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more from you!

[Schulmanator 5,799]

Sounds cool... I look forward to more.

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

:: REPLIES/NOTES ::

De Ja Vu: I think it just might be my industrial "Omega City". Also thinking about putting a scenic area on the Kingston Peninsula named "Citadel Point" and a port city south of Whitworth called "Port Virmire" Hell, Further west is a mountain range. Snow city of Noveria, anyone? Thanks, DJV for your input! I *love* community input. It helps me out all the time.

Emperordaniel, Benedict, Shulmanator: Thanks! I can always appreciate positive comments!

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Notes: So my posts will be in this format from now on. I'll be posting my regional base picture and roadmap update, followed by current tile updates. I'll sometimes revisit tiles to improve them. Others I will be showing new tiles. Some of the towns or landmarks may have the name of a local Simtropolis CJ, as my own little way to pay homage to my favorite CJ's (example, Lake Windemere in today's update) Todays update will feature a new tile and a front page view of the Illium newspaper!

:: NEWS ::

:: REGION UPDATE ::

Region so Far: So Maddigan County has developed nicely to the west of Illium City. My farms couldn't grow because I already passed the population max and my residents were too smart (EQ too high) before I had zoned my Ag. The only way to fix it would be to demolish terrain and restart the city, which I'm not doing. Thankfully, Photoshop does wonders to give it an illusion.

**Footnote: Please note that "Illium" should say "Illium City"

Regional Roadmap: As you can see, I've got a definite view of how I want everything laid out. The current city limits planner include "planned" cities/towns for tiles I haven't done yet, but that already have a foothold in the story. I will more than likely add more cities to this, especially to the north and west of current development. I've also got my highway sign set which you can see -

HERE-. I hope to one day learn how to get them lotted. I can model no problem, it's converting my models to BAT and then ingame where I am lost. Anywho, My central and main artery highway will be Inter-Regional Highway (IH)-75 running N-S and my E-W Main Artery will be IH-161, unless I modify IH-75 near downtown Illium City. I have not yet decided if I wish to add an artery IH into downtown Illium City, but if I do, it will be IH-20. I'm looking very forward to creating IH-8 on the coast. It will prove to be an engineering challenge!

**Footnote: Unlike the US Standard, the region of Illium's Inter-Regional Highways are numbered in the order construction began on them.

:: MADDIGAN CITY ::

Welcome to Maddigan City: Here we can see downtown Maddigan City. The city itself has a population of just over 20,000, making it the fifth largest city in the region, and largest suburb of the Illium City Metropolitan area.

Remember This?: Ohhh, Maddigan City South Senior High School, home of the MCSH Cougars, sits right in the center of a wealthy terrace neighborhood called "Arbor Glen". The MCSH Lady Cougar soccer team generally go to nationals. The Football team, however, has been plagued with scandal after scandal, ranging from graffiti of the school to rape of a chearleader. Needless to say, the football team has been suspended for the next three academic semesters, and funding has been diverted to renovating the science labs.

Construction Woes: The next couple of shots depict the traffic nightmare in Maddigan City. Four months ago, a driver fell asleep at the wheel going under IH-75 on Sutherland Ave and rammed headfirst into a tanker truck carrying JP8 (Jet Fuel). The truck burst into flames, killing both drivers. The heat of the flames warped the metal and caused major damage to the IH-75 overpass. The bridge was closed, deemed unsafe by the Illium Highway Authority. Construction is, thankfully, nearing a close. Construction Management stated yesterday that the project is slated to finish and the highway will open by Christmas just a month from now. Although it makes traffic worse, Maddigan City City-Works officials are using the construction to install a natural gas pipeline beneath the frontage road.

:: FOX RIVER ::

Small town turned suburban sprawl: Fox river, seen in the next two shots, was originally just a rural farm town a few years ago. In the last 4 years, the town's population has increased nearly 350%, growing exponentially faster than it's suburban neighbor, Maddigan city. The town has developed southward and westward along Churchill creek. The developer of the newest addition, a suburb on the north end, has recently come under fire for constructing homes without checking the ground for contaminates from nearby Maddigan City's industrial complex. So far, surrounding areas, including Churchill Creek (see bottom right of images) have all tested negative for ground contaminates.

**Footnote: Note the use of "Frontage Roads", a common suburban feature. It allows easy access to the IH while still allowing for street and road connection (albeit as a general rule of thumb, there are no stoplights other than those designated as roads the IH exits for.) The Frontage roads westward end after the last exit in Fox River.

:: OUTLYING VILLAGES ::

Little Hou-err.. town on the prairie: With a population of only 64 people, Krum is quite possibly the smallest documented town on the Illium regional map. It sits beautifully on the southwest corner of Lake Windemere, hidden back away from any major highways. For this reason, Krum doesn't see many visitors, so outsiders staying here always get a more-than-generous welcome from the locals.

Longest school district name ever: Maddigan County Saint Anthony Annex Independent School District has placed all 3 county schools in one convenient spot; Saint Anthony High School, home of the SAHS Moose. Yep, you heard it right. The Saint Anthony Fighting Moose. Also shown is Lansing Middle School and New Haven Elementary. The SASH FFA usually helps staff the equine vet across the street. Local town games are also played on the field. Watch the billboard, though! Officer Ryan Warner likes to hide behind it and catch speeders in the school zone. Don't think you can outrun him, either. His 2010 Dodge Charger has a supercharged 6.1L Hemi under the hood pushing out over 500 horsepower. He once chased down and arrested a speeder driving a Lamborghini Reventón. True story.

The quiet crossroads... whatever that means: The town of St. Anthony is a serene town in the woods of Maddigan County. It sits on the crossroads of Regional Highway 45 and County Road 4598, making it a popular tourist destination during the changing of the seasons festivals. The town was build around a natural spring, which is now fenced off and made into a park. The spring provides water and swimming recreation to the city. Thankfully, the Olde Tyme folks went with the times and installed a microbial Hydroflush X955 filtration system into the spring pump to ensure that no punk city kids pee in in the spring and contaminate drinking water.

It's like Forks, WA, but without sparkling vampires: Here is the "crown jewel" of Maddigan county. Yarahi Heights is a split-part coastal town, with half on the mainland and the other half on the Yarahi Peninsula. It is a very popular tourist destination, especially for hikers. Coincidentally, several high ranking members of Her Majesty's government have condos and summer homes here (see next post). Thanks to its position inside the Illium Bay, the town is almost never affected by large storm surge waves, but still enjoys a coastal breeze that keeps the area comfortable with temperatures hoving around 70 degrees year-round. Because it is such a beautiful place to live, property values have increased tenfold in some places. Houses that generally go for $70,000WSD (world standard credits or $105,000 USD) can sometimes run past a half million credits. Nonetheless, residents feel it's worth the price to live in YarahiHeights.

Live Long, And Prosper: Lady Tiffany L. Oberlender, the Queen's niece and Ambassador to Dakara, returned two days ago week from her month-long trip to Dakara. She was there to continue talks with Dakaran officials on the Calistan Crisis and the recent deployment of the 7th Imperial Fleet. Her house, a beautiful hilltop villa, sits atop the highest point of the Yarahi Peninsula, due north of Yarahi Heights. Her house is patrolled by police constantly to keep would-be assassins out, even more now that the Calistan Crisis is escalating (hence the police car out front). Lady Tiffany also believes strongly in renewable energy sources, and had Wind Farm built to power her villa and nearby homes. Lady Tiffany provides her round-the-clock security forces a fully stocked manor to stay, and provided the few with families homes in nearby Yarahi Heights, courtesy of the Illium Ministry of Defense.

[emperordaniel 1,281]

Awesome job! I especially like the red bridge in pic 2 and the newspaper

[simlink 1,098]

Love the region map! Fantastic job on... everything. Looking forward to more!

[Follarch 326]

Hahah! LOVE it!

My curiosity instantly perked when I saw Illium. Nice work changing Nos Astra to Nos Astros.

Really cool work developing the cities! You've got good layout and city planning here. Also, I just have to say this...

COMMAND AND CONQUER 3!!! 8D

[Yarahi 1,823]

residents feel it's worth the price to live in Yarahi Heights

Mah citi Gotta love this

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

So I deeply apologize for my lack of updates. I am not at home so I don't have regular internet connection. Before I left though, I did lots of work and hope to finalize my next update next week.

So, to keep your interest, I will tease you with this Image

Kieran Creek

[emperordaniel 1,281]

Pretty cool

[Vahr 343]

Wow, this is a really nice CJ! The cities/towns are built very well, I'm liking the image effects, and there's even some roadgeekery! I approve

[Follarch 326]

GEEZ! That's some awesome planning. I'm in LOVE with creeks and rivers like that, you've blended so much stuff seamlessly together.

Now I really want to go fishing..

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

:: REPLIES/NOTES ::

Yarahi: Your help was so much appreciated in directing me places and helping me fix some things, so naming that coastal community after you was my pleasure!

Emperordaniel: Thanks, as always!

Blue Lightning: I absolutely LOVE road-geekery! I enjoy the challenges of making things fairly realistic, while still adding that fantasy element. I love to write, and this is the perfect opportunity to add a "setting" to my writings!

Archean: Thank you so much. Your continued support of my CJ is always appreciated! Keep an eye out, as you will have a park in your name soon in an upcoming update. I must admit, _marsh_ and his awesome stuff inspires me to push the limits of SC4 and make things more realistic.

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Notes: My lack of updates has been thanks to a fairly large update, and of course learning new techniques. Oh and I suppose real life had a play in it too, you know, Renaissance Faire in Houston, No internet where I'm at, and dealing with school.

**WARNING** This post contains a large mosaic that may take time to load. Thankfully, ST forums resize images. I found that cutting the images up actually INCREASED load times, as total the images ran 5.5 MB. Together, the Image size is only 3.2 MB.

:: WORLD UPDATE::

:: NEWS ::

:: REGION UPDATE ::

Region so Far: As you can see, Port Virmire and Jasmin have bloomed into existance!

Regional Roadmap: Well, IH-8 is complete, and the city of "Plano" never came into existence. Instead, Port Virmire and the city of Jasmin took it's placed.

:: CITY OF JASMIN ::

Existance is Futile.. Unless This is Here: Well, Here we can see the entire reason that this area exists. Port Virmire is a medium-sized Naval Air Station. Port Virmire exists solely as the last Line-Of-Defense in terms of Naval Warfare for Illium City. Original planners did not want the port in Illium City, and set it some ways away. Seen here at night, Port Virmire is busy preparing for the upcoming assault on Calistan Territory.

Speak up, young'un...: While Illium still holds Naval Superiority over Calistan, older ships are still used for combat support roles. The HMS Arcadia, one of Illium's oldest active carriers, is standing by to deploy with the 12th Support Fleet soon. She's currently taking on supplies for the upcoming deployment.

So here's the big picture: Moving on to the town itself, I'll start you off with a beautiful mosaic of Jasmin. Note that the camera is facing westward. Virmire Ave runs north-south. West of the avenue sits Jasmin High School, home of the Tigers. The Tigers have an excellent football team, the other sports teams are coming up fast in the national rankings. JHS also happens to be within the confines of a very affluent neighborhood, and GPA's tend to be higher here. Illium's standardized test, the Illium Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (IAKS) committee has stated that JHS had the second highest scores in the region, boosting them to 5th place in National rankings. East of Virmire Ave runs Kieran Creek. On the south side (left) of the creek, is the neighborhood of Litchfield, home to Hanlon Park, a place where you can literally relax in the woods. On the north side (right) of Kieran Creek, you can find the neighborhood of Azle. This is the most recent addition to Jasmin, and also the richest according to Family Income Statistics. On average, Azle residents make around $350,000-$500,000SWC ($475,000-$750,000USD).

**NOTE** Some browsers may cause the image to be "cut off", and if that's the case for you, a link to the image is -HERE-.

The Trees Take Offense to Aluminum Bats: Here is a closer look at Hanlon Park. The Gazebo out back is a resting place for those who want to explore the trails that run along the creek. The baseball field is community maintained, and during the summer season, sometimes bald patches begin to show. This is not uncommon, and neither Litchfield residents or Jasmin city officials are bothered by it. Citizens voted several months ago on the issue of maintenance, however a vast majority felt that city resources should be devoted elsewhere.

You Totally Just Got Trolled By Flowers: So this pretty little place sits on the south side of Kieran Creek, east of the Litchfield neighborhood. Alyssa Park is in remember of Alyssa C. McClendon, a young girl who was brutally murdered by her estranged stepfather 25 years ago. While the story is a sad one, her family chose to keep her memory as a happy one. Their strong will led city officials to clear the spot of woods where she was killed and built a beautiful wildflower park. You can also see just to the north (right) Kieran Creek, winding through the Virmire forest.

Need a beauty shot? MYSPACE POSE, 1.2.3.GO!: This is just a closer nature shot of Kieran Creek as it starts. It runs under the town into the Virmire Bay. This can be seen in the "Show us your.. Nature." thread as well.

Stickin' out like a sore thumb: So here is a very out-of-the-way, yet very important part of the Jasmin economy. A small industrial park sits in the far-northeast corner of the area, far from any other development. Originally, it was just a natural gas power plant, the Spencer Generating Station that provided power to Port Virmire when it was a small base. Once the town of Jasmin grew, Helfer Logistics built a large distribution center here, shortly followed by a military railyard. The rest of the industrial park expanded afterwards. The Spencer Generating Station is nearing the end of it's lifespan, and plans to demolish it are already on the city council's table. the SGS is no longer needed, as Port Virmire and Jasmin run off of the newly constructed Virmire Hydrogen Plant..

Coastal Livin' like a BOSS: This shot shows IH-8 running through Jasmin. The original part of the town developed south of IH-8. Development has expanded northward, somewhat stunting development in the older portion of the city. City officials and citizens are still voting and debating on spending $21.4 Million credits on a "facelift" of old-town Jasmin. (this means community input. What should I do with the southern portion of Jasmin?)

The ORIGINAL Expansion Pack: Seen here is the first development for the city of Jasmin on the north side of IH-8. A commercial strip has recently developed after being re-zoned when a major road from the industrial park extended south then west into the town.

Until Next Time!

  Edited November 16, 2011 by daTSchikinhed  

[emperordaniel 1,281]

Awesome update :O

[Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ 273]

Absoultely fantastic update! I'm quite curious as to how you made that map at the top. Is there a photoshop tutorial on this?

  Edited November 19, 2011 by Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ  

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

REPLIES:

Emperordaniel: Thanks again!

Element: No, there's no photoshop material. it's simply just imagination, patience and good knowledge of photoshop's filters and styles. It is, however, time consuming.

NOTE: As you can see from the "status" above my avatar, I am completely rebuilding Illium City, from the ground up. The previous city was poorly designed, and even more poorly constructed. So I went on a killing spree! EVERYTHING was destroyed, and I used the profits made from the previous (yet poorly designed) city to begin construction on New Illium City. The next update will include not only my usual update style, but also a riveting story of loss and mourning as well as honor, courage and bravery. I apologize for the teasing this update will give you, but I will make up for it next week with the story. For now, a teaser.

Downtown Illium City!

  Edited December 2, 2011 by daTSchikinhed  

[Benedict 3,119]

Your downtown is very striking at night - beautifully lit.

[packersfan 666]

Wow. Great photos. I love the fog and mist on the river. Your region is really spreading out quickly!

[rewright 804]

You've done some fine work with Kieran Creek, the ball field with it's original parking lot and the elevated highway. Great job on the highway ramps too.

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

:: REPLIES/NOTES ::

Benedict: Thanks. It wont be lit for too much longer though...

Packersfan: Thank you! I'm looking forward to spreading it out.

Rewright: Thank you!

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Notes: This Update will feature a story. It's got a lot of reading, so be ready.

:: WORLD UPDATE::

-NO CURRENT WORLD UPDATE-

:: NEWS ::

-NO NEWSPAPER AVAILABLE-

:: REGION UPDATE ::

-NO CURRENT REGION UPDATES-

:: THE FALL OF ILLIUM CITY ::

- “Uhh, I-SAT, I’m reading in excess of a hundred warships in the Illium Bay. Are you getting this, over?”

- “Roger JCOM, they came out of nowhere! Our network was down for a bit thanks to maintenance on our receiver tower. The fix had us down for 28 hours. The network had just finished its reboot then alarms went off everywhere. I don’t know how they got here so fast, but it looks like the whole damned Calistan navy is at our front door. JCOM, what’s the plan, over?”

- “I see it. ONI, get on the horn with the DefMin. I’ll hop get on the line with Her Majesty. I-SAT, I need you to get our birds in the air ASAP. I’m setting Condition Black. I repeat, we are now in Condition Black, over.”

- “Roger that JCOM. Please advise the bay bridge perimeter has been compromised. Our monitoring outposts are dark. I say again, our monitoring outposts are dark. ONI is blind, over.”

- “Affirmative. Will advise Her Majesty. Please advise, I-SAT, you are now callsign Athena. ONI, you are now callsign Poseidon. JCOM is now callsign Apollo. Confirm.”

- “Roger. ONI, callsign Poseidon. Good luck Apollo. Athena, I need those eyes. Get them in the air, and soon. Poseidon out.”

- “Affirmative. AWACS Designation ZEUS en-route. ETA 15 minutes. Athena out.”

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- “Athena, this is Zeus. We’re dropping below the cloud level. We should have a visual inten seconds.”

- “Roger, Zeus. Start your scan as soon as you drop below the cloud deck. I needtargeting data for the counterstri-“

- “MISSILE LAUNCH! HARD RIGHT! Athena, we are under fire!

- “Zeus, get out of there! Fall back to the mainland!”

- “HARD LEFT! Egress, egress! $%&^!, we’re hit! Athena please be advised, Zeus iscompromised! I’ve lost all control. I’m in a lateral spin. Losing altitude.I’ll do what I can to hold on to her.”

- “Bail, Zeus! BAIL!"

- “No time, Athena. Kat, finish up your scan. Relay any relevant target data toAthena. We still have time before we hit the ground!”

- “Zeus, that target data isn’t worth your lives! GET. OUT. NOW!”

- “Negative Athena. That data will save a lot of lives… We’re almost done here. Just acouple more seconds… aaaaand, got it! Relaying now!”

“ - I’ve got it, Zeus. Now bail out!”

- “Too late, Athena. May the Gods lead us to victory. Imperivata Illius. Tell HerMajes-”

- *static*

- “…Imperivata Illius…”

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Queen Alexis Sariah II awoke with a start. At first, she thought she was stil ldreaming. She sat up and pulled her long brunette hair back, rolling her neck to relieve the stiffness. A loud bang came from her left. Someone was banging on her door. She shook her head, and turned on the red draped lamp near herlavish black and red satin bed. The Queen put on her glasses to better see. The banging continued. She was groggy and uncoordinated, and the banging rang in her head like a church bell.

“Jus ta moment!” she yelled. “Can’t I get justone full night of sleep?” she asked herself. Another sharp bang on her door echoed through her chambers. Then without warning, the door opened, and a team of heavily armed Imperial Guards poured in, followed by a tall man in his mid-forties wearing a pinstriped suit and an armor vest. This stark contrast of the suit and vest alarmed Queen Alexis.

“What in the name of the Gods…? Minister, what is going on?” she asked, fully alert now.

“Your Majesty, the city is under attack. We have to leave. Now!” said the tall man.His voice was deep and full. It commanded authority, matching his body build. “JCOM, just alerted me. It seems a large Calistan fleet is inside Illium bay.They’re bombarding the city.”

“What?!” she cried, completely alarmed, “This is impossible! How did they get through the defense net?” spouted the Queen. She instantly ran to the chamber window that overlooked the city. Sure enough, black plumes of smoke were illuminated by the city lights. A flash of light emanated from out to sea, and shortly afterwards, an explosion erupted from somewhere in the industrial district.

The Queen straitened up, and faced the Commander of the Imperial Guard. “Genevieve, please wake the girls. I want them on the first transport out of the palace. Get them to the Northern Palace as quickly as possible,” she ordered.

“Yes ma’am,” said a female voice behind the mask.

The queen spoke again, this time to the Defense Minister, “Get me another transport prepped and ready for takeoff in ten minutes. Begin evacuating the palace. While you’re at it, get JCOM on the horn. I’ll be there in half an hour to assess the situation. I want a full SITREP on everything they have so far. Have them check, recheck, and check again to make sure this is not just a city-wide terrorist attack. If the Calistan fleet really is on our doorstep, we need to prepare for a full evacuation of the southern coast. Calistan will level everything without remorse.”

“I’m on it, your majesty. I’ll be on the transport waiting for you. Ten minutes?” asked the Minister.

“Ten minutes. Make sure Commander Spoor gets my girls out of here,” said the Queen, thinking of her two daughters.

“Yes ma’am,” nodded the Minister. At this, he walked out of the door, already dialing the Illium Joint Command.

Queen Alexis spun on the spot and briskly walked to her closet. She slipped off her nightgown and grabbed a black and red business suit. While she slipped on theskirt, she reached to her bedside table and touched a blue square on a white pad. Instantly, a holographic display of a young woman behind a desk came up.

“Yes, your majesty?” asked the young lady.

“Aler tme when the transport carrying my daughters is away, Julie,” said Queen Alexis as she pulled a white blouse over her head.

“Yes ma’am. Would you like to me to also alert you when your transport is ready?” inquired the secretary.

“No. As soon as you hear about my daughters, just go. It’s only a matter of time before they begin to target the palace. I don’t want you here when they do,” the Queen replied.

“Your majesty, I’m not going anywhere without you. You sho-” the young secretary was cut short when an explosion rocked the palace. The holographic screen dimmed momentarily as lights flickered throughout the palace. The secretary screamed as shards of glass and concrete fell on and around her.

“I’m coming Julie!” yelled Queen Alexis. She finished buttoning up her red blazer, then ran to her closet and grabbed her armor vest. She slipped it on and zipped it up. Another explosion rolled through the palace, this one much closer than the last. Dust fell from the ceiling as Queen Alexis ran to her door and thrust it open. The scene before her stopped her heart. Down the stair, in the large entrance hall laid a pile of rubble. The ceiling had completely collapsed. Just to the left of the pile was the white desk where her secretary had screamed from moments earlier. The desk looked relatively unarmed, bar a few chunks of concrete and glass scattered on it.

“Julie! Are you there?” shouted the Queen.

“I’m here, under the desk,” yelled the young woman. She emerged from underneath the desk, blood streaking down her face, onto her white blouse. She wiped some ofit off with her hand. “I’m alright,” said the girl, noting the Queen’s concern. She stood up and continued, “We need to go, your majesty. The transports are waiting. Your daughters would not leave without you."

“Yes. Let’s go,” said the Queen, as she gathered her thoughts. She ran down the stairs, stopping at a keypad at the foot of the stairs, directly in front of aportrait of her mother. She typed in a code that had been drilled into her head from childhood. When she hit the blue button at the bottom, a small hissing sound emanated from behind the portrait as the seal broke, and the portrait moved upwards along the wall. Another explosion rocked the palace, somewhere in the far right wing. The queen ducked for a moment, upon realizing her safety, stood up again. In the compartment behind the portrait was a very small briefcase, big enough to hold just a few very important documents. Next to i twas a pistol, fully laden with ammunition. The Queen grabbed both and ran to the open door where she could hear the whine of three XKS-45 Endeavor transport’s turbines.

“Take this,” said the Queen, handing the briefcase to Julie. Before Julie could leave her side, the Queen grabbed her arm and stated emotionally, her voice rising in crescendo as they approached the transport, “Guard this with your life. These documents have to get to the Northern Palace. I will meet you there as soon as I can.” The secretary nodded her head, continuing down the path to the front lawn where the transports sat with their escorts.

They were formed up in a line formation, with an N4 Falcon escort on either sidealready hovering. The escort craft was an open light transport, with gun mounts on both sides, four seats inside, and a closed cockpit at the front. The turbines powered a small propeller blade that rotated to allow vertical takeoff and landing. Each transport was fully loaded with Imperial Guards, armed to theteeth with the latest armor and weapons. Two more shells struck the palace behind the two women, erupting into a plume of fire as they approached the transports.

“May the Gods be with you, my Queen!” yelled the secretary, as she walked towards the rear transport. The Minister of Defense was hanging out of the center transport, yelling and waving at the Queen. She couldn’t hear what he was saying over the deafening roar of the engines as she approached the transport. She finally reached his outstretched hand, he pulled her aboard and slid the transport door shut. It was roomy inside, and somewhat quieter. The Minister handed her a headset to hear radio traffic as they flew along and then moved to the cockpit. Queen Alexis sat down, looking out the window at her palace as the transports began to lift off. Much of the palace was burning. Several more explosions hit beneath the transports, debris pinging off the bottom. The Queen could see her city in the background, hundreds of smoke plumes illuminated by the city lights. She could see Illium City, her city, burning beneath her as they flew over it.

“Over lord,this is Apollo, over,” crackled a voice over the radio.

“Apollo, this is Overlord. I’m riding along in Surya Lead. We are approaching zero point. Prepare for shuffle and split maneuvers, over,” stated another, familiar voice. The Queen recognized it as the Defense Minister’s voice.

“Roger, Overlord. Be advised, we’re tracking three enemy aircraft in your area. Recommend dropping below the deck to avoid detection, over,” said the voice of JCOM.

“Affirmative, Apollo. We are dropping to altitude three-zero-five, altering headin-,“ his voice was interrupted by another, more panicked voice.

“Mayday! Mayday! This is Surya one. We’ve been hit by surface-to-air fire. I’m losing hydraulic pressure! I can’t hold on to her! Surya flight, break! Break!” screamed the panicked voice.

"Surya one, can you land?" came the minister's voice.

“Negative, Overlord. I can’t hold on to her. We are going down hard. Grid position Alpha-niner-three-six-three-eight by India-eight-six-niner-four-two. We have precious cargo aboard. I repeat, we have precious cargo aboard!” the voice yelled.

The Queen’s heart stopped as she looked out the window as her transport banked hard left. She watched in horror as the transport carrying her daughters spun out o fcontrol toward the city below, thick black smoke billowing from the tail of the aircraft.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

  Edited December 10, 2011 by daTSchikinhed  

[emperordaniel 1,281]

You've got me riveted!

[Follarch 326]

Okay one thing is plainly obvious. You're MUCH better than me at fire and smoke effects. I mean GEEZ those are good.

The Queens daughters? SAR would need to be dispatched immediately in hopes of securing the princesses, but lets just hope the crash isn't fatal, or overrun before relief gets there! And I think i have you figured out. You make awesome nature scenes, and awesome action scenes!

[rewright 804]

You've put in a lot of interesting detail which makes for an enjoyable journal. Good job on the paper also.

[jakehh 52]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ezEjae4WyM

pretty much sums up my reaction to this journal.

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

:: REPLIES ::

Emperordaniel: That's the point of the story

Archean: It's not hard to make. Just takes lots of patience. What's up with your 29 hour war CJ? I'm still waiting for more on that one <3. Also, the crash isn't fatal. Sometime in the next few updates I'll add in a marine squad's story of their search for the princesses.

Rewright: Thank you! The papers are fun to write and I like making the stories.

Jakehh: ... I'll take that as a compliment?

:: NOTES ::

The world map I posted earlier is always open to people who want to start a CJ and need a country/region within the world. I just ask that you not start in Calistan, as that country has a set storyline as they are at war with both Illium and the Nordshleif Monarchy. If you choose to reside in Dakara, you must provide military support and emergency civilian aide to occupied Illium cities.

I would really really love for more people to join. It would be fun to have an interactive world where more people make decisions for their countries instead of just names on a map

[ThomasSimpson 466]

You've got a wonderful CJ here, I really like the different areas you've build and the detail of the world is magnificent, especially the map.

[SAVAGExPHOENIX 955]

:: REPLIES/NOTES ::

ThomasSimpson: Thanks! My goal is to make this a true journal, complete with non-biased information, objective information, and of course a riveting story.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Notes: I will reiterate once again that the world I posted earlier is open to any who wish to start a city journal. I'd love to have more players involved. It makes the world of Therum come alive.

** Todays update will focus on the Eastern update in Nos Astros county.

:: NEWS ::

:: REGION UPDATE ::

Region so Far: The main Illium City tile is complete. It is now time for me to push development northward. Nos Astros county has been completely revamped, and Maddigan City has been expanded westward. I've also switched from the Columbus Terrain mod to the Olympic Terrain mod (I like it's deeper green). The rest of the map speaks for itself. It is a grave day for the Illium Empire.

:: PROSPER ::

Prosperity. Or so we thought: Prosper is the eastern suburb of Illium City. Don't let the clear blue skies fool you, though. Part of prosper is occupied. A Calistan checkpoint sits at the rail intersection of Herrington Blvd. Enemy forces will continue their push northward as soon as forces regroup from the Elite Guard's latest counterattack.

A literal "Defensive Wall": Prosperity Blvd is the only major interchange of Prosper from IH-75. Calistan forces have yet to make it this far north. The Elite guard will use the choke point under the bridge to keep enemy troops from taking the Hall of the Gods. Prosper city officials are bracing for the destruction of the IH-75 bridge, and are already working on plans to re-route traffic and rebuild once Her Majesty's forces push Calistan back.

A Most Holy Place: The Hall of the Gods, seen here just north of the Night of Solace palace, is the most holy and treasured place in all of Illium City. It sits just east of the Queen's palace, and just north of IH-75. Prosperity Blvd turns into Royal Ln here, and heads Northwest then turns west into the Palace District.

:: AVANTIA ::

ECP Alpha: A Calistan ECP (Entry Control Point) is set up here in the Avantia Forest, just west of the town of Avantia. This checkpoint is to keep forces from moving west along Route 38, the only road into Prosper from the south. A group of armed civilians attempted to attack the checkpoint, but were gunned down by Calistan Special forces.

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West Avantia: Avantia remains free from Calistan control... for now. Calistan Special Forces seem reluctant to attempt to seize control of Avantia, although for good reason: Over half the town's population are retired or former Illium Armed Servicemembers and their families. Most have guns, and many have tactical combat training.

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Southeast Avantia: the southern portion of Avantia exits towards the Tyrados River to the east. The road out of town on the south intersects with Route 95, which runs along the river into Jasper to the north.

:: JASPER ::

A wide spot in the road: Jasper is the smallest town in Nos Astros county, with a population of just over 250. It sits just south of IH-75, along the main railway in this region. Just to the west is the Harrisburg Rail Tunnel, which opens up on the other side to a Y split that runs either south into downtown Prosper, or goes northwest into Illium City. The main road, Route 95, is the main thoroughfare through the town, connecting IH-75 to Avantia to the southwest and the Tyrados River to the southeast. Jasper is considered too far north east of Illium City to be concerned with the Calistan Occupation. Residents here go on with their daily lives for the most part. Regardless, two squads of the Illium Elite Guard are bunkered here, just in case.

Until Next time! I hope you enjoyed this update!

  Edited December 27, 2011 by daTSchikinhed  

[Benedict 3,119]

Some great suburban and rural shots there - looking good.