Organization: Coldlands Weaponry, Inc
- "Put your opposition on ice."
A company founded in 343 CRC in the Coldlands Territory by Fortang Diaclo, CWI - as it is commonly referred to - is one of the largest corporations in existence, with branches on nearly every settled world. At present, it is one of the controlling members of the Corporate Congress in New Mechanicus.
CWI, as the name implies, focuses heavily on military arms research and production. Many mass-produced firearms and other more advanced Technological armaments can trace their origins to a CWI laboratory.
History
After the Diaclo Revolution, Fortang and his army of rebels headed to the northern part of Ashkar to settle, as per the peace treaty he had signed with the elves. After reaching the far end of the continent and settling the city of Mechanicus, he turned his mind to preparing his people for defense against the elves, fearing reprisal in the future.
Having been elected leader of the Coldlands Territory, Fortang knew that he would have to pass his research on to someone else. He chose Caliper Bravegear, a gnome who had served a lieutenant in the revolution. Though far from home, Caliper had proven his worth time and again on the battlefield, acting as liaison to Urilaulri to acquire much-needed supplies and technological armaments Fortang had been unable to craft. Putting this faith in Caliper, Fortang got to the business of running a newly-established nation, issuing a statement that the newly-formed Coldlands Weaponry corporation would be a de facto arm of the government, in charge of its defense and weapons research.
Caliper took to the job with gusto, establishing multiple workshops throughout the Coldlands with the aim of automating weapons production. The goal was simple: reduce the complexity of existing weaponry so that they could be easily mass-produced, construct enough manufactories to manufact sufficient weapons to arm the populace, and begin experimenting with new weapons that would assist the greatly-outnumbered citizens of the Coldlands should the elves strike. Under Caliper's guidance, these goals were reached easily within a decade, and by 360 CR, CWI manufactories were producing rifles and similar weapons in mass quantities, more than enough to keep every citizen armed to the teeth.
Once its main goal was completed, however, Caliper had bigger dreams. In coordination with Takuro Motors, a vehicle-oriented business out of Colianth, Caliper ordered construction of significantly larger manufactories intended for the mass production of vehicles of war. Thus the world once again saw the rise of 'walkers, not seen since the days of the Ronkan Empire.
Though the government of the Coldlands was impressed with Caliper's work, there were concerns that the elves were planning an invasion that even an army of 'walkers could not prevent. It was at this time that Caliper authorized research on a secret project, utilizing texts that had been excavated from an abandoned mine deep beneath the surface. Project Hellfire, the gnome called it, and the weapon developed was tested exactly once, in 390 CR, deep underground. The tremors were felt throughout the northern half of the continent: the researchers at CWI had developed nuclear weaponry.
These weapons would be used to devastating effect during the Coldlands War, and the fallout from the weapons swept across the Coldlands Territory, undoing the epic magic wrought by Kotrit Wayveri some 300 years prior, turning the frozen tundra into a desert wasteland. To their credit, the weapons CWI brought to bear were effective, and brought a swift end to the war, albeit at a terrible cost. The Coldlands government decided to outlaw research on nuclear weapons after the war, and all of the CWI's work and laboratories involved in the research were seized and hidden away.
In 394 CR, after multiple successful missions to and from Ganymede, CWI was authorized to send personnel and supplies to the new planet, to assist in defense against local fauna as well as to establish what, if anything, could be done with local materials. CWI was the first corporation to set up an off-world branch in 396 CR, but its research was quickly shut down as soon as it was learned that the researchers were experimenting with phazon, which was known to have radioactive properties and thus could be used to assemble more nuclear weapons. After a drawn-out legal battle, research resumed in 398 CR, with significant government oversight to ensure that the phazon was not being misused.
During the turn of the century, CWI was authorized by the Coldlands government to act as a client state on Ganymede, allowing them - through CWI - to expand their influence on the planet. The corporation took to this task with gusto, setting up several new divisions, including provisions for military personnel, mining, and diplomatic relations with local governments. While these arms of CWI were initially closely watched by Coldlands officials, the breaking off of the colony from its home government - the formation of New Mechanicus - stranded these individuals. After tense communications, with the difficulty of the situation compounded by the astounding distance involved, CWI agreed to return the Coldlands authorities in exchange for a degree of autonomy on Ganymede. The government of the Coldlands agreed to the demand, in exchange for CWI maintaining a diplomatic presence with New Mechanicus on behalf of the Coldlands.
Throughout the early 400s CR, CWI operated as military, police, industry, and diplomats for New Mechanicus, and during the Second Tyranid Invasion, acted as the protectors of the newly-formed country. During this time, CWI took control of New Mechanicus in all but name, with its political leaders being little more than puppets of CWI's owners.
However, CWI was not the only corporation with an interest in controlling a nation. CWI found itself politically matched against a number of competitors, Takuro Motors among them; while the dust settled from the Tyranid invasion, the boards of these corporations hashed out exactly who would control what, and thus did New Mechanicus become a corporatocracy, governance by the corporations marred regularly by skirmishes in the cities of New Mechanicus as new lines of control were drawn. Only when vessels from Adnez arrived did the streets quiet, to ensure that the facade of the nation was not broken. For nearly half a century, this was the way of life for Adnezian transplants on Ganymede.
During the Wrath of the Omega, CWI field operatives found evidence of an alien vessel that had crashed on Ganymede, reporting that it was sufficiently old enough that akashics were unable to ascertain its age; evidence suggested that fallout from the Omega's plans on Adnez had reached Ganymede, disrupting the planet's crust and dislodging the vessel from deep beneath the surface. Intelligence gathering from the planet's natives indicated that it did not belong to any of them, nor had they been aware of any such crash; indeed, none had even known that it had existed.
CWI scrambled its forces to claim the wreckage, and found throughout it powerful new technologies that even the most daring of dreamers had not dreamed: laser rifles, gravitic engines, power armor. Though CWI had experimented with some of these technologies during the years, none had ever succeeded. CWI set to quickly reverse-engineering what they could and stockpiling what they could not, and - with these new armaments - quickly rose once more to the fore of the corporate politics of Ganymede.
As of 496 CR, CWI is still largely in power, and still finding yet more evidence of a crashed spacecraft of enormous magnitude, hidden somewhere deep under the surface of Ganymede. Its leaders are certain that even more powerful technologies lurk deep within, and hope to find something that will make even the nuclear weapons of the Coldlands War nothing more than trinkets.
