Gold War

Gold War Date: 2233- Outcome: Belligerents Kuhneebo Conglomerate Kuhneebo Conglomerate Commanders and Leaders Strength n/a n/a Casualties n/a n/a

The Gold War was an economic and physical conflict waged between the corporations of the Kuhneebo Conglomerate for control of the gold market in the 23rd century. The extreme levels of chaos caused on the planets of Zeconis and Corrilia were in stark contrast to the arks who used the period to command a tremendous profit, and caused arks to take on a much more prominent role in galactic trade. The aftermath of the war resulted in a permanent shift in the power dynamic between corporations and their arks, established precedents for ark-based corporations, and forever altered the manner in which firms managed their fleets.

Background

For thousands of years, metals held nearly no practical uses in Kongolese society, and were not sought out to any great extent. The discovery of Mythril was the only notable use of metal in their long history. With increased industrialization, increasingly-large quantities of metal were mined as a byproduct of harvesting feldspar, quartz, and other critical materials. These metals were an unfortunate waste product that had to be removed from the main materials by thermal and chemical means, and corporations attempted to find uses for them. Because they were too soft and too conductive they had no practical use in civil, mechanical, or chemical engineering in such large quantities, any plan that was created would have to be targeted directly at consumers.

Numerous schemes were employed to find uses for even a fraction of the waste metal, as the weight and quantities involved caused waste disposal to eat away at the profits of materials producers and miners. New sports and recreational activities were created that required large fields of poured metal, such as Sparkskimming. Another common use was pouring mixed liquid metals into casts and allowing them to solidify, producing statues, figurines, and busts. Because of their uniqueness to the owner, large metal statues had virtually no resale value, while their weight and size made disposal prohibitively expensive.

The end result was that the amount of scrap metals found in an area inversely correlated to the wealth of its inhabitants. This only affected the planets of Zeconis and Corrilia as Arks, due to their mobile nature, were capable of discarding materials in space.

The War of Gold

Shortly after the discovery of the Kingdom of Knotar, and coinciding with the early Dairy Wars, it was discovered that the natives of Knotar held metals in high regard. Some of the most worthless elements in existence - such as gold and platinum - were found to be immensely valuable to their native populations. A single ingot of gold could

The Day the Galaxy Stood Still

The Ziyura of Galactic Shock, more popularly translated as the Day the Galaxy Stood Still, is the single largest economic collapse in Kongolese history. The first day in which the value of gold was known to the population of Zeconis, speculators radically re-evaluated the worth of every subsidiary on the planet. Countless corporations that had been considered poor performers - in some cases worthless - only the day before were now trading at astronomical prices. The waste disposal, Sparkskimming, mining had gains of up to ten thousand times their original value, while other previously-strong subsidiaries had their stock value plummet correspondingly.

Riots

As stock prices plummeted on Zeconis and Corrilia, many of the poorest members of took to the lines, hooking their way throughout their cities in search of metals to loot. Most of the poorest citizens who were unable to dispose of their inheritance found themselves simultaneously hanging onto an enormous windfall and having to defend their offices from those who sought to take them by force. Other individuals raided metal dumping grounds, quickly overwhelming the minimal security personnel. In most cases limited law enforcement responses that followed were likewise dealt with quickly.

For the first time in hundreds of years, many corporations found themselves declaring martial law to slowly restore peace and order. During this period of time, several corporations were disbanded, rebranded, or found their structure otherwise changed. The continent of Kiin was still recovering from the Corrilian War, and found itself in especially dire straits when the rioting broke out.

The Arks

Due to their lack of accumulated waste metals, insular nature, mobility, distance from planetary politics, and preoccupation with the Dairy Wars, the majority of arks managed to weather the turn of events with little impact. Instead, their access to foreign markets and possession of the only means of exporting goods allowed them to thrive. Numerous arks took advantage of this commotion to break free of their parent corporations, forming independent space-based firms that answered only to themselves.

Aftermath

The economic dynamic between corporations and their arks was forever shifted after the events of the Gold War proved that the trade ability of the mobile Arks greatly exceeded those of stationary planets, and led to the creation of corporations that did not answer to any planetary headquarters.