The HETVESIAN TIMES - 1946
WORLD BORDERS CHANGE FOLLOWING THE CHAPELLE ACCORDS!
On a cool winter day, 3 January 1946, representatives from Gasmea, Foglania, Mauve, Schemmland, Fruinia, Calidentado, Archana, and new nation Dalluha have come together to sign the Chapelle Accords - establishing new world borders following the war.
Gasmea - holding the most sovereignty amongst the participating nations - has gained a substantial amount of territory. The nations of Foglania, Mauve, Schemmland, and northern Calidentado surrendered independence to the western nation, having their territories incorporated within Gasmea. The regions of Foglania and Mauve have been renamed to North Gasmea and Val-du-Mauve respectively, while Schemmland will keep their name for the new region, which has incorporated the northern Calidentado territory.
As punishment for Fruinia's involvement with the Axis powers at the beginning of the war, Gasmea has annexed the large island region of Vianta to be incorporated into its national borders, as well as $24 billion in reparations to be paid to the Gasmean government. While Fruinia has lost territory, some land in the east was gained with Gasmea rewarding the nation southern Calidentado territory for its alliance against the Nauti Shemmish forces during the second half of the war.
For their later participation in the war following a surprise attack from the Axis after the fall of former ally Wazdukski, Gasmea has rewarded Archana with the Wazdukski region - which Archana has renamed Wazdukski Kraina. However, Archana has lost territory to new nation Dalluha.
Following the fall of Sultan Abdul Baasid al-Khalil's empire in 1865, the Dalluhan region has been under Archanan authority. Archana has benefitted tremendously from the small region since the discovery of the largest oil reserve in the world to date powering their industries. In 1944, two years after Archana entered the world war, the Dalluhan region rebelled; declaring independence from Archana and re-establishing its monarchy, declaring Jihaad al-Yassin as Sheikh. Despite retaliation from Archana, their already depleted resources from fighting in the war as well as Dalluha's challenging geography and air superiority has led to the nation's success in maintaining independence from Archana. With the signing of the Chapelle Accords, Dalluha has been recognized by the world nations as an independent country. Despite the feud between Archana and Dalluha, we expect trade relations to remain with their economies being dependent on Dalluhan oil.
When asked to comment on the Accords by our reporter Oskari Pekkanen, Hetvesian Prime Minister Miettinen responded, "We look forward to continuing international trade deals with Fruinia and the expanded nation of Gasmea." With major changes in the new world order, only time will tell if the peace agreement can last.
Things have taken a turn for the worse three years since the start of the Njord Automobile campaign. Disfunction within the organization and lackluster response from contractors has put the company in a precarious position. In desperation, CEO Rasmus Hagerström has taken decisive measures to save Njord Automobile from flopping after the Njord FB-396's release.
The FB-396's release date of summer 1946 has come and gone, yet the Reimsboden factory is far from being production ready with lead times being pushed to winter of 1947. The manufacturing engineers and Leonard Hansson's team of designers have been in argument over the last year. Every time the manufacturing engineers get close to establishing a manufacturing process and get factory tooling designed, Hansson's team makes a design change to the car - negating the manufacturing team's efforts with a forced redesign.
With mounting frustration from the manufacturing engineers and contracted tooling support, Hagerström ordered Hansson to have his team stop making changes to the design "unless the change is critical to meeting our production start target." Hansson pushed back on the order, stating that the improvements being made were critical to maximizing occupant survivability. Hagerström agreed, however the company needed something to sell before risking bankruptcy. With Hagerström's decision being final, Hansson stopped incorporating changes to the car to the relief of the manufacturing team.
Desperate Times Calls for Desperate Measures
Finishing up a conversation on the telephone, Hagerström puts his head in his hands in defeat - not a single marketing agency was interested in advertising his car. Hagerström knew if he couldn't build attention on the FB-396, there would be no customers going to the dealerships on release. Something had to happen, yet Hagerström was stumped. At the end of the day, out of ideas and exhausted from rejection, the CEO got up from his desk, left the Njord headquarters building, and began his bike ride home.
During the ride, Hagerström decided to make an unplanned stop to J. Porter's, a local pub a few kilometers off-course on Vitsippevägen. Ordering a pint of schwarzbier, Hagerström took a few sips while watching the television behind the bar. On the black-and-white screen an advertisement for Waris Vacuum Cleaners was showing.
The advertiser on the television was showcasing the power of the vacuum, picking up a variety of liquids and large debris with the device when an idea began to form. Hagerström thought; if we can demonstrate the FB-396's safety capabilities to the public, then we may not even need the advertising campaign from external marketers. Word-of-mouth and media coverage could be the advertising campaign.
Quickly getting up from the bar and rushing to the nearest telephone, Hagerström began to make some calls. He was going to organize a live crash-test demonstration of the FB-396 with a live audience.
The occasion could have been mistaken to be organized by a Gasmean with all of the pomp and circumstance. Food vendors, balloons, a live band, and news of the test attracted crowds of people to the event - as well as multiple media crews capturing the first public reveal of Njord's new car, the pre-production prototype of the FB-396.
As the crowd of Hetvesians swooned over the modern styling of the prototype, Hagerström stepped onto a stage and described details of the car as well as announcing a 1947 release. Then, he began to outline the crash test to be performed.
"To showcase the unparalleled safety of our soon-to-be-released automobile, we will be simulating a 60 km/h frontal impact with this very Njord you see today. To get this car up-to-speed, volunteer stunt driver Aukusti Pekkala will pull the FB-396 with this truck up to speed, sever connection between the two vehicles, then safely move out of the FB-396's path where the prototype will collide into this wall at 60 km/h! Within this automobile, we have placed a gelatin-filled dummy within the driver's position! From this test, you will see our advanced safety technology - shard-proof safety glass, impact resistant bumpers, and a reinforced ladder-frame chassis - keep this dummy occupant safe during the impact!"
With the crowd and media moved to the sidelines and the test setup, it was time to perform the demonstration. Starting off, the stunt driver accelerated up to 60 km/h with the FB-396 in tow. At the mark, the tow cable between the truck and the FB-396 was disconnected, allowing the truck to veer away and come to a safe stop while the FB-396 continued forward towards the cinderblock wall. In an instant, the sound of crunching metal echoed across the pavement with the FB-396 now at a standstill at the base of the wall, front crumpled.
With the car still, staff went to go inspect the results of the crash. The impact bumpers and reinforced chassis worked flawlessly in keeping the passenger compartment intact, and the safety glass shattered into small pieces as designed. The public demonstration was looking like a resounding success.
Upon reaching the FB-396, Hagerström peered inside of the cockpit to see how the dummy held up. He was met with the spray of gelatin all over the dashboard where the dummy's head sat, impaled by the steering column.
