Hubs

Many cities envy to be as attractive, successful, and respected as the Greater Metropolitan District of Clarence- Clarence City for short. Its foundation goes as far as to pre-date every other Oconia landmass with the exception of Oconee Island. Clarence is home to the largest financial district, sports stadium operated by the Clarence Cowkickers League, longest-running metro line, news reporting station, city parks and Clarence International Airport/Clarence Heliport, the busiest aviation bodies in the world of Aeronautica. Its influence stretches to daily commuters from as far as Hampden, Oconee and Millsho as they fly to the city every weekday- the chain of islands is nowadays referred to as Central Oconia.

The only limitation to Clarence’s growth is its imagination. Thanks to centuries of carefully-elected city councils, its residents know the democratic power they possess should any government official step out of line. As a direct result they are free to pursue the arts of various sciences, mathematics and modern culture their entire lives. The advent of commercial aviation only further sealed the city's status as an important international hub for tens of millions of citizens and travelers alike.

Not much of its past architecture remains-the way for modernity has long taken place. The people, however, continue to praise its long-time founder. Ask any resident who founded Clarence and they will point towards a massive statue on an island on the other side of the bay, not remembering its founder’s name but confidently replying “The Greatest”.

Located on the biggest island out of the local archipelago, Harden is known for its diverse environment ranging from wet tropical lowlands to its long-dormant volcano, and hosts multiple large cities filled with commuters, entrepreneurs and intellectuals. The people are known for their ingenuity and determination, using the limited arable land to maximize production and support millions of residents in their endeavors-a legacy left behind by the remaining native communities persecuted by their past Fiskar overlords.

Until their independence in 1964 Harden remained a small fishing settlement and trading outpost, with limited growth stagnating its economy. It was only in the 1980s when Harden implemented a series of government-subsidized programs focused on growing its private businesses, infrastructure and extensive summer tourism- hence the creation of Harden International Airport in 1992 and completion of its business district outclassed only by Clarence City. Thanks to these programs Harden has become an international hub for all forms of aviation, and is the only urban city to host hubs for fixed-wing, rotor-wing and lighter-than-air vehicles alike.

Nothing speaks economic profit as much as discovering a reserve of minerals and raw goods. In the case of a once uninhabited Norman island, dozens of veins of coal, iron, and diamonds at the fingertips in the Norman mountain range was accidentally discovered by a team researchers in in the late 19th century. With a literal goldmine struck everyone from across the world heard of the island's riches and- just like everyone ever- lost their sanity to test their luck at becoming rich for the rest of their lives. Thousands, if not millions of workers steamrolled into the mountain range, establishing a small workers town which rapidly grew form a few thousand members with little commodities to a modernized urban megacity within a span of 20 years.

The days of natural wealth, however, are long behind. the once massive mountain has been divided into two halves, forming the largest man-made formation in the world. Norman was forced to re-invent itself as the gambling capital of the world- a scheme some deem even more successful than the export of raw goods. Its city grew to sizes deeming the old single runway airport obsolete and was greatly expanded to the largest international hub by size, hosting two pairs of parallel runways, two commercial and cargo terminals delivering tens of millions of tourists from locations as remote as Eisenhardt Municipal and Auchenburgh Regional.

Kitesboro today is much unlike what it started out as. Just as Ardmore still is, Kitesboro was once a tiny village with no more than a little strip of pavement for a runway as its only means of connection to the rest of Oconia. The two settlements were once known as sister cities, but it soon became evident that change was in the air. 

As air travel became ever increasingly popular during the postwar years, Kitesboro experienced a sudden population boom from a few key events happening within a short time of one another. First, the Kitesboro Strait Bridge was completed in 1962, enabling easy ground connection between the two islands. This meant that having two aerodromes was no longer necessary. Development of computers and circuitry for aircraft also found its roots at Kitesboro, where aircraft manufacturers quickly set up shop to further development of aircraft technology in a technologically friendly city. 

Due to the boom in business and industry, Kitesboro Airport received a major expansion to deal with growing travel demand. By the 1970s, Kitesboro City had established itself as an urban center, far removed from its roots and no longer like its ill-fated sister town. Nowadays, Kitesboro City is a well-known tech hub at the forefront of technological innovation not only in the aeronautical industry, but expanded to account for much of the hi-tech industry. Some may also consider it the coffee capital of Oconia.

New Englandtown originated as a fortified outpost named the Castle of New England, hence the island’s name. While its past garrison history is a subject only somewhat known to local archeologists, its people have long adapted a peaceful, agrarian way of life, producing some of the best-known wheats, oats and many other crops on its large swaths of farmland. Its population enjoys a rather secluded and peaceful way of life, with its harbor capital and smaller inland communities interlinked to each other forming a strong sense of faith to their island.

Thanks to New Englandtown’s strict tourism regulations most natural and historical landmarks have remained untouched over the past century. Its inland lake remains a popular fishing and lodging destination while the local hills provide excellent year-round camping sites. New Englandtown’s airport, while classified as regional, nowadays serves limited commercial activity and has slowly shifted attention towards corporate and recreational aviation. The city hopes to one day host a checkpoint racing event for its community.

Home to Oconia's largest military and industrial complex, Lynwood JAFB represents what Eisenhardt or Lionham have lacked ever since their creation- commercial interest in expanding their operations in the name of nationalism.

For the longest time the sole purpose of the Lynwood was to protect its citizens from foreign refugees, claiming them to be a "threat to eternal prosperity". Decades of nationalistic cultivation and pride for their new homeland, in isolation from the rest of the world have bred a patriotic, yet arguably aggressive people- leading to an even greater divide in their relations with the rest of the world, despite their military prowess.

It was only with the fall of their former ally, the Fiskar Empire (as a result of the "Day of the Black Doves"), Lynwood's only government customer was lost. Lacking reserve funds to fall back on a proposal was made- re-structure existing naval and air forces to include private contractors, able to guarantee sales to a variety of international customers. Years of initial short-term financial losses and staff shortages due to the freezing of salaries came close to scarring Lynwood's reputation. Only with the help of competent and open leadership was the base able to restructure itself into the joint status it holds today.

The base has been regarded as a top military facility, on-par and even surpassing Leovetsk's own bases from a tech-savvy perspective. It is also home to Oconia's leading defense contractor, Astraeus Corporation GmBH and its associated cargo airline Astraeus Technik. For the past twenty years, international civil flights commonly land at the air base, carrying a variety of passengers ranging from foreign diplomats to civilian contractors given temporary passes to either the naval or air bases of the complex. Over 35,000 staff and employees service both bases, and another couple thousand workers from other companies permitted base contracts such as Punazon Co. and others so far remaining undisclosed.