Jack of Harts

The Northern Mariana Islands are best described as a collection of corporate-owned islands prospering under the protection of a major United States base that are mostly American. Partially. They are part of Micronesia, which is a Member State of Pacifica, which is a State Alliance in the United States of America. But do not make the mistake of thinking them just another piece of American real estate on the ocean. Their business is business, and anything that makes business harder is against their moral code. Which has led to a number of unhappy incidents over the centuries, especially when labor unions and businesses disagree over those matters. Many islands have actually banned labor unions at one time or another, or to a lesser or greater degree, but the United States Supreme Court has struck those laws down at every opportunity. They still try to break the unions as much as possible, though the businesses that crossed the line into outright breaking of union members have not enjoyed their treatment when the Department of Labor walked in to do the breaking.

New Hong Kong has numerous business interests in Micronesia and beyond. Australia. Mainland America. Even some in Mainland China after sufficient cutouts to keep their involvement from being recognized. One investment they made long ago is one few people recognize. The combined businessmen of New Hong Kong hold a forty-nine percent minority partnership in Constantinople’s entire interstellar trade empire. They funded the city’s commercial dreams early in their rush to space and the profits have made New Hong Kong nothing but richer in the centuries since. The New Hong Kong Dollar is in fact one of the most stable currencies on Earth and beyond, and is accepted on all Western Alliance and non-aligned worlds. Even Russian Federation spaceports will convert Dollars into local currency for a small handling fee. They are obviously not accepted on Party-controlled Chinese worlds, though Republic of China worlds are happy to take the Dollars and spend them. New Hong Kong is here to stay in the interstellar halls of power, a testament to the Chinese people’s stubbornness and refusal to surrender. Even if that means standing up to The Party that took over their very homeland and quelled all visible dissent within it.

The New Hong Kong Contingency did not need Tinian to survive. It was one of many islands in the Western Pacific they had purchased large tracks of land on over the decades, and all had been prepared as potential fallback positions in case the Communist Party’s reach was greater than Hong Kong’s estimate. Make no mistake that the island was one of their favored locations, though. And they were relieved when Guam’s defenders destroyed the Chinese invasion force that would have taken the rest of the islands around it, including Tinian. It meant they did not need to execute another evacuation plan. It also allowed them to heavily invest in the island with little fear of losing their investment. Especially after America recovered from its Second Great Depression and helped create the Western Alliance. New Hong Kong quickly became a founding partner in the area, and many of the casinos and hotels all over Micronesia benefited from funding they had squirreled away during their decades-long plan to escape the Communist Party’s grip.