Jack of Harts

American Samoa is a small State not far off the coast of Australia made up of five natural islands, a pair of small coral atolls, and a series of manmade islands and islets surrounding them. They are famous in the rest of America for the large number of athletes they send to the Olympics, the American Football teams, and other sports leagues. Many famous actors and wrestlers come from Samoa, and they are widely regarded as a friendly and accepting people. They are also fiercely patriotic and volunteer for the Pacifica and Federal militaries in far greater percentages than nearly any other State. Especially the Marines, where the Big Samoan Sergeant Major is like some kind of template they stamp out whenever the far smaller Marines from lesser States need motivation to learn how to stand in a reasonable approximation of a line. American Samoa is a small State, but its influence has spread all throughout America and beyond.

The Marshall Islands’ Bikini Atoll is one of the most famous areas on Earth and beyond. Namesake for the far more enjoyable ladies swimwear that men have loved for centuries, it is the nuclear testing that wiped out several islands in the atoll that made it famous in more serious matters. The massive effort it would have taken before the Great Space Race to clean up the radiation and other damage was never expended, and then the Second Great Depression removed all ability to complete it. But when the polluted fog banks began rolling off the Chinese coasts to envelope the various Pacific island chains, America put greater effort into developing and mass-producing the kind of air and water purifiers required to keep the pollution at bay. The clan chiefs of Bikini Atoll traded in some favors, some blackmail, and more promises than they cared to think about to acquire some of those new purifiers. Then they cleaned the various islands up, rebuilt them over the centuries, and returned their people to their quiet, idyllic home. And though they have access to all the best technologies now, they will never forget how the outside world cost them their home for so very long.

There are over a thousand Marshall Islands spread out over around two-dozen of the least resource rich coral atolls in Micronesia. And for an area of the ocean known for its resource poor islands, that is saying something. The Marshall Islands have not prospered overly much from the investments of New Hong Kong businessmen like the western islands, nor from the wild resort and intelligence industries that more southern islands boast. And even the United States military enclaves spread throughout Kwajalein Atoll bring only minimal money to the other islands. Their greatest industry is leasing small parcels of land to wealthy individuals who wish a quiet and secluded vacation destination for their families. Marshall Islanders do not allow outsiders to outright own land, but the small leases have allowed the various clan chiefs to maintain enough cash flow to provide for basic necessities amongst their people. They will never be rich, though, and they face a constant brain-drain as capable and driven youths leave their islands to find opportunity elsewhere in Micronesia and beyond.