Jack of Harts

The Port of Mobile slowed down again after The War ended. The rebuilt ports in Los Angeles and New Orleans took much of their shipping business, and the American military began to downsize so needed little new construction. Mobile returned to civilian construction and shipping projects, and their market share has once again slipped as the decades have gone by. There are better locations to ship from, after all. The corporations of Mobile have always been able to overcome that location through numerous incentives, and they continue to prosper today. They are still one of the great ports in America, and the money and taxes they bring in make Alabama one of the richest States in the Confederation of Dixie. They will always have a place in the shipping business, as long as the corporations continue to innovate and acquire fresh contracts whenever a competitor gives them an opening.

The Shang attack that started The War changed the space launch industry in America forever. The Port of Mobile had been losing market share in the cargo launch market to larger competitors like the Ports of New Orleans and Los Angeles in the preceding decades. They were also losing their building contracts to the orbital Yosemite Yards. Everybody knows that the Shang attack destroyed Yosemite and dropped its rubble all over Western America. We have all seen the visuals of an obliterated Port of Los Angeles. New Orleans was a footnote compared to what that did to Pacific shipping patterns, but was just as devastating to the Gulf of America’s shipping. The Port of Mobile answered the many calls for increased shipping, and their yards accepted every military building contract they could physically jam into their facilities. Mobile made money hand over fist.

When the Peloran made Contact and gave us gravtech, the corporations of the Port of Mobile saw their salvation. They had long used corporate incentives to make themselves a major space launch facility, but had been losing market share to newer launch facilities in far better locations. And the ever-expanding Panama Elevator was taking traffic from everybody. Gravtech promised a revolution in space launch capabilities though, and the corporations of Mobile pooled their resources to build the first American-made gravtech launch vehicle. They launched months ahead of their nearest competition, and used that advantage to lock in long-term launch contracts. By the time their competition caught up with the technology curve, Mobile had already established itself as the dominant player in the space launch field.