Cold Beach

Cold Beach has had a colourful history of interesting people and legitiment innovation. Unfortunately, that history is largely ignored in favour of all the times the settlement was destroyed or nearly so. Because in its short lifespan, Cold Beach has see a lot.  

460 TE: The Impact

A mere 3 years after establishment, 85% of the settlement was destroyed by a meteor strike. An asteroid approximately 100m in diameter struck 2km away, leaving a 276m deep, 1253m wide impact crater. The settlement was spared the impact, but was leveled by the blast wave. The reinforced port facility and one warehouse survived, and the settlement had no casualties thanks to a timely evacuation. The settlement was reestablished by 472 TE.  

491 TE: Fire Fire Fire!

Unbeknownst to the inhabitants, the contractors skimped on materials and paid off inspectors to give the new settlement a clean bill of health. Things were fine for a while, until a chemical spill on the dockyard interacted with the fake cerica stone of the buildings and caused an immediate and unfightable fire. There were over two dozen fatalities and 60% of the settlement was destroyed. After the investigation, charges were laid against all involved in the fraudulence with 100% a 100% conviction rate. Reconstruction was complete in 495 TE.  

500 TE The Quincentenary Raid

The increasing hostilities between New Palma and Jin Ning boil over into a brushfire war. The Royal New Palma Navy (RNPN) and their Royal Navy Commando Corps (RNCC) conducted a brief bombardment and then conducted a raid on Cold Beach, escaping with several tonnes of rare earth elements after destroying the weather tracking and comms equipment. The bombardment targeted government buildings, warehouses, and non-vital infrastructure. Despite the "careful" nature of the engagement, 38% of the settlement suffered serious damage and over 800 were killed or injured.  

524 TE: The Storm

During the Storm Season, Cold Beach experienced a Once-In-A-Millennia level storm. It was Category 5 (268kph winds), and the sea-state reached Level 8 (12m waves). This combined with a temperature drop that filled the air with ice crystals. There were no casualties, but everything that wasn't made of Cerica Stone was scoured off the buildings. The dockyard was destroyed save for the command building and warehouses, and all the boats save for the resuce ones that were housed in rapid launch bays were either sunk or sent hundreds of metres inland. Reconstruction was completed in 530 TE.

Cold rock formations, lichens, grasses, and gritty sand dominate the shoreline, and the settlement has grown around the crater of the asteroid that destroyed the first settlement.

At the edge of the Antarctic region, the Cold Beach is cold. It's in the name. It's cold, wet, windy, and vaguely metallic.