Bagnoles

Bagnoles
Nation: The Armed Republic of Costa Bravo Function: Major City Population: (formerly) 2 million (currently) none Leader: not applicable

Bagnoles was a small, relatively expansive urban center along the Janeiro Canal, surrounded by minor agricultural communities. It's prominence as a Costa Bravan city was attributed not to its size, but to the abundance of nuclear powerplants; four in all. Being situated upon the Janeiro Canal, it also housed numerous hydroelectic plants and devices. This effectively made the city a powerhouse for central Costa Bravo, providing power for almost the entirety of the cities there.

Battle for Bagnoles

It attracted headlines in 2006 as 500,000 retreating Bordurans holed up in the city to wait for reinforcements. About half of the populace had evacuated, and several skirmishes were held in and around the city. Eventually, Costa Bravan forces invaded the city from the south, progressing northwards and capturing key points. The Battle for Bagnoles was going well for the Costa Bravans. That is, of course, until one of the nuclear powerplants was compromised, breached, and initiated a chain reaction with the other three powerplants that resulted in their simultaneous meltdown and the obliteration of Bagnoles -- and almost 2,000,000 people with it. In this regard, Bagnoles is referred to as Neo-Chernobyl.

Cause

The cause for the chain meltdown is unknown, though several theories have surfaced. The most plausible of theories is that Bordurans, wary of their impending defeat, instigated the compromise of a powerplant. They probably had hoped to escape before the plant destroyed the city, but the consequent chain meltdown made it such an escape impossible without aid. Other popular theories suggest that, simply, the plants compromised due to negligence on the part of their workers, as most had evacuated and not a single person had tended to most of the powerplants for several days. Due to the proliferation of doctored photos across the internet, conspiracy theorists suspect that extraterrestrial entities are responsible for the event. Conspiracy theorists, however, have a habit of being wrong.

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Aftermath

The aftermath of the blast was both severe for Costa Bravo, and decisive in ending the war in their favor. However, it left a lasting negative effect upon their nation.

Immediately following the blast, Costa Bravans were forced to cordon off the area and contain the flow of the Janeiro Canal. Due to nuclear fallout and debris, and the city's proximity to the Canal, the waterway became contaminated with hazardous materials and the like. Soldiers were forced to rush to various safety points along the Canal and close heavy floodgates (often used to impede unwanted traffic or flooding) in order to prevent the contaminants from spreading. Unfortunately, the water systems of several cities along the Canal were compromised, resulting in the deaths of fourteen and hospitalization of thousands.

In the months after the event, politicians drafted strict legislation pertaining to the handling of powerplants -- nuclear and otherwise -- throughout the country, which elicited an outcry from relevant industries. Mediations have been held ever since, with little result.