Southern Ocean Observatory Base

The Southern Ocean Observatory Base was a multinational collaborative built by the federal Australian government between the years 1992-1994. The base was the location of a particular magnetic frequencer device, meant to provide predictive data regarding future conditions of the then ongoing 1991 Tasmanian Droughts. The base is one of the largest observatory bases to be reportedly constructed, and consisted of multiple floors, levels, and wings. The layout revolved almost entirely around the magnetic frequencer device, centered at the base of the building.

The base was a diplomatic project, and participating nations (over 100 by 1995), exercised a certain degree of flexibility under the Tasmania Relief Stream Fund. The reasoning behind this was that those partaking in research regarding the droughts were acting in interests imperative to Tasmania, and the government would do little to impede such investigations. The Royal Society was the lead organizer in the base, and a hierarchy was established which put the society on the top of the food chain.

Architecture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torsten_Fenslau

The base was designed in a neoclassical architectural style by German architect Han Glovisteau. Glovisteau drew significant inspiration from 21st century design, which was becoming increasingly popular in his hometown of Frankfurt at the time. The base was large but had relatively few stories, and its size was due to the fact that it was greatly extended horizontally. For this reason, the structure has been defined as a groundscraper. At its highest point, the building reached a pinnacle of four floors, with certain wings reaching taller than others; sufficiently the building was not uniform in its design. If one were to view the building from a level at line of sight with its general roofing, it would have the appearance of a hilly field with upward mounds. In more precise detail, the small square shaped offices of taller wings stood apart from each other across the otherwise flattened roof. Workers in those offices were able to look down out of their office windows, and see the rest of the base below them. Since this was an intentional design, it was incorporated into its aestheticism and the view from those windows was never unsightly. In its majority, the building was pleasant to look at. It held few sharp corners as most were rounded.

The majority of the building's offices were situated within the aforementioned higher echelons of flooring. Scientific projects were mostly exercised on the ground level where workers could take advantage of the stronger foundation capable of absorbing the occasional tremor and experimental disorder. The magnetic frequencer was also placed on the ground floor for these very same reasons.

The building was mostly painted white, with a few grey pillars, and the paint brightly reflected the golden Australian sun. Elevated glass windows stretched from one side of the building to the other, covering it in a complete covering of shiny reflection. Much of the building's external appearance was defined by these windows, and little part of its outer walls were windowless. Balconies allowed workers to stand and enjoy the open air, and the building's heart had a courtyard and greenhouse for the purpose of recreation. These two locations had an important reason for their centricity, as the served as a hub for employees to gather and discuss during times of break and leisure. Most of the building's layout revolved around these center areas, as well as the warehouse holding the magnetic frequencer, and together they were characterized what the base was aiming to achieve. The courtyard was overshadowed by the looming white tower at the base's eastern point. This tower stood tall and strong, with bright neon lights coating its pillar like structure and at night it would shine with a red light visible from up to four kilometers away.

Construction
When the Australian government began to intervene more heavily in the Tasmanian droughts starting in 1993, it was met with expected levels of skepticism and doubt, especially by Tasmanians. As a reinforcing sign of its alleged commitment to the national crisis, the government announced the planned construction of a new observatory base. The base would be solely built for the purpose of drought related research, and any related sciences that could provide similarly beneficial data. These plans were met with resounding approval by the press, that felt that the government had finally recognized the severity of the situation after a long period of relative indifference and lackluster response. Furthermore, the federal government managed to fast track the construction of the base in a little under two years.

The base was built within in a rather rural area, many miles outside of Hobart. A location was chosen where the base would be safely distanced from urban and infrastructural impediments. It was also important the location provided a geographical stance granting accessible opportunity to freely analyze meteorological data from the Southern Ocean with minimal obstruction. Considering these factors, an unclaimed part of government land on a coastal cliff south of Hobart was decided on.

There was only one highway linking the lot to Hobart, and it was predictable that with such a voluminous staff capacity; new roads would need to be formed in order to handle the expected traffic. Thus there were expansions to the E1 and E4 highways, and the construction of a new road dubbed Abbot Way. Management overseeing the construction with these roads coincided in equal pace with the base's construction timeline, with little hurdles.

Construction work on the base itself started in November 1993, the main investors of the project were IVG Mobbilen and the Royal Society. Trouble with the construction company and the use of bad construction steel imported from China, which had to be replaced, pushed the costs up to 300 AUD.

Tenant bidding started early in the construction process, and were restricted to government representatives and organizations studying drought related phenomena or related sciences such as meteorology. The federal government and royal society reserved offices before the bidding officiated.

Expansion
After Birmingham returned to the base in 1995, he privately consulted with a handful of his former associates regarding his time on the Wumpa Archipelago. He was almost universally lauded as mad by all of his former friends, and Birmingham was forced to illegally sneak into the base and discreetly alter the frequencer himself. Birmingham implanted electronic software that had a self initiated end signal after a week, and a week later, Birmingham presented once more the new data that this week provided. The data ultimately proved sufficient, and a private meeting was quickly convened with the Australian military.

Airport
Late into the base's lifespan and shortly after the military convention, an airstrip and hangar bay were constructed on a patch of land beside the facility's grounds. The airstrip was constructed under the pretense of expediating cargo shipments, and the main justification was to provide parts for new underground server farms. These server farms and data centers were expanding in order to accommodate the overwhelming flow of new unprocessed magnetic data after the frequencer was reattuned by Birmingham's recommendations. This was partly true, but the greater purpose was to provide quick charter for militant planes now intervening in the Mutant Vortex Crisis.

Assassination Attempt
The base's first chair experienced multiple assassination attempts at the hands of Cortex Corporation spies. The first was an attempted poisoning of the chair's food, which only resulted in a mild illness. Subsequent attempts were similarly subtle, including multiple other poisoning attempts and even an incited heart attack. The assassin's identity was never discovered, and no assassination attempts were ever successful.

Bombing
During the waning days of the Mutant Vortex Crisis, almost half of the base was destroyed in an explosion by Cortex Corporation infiltrator, Boba Fett. As seen in the opening scene of the third film. The base was never rebuilt, and most operations were transferred to the Wumpa Archipelago in order to be followed on a smaller scale.

Symbol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Somers_Branch

The logo of the base was a sling on a golden background, symbolically representing David's victory over Goliath. The symbolism was a direct allusion to the difficulty the base faced in its quest to uncover the drought's causation. The motto was "contra omnes dissident" and held a similar quality in its connotation, as in Latin it translated as "against all odds".

Hierarchy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Andreas_Zetlitz_Lassen

The base was headed (but not founded) by the Royal Society.

Each project had team leaders, and each project leader served as a chair on the board. The vice chair oversaw operations in the entire building, and was elected on indefinite terms based on objective record results and performance. The board acted as a democratic council that voted on project directions, and the chairman had little power to veto.


 * Scientists
 * Office workers
 * Security
 * Maintenance

Certain wings of the base were divided based on clearance.


 * Red: Clearance to essential areas, such as lounges, workshops, hallways, washrooms.
 * Yellow: Clearance to most scientific workshops.
 * Green: Clearance to most scientific workshops and office areas.
 * Blue: Clearance to all the aforementioned areas, as well as high security scientific labs.
 * Purple: Clearance to all rooms.

Presidents:

President 1: Clark Monson. 1994-1994. Resigned due to illness.

President 2: Tyre Gaul. 1994-1999.

Drought Analysis
Drought analysis was the umbrella project that all other projects provided their data to. Drought analysis focused most of its efforts on standard meteorological data and traditional methods of drought research.

Ocean Watch
Ocean Watch was concerned solely with investigating phenomena in the Southern Ocean, mostly to find the elusive ozone vacuum. The project funded the launch of new satellite technology, organized recon planes and wind current analysis.

Magnetic Mission
The Magnetic Mission was helmed by Richard Birmingham, and focused their efforts on magnetic data and the facilitation of the magnetic frequencer. All efforts were later poured into this mission after Birmingham confirmed magnetic activity in 1995.

Collaborative Theory
Collaborative Theory was a mostly diplomatic group that focused on sharing data between the base and other organizations, and performing miscellaneous research.

Predictive Monitoring
Predictive Monitoring was as can be assumed by its name, a control team which regulated and analyzed the constant stream of meteorological data. The project would use this data to try to predict trends, and would relay this information to relevant organizations.

Innovation and Technology
This project dedicated itself to new innovative techniques and technologies that could possibly help the efforts to uncover the causation of the drought. It was essentially a research and development project.

Layout
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_dos_Santos_Possato


 * Magnetic Room - Warehouse with magnetic frequencer and generators
 * Server rooms - Basement level with chilled rooms and data centers
 * Offices - There were multiple offices all on the higher floors
 * Head Offices - The head offices were in the tower level.
 * Media Room - The media room was situated near the entrance. Here press releases were given.
 * Dining Area 1 - A cafeteria for east wing employees.
 * Dining Area 2 - A cafeteria for west wing employees.
 * Magnetic Labs - Labs for magnetic data.
 * Meteorological Labs - Labs for meteorological data.
 * Technological Labs - Labs for technological data.
 * Monitoring rooms - Rooms for monitoring current data
 * Workshops - Workshops for manufacturing
 * Royal Society HQ - Royal Society HQ
 * Federal Wing - offices for federal
 * Storage and Shipping
 * Residential - The base didn't have bunks, but did have a small number of bedrooms that certain employees could rent out.
 * Airforce