Antarctica

At the southern pole of the Earth lies the ice-covered seventh continent, belonging to no one nation or government, one of the world’s last frontiers. Ancient and often dangerous secrets are buried beneath its glaciers and hidden in mountain valleys, making Antarctica a place of mystery and adventure.

NO-MAN’S LAND

Even on Earth-Prime, the Antarctic continent is sparsely populated, particularly when it comes to human life. A few thousand people live in Antarctica, mostly temporarily in scientific outposts, or in a few secret facilities.
Antarctica is a condominium, an international territory where the fifty signatories to the Antarctic Treaty System share sovereignty. The treaty bans all military activity and operations, mining and mineral exploitation, and nuclear testing or waste disposal, and supports scientific research and protection of the Antarctic ecozone. The signatories to the treaty share responsibility to police and enforce its terms.
The status of superhuman activity in Antarctica remains a somewhat vague point of international law, and tends to be overlooked, so long as it does not violate any of the treaty’s explicit bans, particularly involving military activity or damage to the ecozone. This parallels international discussions and agreements regarding the use of superhumans as military assets and particularly “agents of mass destruction” (AMDs).
Some like to darkly jest that Antarctica is the only place on Earth where UNISON is the most effective law enforcement organization, but the UN organization’s status means it is most commonly able to operate in Antarctica without excessive red tape (or, at least, no more red tape than it is normally used to). UNISON forces act as first responders to unusual or potentially hazardous events on the Antarctic continent.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Most of the people in Antarctica are there to perform scientific research for one or more of the nations of the Antarctic Treaty System or the United Nations, and there are various small scientific research stations, primarily on the coast, with easy access both by sea and air.
Scientific research in Antarctica includes (among other things) studying the ecozone and its weather, geology, geography, and native animal and plant life. Studies on global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer are also priority projects, and climate research often uses data from core samples of Antarctic ice to study changes in the Earth’s climate over millions of years. Astrophysicists and astronomers use the near complete lack of light pollution and the thin atmosphere of the Antarctic interior to study the stars and phenomena like cosmic background radiation.
Scientific research opportunities in the Antarctic often extend beyond the conventional, particularly given discoveries of ancient artifacts and other mysterious items beneath the deep glacial layers. Such mysterious discoveries usually generate a good deal of both excitement and trepidation in the scientific community, because studying them is often dangerous, and highly regulated by the authorities to avoid accidents.

MCMURDO STATION

The largest permanent research facility in Antactica is McMurdo Station, controlled and operated by the United States government. Established in the 1950s, the station is on the south tip of Ross Island on the shore of McMurdo Sound. The station is capable of supporting a community of some 1200 residents, although its regular population is often smaller, depending on ongoing projects. McMurdo Station is about two miles from the smaller Scott Base, a New Zealand science station.
McMurdo Station operated Antarctica’s first and only nuclear reactor from 1962 until 1972, when safety and environmental concerns led to the decomissioning of the reactor. Since then, the station has relied upon more conventional diesel fuel generators and renewables like solar energy for power generation.
McMurdo Station is unofficially known as a means for AEGIS to operate in Antarctica, and the American organization typically assigns a few agents on surveillance at the station to keep an eye out for dangerous artifacts or unusual activity. “Ice station duty” is normally thought of as a punishment for most AEGIS agents, and odds are at least one or two of those assigned to the station have disciplinary problems or a need to “cool off” for a month or two down near the South Pole. Research staff at McMurdo tends to resent the presence of often bored AEGIS agents looking over their shoulders all of the time, although they have been grateful for them on the few occasions when they’ve been needed to deal with some danger recovered from the depths of the Antarctic ice.

PROJECT: DEFROST

The international research project code-named “Project: Defrost” studies a secret underground installation in the interior of Antartica containing advanced technological equipment. The facility primarily contained a “doomsday weapon” used by an Atlantean warlord in an effort to melt all of the Antarctic ice and inundate the coastal areas of Earth. Fortunately, the device was disabled before it could do any permanent damage.
The technology of the facility may be ancient Atlantean or Lemurian, as it is a similar mix of “hard” technology and magic-focusing crystaline power sources and materials. This makes deciphering the devices there a difficult process, even more so because there is precious little by way of writing or symbols to translate, and much (or even all) of the equipment may be keyed to certain genetic or telepathic triggers. Researchers are engaged in a painstaking and comprehensive survey of the entire facility and an inventory of its contents, and are under strict orders to avoid activating anything without a clear sense of what it does.
UNISON keeps security on Project: Defrost tight to avoid any possible attempt to steal information or technology from the facility. In spite of the tempting target practically on their doorstep, SHADOW has refrained from any attempt to raid the Project: Defrost installation, out of concern of exposing the relative nearness of Nifelheim.

A CHILLY RECEPTION

With the exception of protected habitats, one challenge faced by visitors to Antarctica is the extreme cold weather and vast expanses of ice and snow with no shelter or signs of civilization. Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent on Earth, a vast frozen desert.

NIFELHEIM

Deep beneath the eternal ice fields of Antarctica, far from any human habitation, lies Nifelheim, the secret headquarters of SHADOW. Named for the land of eternal ice in Norse mythology, Nifelheim serves as the most secret and central base of the sinister organization. While SHADOW maintains bases all around the world, Nifelheim is kept carefully hidden. It is here that SHADOW grows and trains new clone soldiers for its ranks, and here where Overshadow retreats after a defeat or setback to hatch new plots for world-domination.
The main complex is like a small city beneath the Antarctic ice. Only small, concealed entrances open onto the snow-covered surface. The main means of getting in or out of the facility is via teleportal, linked to hidden SHADOW bases and safehouses around the world. This prevents SHADOW agents from being easily tracked and allows them to move freely behind the scenes. The teleportals also provide Nifelheim with the ability to receive shipments of weapons and technology directly from the Foundry. Teleportals from other SHADOW bases are programmed to erase the location of Nifelheim after each use, and trapped to self-destruct if unauthorized users attempt to reach the secret base through them.
Nifelheim is crewed by thousands of SHADOW troopers and equipped with clone banks capable of producing thousands more. It also has research facilities and a high-tech prison for holding captured superheroes, although prisoners are not routinely brought to Nifelheim.
Although Antarctica is high on law-enforcement’s list of suspected locations for a secret SHADOW base, there has never been a confirmed breach of Nifelheim’s security nor the revelation of its location. Searching the entire continent is a fruitless task, even with satellite imaging and other technology, given how well-concealed the underground base is. Learning Nifelheim’s location, much less gaining access to it, would be a coup of the first order for an organization like AEGIS or UNISON, although ironically the ban on military operations in Antarctica would make it difficult to mount an assault on Nifelheim without international repercussions.
Overshadow has taken precautions in the event that his enemies do storm Nifelheim. Once the base’s secrecy is compromised, its usefulness to SHADOW is considerably lessened. The installation has a self-destruct system, placing its geothermal power system on overload with the assistance of more conventional explosives. It is capable of destroying the entire base (and much of the surrounding area) in the equivalent of a massive volcanic eruption, ideally after Overshadow has escaped via teleportal or by transferring his consciousness to a new clone, of course.

COLD STORAGE

The eternally frozen tundra and glacial ice of Antarctica make it one of the few places on Earth where truly ancient relics of the bygone past can remain in literal cold storage for centuries, if not millennia or more.

SPACE DEBRIS

Antarctica is home to any number of ancient meteorite impact sites, and more modern space debris that manages to survive the reentry into Earth’s atmosphere is likely to embed itself deep into the glacial layer of ice, which reforms from melt water and debris cascading into the impact zone to bury any evidence.
Glacial flow against the mountains and other high elevation parts of the continent can churn up debris embedded in the ice, eventually bringing it to the surface in the foothills of those mountains, where it can be more easily discovered. Researchers often scour the lowlands of the mountains for evidence of these sorts of possible finds.
A few of the possibilities include:

• Meteorites composed of or containing unusual extraterrestrial materials or radioactive elements, which can have unusual effects upon interacting with the terrestrial environment or life-forms
• Meteorites carrying alien spores, microorganisms, or other forms of life, kept in suspended animation by being buried in Antarctic ice for who knows how long. Upon a change in their environment, such as surfacing above the ice, or being discovered and brought back to a research station, this life begins to revive and flourish.
• Debris from human artifacts (satellites and such) placed in orbit that decayed and crashed back to Earth’s surface. Any surviving material is most likely fused junk, but some especially well-protected things might survive reentry and they’re also the most likely to be both secret and valauble.
• The remains of alien technology, perhaps even an entire crashed alien starship, could be hidden beneath the ice, awaiting discovery. The crew of such a vessel (if any) might be long dead, or some of them could still survive in suspended animation within the ship, awaiting discovery or rescue.

ANCIENT ARTIFACTS

The frozen continent is also home to any number of artifacts lost and hidden beneath the ice and snow, or in the depths of crevasses, caves, or tunnels through the mountains. Some of the things that can turn up in Antarctica include the following.
Like the Ice People, Antarctica may be home to the ruins of ancient and long past civilizations. This can include any of the various hidden offshoots of humanity found on Earth-Prime, such as the Ultima, the Atlanteans, the Utopians, or the inhabitants of Shambala Vale. It can also include underground ruins connected to the realm of Sub-Terra created or inhabited by any of the races dwelling there.
Similarly, Antarctica may have been the site of one or more alien outposts, particularly by the ancient Preservers, who tampered with human evolution and development, and left powerful artifacts of their civilization scattered across the galaxy. It can also include the ancient Lor or Grue civilizations or other interstellar species.
More terrestrial “ruins” can include abandoned installations and hidden bases similar to Nifelheim, the Icebox, and Project: Defrost which haven’t been used for years or even decades, and haven’t been found by outsiders yet. An eccentric hero or villain might have maintained an Antarctic fortress, like Centurion’s Sanctum, now empty and waiting to be found and looted.
Some sites and ruins may not be so empty, in fact, with different inhabitants or creatures found in them. There are ancient survivors in magical or technological suspended animation, or various creatures frozen in antarctic ice, perfectly preserved, until modern science is able to defrost and revive them. Of course, they may not be entirely what they appear, and the freezing or revival process might have unexpected side effects. An isolated zoo, menagerie, or “terrarium” environment in the Antarctic might continue to function, creating a small, isolated “lost world” for heroes to explore.
Isolated artifacts of various sorts may turn up, particularly related to the sites described previously or associated with the barren cold of the Antarctic environment. It’s the perfect place where someone might find a lost Preserver device, or something like the mystical “Heart of Winter,” a perfect gem of enchanted ice able to cloak the world in snow, for example, or a cursed item banished to “the furthest corner of the world” long ago and left buried in a glacier for centuries.

THE ICEBOX
The challenges faced by the Blackstone prison off the coast of Freedom City have led the U.S. authorities to experiment with other means of handling super-powered inmates, including the privately-run Buckner Ridge “Lockdown” facility and the newer and more isolated Deep Six prison submerged off the coast of Emerald City. One such experiment is a top-secret facility in Antarctica, codenamed “The Icebox”.
The facility is similar in design to Blackstone, although with fewer levels at present. It is built entirely underground, both for security and secrecy, since the entire project is technically illegal and a violation of the Antarctic Treaty, making the Icebox a “black site,” an illegal prison run outside of sovereign U.S. territory, where prisoners can disappear, without contact with the outside world, or any legal recourse.
Although the Icebox is operational, its use is restricted to extremely dangerous inmates and particularly those of questionable legal status, such as aliens, extradimensional beings, and artificial constructs. An influx of alien activity following the Silver Storm in Emerald City and all that followed encouraged the completion and activation of the Icebox project.