VonSmythe Industrie

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VonSmythe Industrie S.A. was a Switzerland-based multi-national venture capital organisation founded by the wealthy Von Smythe family, and headed by the infamous, world-renowned, sinister billionaire Count Wilhelm Von Smythe. It was nationalised by the newly formed Großreich during the 2009 European Conflict.

[edit] History

VonSmythe Industrie was founded in 1847 by Werner Von Smythe. The Von Smythe family, who were quite well off and had ties to the Prussian royal family, lived in Berlin during the beginning of the Second Industrial Revolution. Werner Von Smythe was a clever individual who pioneered many technologies during the Industrial Revolution, and decided to go in to business selling dynamos and other advanced time period equipment. The senior Von Smythe was hugely successful, earning contracts in the German Empire and abroad. Werner Von Smythe used the steady profits from the business to branch out and purchase a shipping line, which helped him grow VonSmythe Industrie in to an international dynasty.

In 1908, Werner Von Smythe was killed in an car crash, and his only son, the 16 year old Wilhelm Von Smythe inherited the family fortune and the business. Count Wilhelm, though young, was a very sharp businessman. He ruthlessly fought off competition, and continued to expand the "VonSmythe empire". He invested heavily in military technology, and took advantage of militarism. Some believe that VonSmythe Industrie helped spark the First World War because of the possible profits they saw. WWI was a successful time for VonSmythe, as the German government relied heavily on VonSmythe for weapons, ammunition, and shipbuilding. After the war however, VonSmythe Industrie stumbled. Defeat was not something Wilhelm Von Smythe had anticipated. Nevertheless, VonSmythe quickly turned around as it focused on peacetime aeroplane and car production.

By the mid 1930s, VonSmythe Industrie was once again one of the biggest, most successful corporations in the world. Count Wilhelm Von Smythe quickly befriended the new figure of power in Germany, Adolf Hitler. Von Smythe was a strong believer in the Nazi cause, and also saw a great opportunity to become one of the main suppliers to Nazi Germany. VonSmythe worked on several secret military projects for Hitler, including guided rocketry, jet propulsion, laser-based weaponry, mind control, and genetic modification. The company even had a secret lab set up in New Swabia, Nazi Antarctica. VonSmythe also donated advanced equipment to the Nazis for use in concentration camps. During the war, VonSmythe Industrie ran many operations in Switzerland in order to smuggle information and technology in to Germany from Britain and America. Once again though, war chose not to favour Count Wilhelm Von Smythe. Von Smythe shut down operations and burned all evidence of him helping the Nazis, and he fled to Switzerland with what secret project information he could. Little is known of what happened to the Antarctic lab.

Count Wilhelm re-established VonSmythe Industrie in 1946 in Geneva, Switzerland. His Swiss and British operations remained largely intact, and he was able to salvage the company from that. With the secret Nazi technologies he managed to keep, he entered the aerospace and pharmaceutical industries. Both if these proved to be massive successes, and once again VonSmythe had recovered from a war gone sour. With large profits, Wilhelm Von Smythe looked to venture capitalism to turn VonSmythe Industrie in to an international power with a hand in every aspect of life. VonSmythe entered the record industry, telecom, broadcasting, computer and science technologies, food production, catering, and most recently, the car industry. In 2008, VonSmythe Industrie saw revenues topping €473 billion.

In May of 2009, VonSmythe Industrie proved their enormous amount of power when they influenced the Swiss and German governments to impose major economic and trade sanctions against France, who were aiding a rival corporation. This in turn started the Great European Conflict of 2009. Further more, after the signing of the European Conflict Peace Treaty, VonSmythe Industrie was nationalised by the Großreich Empire in order to exploit a loophole in the treaty. This integrated VonSmythe in to the Großreich governement, creating an even far more powerful faction.

[edit] VonSmythe Industrie after nationalisation

Because VonSmythe Industrie was just recently nationalised, the future of the company is unsure. Much of the old VonSmythe corporation is operating simply as the Großreich, and it is unknown whether or not Emperor Von Smythe is interested in retaining the VonSmythe branding, or if he will further work to integrate the Großreich with VonSmythe Industrie.

[edit] Miracle drug

VonSmythe Industrie is infamous for discovering the cure for aging. During the company's late Nazi days, a team in Antarctica headed by Von Smythe himself discovered the formula for a permanent elixir. A few people, including Count Wilhelm Von Smythe, were administered the drug, but it was otherwise lost during the war. Conspiracy theorists who believe Hitler escaped to Antarctica believe the drug still exists at the Nazi Antarctic base.

The elixir discovered by Von Smythe is the explanation why Von Smythe remains frozen in age, even though he has currently lived for 117 years.

[edit] Wacky Race participation

Von Smythe's extended Phantom Coupé finished second.

Count Wilhelm Von Smythe, a casual car enthusiast, recently took interest in a major motorsport event, the Final Gear Wacky Races. VonSmythe Industrie has since become a top sponsor of the event.

[edit] Winter 2009 Race

VonSmythe Industrie chairman Wilhelm Von Smythe made a last-minute decision to participate in the Winter 2009 Wacky Race. He formed a strong bond with BMW, with who he hadn't related with since WWII, because they owned Rolls-Royce, his favourite car brand. Working with BMW, VonSmythe Industrie developed a Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé variant that was capable of well over 480 km/h (~300 mph). When asked about the car, Von Smythe was reportedly disapointed that the top speed "wasn't much more than that of a Bugatti Veyron".

VonSmythe Petroleum heavily sponsors the race.

The race provided VonSmythe with an excuse to buy one of the top catering companies in Europe, Feinkostdelikatessengeschäft, as the Count felt it necessary to insure that he always had a good meal during the drive. This ended up leading to mass pay cuts at Feinkostdelikatessengeschäft, as Von Smythe was not satisfied by the food quality. Feinkostdelikatessengeschäft clients were also greatly inconvenienced when VonSmythe directed all staff to work solely on preparing for Team VonSmythe.

During the race, Von Smythe confirmed for the world his sinister personality. He was by far the most ruthless competitor in the race, and he quickly became the most hated. At one point in the race, Von Smythe ordered the bombing of a populated shopping centre. This initially proved to be bad for public relations at VonSmythe Industrie, however PR specialists at the company quickly turned things around with a free JollyBiscuit give-away. In the end, Team VonSmythe finished second. Von Smythe's driver was later executed for poor performance.

[edit] Summer 2009 Race

The Von Smythe Signature Series Phantom is one of the scariest cars ever built.

Furious that he did not win the Winter 2009 Wacky Race, Von Smythe turned his anger towards BMW. He bought the company via hostile takeover, and he put Rolls-Royce under his personal, direct supervision. In preparation for the summer races, he devoted most of the attention at BMW and Rolls-Royce towards developing a new car. He wanted the scariest, most sinister car ever built, and so for inspiration, the designers looked back to previous Rollers such as the Phantom Jonckheere and Corsair. The resulting car was a V18-powered monstrosity of a car, larger than many 4x4s. This new Rolls-Royce Phantom is referred to as the Von Smythe Signature Series, and was prepared to participate in the Summer 2009 Final Gear Wacky Race under Team VonSmythe.

In the months before the race, Team VonSmythe, also now known as the Großreich National Race Team, formed an alliance with old parther Team Feraname, as well as a new partnership with Veloce. The parthnership with Veloce would turn out to be a sham, as Veloce was actually loyal to the opposing DSRacing and Kuiper teams. Großreich Intelligence intercepted the ploy and attempted to feed the enemy false information through Veloce. Eventually, these partnerships played a crucial role in the weeks leading up to the Summer 2009 race, as war broke out between the two worldwide alliances of the Großreich-led Zentralkrafte, and the Kuiper-favouring Entente.

During the race, the VonSmythe team held a dominant position. The new Rolls-Royce proved to be a formidable car, capable of flowing through the innards of an active volcano (Mt Clarkson) and out pacing many other teams. Several vehicles were severely damaged by the Großreich-built mammoth, costing the race for a few teams. Three-quarters of the way to the finish, however, disaster struck. Veloce member Laura Croft, responsible for the death of VonSmythe driver and servant Percival Wadsworth (later reincarnated for this race) in the Winter 2009 Wacky Race, managed to gain access to the inside of the Rolls, likely in an attempt to assassinate Emperor Wilhelm Von Smythe and steal the emergency supply of gold on-board. The attempt was foiled by her own ally however, due to a miscommunication. Carbon Monoxide grenades detonated inside the Rolls-Royce's two passenger compartments, knocking Von Smythe, Wadsworth, and Croft unconscious as only the car's life support systems kept the three alive. The vehicle swerved off the road and in to a swamp. Croft and VonSmythe managed to escape before the combination of a plasma leak and further explosives destroyed the Rolls and its driver, Percival Wadsworth.

After the incident, Emperor Von Smythe called in full support from the Großreich military forces in an attempt to wipe Kuiper, DSRacing, and Veloce from the face of the Earth. He also brought in world domination expert Ernst Stravo Blofeld to assist in his plans. The two utilised Hitler's personal Mercedes to rejoin the race. With the Zentralkrafte forces keeping much of the field occupied, Team VonSmythe managed to retake the lead. In the last hundred metres before the finish, Wilhelm Von Smythe ordered the activation of his highly anticipated MkIII Plasma-Warp-Triebwerke. The Hitler Mercedes rocketed across the line, and Emperor Wilhelm Von Smythe finally achieved what he wanted victory at the Final Gear Wacky Races. Following the race, Zentralkrafte forces finally overpowered emergency Entente defence legions in London, Paris, Canberra, Beijing, and New York, seizing control of the world's capitals. The Großreich took on a world presence, and Wilhelm Von Smythe crowned himself World Emperor. As his first act, he banned the Final Gear Wacky Races from ever being held again, stating that he is champion for life. The Emperor further began a systematic hunt for all members and supporters of DSRacing, Kuiper, and Veloce. The future of the FG Wacky Race is uncertain.

[edit] JollyBiscuits

A tube of VonSmythe JollyBiscuits, the world's favourite biscuit!

In the 1930s, VonSmythe Industrie was experimenting with foods, specifically in the area of alternative, non-traditional ingredients. After making some progress, VonSmythe was commissioned by the Nazis to produce a cheap, mass-production biscuit which could be made from what was otherwise waste material. The result was the VonSmythe JollyBiscuit (known in Germany as KotKeks). These JollyBiscuits were fed to concentration camp prisoners, as they were considered unfit for German consumption. Many subjects showed problematic signs after ingesting VonSmythe JollyBiscuits, and some side effects observed included gas with oily discharge, severe vomiting and diarrhoea, blackouts, insanity, chemical burns to the oesophagus, and sometimes even death.

After the war, Count Wilhelm Von Smythe took the JollyBiscuit formula with him, and in the early 1950s, he realised the full potential of the product. He saw an industry that took pride in expensive, quality biscuits and thought he could undercut them by selling his mass-produced, cheap to make JollyBiscuits at low price, and then marketing them heavily. VonSmythe Foods was established, and the amount of sugar (high fructose corn syrup in the American version) in the JollyBiscuit formula was greatly increased. Food and health agencies were bribed with large sums of money by Count Von Smythe himself, and the product hit the market. JollyBiscuits were an overnight success. The idiots of the world were memorised by VonSmythe's flashy adverts, and shoppers quickly chose the low-priced JollyBiscuit over competitors. VonSmythe dubbed the JollyBiscuit "The World's Favourite Biscuit".

Recently, consumer advocate groups filed lawsuits agains VonSmythe Foods for knowingly selling a dangerous, substandard product, but the cases did not hold in court, and the opposition was quickly silenced. The JollyBiscuit was also the focal point of several news agencies in early 2009, when a 14 year-old British boy, Nereid, woke up in the emergency room after eating a VonSmythe JollyBiscuit. It was reported that neurotoxins were found in his bloodstream. Several groups went on to question what ingredients are truly put in to JollyBiscuits, and at a VonSmythe press conference, the VonSmythe Foods PR simply replied, "Oh, just some things like cat excrement and granulated, recycled rat traps. Nothing you wouldn't feed your kids really." VonSmythe then played a JollyBiscuit ad over the large screen at the conference, and the press were back under VonSmythe hypnosis.

On 2 May 2009, the Chancellor of Austria choked to death on a VonSmythe JollyBiscuit. Due to the European conflict at the time, this caused instability in the country, which led to an Allied Swiss-German invasion of Austria.

[edit] See Also

• Final Gear HQ
• DSRacing
• VeloceRACING
• KUIPER Racing