[History 101; 2006-2010] Japanese Imperial State, the groundwork for two megas, Lone Eagle, and VITAS
In the last [History 101] we covered a lot of ground, but mostly we discussed important minor events that will eventually snowball into much bigger things. In this post, we'll be discussing a couple of those avalanches, and start a few more balls rolling. So let's get into it...
##2006: Japan Dominates the News
There are only a few events in 2006 that we would consider important for our purposes. And the majority of them involve Japan.
The first, was on April 10^th when the Japanese government launched a series of solar cell satellites into orbit. These satellites converted the sunlight they were constantly bombarded with into electricity, and the electricity was beamed to earth. Japan had solved their increasing energy problem both cleanly, and efficiently.
Remember the Ghost we talked about? Man those sub-orbital planes are neat, and America needed one of there own. Well that's exactly what happened when Boeing announced there High Speed Civil Transport. Not as sleek and awe-inspiring as the Ghost, the HSCT becomes the cornerstone of the profitable Japan to Seattle run within the next six years.
After years of legal battle and laying their entire business on the line, Texas Instruments finally wins their lawsuit against Miroyama Electric on October 17^th. Within days the Japanese Court orders all Miroyama assets to be stripped and given to TI, and the every single Miroyama executive commits seppuku to regain their lost honor.
A month later on November 17^th North Korea launched a surprise nuclear attack on Japan. Fortunately for Japan, the warheads failed to detonate, and in response Japan increases their support of the Second Korean War. By the end of the year North Korea is no more, and Japan has remade itself into the Japanese Imperial State.
##2007; Drug Dealers Go Corporate
The biggest event to happen during this year was the foundation of the ORO Corporation by the three largest drug cartels in Mexico. It seems that the Medellin, Masaya, and David cartels had been investing in the local region for quite some time with the profits from their extremely lucrative drug trade. By 2007 they were the largest investor in the region, and their largest acquisition was a resource developer in Vallahermosa. This proved most lucrative... and you'll see why next year.
##2008; ORO Hits It Big... Twice!, the seeds of Lone Star, and Bester Loses the Presidency
On March 4th, the ORO Corporation announced that they had discovered a source of molybdenum worth tens of billions of dollars. This is an amazing win for ORO. They had been quietly buying up the developers and facilities required to exploit this find for months beforehand. With this sudden explosion of money (remember, this in addition to the drug trade), ORO expands its portfolio into all of Central America.
In Texas (maybe in response to ORO's expansion) new laws regarding militias and their uses was handed down on April 18th. The new law basically allowed militia groups of armed civilians to "assist" law enforcement in keeping the peace. This is the first step (of many) towards the Lone Star we know and hate today.
I said the ORO hit it big twice right? Well the second time came in June when several Central American countries withdrew their positions on international treaties regarding copyright infringement. With copyright infringement effectively legal in those countries, ORO steps in and crowns itself King of the Internet Pirates, and began mass distribution of copyrighted digital material.
August 23^rd brought with it the collapse of the German Coalition government. It seems that the people were upset with a government that couldn't protect them from the toxic waste and gas that was taking over their country. As the government weakened, fighting in the streets became more common. And old regional hatreds and feuds rose to the surface, paving the way for the German Allied States that they will eventually become.
And, much to no one's surprise, US President Bester is defeated in the November election and is replaced by President Jesse Garrety.
##2009; France Melts Down, and the US Biffs the Indian Dilemma
Nuclear disaster reared it's ugly head in Europe again on March 4^th when the Cattenom-GAU nuclear reactor's primary and secondary cooling systems fail, leading to a full meltdown. A cloud of radioactive gas spreads across eastern France and western Germany. This cloud kills 35,000 almost immediately, and another 100,000 over the next several months.
Two months later, on May 5^th United Oil was granted the land rights to one quarter of the US's national park lands, and one tenth of the remaining (and already exploited) Native American Reservations. Needless to say, the Sovereign American Indian Movement was pissed, and began plans to retaliate.
That retaliation took the form of a raid against the U.S. Air Force's Shiloh Launch Facility in northwest Montana on Sept. 18^th. It is believed that the raid was successful due to help from inside provided by one Major John Redbourne, a native Sioux. They then threatened to launch the missiles unless the US government returned all the land they had given to the corporations. The US had ten days to comply.
President Garrety was either unable or unwilling to negotiate with terrorists, so time moved slowly for those within the launch facility. Then on Sept. 28^th, a US Delta Strike Team broke into the silo, and executed all the of the SAIM raiders. But not before they were able to launch a nuclear missile at Russia.
President Garrety tried to assure Russian President Nikolai Chelenko that this was an isolated attack by terrorists and not the US trying to kick start WWIII. Chelenko was, of course, suspicious upon hearing Pres. Garrety's list of things gone wrong: detonation codes not working, no interceptors in the area, and so on.
Russia put its forces on full alert. Tank divisions moved into position to sweep into Europe. Russian silos were geared up for retaliation, and the populace was moved into shelters.
Two hours after Garrety's first call to Moscow, Pres. Chelenko called back and said that the situation had been resolved. There was no evidence of the warheads hitting their targets, and Eagle-1 was never seen again.
The US government decided that they had enough of these upstart Injuns, and on Oct. 28^th the Native American Re-education and Relocation Act is passed. This allows the US government to round up anyone they think might be related to the SAIM and inter them in prison camps.
A similar law is passed the game day in Canada. The Nepean Act goes one step further however, and strips all land belonging to the Inuit tribe.
##2010; VITAS and Seeds of Another Mega
On Jan. 20^th, the US follows the Napean Act's lead and strips all remaining land from the Native Americans. But that's just a footnote for future reference.
The real star of 2010 is Virally Induced Toxic Allergy Syndrome.
It started in India on Feb. 10^th. A disease appeared out of nowhere that made the host allergic to almost everything and kills the host by inflaming the lungs to the point of suffocation. It was dubbed Kali's Harvest, and killed 450 million of its citizens.
Within weeks the virus (dubbed VITAS by the global community) has reached out to every developed nation in the world ultimately killing one quarter of the world's populations over the next two years. People die so fast that funeral pyres become en vogue in Europe, while Mexico preferred the method of burning down entire neighborhoods to stop the spread.
On June 22^nd, the stress of VITAS and the recent nuclear disaster combined to destroy France's economy. France had fought the good fight against the corporations, but this was the crack in the dam they needed to flood the country. They took it, and ran with it.
On Sept. 16th, recently appointed BMW CEO Michel Beloit restructures the BWM empire and integrates Saeder Munitions and Krupp Manufacturing into their portfolio. Here are the seeds of what will become the largest mega-corporation in the Sixth World.
Back across the pond, in Canada, Quebecois secessionists finally get there wish on Halloween. Quebec secedes from Canada and establishes itself as it's own government.
And that's where I'm going to have to cut off chummers. I don't have enough character space to jump into 2011. Between the Awakening, UGE, two dragons showing up, the Black Tide, etc. I'll quickly run out of room and leave people hanging... Instead, we'll just cut off here, and pick it up again soon.
##Sources!
- The Sixth World Almanac pp. 14-20
- Corporate Guide pp. 62, 148
- Corporate Download pp. 41-42, 83
- Germany Sourcebook pp. 21-22, 42
- Corporate Shadowfiles Appendices II, VII
- The Neo-Anarchist's Guide to North America pp. 64-66
- Shadows of Europe pp. 8-15
- Cyberpirates pp. 92-93
Posted Feb 20, 2014, 8:10 PM UTC · edited