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States are constantly reminded of their mortality; dissent becomes rebellion, rebellion becomes revolution, revolution becomes war. Along the way, armadas are sunk, kings beheaded, empires defeated, and genocides committed. With the final stroke of a pen on paper, an entire country can be written off the map, its people refugees in their own homeland. A new order emerges, or an old one is maintained, but the end of nations always ends in blood.
With the end of the Great War came the end of the age of empires. In Europe, Austria and Hungary were divided, the German Empire dissolved into an unstable republic, and the Communist Party adopted in Russia, leaving France and the British Empire desperately clinging to their interests in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. It took a second war of disastrous proportions to give rise to the time of superpowers, when war was waged not with weapons, but beliefs; the newly established countries of the so-called Third World became the battlegrounds where ideologies conflicted, a baptism in blood. But something much worse was on the horizon.
Globalization swept across the planet, leaving no state in its way unscathed. Within borders, loyalties were tested, resulting in some nations finding unity among the people, and others being internally divided. Slowly, the states began to wither and die as borders became meaningless, the only divisions being frontlines. And yet, citizens everywhere would not abandon the old ways, when dying for king and country was considered the highest honour of all. It is possible that at last humankind might have seen some semblance of world peace, but it was the makers of this peace that would ultimately undo their work.
As world leadership came into question, there arose a power that none could have expected. On 10 June, 2036, the heads of the world's top corporations met on Cooper Island, recently renamed Gates Island, in the Palmyra Atoll. There they formed a coalition, becoming the richest and most influential group of individuals in the world. Calling themselves the United Megacorporation Alliance, they created and hired their own paramilitaries, and began carving out pieces of the states for themselves, turning cities into their own private, and politically interconnected city-states.
Obviously, the states resisted, confidently denouncing the UMA as an illegitimate cartel with no claims to sovereignty. Except the states were not confident of their claim. The UMA cities quickly came to be operated as legitimate city-states, even providing elections. Though some left the cities taken under UMA control, many stayed and were even attracted to them. The Corporations, as they came to be popularly called, offered some of the highest standards of living on the planet, and were able to provide jobs for practically everyone within their borders.
As support for the Corporations grew, so did their desire for more territory, and with it more resources. Clashes between UN and UMA troops broke out all across Africa, South America, the Middle East, Asia, the Pacific. Even as those firefights raged on, paramilitary troops on Corporation payrolls struck out at the strongholds of Government powers themselves; natural gas lines in Russia surrendered, oil platforms off the Norwegian coast stolen, acres of forest conquered from Canada. Where at first the states of Europe and the West could not keep the Corporations off their doorsteps, that constant presence, they now found themselves being eaten alive, inside and out. Many believed they had waited too long to act.
But they would not back down. With a terrible might, the Governments struck back against the Corporations. Nations once sworn enemies with each other found themselves fighting side by side against a common foe. The remaining states, understanding they were powerless on their own, joined forces, and were able to direct their energies through the United Nations. Over half the world's population was in support of the Governments still, and despite the economic ruin felt in every country, the Governments were able to amass armies that rivaled the paramilitaries of the Corporations. In an unexpected turn of fate, UMA troops were pushed back by Government forces.
Surprised, the heads of UMA started to focus their attention on the strengthening of the military sector, providing grants and equipment to further military technologies. Cybernetics were applied to soldiers for the first time, giving the paramilitary companies an edge over the Governments, who refused to impose such technologies on their own troops. As cybernetics were further developed, the Corporations used the technology as a tool to draw in more people, offering superhuman enhancements to anyone willing enough to take out a loan with their banks.
Those who chose to become cyborgs were labelled in politically correct circles as SAMEHs; Surgically and Mechanically Enhanced Humans. Sammies, as they were called, were generally cast out of the Government territories, being seen as Corporation supporters or sympathizers, willing to sell their souls to the Devil out of self-interest. Under the Governments, cybernetics were permitted for those that required them, the dying or permanently injured, though these enhancements never allowed for superhuman abilities, simply replacing what was lost.
Other military equipment was developed as well to "repair the human deficiency"; psychokinetic development, genetic research, artificial intelligence, even whole mechanical suits were created in order to win a war that was destroying the planet. A fifty year planet-wide war with no end in sight.
But fifty years is a long time, and now both sides are preparing to unleash their most devastating weapons yet. Who will come out on top, and who will be annihilated from the pages of history has yet to be decided. Only one thing is certain: the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
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Authorization: Col. Wang, Yao; Project Phoenix Fire