Shattered Skies (working title)
Posted: 2007-12-09 02:31pm
A NOTE TO READERS: THIS TIMELINE IS INCOMPLETE AND THEREFORE NOT TO BE TAKEN AS A COMPLETE TIMELINE.
Okay, first things first. I'm aware that the title is the same as that of Ace Combat 4, a game for PS2 (part of a series I happen to like). It's just a working title until I can come up with something better.
Now, the meat of the post. This is a timeline running from just a few years in the future to the late 21st Century; It describes in varying detail the events leading up to the Third World War, major events of the Third World War, events between the Third and Fourth World Wars, and events during, immediately after, and (in small doses) distantly after the Fourth. It's very much unfinished, but I will post what I have thus far. It's mostly original with some extrapolation involving certain events, and will be updated as I have time to work on it.
I give you Shattered Skies, timeline thereof. It's sort of lean now, but delicious fats will be added as time allows.
PS: There is no national or political bias involved in this timeline. It is written from as much of a neutral point of view as was possible. Bad things happen to everyone, and election victories (C-c-c-linton?) are decided for optimization of the storyline, not personal agenda.
---
Shattered Skies Timeline
2011 – The Island War: Throughout the early months of the year, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, become increasingly distanced because of a dispute over the Pescadore island group, Matsu Islands, and Pratas Island; on July 8th, PRC amphibious forces seize first Beigan Island and then Nangan Island in the Matsus, followed by a helicopter-borne landing on Pratas Island.
On the 10th, the Republic of China counters by bombing the nearby Fuzhou and Shantou metropoli along with seaborne and heliborne attempts to take back the Matsu Islands. The PRC, now forced to stick with the consequences of its’ actions, launches a massive invasion force from naval facilities in Shanghai, intent on landing on Taiwan itself. ROC naval forces sortie northwards and a vast naval and air engagement ensues. American air assets on nearby Okinawa remain grounded, the Clinton Administration reluctant to involve the nation in a Chinese territorial dispute after the mire of the six-year occupation of Iraq. Taiwanese ships inflict heavy losses on Chinese troopships, but the numerically superior Chinese surface force drives them back to Taipei; the PLAN force withdraws to Fuzhou.
Three days later, on July 13th, they return to the Taiwanese coast at Tamsui and over the course of the day land five divisions of the Thirty-Seventh Group Army. Seventeen divisions of the Thirty-First, Forty-Eighth, and Sixty-Fifth Group Armies load into PLAN transport ships at Fuzhou and Shantou, and on the 14th and 15th proceed to reinforce the 37th’s beachhead at Tamsui. 31st Group Army, a mobile force consisting of three mechanized infantry and two armored divisions, pushes toward the Taiwanese capitol of Taipei, less than a dozen kilometers away. Between them and the heart of the ROC stand seven Taiwanese motorized and mechanized infantry divisions.
2012 – The Second Korean War: Due to rising tensions after the violent final confrontation of the Island War, North Korea launches a pre-emptive invasion of South Korea, which had hitherto been making massive arms purchases from Japan and the EU.
2019: Russia, currently an anarchy, discovers the true identity of one of the biggest parties in its rampant civil war; the Novaya Bolshevika.
2024: America, recovering after the horrors of the Third World War, is rocked by a string of terrorist bombings. Thousands are killed. The terrorists are revealed to be Southern secessionists, demanding the freedom to rebuild without "Yankee" involvement.
2025: The Russian civil war ends. The New Soviet Socialist Republic is created by Novaya Bolshevika party leader, Vladimir Ilyenko. The majority of the intact Red Army is immediately deployed to the Ukraine and Belarus.
The New Soviet Union refuses the idea of another Warsaw Pact, and places all conquered nations' militaries under central conrol, at STAVKA in Tsaritsyn. It, as usual, also demands Slovakia and Poland join the NSSR. As usual, they both refuse.
In November, the NSSR gives up on asking nicely and deploys the Sixth Tank Army into Slovakia against minimal resistance. The EU is outraged, but their lack of overt military response drives Germany to withdraw from the European Union.
2026: In light of a year's worth of Soviet aggression, the world's primary anti-Soviet states form the Coalition of Free States. Signing members are the New German Empire, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom.
2032: America, on the brink of another Cold War, has geared up to meet military demand. The pressure placed on the unsupportive Southern states is too much. The first state to formally secede from the United States is Texas. It is followed by the majority of the old Confederate states.
A state of war between the New Confederate States of America and the United States of America exists as of 1700 hours (EST), January 17th, 2032.
The Coalition as a whole refuses to involve itself in "an American internal dispute", not unlike America's refusal to involve itself in the Island War.
2033-2034: After two years of fluid tank warfare in the vast spaces of the American mid- and southwest and grinding urban warfare along the Eastern Seaboard north of Washington, DC, combat settles down into a massive attritional war in Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Confederacy does not have the manpower to win in the end.
2035: Fighting a losing war in Virginia, the Confederates make a fateful decision. To rapidly end the war before the Confederacy is overrun, a single penetrating strategic nuclear weapon is dropped into the tectonically unstable Yellowstone region. The supervolcano is set off, with catastrophic results.
The war abruptly ends as a vast cloud descends over America.
2036: Sun is seen from below 7500 feet for the last time, at the top of a stratoscraper in Tokyo, Japan, at 1900 hours (local) on September 5th.
2038: Three years after the Yellowstone Incident, The effects of a minor ice age have begun to set in. Many parts of the world that have never seen snow now see regular snowfall, and the world's previous cold zones are now largely frozen over. Many nations resort to constructing hive-style cities, creating a network of steel islands poking out of the ashy darkness.
2039: Lockheed-Martin Ground Systems reveals the XM-300 Infantry Combat Suit, a step up from the previous Land Warrior and Advanced Warfighter systems. It is a lightweight, sealed, armored suit; similar to such things dreamed of in video games of the early 21st Century.[/b]
Okay, first things first. I'm aware that the title is the same as that of Ace Combat 4, a game for PS2 (part of a series I happen to like). It's just a working title until I can come up with something better.
Now, the meat of the post. This is a timeline running from just a few years in the future to the late 21st Century; It describes in varying detail the events leading up to the Third World War, major events of the Third World War, events between the Third and Fourth World Wars, and events during, immediately after, and (in small doses) distantly after the Fourth. It's very much unfinished, but I will post what I have thus far. It's mostly original with some extrapolation involving certain events, and will be updated as I have time to work on it.
I give you Shattered Skies, timeline thereof. It's sort of lean now, but delicious fats will be added as time allows.
PS: There is no national or political bias involved in this timeline. It is written from as much of a neutral point of view as was possible. Bad things happen to everyone, and election victories (C-c-c-linton?) are decided for optimization of the storyline, not personal agenda.
---
Shattered Skies Timeline
2011 – The Island War: Throughout the early months of the year, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, become increasingly distanced because of a dispute over the Pescadore island group, Matsu Islands, and Pratas Island; on July 8th, PRC amphibious forces seize first Beigan Island and then Nangan Island in the Matsus, followed by a helicopter-borne landing on Pratas Island.
On the 10th, the Republic of China counters by bombing the nearby Fuzhou and Shantou metropoli along with seaborne and heliborne attempts to take back the Matsu Islands. The PRC, now forced to stick with the consequences of its’ actions, launches a massive invasion force from naval facilities in Shanghai, intent on landing on Taiwan itself. ROC naval forces sortie northwards and a vast naval and air engagement ensues. American air assets on nearby Okinawa remain grounded, the Clinton Administration reluctant to involve the nation in a Chinese territorial dispute after the mire of the six-year occupation of Iraq. Taiwanese ships inflict heavy losses on Chinese troopships, but the numerically superior Chinese surface force drives them back to Taipei; the PLAN force withdraws to Fuzhou.
Three days later, on July 13th, they return to the Taiwanese coast at Tamsui and over the course of the day land five divisions of the Thirty-Seventh Group Army. Seventeen divisions of the Thirty-First, Forty-Eighth, and Sixty-Fifth Group Armies load into PLAN transport ships at Fuzhou and Shantou, and on the 14th and 15th proceed to reinforce the 37th’s beachhead at Tamsui. 31st Group Army, a mobile force consisting of three mechanized infantry and two armored divisions, pushes toward the Taiwanese capitol of Taipei, less than a dozen kilometers away. Between them and the heart of the ROC stand seven Taiwanese motorized and mechanized infantry divisions.
2012 – The Second Korean War: Due to rising tensions after the violent final confrontation of the Island War, North Korea launches a pre-emptive invasion of South Korea, which had hitherto been making massive arms purchases from Japan and the EU.
2019: Russia, currently an anarchy, discovers the true identity of one of the biggest parties in its rampant civil war; the Novaya Bolshevika.
2024: America, recovering after the horrors of the Third World War, is rocked by a string of terrorist bombings. Thousands are killed. The terrorists are revealed to be Southern secessionists, demanding the freedom to rebuild without "Yankee" involvement.
2025: The Russian civil war ends. The New Soviet Socialist Republic is created by Novaya Bolshevika party leader, Vladimir Ilyenko. The majority of the intact Red Army is immediately deployed to the Ukraine and Belarus.
The New Soviet Union refuses the idea of another Warsaw Pact, and places all conquered nations' militaries under central conrol, at STAVKA in Tsaritsyn. It, as usual, also demands Slovakia and Poland join the NSSR. As usual, they both refuse.
In November, the NSSR gives up on asking nicely and deploys the Sixth Tank Army into Slovakia against minimal resistance. The EU is outraged, but their lack of overt military response drives Germany to withdraw from the European Union.
2026: In light of a year's worth of Soviet aggression, the world's primary anti-Soviet states form the Coalition of Free States. Signing members are the New German Empire, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom.
2032: America, on the brink of another Cold War, has geared up to meet military demand. The pressure placed on the unsupportive Southern states is too much. The first state to formally secede from the United States is Texas. It is followed by the majority of the old Confederate states.
A state of war between the New Confederate States of America and the United States of America exists as of 1700 hours (EST), January 17th, 2032.
The Coalition as a whole refuses to involve itself in "an American internal dispute", not unlike America's refusal to involve itself in the Island War.
2033-2034: After two years of fluid tank warfare in the vast spaces of the American mid- and southwest and grinding urban warfare along the Eastern Seaboard north of Washington, DC, combat settles down into a massive attritional war in Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Confederacy does not have the manpower to win in the end.
2035: Fighting a losing war in Virginia, the Confederates make a fateful decision. To rapidly end the war before the Confederacy is overrun, a single penetrating strategic nuclear weapon is dropped into the tectonically unstable Yellowstone region. The supervolcano is set off, with catastrophic results.
The war abruptly ends as a vast cloud descends over America.
2036: Sun is seen from below 7500 feet for the last time, at the top of a stratoscraper in Tokyo, Japan, at 1900 hours (local) on September 5th.
2038: Three years after the Yellowstone Incident, The effects of a minor ice age have begun to set in. Many parts of the world that have never seen snow now see regular snowfall, and the world's previous cold zones are now largely frozen over. Many nations resort to constructing hive-style cities, creating a network of steel islands poking out of the ashy darkness.
2039: Lockheed-Martin Ground Systems reveals the XM-300 Infantry Combat Suit, a step up from the previous Land Warrior and Advanced Warfighter systems. It is a lightweight, sealed, armored suit; similar to such things dreamed of in video games of the early 21st Century.[/b]
