User Guide

2002
In retaliation for the destruc-
tion of Alaska, environment-
alists initiate a military
occupation of Yosemite National Park.
This action precipitates open warfare
between environmental activists and
Eastern owners of Setting Sun, Inc., a
foreign investment corporation that
operates key tourist concerns in the park.
This is the first time mercenaries are
legally employed on American soil.
Scandal rocks Congress, as leaders of
both parties are implicated in the
Bloodmoney Scandal. Allegations of
misconduct are levelled when evidence is
presented that congressmen used their
contacts to allow the shedding of
American blood on American soil at the
hands of foreign concerns.
On May 1, H.R. 2343 goes into effect.
The IRS gains 200,000 employees and
initiates an intense campaign to collect
backtaxes nationwide. The so-called
“witch audits” prompt widespread civil
demonstrations. Portions of downtown
Washington are razed during the
“Juneteenth Purge.” IRS officials are
accused of terrorizing the population.
Resentment is manifested in riots that
erupt in most major urban centers across
the continental U.S.
After losses in the PetroWar of 2001,
the CIS loses its status as a superpower,
fragmented by the same forces assailing
the U.S.: bankruptcy, internal politics
and self-liberating provinces. The
government solicits Japanese investment,
and resource-poor Japan welcomes the
opportunity, exploiting the Russians’
negotiating disadvantage to invest yen at
high interest rates, then foreclosing on
defaults. At present, it is estimated that
Japan owns 28% of Russia and the rest of
the CIS.
2003
Following Texas’ lead, by this
year 14 of the 50 states have
declared their independence.
Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and
Georgia merge into one confederation, the
Southern Confederate Bloc. North and
South Dakota and North and South
Carolina each merge into single states to
guard against IRS predation. Regardless
of state claims to the contrary, the federal
government refuses to recognize the right
of states to secede, and continues its
attempts to levy back taxes against the
secessionist factions. In its December
issue, Time magazine pronounces civil
war inevitable in a controversial editorial.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government draws
criticism for diverting funding from social
and administrative programs to sustain
ongoing military concerns.
Following the virtual bankruptcy of the
United States and armed attempts by the
IRS to collect additional taxes against
corporations, the major multinational
corporations meet in Stockholm for
the First Multinational Corporation
Summit. At this conference, the corpo-
rations declare their sovereignty and
unaccountability to individual nation-
states that engage in terrorist activities
(i.e., the U.S. and the IRS). This indepen-
dence is challenged by the international
community, prompting corporations to
invest in their own defensive forces. As a
result of this initially defensive tactic, full-
scale inter-corporation wars are com-
monplace by the year 2005.
2005
Citing executive privilege to
declare a state of national
emergency, President Guerrero
expands the IRS and grants it rights
above and beyond the constitution to
collect on back taxes owed by
corporations and states illegally declaring
secession. The Director of the IRS hires a
Dutch mercenary commando unit to help
collect taxes in New York City, following a
street war in which New Yorkers repell
IRS auditors with automatic weapons.
Mercenaries emerge to fill this new
market demand, fostered by the new
martial environment. Istanbul becomes
known as the mercenaries’ market when
Turkey grants “Turkish Diplomatic
Forces” rights and privileges to mercenary
squadrons, in exchange for a 10% share
of their profits. Over a dozen sizable
mercenary squadrons quickly emerge
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July 2011 • SUDDEN DEATH