Atomic Bombing of Hong Sha Dao

The atomic bombing of Hong Sha Dao was one of the most significant indicators of global catastrophe in the 2020's. It occurred primarily due to the unpopularity of US President David Jefferson Adams. Adams had come to power in a coup in 2022, having previously lost the 2020 presidential election. Adams claimed that his loss had been due to widespread voter fraud and that his coup was necessary in order to overthrow an illegitimate regime. Adams' authoritarian rule quickly left him unpopular. Foreign leaders from Britain's Michael Callow to Ukraine's Vasyl Pterovich openly disdained him. Protestors against his rule such as Samantha White, Peter Maldonado, Kat Strattford, William Van Driessen and Forrest Taft were linked to extremist groups such as the New Earth Army and the Left Eye to justify their imprisonment. The addition of Curtis Wilson to the Supreme Court allowed for the detention of these opponents as well as potential 2024 rivals. Additionally, Adams was wracked by scandal. Joe Goldberg, a staffer on his reelection campaign, was discovered to be a murderous stalker. Even previous supporters began to lose faith in Adams- for example, the Sons of Jacob grew increasingly discontented with Adams' lack of commitment to theocracy. For this reason, even though his opponents had been largely disqualified, Adams worried his support would remain too low to retain power.

For this reason, Adams turned to sabre-rattling, likely recalling that he had previously gained support following the Ceph attack on New York and the quarantine of the Turkish city of Harran following the contamination of the city by a T-Virus-Rabies hybrid. The Greater Korean Republic was an unpopular nation among the American public and Adams had been blamed for enabling their rise by pulling US forces out of East Asia, creating a power vacuum. The GKR had installed Julio Ardente as dictator of the Philippines and backed the self-declared People's Republic of China led by Hou Linpiang as it sought to reunite the divided nation. His government managed to almost achieve total reunification and became overly confident, leading to the creation of artificial islands in the South China Sea—most notably Hong Sha Dao. While the region was dominated by GKR allies, Vietnam remained semi-independent and saw the creation of Hong Sha Dao as an infringement on their territory. Adams saw this as a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the public and thus issued an ultimatum to Hou Linpiang's China to either dismantle the artificial islands or the US would destroy them. Ultimately, with the words of support from the GHCR and the US being increasingly isolated from the world community, Chairman Hou rejected this threat.

Adams struck, ordering Skynet, the supercomputer in charge of America's nuclear arsenal, to launch three Trident missiles at Hong Sha Dao. The island was completely destroyed and almost everybody on it was killed. China called for vengeance but Hou was restrained by the GKR, which did not consider itself ready for a direct confrontation with the US. The strike caused a collapse in prestige for Hou's government, leading to the Kwan Do family to overthrow him and install Nick Young as President. The strike was condemned by most of the world, with several nations imposing sanctions on the United States. The economic strife caused by these sanctions led to the rise of extremist populist parties, such as Norsefire and People for Waldo in the United Kingdom and Agnes Dorgelle's National Popular Rally in France (which had been ascending in influence in the wake of the growing unpopularity of Muslim French President Mohammed Ben-Abbes). The reaction in American proper was more divided. Socialist Senator Julian Felsenburgh was so outraged by the strike that he renounced his citizenship and moved to Europe, where he would ultimately become President of the European Union. Less extreme figures nevertheless also condemned the attacks and they were cited by Congressman-elect Payton Hobart as reasons to boycott Adams' second inauguration, which over three dozen Representatives and eleven Senators ultimately did alongside all living ex-presidents. Other Americans, such as Kansas Senator Brenda King, Missitucky Senator Alfred Woden and Delmarva Senator James Devlin, defended the attack, claiming it was necessary to limit the GHCR's influence. Ultimately, most Americans did not agree with the attack and Adams remained controversial past the point of his death in the 2025 Inauguration Day bombings that destroyed multiple other cities. Some figures, such as cult leader Eddie Lane, held that the 23 cities' destruction was a cosmic punishment for destroying Hong Sha Dao.