2029

**2029 (MMXXIX)** was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (dominical letter G), the 2029th year of the Common Era (CE) and *Anno Domini* (AD) designations, the 29th year of the 3rd millennium, the 29th year of the 21st century, and the 10th and last year of the 2020s decade.

Events

**January**

- **January 1** - Mega-yacht, *Prosperity*, is attacked by crypto-terrorist organization, 4A; on board were 236 multi-billionaires, all of whom were targeted by the group. All were killed, and the yacht was destroyed. By this point, there were more resources being poured into finding 4A than there were by the Allies against their enemies in WW2. Nothing to date, however, had been learned about them.

• **January 2** - The Beijing Crisis leads to a collapse of inter-Asian relations; North Korea no longer has the security of being a Chinese protectorate with the warring government factions of the latter causing major instability. Many of China's diplomatic strings snap in the coming months.

• **January 4** - Joint United States/Japanese/South Korean naval exercises in the easternmost waters of the Philippine Sea leads to an exchange of fire between them and four Chinese battleships cruising the coast of Luzon. 27 men are killed: 9 Americans, 4 Japanese, 6 South Koreans, 8 Chinese, and both sides suffer substantial damage to vessels. The event makes news, and strains the relationship between Asia and the West.

• Internationally-renowned author and playwright, Ludwig Fisk, dies in his home at the age of 78, after a long battle with cancer.

• **January 5** - Keaton Ednick is elected Secretary-General of the United Nations. His lengthy career diplomacy in Asian political affairs was prominent in the decision of the Grand Assembly, considering the regions rapidly deteriorating conditions.

- The Libya-Iraq war comes to an end following diplomatic intervention by the PAE (and mention of military intervention, which technically already occured at the Battle of Tajura). Despite this, fighting continues between forces in Libya. Iraq fighter jets still make occasional bombing runs, usually at night. The PAE is aware of this, but says and does nothing.

• **January 6** - Russian extremist militant group, Murkwater(Мрачноглаз воды), captures the town of Cheremkhovo, Irkutsk Oblast. 48 of the town's citizens are rounded up and summarily executed, having been deemed as Federation loyalists.

• The U.S. initiates a major reorganization of their forces stationed in the Pacific, following the disaster two days prior.

• **January 8** - North and South Korean diplomats hold major talks at Conference Row, with a Chinese envoy present to mediate.

• **January 10** - Germany holds talks in Berlin with U.S. military leaders in Europe concerning the American build-up in Poland and the subsequent effects on Russian military reorganization along western borders. Germany is hoping greatly to mediate what appears to be an inevitable meltdown in the region. The U.S. makes it clear that *"Russia is broken, it can't even sustain peace in it's own borders, anti-Federation militant factions are making major moves, it won't be long before Moscow is again in the hands of men with truly dark minds".*

• **February 16** - Billionaire Howard Certa, founder of Brice Financial Systems(a financial giant), is found murdered in the street outside his winter home in London. All of Brice Financial's records and accounts no longer seem to exist. Certa's murder and the destruction of his company are not discreet happenings; crypto-terrorist organization, 4A, let it be known over a year prior that he would soon "become the victim". He didn't give heed to their threat.

• **February 22** - Keaton Ednick meets with Indian and Chinese diplomats to discuss the leavening of the South Asian Financial Crisis, with several European states having recently fallen into the fray through various disastrous applications.

• **March 3** - Indian diplomats walk out of talks with China after less than an hours time, bringing the latter to issue a statement declaring the closing of the Chinese-Indian border indefinitely. Trade sanctions come two days later, and a no-fly zone is established across the entirety of China the following day. An emergency meeting of UN states is held in Paris on the 8th; China is absent.

• **April 19** - Infamous arms dealer, Kyle "Kills" Ferrera, is captured in Venezuela following a lengthy U.S.-Venezuelan sting operation that began two years prior. Several of Ferrera's higher-ranking associates are killed in a firefight preceding his arrest. To date, U.S., South American, and European combined counts of "Kills guns" obtained and traced back to him number over ten million.

• **June 12** - Japan severs diplomatic ties with North Korea. The two nations had only maintained the fragile relationship for four years. Seoul's silence in the matter only serves to worsen South Korea's relationship with her northern counterpart, with the continued series of talks between the two cancelled for the remainder of the year by the latter.

• 1,200 troops of the Pan Arab Emirates armed forces come to shore in Libya following the Algerian Incident, in an invasion announced as an act of war by the PAE themselves. NATO doesn't know how to respond, despite "having seen it coming".

• **June 16 *-*** Swedish**'rocktronica'** musician, July Joon, plays a show in Rio de Janeiro to an audience of six and a half million people, a world record attendance for a musical act.

• Germany and Poland hold a series of talks in Berlin, lamenting concerns over Russia's "breaking point instability".

- The Union of African Independent States is reorganized into the African Consortium(AC) following a major internal coup by one of its' militant factions.

**June 18** - South Africa closes its' border following the outbreak of hostilities in the immediate north. You can leave but you can't enter. The presence of SA military forces at the border is amplified.

**June 20** - NATO organizes a force of 2,600 troops(stationed in Germany) to counter possible aggression by the radical AC. South Africa provides intel, but little else. The PAE declares its' intention to provde support where it can, although it insists this is not a move toward *"any sort of alliance".*

**June 21** - The PAE holds a secret meeting with the leaders of the AC concerning the future of African relations with NATO. The PAE says it will not publicly support either entity, but vows to provide "proxy assistance" to the AC should hostilities break-out, mainly in the form of weapons.

• **August 18** - U.S. President Emanuel Archer is assassinated while visiting Quebec to observe the operation of new technology related to the Odin Orbital Colony. No shooter is apprehended. That evening, Vice President Kenshin Akari is sworn in as President. The event triggers a major breakdown of international alliances, with the U.S. declaring that they *"will not lay down the magnifying glass nor the sword that accompanies it until the individual or individuals responsible for Emanuel Archer's death are apprehended or annihilated".*

**August 20** - Information comes to light regarding Kyle Ferrera's past as an informant for a foreign outlet of the CIA. Despite mounting international tensions, President Akari vows an investigation into the matter. It is his first major operation since taking office, excluding the hunt for Archer's killer and other internationally-related situations.

**November 7** - Chinese weapons installations in Ecuador are completed four days ahead of schedule, which serves only to hasten their discovery by U.S. defense satellites. The latter responds with similar installations in northern Australia, despite heavy criticism by the Australian government. The move is done by Congress without approval by President Akari, something many media outlets, as well as individuals within the White House, labelled "outright treason".

**November 8** - Ignoring heavy resistance around him, President Akari flies to Beijing to hold impromptu talks with President Song over the critical-level tensions of late. Song is notified less than an hour before Akari's arrival, catching him extremely off-guard and angering him greatly. He maintained a calm and cordial presence during the six-hour meeting, though as many as fifteen off his staff lost their jobs(some suffered additional punishments) in the following days.

- Famed journalist and political commentator, Miles Payne, states during the broadcast of a politcally-themed program he was a guest on that *"it* *is quite likely, I'd say almost with certainty, that China and the U.S. will go to war with one another within the next few months. I mean, 4A...call them what you will, thew seem to have succeeded in reducing the world of international manufacturing to dust. Whether or not it was their plan, the U.S. and China...solely mentioning these two...don't have the reliance uopn one another that they did, self-suffiency, at least in some form, has returned. There are, however, 'irreconcilable differences'. It simply isn't fiction anymore. War is the logical next step"*. His remarks earned him much criticism, as it was believed by many that he was not only condoning war, but supporting the actions of 4A. He wasn't, saying in response that he had been *"predictably side-swiped by yet another vehicle full of bloated dullards, conservative fear-mongers, and hillbillies".*

**November 12** - At 11:00 am Pacific Time, four miles off the coast of San Francisco, a Chinese underwater nuclear bomb is exploded, displacing millions of tonnes of water in a spectacular underwater explosion that rocks the U.S. Witnessed by millions as it happened, and nearly everyone else via media outlets within the hour, the explosion was meant to serve as a warning against "continued ambitious Imperialist expansionist policy". Amazingly(and by Chinese design), the blast claimed zero lives, only damaging an un-manned exploratory submarine(the owner tried to sue the Chinese government; his case was dismissed). Not long after news of the incident reached every corner of the Earth, Chinese diplomats in Turkey held a brief press conference to issue a few statements on the matter, saying also that *"if the United States responds in kind, or more so, we have been told that the Western U.S. mainland will suffer the consequences"*. The event also proved ineffective the U.S.' ability to detect such an attack, as it occurred so close to the mainland and in the same time frame as the bolstering of Pacific forces. It is considered by the majority of historians to be the official start of World War 3. President Akari heavily considered ordering an increase to DEFCON 1, but as he believed that the bomb really was but a warning shot, he ordered DEFCON 2. Troops at home were mobilized, those groups abroad were reformed and redistributed. All nuclear silos and armed air and sea craft were on stand-by. The full U.S. arsenal was at the ready.