Into The Shadows (Timeline)

2002 – New technology makes it possible to construct the first optical chip that is proof against electromagnetic pulse effects.

2002-2008   -  The Resource Rush. United Oil and other major corporations demand and get licenses to exploit oil, mineral, and land resources on U.S. federal lands, including designated Indian lands. Redical Amerindians respond by forming the Sovereign American Indian Movement (SAIM).

2004 – Libya unleashes a chemical weapon against Israel. Israel responds a nuclear strike that destroys half of Libya’s cities.

2005 – A major earthquake in New York City kills more than 200,000 people, with damage at 20 billion dollars. It will take 40 years to rebuild the city.

2006 – Japan announces the creation of a new Japanese Imperial State. The Japanese deploy the first solar-powered collector satellites to beam microwave energy to receptors on the Earth’s surface.

2009 – Angry that the government has leased additional Indian lands to United Oil, SAIM commandoes capture the Shiloh missile facility. They launch a Long Eagle missile toward the Soviet Union, bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war. The crisis ends when the warheads mysteriously fail to detonate.

2010 – In retaliation for the Shiloh affair, the US government passes the Re-Education and Relocation Act, authorizing the detention of thousands of Native Americans in concentration camps (euphemistically known as “reeducation centers.”)

First outbreak of Virally Induced Toxic Allergy Syndrome (VITAS), which kills 25 percent of the world’s population before year’s end.

2011 – The Year of Chaos. Governments begin to topple, famine stalks the world, nuclear power plants suffer meltdown, with extensive radiation fallout.

The first mutant and changeling children are born, signalling the start of the UGE (Unexplained Genetic Expression) Syndrome. The news media dub these new beings as “Elves” and “Dwarfs”.

On December 24, thousands of Japanese witness the first Dragon to reemerge from dormancy on Mt. Fuji. The same day, Daniel Howling Coyote, Prophet of the Great Ghost Dance, leads his followers out of the Abilene ReEducation Center.

Beginning in this year, political chaos begins to engulf the planet. In 2011, the Federal goverment of Mexico dissolves in riots, while Tibet regains independence as magical defenses seal it off from the invasion and render the region incommunicado.

2014 – Ghost Dancers announce the formation of the Native American Nations (NAN), with the Sovereign Tribal Council at its head. The Dancers claim responsibility for the eruption of Redondo Peak in New Mexico; Los Alamos is buried under 100 feet of ash. A federal force sent in to retaliate is destroyed by tornadoes called down by the Ghost Dancers.

The United Free Republic of Ireland is established, while the white-controlled government of South Africa collapses.

2016 – In a period of three weeks, US President John Garrety, USSR General Secretary Nikolai Chelenko, Prime Minister Lena Rodale, and Prime Minister Chaim Schon of Israel are assassinated. All but the Garrety assassin is killed in violent shoot-outs with local law officials.

2017 – U.S. President William Jarman issues the infamous Resolution Act, sanctioning the extermination of all Native American tribes. In response, the Indians begin the Great Ghost Dance. Freak weather and other uncanny events destroy or disrupt U.S. military bases hosting troops slated for use in the Resolution Action. On August 17, Mount Hood, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams erupt simultaniously just as government troops are finally about to begin their attack.

2018 – First-generation ASIST (Artificial Sensory Induction System) technology created by Dr. Hosato Hikita of ESP Systems in Chicago.

The Treaty of Denver is signed. With this agreement, the federal governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico acknowledge the sovereignty of NAN over most of western North America. Seattle remains as an extraterritorial extension of the US government in Indian lands.

The US spaceplane America, with its secret military payload, disintegrates in orbit. The wreckage lands in Australia, killing 300 in the small town of Longreach.

2021 – Goblinization. On April 30, 10 percent of the world’s population suddenly begin to metamorphose into new racial types known today as Orks and Trolls. This transformation, popularly known as Goblinization, marks another threshold point in the reemergence of magic on Earth. Humans react violently to the presence of the metahuman races in their midst.

Quebec declares its independence, receiving immediate recognition from France.

2022 – Severe rioting continues all over the world in response to the phenomenon of Goblinization. The US government declares martial law for several months, while reports trickling out of the Soviet Union indicate deaths on a mass scale. Many changed beings go into hiding or withdraw into separate communities.

Only another outbreak of VITAS quells the race violence, leaving another 10 percent of the world’s population dead in its wake.

The term “Awakened Beings” is coined to describe the metahumans and other emerging lifeforms.

2024 – First simsense entertainment unit (a kind of sensory VCR becomes available.

President Jarman is reelected US President in a landslide victory based on the first use of the remote-vote system. Opposition parties claim fraud.

2025 – Several prestigious US universities establish the first undergraduate programs in magical studies.

2026 – The US Constitution is amended to include all metahumans.

The first cyberterminal (a room-sized isolation chamber for a single operator) is developed. Funded by various intelligence agencies, the goal of the research is to make it possible for strike teams of “cybercommandoes” to raid data systems.

2027 – First commercial fusion reactor power plant comes on-line.

2028 – In the United States, the CIA, NSA, and IRS pool their resources to recruit and train Echo Mirage, the first team of “cybercommandos”.

2029 – Computer Crash of ’29. A mystery virus attacks databases worldwide, resulting in total financial chaos. The government and the megacorps attempt to fight the virus with their own cybercommandos, but eventually must recruit maverick hackers to fight the virus. In the course of fighting the virus and attempting to rebuild the world data system, the Matrix is born. The surviving hackers now have knowledge of cyberdecks and begin to cobble together their own units.

NAN declares that the emerging Elven folk are welcome in tribal lands.

2030 – The remaining United States of American merges with Canada to form the United Canadian and American States (UCAS). A coalition of southern states oppose the idea.

2030-2042   -   Euro-Wars. In this twelve-year period, Europe and Asia are rocked by a series of wars that result in a complete political transformation.

The former Soviet Union fragments, while the Awakened come to dominate vast wilderness areas, including portions of Siberia, Mongolia, and the mountains of northeastern China. Switzerland remains, as always, neutral. The Germanies recombine, becoming one of the stronger states in the new Europe. In a return to city-state politics, Italy, sovereign France, and southeastern Europe fragment into hundreds of tiny sovereignties

2034 – The first “grey market” cyberdecks become available.

The government of Brazil topples in the aftermath of an invasion by Awakened forces, including three Dragons. The Awakened declare the new state of Amazonia.

The Confederated American States declare their independence from the UCAS.

2035 – The Elves of the Pacific Northwest secede from NAN, declaring themselves the nation of Tir Tairngire (Land of Promise) and confiscating Indian land for themselves. Violent clashes between Indian and Elven tribes break out.

California declares independence from UCAS and is immediately recognized by Japan. Japanese troops land to protect their interests.

Texas succeeds from the CAS and makes an unsuccessful attempt to seize portions of southwestern Texas ceded to the tribes of Aztlan by the Treaty of Denver.

The Tsimshian tribal coalition withdraws from NAN.

2036 – A small community of Awakened beings in rural Ohio napalmed by Alamo 20,000, a terrorist group dedicated to destroying all Awakened beings. Over the next 15 years, Alamo 20,000 is linked to the deaths of a thousand metahumans and openly sympathetic human supporters.

2037 – First simsense entertainment unit is introduced (What was the deal in 2024, anyway?)

2039 – Night of Rage. Racial violence breaks out in major urban centers of North America. Thousands die, most of them metahumans and their supporters.

2041 – EuroAir Flight 329, enroute from London to New York, is destroyed over the Atlantic, killing all passengers and crew. Though garbled, the last transmission seems to indicate that a Dragon attacked the craft. Many believe the flight was sabotaged to retaliate for the Night of Rage.

Policlubs, youth-oriented associations devoted to spreading various political or social philosophies, first appear in Europe. Each club hopes to recruit the masses to its own viewpoint and thus play a leading role in the European Restoration.

2044 – Aztlan nationalizes all foreign-owned business. Semi-open war breaks out as some corporations fight to retain their holdings. Under cover of the fighting, Aztlan annexes most of what is left of Mexico except for the Yucatan, where Awakened forces halt all takeover attempts.

2046 – The first simsense megahit, “Free Fall” starring Honey Brighton eventually sells 50 million copies.

The policlub idea spreads to North America, but with violence in its wake. The Humanis Policlub in particular, attracts a major following that cuts across economic, social, and political divisions. In a series of paid advertisements, Mothers of Metahumans (MOM) denounces Humanis as an arm of the shadowy Alamo 20,000/

2049 – The Governer of Seattle signs an exclusive trade deal with representatives of Tir Tairngire. Seattle, already a major cultural and economic center for the UCAS, NAN, and large segments of the Awakened, now takes on new importance as the only access to Elven goods and services.

2050 – Now, the seventh generation cyberdeck is introduced, now down to keyboard-size.

Welcome to first-edition Shadowrun, chummers.