> "In 231 NC, only a decade after the
Eurocorp Syndicate became the most powerful organisation on the face of
the Earth, a tapeworm virus was released by forces unknown into the
emergent Worldnet system. Global financial markets and security nets
were caught completely off their guard by this auto-mutating string of
code, nicknamed Harbinger. By the time Eurocorp hackers picked up the
trail, the damage was done. The worlds information systems tore
themselves apart, preceding a global collapse like none other. The
ensuing chaos and darkness lasted for fifty years. This period is now
referred to as First Downtime. Worldwide, it is conservatively estimated
that some 350x10^6 lives were lost as a consequence
- Excerpt from Chapter 1 of the First Book of the Church of !, 341 NC.
>This is the story of the Syndicate Wars. Syndicate and the
subsequent American Revolt attempt to gain global domination by a
conglomerate, Eurocorp, a significant factor in the earths primary
holocaust, the First Downtime. The global mega-corporations which once
housed, fed and protected their workforces, are rising once more to
ultimately take control of this earth. Eurocorp is once more leading the
chase for worldwide control. For almost a century, the Global
Initiative Arm (GIA) of Eurocorp has persuaded over eighty percent of
the population towards its destiny, controlling the growth of
civilization, manufacturing opinions, and even beginning small wars to
give its employees something interesting to talk about during their
lunch breaks.
> Using a small brainwashing device known as
the CHIP, Eurocorp agents could easily control the populace using a
fiendish device known as the Persuadertron. The GIA has been the
think-tank responsible for the global security of Eurocorp, yet despite
its highly trained Crisis Contingency Action Teams, there have been a
number of significant developments that undermines Eurocorps once-strong
grip over its people. First, the unnacountably diminishing
effectiveness of the Persuadertron and CHIP technologies. Recent reports
have shown a distinct rise in the incidence of Persuadertron use
authorised by regional controllers, accompanied by a rise in breaches of
disciplinary codes by Eurocorp employees. Indeed, in some cities,
ghettos have developed where the inhabitants seem immune to its effect.
> In many areas, Eurocorp has lost control of more than fifty
percent of the population. Also worrying is the rise of an underground
religion, known simply as the Church of !, which is spreading like
wildfire across the globe. The Church of ! is growing in areas where
Eurocorps control is weakest, preaching salvation through technology;
technology which it believes should be under its control. The Church has
proven impossible to infiltrate, and although so far it has not called
for a direct uprising against Eurocorp, it has become openly hostile to
the greater resources of Eurocorp, and has claimed responsibility for a
number of uprisings and terrorist attacks.
> The strain of
these developments on Eurocorps CHIP-reliant policy has been very
damaging to the Syndicate. Some cartels are taking the competition idea
very seriously, and a number of divisions are trying to break free.
Eurocorp is being torn apart, and its technology is being undermined by
unknown forces. A power vacuum is developing, plunging the world deeper
into chaos. For the right leader, the world is entering a period of
great promise.