Descent

The year is AE 241. In the hinterlands southeast of the Yamatou isthmus lie the secluded hills of Minamiyou, with a rich history built by generations of rugged miners and independent-minded warriors fighting to civilize the remote but lush valleys. In modern times the “land of southern beauty” has become a buffer state between the free and prosperous Touyou to the north, and the vast and powerful Xiamen, birthplace of international Unionism, to the south. For nearly 60 years the independence of Minamiyou has survived under the rule of the august dictator Go Daigo, who has walked the razor's edge by kowtowing politically to Xiamen, and economically to Touyou. His implementation of Unionist collectivization is one of the most brutal and uncompromising, even among other member states of the International Union Directory, but lucrative contracts with Zaibatsu corporations keep Go Daigo's coffers filled and Touyou consumer prices low.

But with the world now embroiled in the long war, Go Daigo's arrangement has strained to the breaking point. Border skirmishes with Touyou have left dead on both sides, and Xiamen's demands for bodies to feed into the Directory's scorched earth defense against the USC threaten to shatter the peace of Minamiyou. Fearing the instability could force neutral Touyou into the war, Section 2, Touyou's foreign intelligence agency, has worked tirelessly to deepen their networks in their southern neighbor to detect and disrupt any potential threats.

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