World War IV

World War IV is an umbrella term for various wars that occured in different parts of the world during the year of 2062 that occured in what was known as the Dark Future timeline. It became the largest conflict seen on Earth since World War II prior to the Soul Eater's invasion of Earth.

Members of the Cosmic Defence Coalition were drawn to the war, but to opposing sides. The first war, the Levant-Israeli War was triggered when stolen Tarakian missiles were fired to Beirut and Aleppo in the Levant Arab Republic. A diplomatic crisis ensued as the Levant Arab Republic and New Empire of Japan accused Tarakia and Israel of the attack. Within weeks, the CDC members were fractured and entered this period of wars.

By late June, a cease-fire was ordered by all sides. The war also left heavy consequences as global economies entered the worst economic recession since nearly a decade prior. The CDC, unified only by name remain fractured with divisions preventing productivity.

Unknown to the CDC and Earth was that the wars were secretly set up by Equestria and cultists loyal to the Soul Eater. They have set up the war to sow division and distrust to the CDC for their own gains.

Background
The alternate timeline where the war occured had significant differences to the main timeline:

There were differences in CDC members and Earth. Paradox never joined the CDC and was instead independent, leaving new countries in place of those that were Paradox-aligned. Greece and Turkey existed in place of Byzantium and Cyprus was partitioned into the Greek-dominated Cyprus and a Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

There were difference in technology reported. PAMA was known to be utilising energy-based weaponry and walkers. The New Empire of Japan also used a tank known as Jimmu II earlier than the main timeline.

Arab Missile Crisis
On early morning of the 1st of January, Tarakian-made missiles were fired from the Golan Heights to the cities of Beirut and Aleppo of the Levant Arab Republic, hitting public gatherings and killing thousands. In the emergency CDC session conducted in the Levant Arab Republic accused PAMA and Israel of firing the missiles at the city. While the New Empire of Japan was hesistant to accuse Tarakia of any wrongdoing, the Azerothian Union back Tarakia in it's defence that no missiles were authorised to fire.

Investigation and escalation
Urging refrainment from accusation without proper claims the New Empire of Japan suggested an international team to formally investigate. Investigation teams were sent to the sites of the missile attack in Beirut, Aleppo and the alleged source in the Israeli-held Golan Heights. The teams concluded that the missile was Tarakian, but asked for more time in investigating as there were irregularities.

Escalation grew when Tenno Sugihito and Kogo Melanion faced an assassination attempt immediately after their return from Azeroth for the birth of their son, which instead claimed the life of their head butler Katagiri. Seeing the murder weapon used an Azerothian-made ammunition, blame immediately fell to the Azerothian Union and responded with a message of little empathy. Angered in what appeared to be a betrayal by both the Tarakians and Azerothians with their respective attacks, the Tenno disappeared from public eye and forced his sister to rule in his absence. Meanwhile the Levant Arab Republic was preparing for an invasion of Israel...

Levant-Israeli War
Main article: Levant-Israeli War

As retaliation for the missile attack on the Levantine cities, the Levant Arab Republic and the New Empire of Japan declared war on Israel and PAMA (the latter refusing to back down). The combined invasion force cross through the Golan Heights and occupied Galilee and Jerusalem within an three hours. At the same time, Tarakian defence systems such as God Rods were disabled and cyber attacks took place on Israeli networks to destroy defence and communication networks.

International reactions on the war was split. Most Arab states including North Africa declared support for the Levant Arab Republic. Turkey and the Caucasian states except Azerbaijan sent troops and assistance to the Levant Arab Republic. Several European countries began sending troops to assist Israel. Iran declared support for Israel and launched an offensive on Jordan and Deir-Ez-Zor.

As the battle of Amman occupied both the Levantine and Iranian forces, Saudi Arabia launched an attack through Jordan and Iran to fight their way towards Israel. The three powers agreed to a temporary cease to fight Saudi Arabia and return to their borders to recoup their losses. When Saudi Arabia was pushed back, the war commenced, but with little progress on all fronts.

Aegean War
Main article: Aegean War

Turkey's support to the Levant Arab Republic and purpose as a supply line made it a target of a Greek and Tarakian invasion. The land invasion was initially successful until Istanbul, when the Genji sent reinforcements for the Turkish defenders.

Indonesian-Australian War
Main article: Indonesian-Australian War

Balkan Wars
CDC Headquarters in Belgrade was bombed, killing hundreds. As multiple countries were blamed for the attack, the region was quickly thrown into war.

Other wars
A three-way skirmish occured between the Central Asian countries of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan or the rights to Ferghani Valley.

Aftermath
By the end of the war, much of the world was left weakened and with urgent need of rebuilding. Casualties reached over a hundred thousand in this six-month period. Some countries saw internal strife erupt after the war, starting civil wars or brutally crushed.

The CDC returned divided as ever with tensions as high as the distrust between the Western Allied Powers and the Soviet Union.

The war, though shorter than expected was a success for Equestria and Soul Eater cultists. The war created divisions and weakened the CDC to stop them from becoming a liability in their future plans.

New Empire of Japan
The New Empire of Japan emerged from the war with large scars despite the status quo. The war with both Tarakia and the Azerothian Union was expensive in both manpower and resources that it brought discontent into the Sub-Sector. Strong support from Right-Wing and Far-Right organisations were heard of. The country stayed in the CDC pragmatically to prevent laws against them from being passed. Relations only returned to partial normalisation by 2065 after the Plague of 2065.

The Genji family, as a result of the conflict had an unhappy marriage. Tenno Sugihito lived with lingering doubt on whether betraying his sister was worth stopping the war. He was also with his wife that was angered by his sister's poor decisions during the war and how she is branded a traitor by her own people. The divide between the couples left their son unattended, only returning to care for him when he catches the plague.

Lord Commander Militant Jingu gave her resignation to the High Lords of Terra and retreated from public eye as she also left the Genji Palace. She moved to a small apartment with her husband and gave birth to her son on the October of the same year. Although protected by her brother and husband she was not spared from criticism from the Azerothian Union's demand for vengeance.

Azerothian Union
During the war, Senior Columnist Roxane Stone rose to power in the Azerothian Union's Ministry of Truth. Becoming a minister in a short time. Mostly due to her 20 years of service within the ministry and the lack of any more qualified people after many of them disappeared.

With her new position, she intended to destroy the reputation of the women whose choices killed both of her children and thus Operation: Mudslide began. (Operation: Mudslide was often referred to as Operation: Fuck Jingu internally.)

With Operation: Mudslide in full effect and a massive amount of Anti-Genji propaganda quickly turned the Azerothian people against the Genji and their supposed brainwashing of Sergeant Melanion. Then in May, after massive pressure from outraged people around Azeroth, emergency elections were held.

The results heralded in a new extremely militaristic anti-Genji Government. With the new Government, Minister Stone found she had even more power and she continued to destroy Jingu's reputation, even after she stepped out. Constantly releasing her sexual history and other mistakes of her past. The New Empire of Japan wasn't spared from this either with Sugihito and many others in the government being criticised.