Cityshield

From SaschaWiki

Cityshield is a term used to describe the myriad combination of technologies and protocols that developed during the early part of the 21st Century in response to the continuing threat of strategic nuclear missile bombardment. The development of the Cityshield shaped the future course of human history.

History

During the Cold War 1 of the 20th Century, the threat of mutually-assured destruction prevented the launch of nuclear weapons and the outbreak of World War 3. By the dawn of the 21st Century, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the War on Terror had removed the still very real possibility of strategic nuclear attack from the popular consciousness. In the 2020s, renewed nationalistic aggression (including the French Tax Incident) once again raised the spectre of nuclear war and created international tension that resounded for decades. The USA, NATO, Russia and China began the crash development of superior nuclear defence programmes.

In the late 2030s the US nuclear defence think-tank constructed a viable and economical system of missile defence that could be used to protect American cities from strategic missile attack. This "Cityshield" system was designed in such a way as to function even when its specifications were available to the hostile source of the missle. Pacifistic elements within the think-tank leaked the system to the international community, where it was quickly adopted by the other world powers.

Aftermath

The Cityshield system eventually achieved its intended result - convinced that their arsenals were ineffective, the nuclear powers began to de-emphasis them in favour of more conventional close-range weapon systems. Unfortunately the subsequent erosion of the US's position as military superpower led to an escalating arms race that eventually became the Cold War 2.