Origins

The world of 4057 Wei Xiu IV was settled by a fleet of Cochrane-drive ships from Earth in 2077 CE, 24 years after the end of World War III, after a seven-year flight. The ships were launched from orbit just as much of Asia descended into the Post-Atomic Horror. Colonists were largely the wealthy and powerful families who'd survived, even prospered, during the war.

It has been conclusively disproven by NeoTokyo historians that any family members or senior executives of Arasaka, widely blamed for inciting the war, were aboard the settler fleet - or indeed survived the war and subsequent purges. Conspiracy theories about Trojan Horse subsidiaries, Saburo Arasaka living on as a brain in a vat, uploaded into the global internet destroyed in the 2330s, or downloaded into synthetic bodies, are strictly the stock of hardcore nutters like Dr. Goodbytes or the regulars at The Smoking Gnu.

Four ships made landfall: Moskva, Kirin, Gye-Long, and Yamato. The Von Braun and Tereshkova were lost en rote, the former with all hands, the second able to evacuate before being scuttled.

The Liberation (2335-38)

The 2330s saw numerous general strikes, in which the Fourth Interstellar played a major part. However, the mega-corporations struck back, not only crushing the worker uprisings, but completely overthrowing the civilian government, such as it was. The era is presented in "public" education as The Liberation, in which governmental tyranny was overthrown, leading to liberty for all.

The Old Thirties, the surviving revolutionaries, remember it differently.

A consortium of the largest corporations formed an executive board, "The Temporary Committee," to coordinate global affairs - much more the Concert of Europe than the United Nations.

As the Temporary Committee consolidated power, it abolished most of the public institutions previously run by the central government.

The sov system arose as a bottom-up equivalent to corp benefit packages, and the corps quickly took advantage of the new system, formalizing it and encouraging the spread of "features" like exit visas and termination agreements.

The Temporary Committee did continue to run and maintain The Metro in excellent condition, as it connected the centers of power around NeoTokyo Bay. The maglev train network leading into the interior was turned over to a nonprofit, which has mostly kept it running.

The Dominion War/The Last Uprising (2374-76)

When the Dominion invaded the Federation, unsurprisingly, the Federation felt no obligation to protect a world that continued to adamantly reject both membership and its values. The Dominion just passed through, destroying the orbital infrastructure, and delivering a round of orbital bombardment just to make a point. The old arcologies were hit the hardest: Lavigne was destroyed outright, Shimizu reduced to its foundations, the Spire destroyed, Old Dome largely weathering the beating.

The bombardment led to general strikes and an attempt, led by the 4I, to re-establish civilian government. It was ruthlessly repressed by the Temporary Committee, which refashioned itself as the Continuing Committee.

Where NeoTokyo attitudes toward the Federation before were mostly casual contempt, now there's a fiery loathing. There's a reason that the Spire Memorial Hologram looks like a middle finger raised to the skies

Now (2380)

The 300th anniversary of the planet's founding in 2377 took place in the aftermath of The Last Uprising and the corporate cleansing of rebels. The commemorative celebrations were almost entirely a corporate show for the media, under maximum security. No actual fun was had.

Things have been picking up since then: the abandonment of the arcologies led to a construction boom and nearly full employment for the first time in centuries. It's still going on, especially in Koto City and the Sprawl around the ruins of the Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid.

Ordinary folks have money to spend, and the bars and clubs have been full. New Years Day 304 is promising to be a genuine celebration - which, in NeoTokyo fashion, means a good bit of old-school rioting and firing guns in the air.