The year 2026 turned out to be something no one expected. The world, which had just begun to get used to a period of relative calm, once again found itself in the grip of global instability. At first, conflicts flared up locally—border skirmishes, tense diplomatic statements, rare armed clashes. But tensions grew faster than world leaders could respond.

When aircraft took to the skies and naval fleets converged on the oceans, it seemed that humanity

was on the brink of a new great war, but still hoped to avoid disaster. Everything changed in an instant — a tactical nuclear strike on Pakistan. That was the trigger. The world went downhill, losing what little sanity it had left. One strike was followed by another, and new ones were born in response. The planet was entering an era that historians would one day call the beginning of World War III.