The Dry Wars

First Dry War; 2109 -2111 CE (3 SC to 5SC & 11DC to 13DC)

Second Dry War: 2140 - 2143 CE (38 SC to 41SC & 46DC to 49DC)

Some would say the idea of fighting over a beverage or even water is just downright silly. Such comments usually come from those who live privileged lives in cities where the water flows freely and they have not a care in the world. These commentators also forget that there was a time on Earth where the very idea of major nations and power blocs engaged in full scale warfare over scant water resources was a very distinct possibility.

On Lazarus that possibility became a reality.

The First Dry War began as a result of too much focus by settlement authorities focused on trying to unravel the secrets of the previous inhabitants and not on actual settlement. Graven monoliths carved from mountains, gigantic statues out at see, sprawling ruined cities of stone and metal, all these an more grabbed attention over the concerns of basic infrastructure. And that was a mistake that lead to open conflict, the formation of renegade elements and the demise of settlement before it finally got off the ground.

One other factor also exasperated the situation, the Cafeteria Carnage in 2106 CE (2 SC or 10DC) which had cemented the existence of gangs beholden to criminal interests. Thus elements existed to engage in open or covert conflict already, though the emergence of the Razboyniki only further worsened a bad situation. Settlement leaders across the continent advocated for crushing the opposition, they raised their own gangs or turned to the gangs already existent. To the nascent criminal bosses who would use this conflict to further enhance their influence it was a godsend. They could cement themselves into the political infrastructure.

And while battles were fought, won and lost, in the end it was not the fist, the sword or the gun that brought an end to conflict. It was the shift in focus. Leadership realised that they needed to cut themselves off from the sociopathic obsession with the ruins and instead try to build infrastructure. Volunteer militias insured that this took place, and thus while fighting still sporadically occurred the eventual success of providing potable water to all brought the true end to the First Dry War.

The Second Dry War was a different beast of a conflict, though no less violent, in fact more violent than the first. By now settlement was a given, people were trying to get on with living on the frontier. And naturally one thing that they wanted was booze. Several breweries had been established. But one stood out above the others, Consolidated Beverages, it was a legend in that it had perfected the process of brewing a crisp clean dry beer. Dubbed Consolidated Ultra Dry this beer was a major hit across the settled regions. Problem was in developing this product Consolidated had overstretched itself and gotten into financial difficulties.

Enter Metropolitan, Metro was a brewery based out of Krasnygorod and it could see the advantages of either merging with Consolidated or forming a partnership. Consolidated Ultra Dry was a hit in it's home town. In fact at the start Metro was happy to go with a licensing agreement to brew Ultra Dry. But there was a problem and that problem was International Consortium aka International. This rival organisation wanted Consolidated lock stock and two smoking barrels and it was willing to use its gang connections to do just that.

International under estimated its rival Metro. And thus war began. At first it consisted of covert strikes, hacking attacks on corporate databases and direct attacks on key assets. It was at the start low key but as time passed the violence escalated, fields were burnt, several small farming communities were ravaged by razboyniki bands. And then there came the Grand Canal Hyatt massacre, an International death squad killed over fifty people in an effort to prevent Metro from extracting the master brewer of Consolidated who had been kidnapped by Oniyama gumi mobsters.

Enough was enough.

The United Nations Gendarme Corps (UNGC) was deployed with extreme prejudice to bring an end to the conflict. In the end Consolidated collapsed, Metro & International crawled off to lick their wounds and it was combat level leaders who paid the price, one or two being executed other serving prison sentences. And the Ultra Dry? What happened to this exemplary beverage? It seems that Go Ryu Kodan, another smaller brewery, uninvolved in the conflict, accquired the recipe and three months after the conflict ended released it back into the market. Go Ryu Kodan secured licensing deals with Orochimaru Beer & Wine (OBW) & Allied Beverages to meet with demand.