War
Japan's announcement in October of 36m of the creation of their ten millionth morph, and the estimated total world population of morphs at that time being over twenty million and growing fast every day, fueled the election of an American president on a platform of morph control.
At the beginning of 37m, an American law was pushed through, calling for the extermination of all morphs. It is estimated that over twelve hundred thousand morphs were hunted down and killed in America that year: male, female, young, old, all species and all varieties, indiscriminately. Many managed to flee to Canada and Mexico or be smuggled to other countries, but escaping quickly became more difficult as citizen hunting groups formed. Many humans were also killed for trying to hide morphs or otherwise help them survive this genocide.
This atrocity did not go unnoticed by the rest of the world. Yet despite the uproar from other governments, the United States continued its campaign against morphs and on January 10th of 38m they made their first assault on foreign soil by bombing the NEWAGE complex in Western Australia.
Corbin was working as an overnight lab assistant while taking classes during the day and was in the main building when it was hit. Anika was about two miles away, woke from the blast and felt the shock-wave. Because of the immensity of the damage, no one in the surrounding towns knew exactly what had happened for hours.
International news reported quickly on the strike as American leaders bragged of its success. The world's governments rallied and left America with few allies. Canada made a statement that they could not condone the actions of the American government, but would not make an enemy of their neighbor, while Mexico sent back thousands of morphs that were captured fleeing persecution.
The American president made a global demand for the continued extermination of all morphs, promising to use the full weight of the United States military to enforce it. This demand was of course rejected and on the first of February, 38m, America followed through on its threat, destroying the NEWAGE complex in Sweden. This was the beginning of the first Great War, and the fourth World War.
As the war escalated, countries with large morph populations and genetic labs, like Brittain, Germany, Australia, Japan and Sweden, were targeted by American attacks. Having military bases established in these countries gave the Americans a strong foothold. In Australia, they had Naval ships in Perth to the south and Marines coming from Darwin in the north. With their own battles to fight, Brittain was unable to send support to their territory and Australia was left to fend for itself.
Insisting it was a "surgical elimination," US Marines came in small "hunting parties" to find morphs in the cities and towns, but quickly faced strong opposition from armed Australian citizens. In response, America sent large numbers of reinforcements to occupy and control north Western Australia as they moved south to "cleanse" the morph "infestation."
Australia's Defence Force responded quickly to the invasion, initially pushing them back north and east of Pendleton, but soon were overwhelmed by the sheer size of the US military. Russia, China, Korea, Iraq and other countries provided support and helped establish the morph Guard in Australia, supplementing the country's own military.
I understand that the USA is not really able to strike that hard or fast, especially since oversea bases are not the greatest for mobization.
In this case, there are three things attributing to the fast pace.
First, American labs were little more than production facilities of corporations trying to catch up with this new technology. Most morphs there were imported from Australia, Japan, and Sweden, and gradually other countries. They were not treated well: pets, slaves, property, discarded as they grew too old, etc. A religious group campaigned against the rise of non-human sentients and the threat of morph "wilding". They gained popularity in politics and were able to push through laws banning non-humans from owning property, flying on planes, entering public buildings unaccompanied or sometimes at all, etc. They quietly grew in power, driving morph hatred through public campaigns. Any questionable action by any of the around two million morphs across America was scrutinized and used as proof of their danger. Some American groups were already lynching ("assisted disposal") unwanted morphs, before the call for extermination was passed, while the world watched in horror. Their strike on the morphs in Australia succeeded mainly because nobody thought they would actually do it. A training exercise that brought American troops to Perth wasn't considered threatening, since Australia is their ally, was. America is the good guys, right? Note that these actions came from those in power, not the whole of America.
Second is that this is a fiction within the fiction. It is focusing on Anika, with the history in the background. A lot is glossed over, maintaining only what is relevant to her story line. It is an imperfect work within my imperfect representation of my imperfect world. As you read my other stories, you may notice vast inconsistencies in characters' knowledge of history, this is intentional, because while life and truth are objective, history and memory are very subjective and limited to what information is recorded and shared.
Third, this was a push for NaNoWriMo. It is incomplete and very rough. I come back to it occasionally, but I spend most of my attention on the other stories, based around m100-120. I guess I need to get back here more often and fill this out some more.
Thank you again for addressing this. As you can see, it has pushed me to write down more detail. I am attempting to share as much as I can of this world, but through the limitations of the medium, it comes out in pieces. Please, continue criticizing. I like to see where I am failing to communicate the story, or worse. It gives me the opportunity to share more and fix things. Any questions you have, just ask. A passive dragon can be an active reader and a great help.