World on Fire

"In a world where history has reset, the earth itself is at hazard as people fight over its resources. Mercenary is a common term and great air ships crowd the skies as fire keeps the world turning. That’s where Project Wingman finds itself. Lore-wise, this world has a history, a before, and even an after this game’s events. It is a stage that we may yet do many things in, but for now, this is our first foray into the World on Fire."

― Matthew Nguyen

The World on Fire (or just WoF) is the name of the post-apocalyptic future Earth that Project Wingman takes place in. Its geography is grounded in our world, but radically altered due to the Calamity, with entirely new countries (at least 90) and other distinctions. It was first named by Matthew Nguyen on November 17, 2020.

History

Main article: Timeline

This world was seemingly the same as ours (at least up to a 20th-century industrial age of sorts) prior to the superdisaster called the Calamity. As a result, millions perished, entire continents were radically altered, and the world order was destroyed. However, after 150 years of survival, humanity flourished again and rebuilt civilization, and the Calamity faded into ancient history. Likewise, animals evolved to adapt to the new environmental situation. One of the ways the species thrived once more was harvesting the mineral that caused the Calamity, cordium. From then on, the world was segregated between two types of entities; those who possessed geothermal resources of such kind enjoy much prosperity and influence, and those lacking them are under the Periphery label, usually in need of energy and torn apart by war.

Centuries passed and new supranational entities formed, regulating the flow of geothermal resources across entire nations. The most prominent of these, though not the largest, is the Pacific Federation, which expanded imperially partly to integrate as many people as they can to their sphere of influence, and partly to sustain its energy-starved infrastructure. Although the Federation was diplomatic in its expansion most of the time, it was criticized for its monopoly on geothermal power, which in its later years would meet with crippling embargoes and military force.

Mercenary entities became a common sight throughout the world, most majorly the Mercenary Cabal, which existed as far back as before the After Calamity Era. In the years since their disappearance, mercenaries have been on the decline due to pressure from superpowers, but are still on high demand by the Periphery, whose nations tend to be underpowered in their militaries.

Now, in AC 432, one particular mass producer of geothermal resources, Cascadia, expressed discontent with the Federation's increasing military expansion and decided to secede. At the same time, a certain peculiar PMC named Sicario enters the fray.

General information

The World on Fire's starting point may be the 20th century at minimum, considering the Cascadian reference to United States President Theodore Roosevelt - their Last Forefather; historically, he was the last President carved on Mount Rushmore during its 1927-41 sculpting, and "Forefather" could be a reference to the most politically influential Presidents ("Founding Fathers") in history. The American exceptionalism promoted by both Roosevelt administrations appear to have carried over to its distant descendant per the words of both them and the Federation.

Much of the world's geographic state is not yet known outside of North America, mainly due to Sicario's outdated briefing map. However, Nguyen teased an internal world map. In general, they evoke a sense of familiarity and alternate universe at the same time, though still meant to be our world in a far post-disaster future and not just another world with Earth's features.

Technology is slightly more advanced, featuring railguns and entire fleets of airships aside from some present-day technology such as space shuttles, television, and cellphones, but seems to be lacking in others such as firearms and stealth technology. Furthermore, and likely because of geothermal interference, most warfare takes place at direct close engagements rather than at long range like the present day. Large gun turrets on naval ships, especially battleships, are still used in tandem with missiles.

Current international laws, languages, and even currencies (eg. the dollar) still exist to a degree, though languages are slightly distorted (eg. "Byzantiun" rather than "Byzantium," "Gladeus" instead of "gladius," "Dejanus," etc.) Buildings and infrastructure are still modern-day, and present-day brevity codes and codewords and tactics are still in use, such as "Winchester," "crossing the T," and "Tiger." According to Nguyen, character names were originally supposed to be distorted as well, but they "just forgot to do that." Some culturally based idioms such as "Catch-22" are still in use, further indicating an at least mid-late 20th-century occurrence for the Calamity.

So-called "fortress states" exist, presumably part of the increasingly more self-dependent Periphery and highly fortified, with some seemingly located in Europe.

Canon

Currently, only the game itself is available, and the developers have established that any unofficial material (short stories, lore dumps, trivia, etc.) even from them is non-canon; only the game itself (and Our Lawyer, a non-game entity), along with future added material into the game (as well as the Project Wingman Artbook) are part of the canon.

Gallery

• 

  2017 non-canon concept map featuring Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Russia

• 

  Random image posted by Nguyen featuring Cascadian soldiers wielding BAR machine guns behind an M1 Abrams-like tank. This suggests an alien hybrid of modern and outdated military technology at a closer glance.

Trivia

• The aforementioned world map is pending release as of writing, and Nguyen has stated he will speak to Abi Rahmani about releasing it.
• Evelyn London namedropped the name of the setting during the CIF Offensive Campaign. Similarly in cut dialogue, a random Cascadian Army soldier did the same in the midtown Endgame phase of the cut version of Mission 20.