_Hesh_

This Novel is based on the events of Battlefield's newest Title "Battlefield 2042".
All Rights and Credits go to Battlefield's Developers. 



A DECADE OF CHAOS
2031

Ten years is all it took to bring the world to the brink. Rising sea levels, collapsing economies, broken alliances, and the headlines keep rolling in...

October 9th, 2033.
“Hurricane Zeta. The world's first category 6 storm.”

Jan 11th, 2034.
“Global food, fuel shortages spark Second Great Depression.”

August 8th, 2035.
"European Union officially disbands following Germany’s collapse.”


THE NEW NORMAL
2037.

Humanity adapts to the new normal. Revolutions in energy, desert irrigation, hydraulic levees, and sea walls save coastal cities, reclaim farmland, and rebuild supply chains. Hope of finding stability leads to some nations re-opening their borders.

However, with no way to repatriate 1.2 billion people, No-Pats become a permanent fixture in all economic, military, and social policy making. Many No-Pats are still distrustful of the governments that exiled them and refuse calls to reassimilate. No-Pat leaders emerge, inspiring a new identity unbound to former nationality, drawing a line in the sand between the Old World and The New Normal. #WeAreNoPats becomes a rallying cry.

Amidst the world rebuilding, sparks of friction erupt between the US and Russia, as the last two superpowers both vie for control of this fast-changing world.

An Uncertain Future

It all began a year ago, surfing a darknet browser in my hometown of Doha - back when it was still inhabited by people. As a journalist I'd become keenly interested in the issue of armed No-Pats, trying to find a contact within the ranks of these stateless soldiers. Finally, at 3:28 AM, an anonymous source DM'd me, claiming to be the most wanted man alive - the commander of the largest contingent of No-Pat forces, known to the world simply as "Oz."


I'd gotten such messages before, but it was never the real Oz. Some came from government agents waging anti-No-Pat campaigns and one guy had even accused me of being Oz, hiding in plain sight. But this was different, if for no other reason than the chat ended with me needing to flee the country as the Qatari Police broke down my door for aiding a terrorist.


It would be the only time in my life I ever welcomed an approaching sandstorm.


"Opulent Doha was once hailed as the City of Quartz for her LED skyline."


By the '40's, sand had become to Doha what water was to Venice. After years of fighting the encroaching desert, only those who couldn't afford to leave remained under the massive LED skyline, still relentlessly promoting luxury handbags. Qatar had thrived in the 30's, thanks to skyrocketing oil prices. The country invested heavily in combating desertification, hoping to copy Egypt's success. For a time, it seemed we might tame nature. Then the oil ran out.


Famines, failed responses to them, and government protests all accompanied the sand monsoons. Soon there were military police everywhere, ready to arrest anyone that risked Qatar becoming the next non-patriated flash point.


My browser had the wrong search history. 


The sand storm's cover is keeping me alive. Hiding from the armored vehicles hunting me down, I begin to notice anomalies in the LED adverts. Buried within the images is the unmistakable No-Pat emblem - a flag with a slash through it.


The breadcrumbs lead me to the catacombs under the abandoned football stadium. A fiftyish military man in Bermuda shorts whose relaxed demeanor is extremely off putting, points casually with his flashlight to a tunnel entrance - guarded by a mechanical sentry system. He puts out his hand. "Pyotr Guskovsky…" he grunts. Then, in perfect Arabic: "This was a one time thing."


"A crossed out flag - the unofficial sign of the No-Pats."


As I disappear into the dark while the wind howls overhead, I wonder if I'll ever be able to call Doha home again.


Little did I know that in less than a year later - Qatar would be a failed state, and the city of Doha, lost to sand.


Escape from Doha