Who are the Samurai and what do corporations have to do with it? Lore Cyberpunk 2020 Part Two (Topic)

We continue to review the lore and characters of the original Cyberpunk 2020 board game. Last time we covered the history of the Cyberpunk 2020 world. This time we'll talk about Joni Silverhand, some of the corporations that control Night City and their feuds.

Never Fade Away

During all the conflicts unfolding in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe, one of the soldiers called up to be sent to the front is tired of being exploited in the war, experiencing new augmentations. For this reason, he deserted and returned home to Knight City, taking on a new name, Joni Silverhand, and deciding to bring the government to clean water. He gathered like-minded people and created the Samurai group, which performed in various rock clubs and bars.

Silverhand first appeared in an additional booklet for Cyberpunk 2013 as part of the Never Fade Away quest, where we had to end the fourth corporate war.

The previous three have played an important role in the history of the city:

• The first corporate war took place from August 2004 to February 2006. Fought between Euro Business Machines (EBM) and Orbital Air. The conflict was caused by mutual interest in the purchase of Transworld Airlines. Both sides fought each other brutally, using terrorism, network attacks, piracy, corporate Solos and third world intermediaries. During this period, both companies lost hundreds of millions of Eurodollars. There were two major battles in total.

The first occurred when the Orbital Air commandos successfully raided and captured the DM space station. The second major battle, ending the first corporate war, took place a year later. Commandos hired by Orbital Air were able to attack, hack and take over the company, as well as EBM CEO Ulf Grunwalder, forcing him to surrender to Orbital Air.

• The Second Corporate War lasted two years, from April 2008 to August 2010. The main opponents were two oil corporations: SovOil and Petrochem. In 2007, both companies began to expand into the South China Sea. This created tensions and eventually escalated into the outbreak of a second corporate war.

The war began when the offshore platform Sabina Bravo, owned by Petrochem, exploded. Petrochem accused SovOil of planting an explosive device on the platform. Petrochem launched the first military attack, ordering its military divers to plant explosives on the SovOil platform in retaliation. It was later established that the explosion at the first station was accidental ...

The war left the South Pacific region extremely polluted, and living conditions in 2020 were described as “nearly impossible”.

• The Third Corporate War - started in 2016, between February and ended on April 17, 2017. It was entirely conducted in a network between corporations.
• Fourth Corporate War - As a result of this conflict in 2020-2022 between Arasaka and Militech, hostilities take to the streets, and several cities (in particular Hong Kong and Rio de Janeiro) turn into ruin. As a result, Arasaka pulls together all forces in Night City and captures the city while it is surrounded by the Militech and the US military who have joined the company.

This is where Silverhand and Samurai come into play.

Chippin'in

Samurai are gaining popularity and many corporations wanted to conclude a contract with them, and even blackmailed them, promising to tell them that Silverhand was a deserter. To spite them, Joni released a revealing album. The government had to amnesty all political prisoners and fugitives from the front.

At that time, he met with Alt Cunningham, a professional netruner who was able to write a program for digitizing consciousness. Arasaka became interested in this and after one of the concerts she and Joni were attacked by mercenaries of the corporation. They beat Johnny to a pulp and kidnapped Alt to teach them how to use a soul scan program.

Silverhand was saved by a journalist who witnessed the beating. Back in the ranks, Joni gathered people and spread the rumor that the Samurai were holding a concert right outside the entrance to the Arasaki branch in Night City. During the crowd of people, Johnny and his homies made their way to the corporate office, where he found only Alt's body.

During the 4th corporate war in 2024, Joni joined Militech and led the Alpha shockwave to Arasaki's office. He broke into the building, downloaded all the important files and put them in free access. However, he was shot in the stomach with a shotgun. However, Silverhand bought enough time and the company building was blown up by a nuclear bomb, which destroyed half the city, thereby ending the war.

Wake the fuck up samurai, we have a city to burn

There are a huge number of corporations in the world of Cyberpunk, the number of which is growing every day. Here are some of the largest representatives:

Biotechnica is an Italian megacorp specialized in biotechnology and genetic engineering.

Dakai Soundsystems is an Asian corporation known for cybernetics, which helps to improve the voice, for example, a vocal amplifier.

Dynalar Technologies is a cybernetics corporation, originally from Knight City. One of their showcases appears in the teaser trailer for Cyberpunk 2077, so we know they're in the game's universe.

Arasaka is a huge Japanese corporate security zaibatsu whose leader is obsessed with making Japan a superpower. Along with EDM, Microtech, Orbital Air, Network News, and Militech, she is one of several megacorps featured in the news feed during the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer, so their presence in the game world is confirmed.

Euro Business Machines (EBM) is an information technology and electronics corporation headquartered in Germany. It is one of the most influential mega-corporations with a huge private army and workforce

Militech is an American arms manufacturer, distributor, and contract contractor with ties to the US government, police, and military. Their CEO wants to stem the decline in the US, and they are competing with Arasaka for influence and market share.

Zetatech is a computer hardware and software company based in California, one of the newest mega-enclosures on the market. Another specialty is "software" - computer technology that interacts with the human brain.

And this is just a part of them. In the game itself, we can join corporations if we want to.

Finally, I would like to say that complex and large worlds, the universe of Cyberpunk 2020 is a great background for games, and it's damn good that they are still transferred to this environment.

The Topic of Article: Who are the Samurai and what do corporations have to do with it? Lore Cyberpunk 2020 Part Two.
Author: Jake Pinkman