Planes of Destruction

[quakernuts]

Writer's Note: Well, I was feeling a bit more creative than usual, and this is an old idea that I had a while back that never really made it into writing. So, feel free to comment, critique, or do whatever in this thread as you see fit (Other than edit my work without my permission if you are a mod ) So, without further adue, here is the intro/backstory/beginning of the story!

Planes of Destruction

Prologue: Meeting History

You walk into a small building, sheltering your face from the mass amounts of sleet and hail falling from the sky in equal measure. You don't really know what building you've walked into, nor do you know where you really are to be honest, all you know was that you had to get away from the force of nature. Your eyes survey the area, to find that you are in a small room with one light. You see a man sitting beneath the light, his hands held behind an old oaken chair, almost as if they are tied there. You compare the room to that of an old fashioned interrogation chamber from POW camps, dank, dark, and foreboding. You slowly make your way forward, when you hear a click from behind you. The door has locked, and the man tilts his head to the side slowly, keeping his face in the shadow of the light overhead. You can see the small glint of a smile, the shadow disappearing as the white of his teeth shows, leaving the rest of his face in blackness. You get the feeling you should leave, but the man shakes his head.

"You don't know why you're here, but you will soon enough. Have a seat." A light appears to your right, showing a previously unknown oak chair similar to the one that the man was sitting in. You look at it, then back to the man. Seeing as you have no other choice, you grab the chair, place it in front of the man, and have a seat. You take the chance to give the man a once over. While you cannot see his face, his hair is a withered grey but showing no signs of balding. He is wearing a black T-shirt that shows the wrinkles on his arms, signs of old age. His posture, while weakened and defeated, hints at a hidden, or long lost strength that the man obviously used to have. The man keeps his head down, his face hidden from view. Try as you might, you can't pierce the shadows. It feels almost as if something else is preventing his face from being seen. The man sways to the side, acting as if he was about to fall over, but regains his balance, and gives a deep sigh.

"I have a story to tell, and you're the only one who has come here...in a long time." His breath seems to come in gasps, as if talking was as much effort as lifting weights. Before he could continue, you hold up a hand to stop him.

"I don't even know you're name." You say, not sure if you are going to get even that from him. The smile returns, the only feature that ever seemed to pierce through the darkness.

"You can call me History. It's what I am, who I was, and where I will forever be placed in." You feel another question on the tip of your tongue, but History clears his throat in such a way that it stops you before the words leave your lips. There is an awkward silence as you wait for him to continue, and for a moment, it seems as if he might have fallen asleep. You then hear a long intake of air, and History seems to pick up a slight bit.

"You may know the end of the story, but I doubt you know the beginning. Well, I'm going to take you to the very start, information that seems like ancient knowledge; the forbidden fruit if you will. For to know the result, you must know the cause, in order to make a solution." You furrow your brows, and are about to contradict him, wanting to say you know how everything happened. Something makes you stop though, makes your mouth close without you wanting it to. There was something about this room that pressed in on you, and made you seem like you were the one being watched on the opposite side of the one sided mirror. History continued undeterred from the close call interruption.

"Back in the year of 2093 A.D., a female scientist by the name of Laura Trin came across a remarkable discovery. Through hard research, dedication, and a lifetime of non-stop work, she had discovered, or better put, created a renewable resource which could replace oil and gasoline. It was a breakthrough that changed the world for the better, and the worse all at the same time." History stopped for a moment, seeming to be catching his breath before he continued. "They named the resource 'Trinium' for obvious reasons. It was made in a factory just as if it were a cheap novelty toy. Unfortunately, it did not come with the cost of such a thing. The funds required to build such a building could bankrupt a smaller nation for generations. Only the superpowers of the world were able to build a T-factory without completely sending their people into a recession. Soon, every higher up nation had a factory, America having the most at three, sending themselves slightly into the negatives in order to get a leg up on the rest of the world.

The world was happy, or at least, not as miserable as it had been when the threat of running out of oil was a reality. Trinium quickly replaced gasoline as the new fuel, and new vehicles and machines were pumped out immediately that could take the resource. The peace that came from that allowed for an advancement that was unprecedented in times of pacification. Economy boomed, average day life became that of superstars, and military weapons increased exponentially."

"Oh, I know. Something happened that caused all that to end, and all this shit to start." You say, interrupting his story. You didn't come all this way to hear a history lesson on why the world had ended up the way it did. The same smile returned, although this one almost makes you gulp down your words as if it were a sin for simply speaking.

"You're right. The catalyst to this entire thing was one thing." History seemed to lean forward slightly.

"Greed."

You lean forward, although you don't know what for. You know what happened, but something compels you to show interest. History sits back up, and intakes another air of breath. "When you are given a dollar, are you really satisfied with a dollar? If you have one T-Factory, are you really satisfied with one T-Factory when you could have more? Greed is accompanied by power, and every nation wanted it. The U.N. was in constant arguments about the U.S. having more than one T-Factory, but America would have none of it. Eventually it got to the point where the U.S. abandoned the U.N altogether, and once they left, the others started too."

"The disbandment of 2140." You say, recalling the facts from the books you have read on the world's history. History gives a slow nod, and continues.

"So, while they weren't technically at war, none of them were allies anymore. No one wanted to attack first, but the tension was definitely there. Conferences were called nearly every other day, everyone getting more violent, and more than one having to have the politicians dragged out by security officials. It remained like this for a few more years, until the breaking point happened and the unthinkable became a reality."

"America and Germany were once again arguing over the same topic that had taken control over the years. Germany wanted America to give up one of it's factories to the German Nation, and allow them to be allies. America would have no such thing, refusing to give up it's stronghold in the standing of the world. The exchange was getting heated, and during the most volatile portion of the conference, both countries reported seeing a warhead fly across the ocean, and explode harmlessly over the Pacific. No one was hurt, until after both of the politicians got wind of the news. The rest is pretty easy to figure out. Each side accused the other, and the only logical path of action was war.

America united the West, and Germany united the East. It didn't take long for the warring factions to enter the fight together. Africa quickly became the middle ground, as direct passage between countries was a suicide run for a fleet or armada of any size. Africa quickly became the most desolate and decrepit place in the entire world. The natives of the continent either dead or evacuated. This would become the norm for the next fifty years."

"World War III, 2143 to 2193." You answer, seemingly in a trance as History continues to talk. His words coming in gasps more and more, but he seems to refuse to slow down. His pace is picking up as if he is trying to rush the story, or if something was trying to stop him from telling it. A barely perceivable nod from History continued the story forward.

"When a war lasts so long, you have to wonder why. Truth be told, the resources were only the ignition, hate is what fuelled it for so long. East hated West, and vice versa, it was very simple. If you were looking for a more complex, and/or hidden message sort of deal, you will be disappointed. Turns out, when a war runs that long as well, money starts to run out. The governments of the world were running out of funds to continue the war effort, and the average day citizen was tired of having to live in a constant recession to fuel their leaders hate for each other. So, it was inevitable what happened after that.

The governments of the world finally collapsed into bankruptcy, and every average day person rose up, and forced their leaders out of their country. Soon, the entire world was in anarchy as leadership was thrown to the wind like leaves from a tree. No one had control, but that didn't last very long. Soon, corporate business had hired mercenaries, security, and deserted military personnel. They quickly established their territories, and took control of the crazed situation. From mercenary companies to trading businesses, whoever had the money got the land. This happened worldwide, and soon, we had entered a new age. One where money, power, and corrupt officials were still an all too common sight, but now with the ability to execute anyone they wanted without any repercussions, do anything they wanted without fear of any political kickback. While some companies still held to the same code of ethics of before, others abused the fact that they were the top authority. The changeover of authority was not...peaceful. Eventually, the world came to order around the year of 2197. The world had solidified once more, and while things were anything but peaceful, the war was finally over."

"Ok, but how does any of this help me?" You ask, managing to break your trance-like state long enough to ask the question. A small chuckle erupts from History, but the smile does not make it's appearance.

"It tells you the how and the why. Two of the main questions that need to be answered to finally be able to piece the puzzle together. However, I will shorten my area of the world to that of North America. Namely, the three main powers in the area. Liberty Legion, Ajax Engineering Corporation, and Yari Trading Ltd.

Yari Trading Ltd was a major contributor to the war effort, spending their time ferrying weapons and supplies to the front lines for the West forces. Along with this, they also sent representatives to neutral countries, allowing for trade routes to be opened, and power to be gained. Once the war effort was over, Yari Trading had more than enough funds to gain a mass amount of territory down in Florida. What the most interesting thing about them was their reps had some very uncanny abilities.

Halfway through the war, the East experimented with turning Trinium into a weapon. The result was a warhead with the power of nuclear bomb, but none of the fallout. At least, that's what the tests told them. Upon unleashing this weapon in the middle east, where the West was forcing its way up from Africa, a couple Yari reps were on the extreme range of the weapon. Even then, they were nearly killed, and sent to a hospital for treatment. Upon waking up, one of the reps had a hard time understanding what the doctor was saying. It seemed like his words were coming faster than his mouth was saying them. It wasn't until the doctor stopped talking, and the rep asked about what was being said did anything click. Almost at the exact same moment in time, in the following room, a nurse was thrown through a doorway with such force it knocked her unconscious. On the inside, the other rep was sitting on the bed, staring intently at his hand. He had pushed her through the door without actually touching her. Upon hearing this, Yari Trading immediately picked up their reps, and went silent about the whole incident, never speaking a further word about it. It wasn't until the end of the war when reps from Yari all started developing these powers. Simple things such as mind reading or telekinesis, to super attributes or elemental control. They secured dominance through this advantage, for no other company had even heard of such a thing.

Next up was Ajax Engineering Corporation. They used to manufacture weapons of war, mainly small arms, but were gradually upgraded to the point of mobile armour and warheads. Near the end of the war, they went dark. No one knew where they went, or what happened to them. For all anyone knew, AEC simply disappeared. Then, after the war and after the corporations had secured dominance, Ajax slowly started re-appearing. They were found to be based out of an old bunker complex near Washington. What little was known about them was that they hadn't garnered any territory for themselves, but were not being invaded by other corporations either. Soon, mechanical machines of death bearing the logo of AEC started scouring the state of Washington, followed by soldiers that looked more machine than human. They had gone into the area of cybernetics heavily, and secured their area with ease. No one has ever seen an actual human representative from the company, only their mechanical servants. Warning signs were posted around the state, telling everyone of who owned the territory, and telling of a quick death to any who trespassed into their land. They quickly became a major power through sheer force, and remained in power the same way.

Last on the list was Liberty Legion, a mercenary company based out of what used to be Manitoba in Canada. They made an absolute killing, so to speak, when the war broke out. Starting as a small time gun for hire clinic, they quickly transformed into one of the most powerful and respected mercenary companies in the world. They proved their worth in their mercenaries, and ended up receiving the best training and gear, ranging from weapons to armour to gadgets to vehicles. Once the war ended, they quickly set up their territory in Manitoba, with some of it stretching to Quebec and Saskatchewan. While not diplomatic, they were one of the few companies that realized the people under them could help them better if they weren't constantly oppressed. As such, they put the average citizen to work as if nothing had changed. They were guaranteed protection, retirement, pensions, minimum wage, along with several other economic promises of the old world. With this, they managed to hold peace in their territory without force, and as such, have the biggest reserves of manpower in the entire region. They had steadily grown, enveloping smaller companies and forcing them to pay taxes or be wiped out completely. They were respected, and they were feared."

"Ok, so what does this have to do with anything?" You ask, your questions coming more smoothly now as History seemed to get through with his little lesson. The smile appeared once more, and the light above them seemed to dim a slight bit.

"Well, the background is a vital part to a story."

"Story? What story? There is no story." Your words come in a confused rush as you try to piece together exactly what he is going to tell you.

"On the contrary, there is a story. A very good one in fact. One that tells everything, and possibly nothing at all, depending on how you take it." The light seems to dim even more, and you realize this a fraction of a second too late as the room falls into darkness.

"This is the story of Gray Jackson."