The Steampunk Radicals: Prologue

The year is 2072. The world is resting in near ruins, torn mercilessly apart by the prideful nature of human beings.

How, you may ask? What could possibly be so vast in ghastliness that it affects the entire world?

It started with the former United States— the proud eagle perched proudly, watching over all the rest of the world as it always had done.

It was the result of rivalry between the states; an accumulation of pent up emotions and tensions between them that eventually broke. After all, fervent forces will only grow in strength until they are one day released in an unconquerable riot.

It began in 2045, and has been this raging, inferno-like war for nearly thirty years now.

But perhaps you still are having trouble comprehending. You see; once upon another time the state of Washington was caught receiving secret shipments of Alaskan resources; and further investigations showed that an underground society had begun plotting an uprising… though the uncovered files were mysteriously destroyed soon after.

It caused hushed conversations to break out all over the U.S; what could they have been planning? Who were they rising up against? And, though the government tried to pacify the whispered rumors by releasing “the real story” to the general public, none believed it. Their eyes were turned to Washington, which had shown almost no activity whatsoever in the subsequent months.

This is how wars always begin. Fear. Paranoia. The desire to be the most powerful. All of these are the catalysts of battle.

And that is exactly what happened next. A few months later, California and Nevada were found to have been clandestinely collaborating to build weapons should Washington attack. The headline the next day was simply, “We were scared.”

A few other cases like this one soon popped up; the government unable to control their states any longer. People were frightened, people were overwhelmed, and people were ready to defend themselves should the action become necessary.

After these spurring occurrences, one must realize how easy it was to find the excuse to strike.

It was Washington and California fighting first; Nevada soon overtaken and colonized by the Californians. The states surrounding Nevada grew angry with the betrayal and feared for their own occupation, and soon the entire West Coast was at war with one another.

Now, as you may know, every state has a field they are especially rich in; oil, metals, timber, etcetera. Well soon enough the states disputing realized how they could put these resources and specialties to their own personal and solitary use, closing off all trading and exporting to other states and beginning to build super weapons; their unique methods of defense against the others. When their adversaries found out, they did just the same.

Now, the remaining ‘peaceful’ states were low on provisions, deluged in military in an attempt at preparing themselves for potential battles, and, most of all, scared out of their minds. And scared people do desperate things, they say.

Perhaps that’s why it was not much of a surprise when The New York Times released a headlining story of how the Pennslyvanian and New Jersian citizens, business owners, and state government had recently begun propaganda for a rebellion against New York, saying that perhaps once this all-powerful state was out of the way, they could have more say in the East Coast happenings. Needless to say, the strove after the West’s example; building up their defenses and soon assaulting their neighbors.

Those left in the middle of these two furious wars were thrust into a state of complete panic; which rapidly transformed into anger at the federal government for not being able to control this devastation. Presently after this newfound ire, a large group of Midwestern citizens, as well as many Floridians, came together and marched our nation’s capital; running rampant through the streets and demanding that the president come out and speak.

The president did not respond, making the massive mob explode with anger; violence like none other the world had ever seen breaking out on the streets… though the gruesome details of it need not be discussed.

After this “demonstration” as the vehement protesters called it, took place; the entire throng stormed the White House lawn—forcing their way through the doors and anyone that tried to stop them. But, upon entering and scouring out the monumental building, they found that the president was nowhere to be found; and it was later discovered that he had fled the country in fear for he and his family’s safety.

The activists wasted no time in setting up a government of their own, sending a message to the West saying that they would obey, or they would be sorry. The outraged West transferred their focus not only to each other, but to this East Coast “government” who had dared demand their submission.

And, with that, the union between states was evaporated, any trust destroyed, and the United States was plunged into a total, intimate war. The residual Midwest and South states were attacked and occupied, their resources, weapons, and skilled workers sent back to the home state of which they were now a colony. Schools were set up in outpost states, training kids in combat, artillery, and other war-necessity dexterities.

Now, in a time of advancing technology such as this, room needs to be made for the new, ever-changing inventions. Before long states were destroying anything vintage of historical, saying that the only place they can afford to look in this aggressive time is forward.

In an Illinois academy (then a colony of Florida), a trio of girls with remarkable gifts met, secretly discussing on their ten-minute break of the day how one of the girls’ locket had been taken and smashed before her eyes by the teacher, regurgitating the motto that had been drilled into their heads since the age of five, “The only history you should be worrying about is that of what will come tomorrow.” The girl had been angrier than ever; considering her undisclosed, most personal thoughts were already against what the states were doing to each other. This miniscule action had only kindled that flame further.

The girl was surprised to find that the others not only promised not to tell on her, but agreed completely with her ideals. Not just that of that vintage things were beautiful and that the only way to prevent future mistakes is to look into the past, but also that what their “governments” were doing was horrifying and should not be allowed to go on.

It’s quite a caustic irony, isn’t it? All the death, spite, and destruction going on around then and it takes nothing but a little broken locket to turn a few against the ideals they’d been living with their entire lives.

They pledged right there in the fenced in yard of their seminary that they would be the ones to do something about their current situation, however small the anarchistic acts may be.

As the girls continued meeting, they soon came across a sibling set of new students who had lost their parents (who’d been fighter pilots) in the ever-waging battles. They seemed reluctant to talk in this so-called insubordinate way at first, after seeing first hand what the surrounding angry states were capable of, but soon enough were as adamant about their confidential meetings as the threesome had been.

One day, during a session of combative training, it was announced that all students were to return to their rooms and stay there for the remaining hours of the day; dinner would be delivered to their dorms. The five rebellious members were automatically suspicious; for last time this order had been made, one of their classmates had disappeared. They went and locked the doors to their rooms as had been instructed, but snuck off to search around the school for the answer to this sudden lockdown.

They were not investigating for long before they came across the obvious cause of their elders’ strife; three students had acquired guns and were currently fighting off the reinforcements called in to restrain them. The five were hesitant at first; not knowing what the cause was of this sudden resistance, but abruptly they heard one of the boys shout, “For peace and liberation!” and instantly knew that they had found three more kindred spirits.

Not a moment was wasted before they make a split-decision; their moment had come, it was time for the words they had been exchanging for three years now to become their solid realities. They spontaneously hot-wired and stole one of the most high-tech, supply-loaded jets on campus; scattering the new recruits challengers and dropping them a ladder, threatening to bomb the surrounding soldiers if they got too close. The bewildered threesome they’d just picked up was formally introduced and initiated, and thus, their reign begins.

It began with small things; items of historic value being taken by force before they could be destroyed, weapon, chemical, and scrap shops looted, and a whole variety of state related things mysteriously disappearing. Attention was drawn to this strange chain of events, wondering who could possibly dare challenge the state in this way, plundering such insignificant targets as antique items! Little did this broken country realize that this was just the beginning.

February 28, 2064; Chicago, the former pride-city of Illinois, was attacked by the now older, wiser, and completely prepared incensed eight. They’d been plotting and laying out strategies for months now, and, with the prodigious talents each of them possessed, there was no stopping them. They flew towards the Willis Tower, reclaiming it as the Sears Tower, a reminder of its former glory, thought spelling it ‘Seers’ as a foreboding of what light the future world they imagined held.

The furious state government bombarded them with every force they had; and yet, as if God himself were fighting alongside the young adults, they managed to fend off each and every one.

April 14; the Seers Tower went strangely silent, and the state militias tried breaking and entering in hopes of taking back this valuable building and capturing these bold rebels. But, the first unit they sent it were found dead upon investigation; autopsies showing that they had been gassed.

More units were sent in, and, one after another, they fell of some mind-boggling cause; different each time. The generals soon figured out that each floor of the Seers was wired and rigged with traps; though every time they tried to find a pattern in the deaths it changed. Little did they know that this was the careful monitoring and design of the two genius engineers inside; both not even eighteen.

The state’s forces soon gave up on the unceasing assault upon the reborn “Seers”, and they retreated, being needed elsewhere to assist in the war. But the defenses of the Seers only grew stronger; as its occupants knew that they would not stay away forever.

Subsequent to this aforementioned victory, the teens began carrying out the most masterful, ingenious little confrontations the nation had ever seen; soon being labeled as “wanted dead or alive” with a huge reward included. They went around destroying other states’ weapons, pillaging their supplies, seizing their armaments, and even leaving propaganda of their own, delivered by the dark of night to the people in an attempt to spread their cause. They had reached every corner of the country in just a year; though they were never caught or stopped, as their next target was always random and unexpected as the things they did there.

Up until about mid-2066, no one had ever captured even an image of these self-acclaimed revolutionaries, but soon a single image was captured—showing the world that a group of armed teenagers wearing things that they had thought to be destroyed with all other historical objects were the ones letting all hell loose upon them. The remaining newspapers deemed them as “the Steampunk Radicals”; as everything vintage they had stolen had been revamped and incorporated into their armored costuming and were some of their most valuable weapons.

Sly as foxes, brilliant as scholars, fierce as lions. The Steampunk Radicals are like shadows themselves; darting out for but a moment before disappearing into the night once more. They have shown the warring states of this once proud country that they are not just another piece on this chessboard they call a total war, and now their goal is to stop this interminable battle in its tracks once and for all. Now you know their history, now you know their capabilities, now you know what it is they’re fighting for. The question now is simple; will you fight alongside them?