Present Day: March 8th 2093
Colony: New-Washington; a Refuge somewhere.
8:30 am PST.
"I hear they once called this place, 'the Big Apple'. I wonder why they called it that," a voice said. "All I see now, is a dump of a Refuge."
Moments later, a menacing, hysteric laughter started resounding.
"B-Blake?! Are you up there?!" a boy with sandy blond hair said.
He seemed to face up to an elevated podium where another boy; about 16-17-years old lay. The other boy had curly black hair and ocean blue eyes.
"What do you want, Andre?" The boy on the podium said, sounding irritated.
"L-Lieutenant Sam says you're going to have to attend class today… or she'll—drag you there herself!" Andre replied.
The boy on the podium let out more laughter; mocking Andre. His face seemed so innocent, yet his demeanor betrayed that innocence as he flashed a menacing, toothy grin.
"She said that?" the boy asked.
"Y-Yeah, and it sounded like she was serious this time… W-What do you want to do?" Said Andre.
"And here I thought I'd get to spend all day loafing around again… even I, don't want to get on her nasty side—she's crazy!" said the boy as he flashed another toothy grin.
***
New-Washington. Its military might as a colony was on par with the New-Berlin, and New-Beijing Colonies; known as the Big Three. The three colonies had been holding tournaments for years to determine their hierarchy. The Academies in these three Colonies were the most advanced.
Publicly, the eight major colonies were at peace and had stable relations. Despite that, however, some factions had stirred up conflict among them. And although they had a common enemy in form of the Centrials, most Recon Squads* belonging to the Colonies, would end up fighting whenever they were in contact.
Recon Squads were parties of ten or more highly skilled warriors who ventured out of their colonies and explored Uncharted Regions. These regions were either inhabited by the Centrials or had no life at all.
An accord was signed between the humans and the Centrials sixty years back, amid the increased bloodshed. The Centrials wouldn't harm the humans, provided they stayed within the Colonies.
Since then, the world outside these colonies had changed drastically, hence the term; Unchartered Territories. This meant that Recon Squads were treated as rebels and disposed of instantly, if found by the Centrials.
The Eight, came up with a brilliant solution to connect the Colonies. They devised a web of passages interlinking the Colonies with a teleporter skill. These passages led to points that were known as Neutral Zones.
The Zones weren't under the administrative power of the colonies. Because of that, the younger generation referred to them as; Lawless Zones instead.
The Lawless Zones were used to hold the annual power ranking tournaments of the Colonies. These tournaments mainly involved the Big Three. Students from the Academies in these Colonies would battle it out; to grade the potential of each Colony's future military might.
The lower level Colonies, as they were termed; chose not to take part, and were deemed weak. Thus, their military potential was virtually unknown. That was, however, until a certain incident happened.
***
Brooklyn Refuge.
8:50 am PST.
Academy- Class H1
Class H1 was filled with unusual silence. Coupled with their gloomy military like uniforms, the first year Warrior-Class students looked even more miserable. The events of the previous day had shaken them up quite badly.
One distinct seat up front was visibly empty. That meant either of two potential outcomes awaited them; the first was that they would probably be safe for one more day. And the second was that all hell would break loose the moment he showed up again.
A sound of approaching footsteps echoed from the hallway. The students tensed up as their gazes turned to the sliding door. The few students that were up quickly took to their seats.
"Is he back already," some students whispered. "Shouldn't they expel him after what he did?!"
A shadow appeared behind the semi-transparent door. Whomever was behind it stood there for a few seconds, as the system identified their ID. Moments later, the doors slid open, producing a wheezing sound.
The students looked in anticipation and cringe, as the figure made its way in; only to let out a sigh of relief as they saw whom it was.
"Damn, it's just Peter?" One student said.
"I totally thought it was him this time!" Another replied.
"Huh? What's going on with you guys?" The student named Peter asked with a dumbfounded expression plastered on his face.
Suddenly the entire class burst into laughter, and was buzzing with liveliness again. 'Safe for one more day', was a thought that crossed each of their minds.
"Hey! Did you guys see the viral video on the Web Server?!" Peter asked, as he made his way to his seat.
"Is it real?" Another student asked with a skeptical look on her face.
Web Server was a term that referred to the largest virtual space connecting Inventory Systems from all Colonies. It was more popular among the younger generation.
"I bet a hacker from one of the Novelty Classes made it," a boy named Charlie said. "How else would you explain a Centrial attacking some students from a lower level Colony? The accord's still in effect right?"
Just then, the doors slid open once more; and the sound of heels striking the floor echoed through the classroom. The students immediately knew whom it was, and all of them tensed up.
A blonde woman wearing a military uniform walked in. She was tall, for a woman, as she stood at about 178 cm tall. She was quite muscular, and her body looked well-toned. If one were to look at her face; all they would see was a hardened expression, of someone that had seen it all. The eyepatch she had on her left eye didn't make her seem any friendlier.
"Alright you little runts," she exclaimed. "Quiet down!"
A deafening silence engulfed the class. One could only hear her heels striking the floor; as the woman walked up to the front of the class and stood at the center. She stood there motionless, looking around for a while, until she noticed the empty seat.
"Where the hell is he?!" she said with a hint of annoyance, as her eyebrows furrowed. "I clearly remember saying one of you should tell him what I'd do, if he didn't show up!"
The students' faces went pale, instinctively avoiding eye contact. They knew she was not one to be messed with.
After a few seconds that seemed to take an eternity to pass, one student finally raised their arm.
"Yes, Amy?" said the woman.
"Well, Lieutenant… We sent Andre after him." The student named Amy said.
"Andre? I knew this would happen," said the Lieutenant, as she chuckled. "You sent the weakest among you, after him?"
Silence took over the class once more until the class rep Max spoke up. Max was a well-built young man. He had dark-brown skin and a well-trimmed buzz cut. As he spoke, there seemed to be an intimidating aura about him.
"Remember our first lesson, Lieutenant?" Max said. "Survival of the fittest, right? If someone was going to do it, it had to be the weakest link."
Murmurs spread through the class. Max rarely spoke out, but when he did; he had the support of everyone who heard his words.
"I suppose you're right, Max." The Lieutenant said. "However, at the moment, we have more pressing matters to attend to! I'll personally deal with Blake later!"
"By now, I'm assuming you've all seen the viral video circulating on the Web Server right?" The Lieutenant asked.
"That's fake, right—" a student said. But was abruptly cut short.
"It's not fake!" The Lieutenant exclaimed. "One of our drones picked that up three days ago in the airspace of the New-Tokyo Colony!"
The class filled with loud inaudible voices, as the students desperately tried to get answers from the Lieutenant.
"One at a time, please!" The lieutenant exclaimed.
A student, in a corner at the far end named Chuck, raised his arm and asked;
"Are the Centrials attacking Colonies now, Lieutenant Sam?"
The rest of the students turned their heads and looked at him. That was a question they had all avoided to ask. But deep down, they wanted answers, too.
"No. They're not—"
The doors slid open once more, and two students walked in.
"Blake?!" they all yelled in unison.
"I'll tell what's going on you losers!" He exclaimed. "It's the start of another damn war!"
***
Author's Note: To everyone who's collected the novel so far, you guys keep me going! Thanks!! ^^