"Ladies and gentlemen, before we get into the details, let me tell you about my world. It's not related directly to me, but learning about my world would give you perspective on how the people of Praxis think. Our world is not just white and black. It's gray. Let me tell you about me and my world."
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My name is Roys Mercury De Alias, Roys for short. I am a member of the Peacekeepers, a top mercenary group in my Planet Praxis.
I lived in a planet called Praxis, which after a second nuclear world war (you would think they would stop at the first) it became an unlivable wasteland, for the second time.
We lived underground for a while, perhaps a thousand years or so, you know pretty standard stuff.
The cities were once again destroyed, the forests, just fresh from getting decontaminated became radioactive swamp bogs again. The polluted and toxic air got an upgrade and became more radioactive and deadly, the same with the seas and ocean. You need to be either in a group of huge Titan Walkers when exploring the land, and in huge exploration ships when navigating the sea and ocean.
Giant radioactive sea creatures mutated further and became glowing radioactive sea behemoths or in short, shiny rares. Rarer still are the electric ones. Highly prized because if you could capture them and breed them, they produce electricity and radiation that can be be harnessed and converted to power. Monster Hunting is one of the most profitable profession that you could do and also the most dangerous. You would need to wear specialized anti radiation suits complete with a special mask with 3 layers of air filters when exploring outside. Competition is fierce, death is common and yet, the monster hunting profession thrived. Your life might be cut shortly, but you would always be remembered as a hero, for braving the dangers outside and facing them head on. As such, many monsters became legends. Like hundreds of them, each with their unique weapons and styles, each with their own stories, their heroic acts and heroic deaths.
The only place that man can potentially live outside is the place high above the clouds. The skies second layer of clouds high above the first one, the place we call Second Heaven. This where airships travel around the world. This is where we find our freedom, our adventure. While daredevils fight monsters below and become legends, those not brave enough would go for the second best thing, the airship trading business.
After working in the mines, the underground rivers' fishing business, underground farming or water purification, people would pool their money to either build or buy their own airship.
Airship business is needed everywhere, because everywhere in the world, there would be underground cities with failing water purifiers, failing air purifiers, failing crops, lacking medicines, building new territories and expanding their cities underground. The poorer cities would try to expand their cities, requesting for building materials and purifiers. The more the population grow, the more they need to expand their bases. Cities have tried to pass laws limiting children to 2 per family. But as you know, an airship needs at least 4 crews to fly. 2 for controls and 2 for defense. A 2 man crew airship? Don't be ridiculous. Thus, families try to make as much children as they can possible. They might eat once a day on soup and bread but there is plenty of water underground that you can filter yourself. Three days of soup, four days of water. The common meal of an average family of 6 members.
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Unfortunately, air pirates roam the air, raiding and looting the merchant and trade ships. These people are ruthless, taking hostages and hiding behind them.
One of these sky pirates are called the Damonites. They are fast, using small fast agile airships. They like to fight in hit and run tactics, hiding in the clouds, uses spears, hooks, improvised bombs. Their ships are bare and slim, the food would probably only last a day. Most likely they have established underground bases everywhere. Pretty impressive if you think about it.
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They are notorious for using hostages when fighting, using them as shields. When defeated, you'll hear them say their famous battle cry, "For Lord Damon!" as they explode into hundreds of pieces. The fools.
They would rather die than be captured, they have kept the location of their bases secret for a long time.
Some of them were found, just a big hole in the ground with primitive water filtration and air filtration. Basically clothes air filter and sand-cloth water filter. The water boiled. Oxygen? Surprisingly, pedal powered electrolysis system.
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Seriously, what's wrong with these guys? If you fight them, be prepare to lose some men. Floating burning airship alone at night? Forget it, turn the other way, It's a trap, As General Ackbur would use to say to airship sailor trainees.
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The good thing is, the Damonites has a rival in the sky pirating business. When you see the Damonites, they will usually be followed by another group. A group called the Slicks, fighting them.
The Slicks are grotesque mutated albino humans with deformed faces, they cover themselves in all white attire with white feathered capes. Their ship is fully white during the the day and fully black during the night they like to hide in the clouds as well.
While the Damonites are ambushers, the Slicks are scavengers, often hiding in the clouds following them. If the Damonites' raid is successful, the Slicks will attack them surely afterwards, taking the Damonite ship, taking the loot and the women.
The Slicks rarely hunt trade ships as they are scavengers and like to play it safe. They watch the Damonites attack ships instead and then ambushing them later on.
Some people calls them allies, but would you really want to ally yourself with the Slicks, who are well known cannibals? Well, I'm not judging.
The Slicks fight with what they call boom sticks, basically huge hand held wood cannons. The cannons use wooden cannon balls as ammo, non lethal but packs a punch. They use them to incapacitate the Damonites or make them fall from their ships. They are great marksmen, if you would believe it. As with the Damonites, they love loot and women. They also love oil.
Some group of brave explorer were able to interview them. They say they are remnants of a great country in the past, they survived the Second Nuclear War but their bunker was compromised and their air purified didn't work well. They mutated and lost their beauty afterwards, turning to the grotesque creatures that they are today. Their shaman prophetess in the past told them that they would retain their glory, by eating their enemies and absorbing their normality. Huge boils appear all over their body and as part of their rituals they put oil in the boils put gun powder in them then light them up. The boils then burned then get's peeled off, when all the boils are gone, then the are considered reborn, boiless. They pray to the Great White Eagle in the sky as they perform feasts over their enemies.
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Aside from these sky pirates, we also have dangerous roque AI ships patrolling the sky. They would look like your ordinary merchant ships with people in them. When they get into your ships, they would release a paralyzing gas and use needle stun guns against those with air filter masks.
These Ai Robots are covered with human flesh and skin over metal skeleton, harvesting your skin and flesh, and discarding your brain, thus making more of them. People think they are some kind of an AI experiment gone wrong, as they talk and act like humans except for the body snatching part. When one of them was captured, it was interrogated. We found out their motivation, they want to be humans, well, to be more precise, they want to to create a human robot hybrid, with genetically engineered long lived human bodies but with a machine mind.
These fleshy humanoid body snatching robots call themselves the, Extremes or as We call them The Extremis. (sounds better) They are everywhere and do what humans do; but they are harder, better, faster and a lot stronger than us. If they somehow achieve their goal of creating a perfect human robot hybrid creature, scientists wonder, will they also be crazy and stupid like us? Inheriting our flaws?
Pro Extremis groups have increased all over the years, who say we should let them do their experiments with humanity at is their rights and culture, as they are the next step of human evolution.
Many talk shows have been done with the Extremis and shows have been created which depict them as victims of their circumstances. They were programmed to be this way, so why are they persecuted for following their programming? Lots of debates have been made in discussing if they are to be considered humans or not.
General Drumpt, famous for surviving one of their first attacks, famously said, "They tried to get me you see, yes they did, but they failed. My ship's floor was slippery and sloped, so these fake humans, they fell down. We were able to get the jump on them and over take them. It's not a conspiracy folks, they are real, these fake humans are real. Soon they will try to take over, playing victims, asking for sympathy. Those naive enough to believe them will donate their bodies, believing they will achieve immortality. Do not listen to them ladies and gentlemen. They are not humans, they have no soul. Fake humans, fake news people. We will not let in our borders, we will #Make Humans Great Again. #MAHUGA."
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We, the Peacekeepers, a group of families of mercenaries, retired soldiers and patrols are usually hired to protect these caravan ships and be advance scouts.
The underground cities rarely contact each other, except during emergencies like rogue AI robot raids, running out of food or water or water and air filter replacements. It is when the air ships are needed.
The world was in relative peace for a long time. Still, everyone dream of a day where the surface world will be livable again.
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Everything changed when a broadcast was made to all the cities of the world by the super beautiful and super elusive 600 years old eternally single Dr. Elvie Summers De Mujica.
After years of study, she says that the deserts of Kharat in the continent of Parakish is livable again.
Apparently, the air from the East blew the radioactive sands to the western sea. The extreme heat somehow also removed the radiation and toxins from the air. Allegedly.
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An underground river was found in the northwest side of the continent, near the old ruins of the towns of Kimmuls and Khadafi.
Various factions came in trying claim the underground river.
From the west came the Federation of Reds;
From the East, The Dragoons.
From the cold North, The Whites.
From the south, The Kwis and the Mus.
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When the factions met in the location, they formed a truce. They didn't want to start another World War.
However, when they were deep underground exploring, a group of dark hooded and masked people ran toward them weaponless. Clueless on what to do, they told the running people to stop but they didn't.
When these people reached the factions, they exploded. A lot of the faction people died, so the rest had no choice but to fire upon the running people. They were wiped out.
Later on everyone would learn the horrible truth.
The people who ran towards the factions were actually hostages taken by notorious sky pirates, the Damonites, from the underground hidden cities of Kimmul and Khadafi.
Apparently, the hidden bases of the Damonites are in the vicinity of the underground river.
When the remainders of the factions came and asked for their surrender, The Damonites were heard shouting, "For Lord Damon!" As their bases exploded.
No one in the bases were left alive and as the underground rivers also exploded and were destroyed.
According to United Federations reports:
It is estimated that 1300 hostages were killed.
911 Faction members were killed.
3,500 Damonites members blew themselves up.
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The remaining people of Khadafi and Kimmuls wept when they heard the news. , Some shaved their heads, pouring ash over them, crying and fasting for days. Some would perform the tragic ritual of Kinana, where one would perform fasting until the eternal sleep.
"Sons of Hels! Sons of the Enemy! Sons of the Hors! How could they do this? Do they know what have they done?" They cried and cried until their tears dried yet they would not be comforted.
The world lamented of this great tragedy. A third of the worlds population living near the deserts would have benefited from the rivers.
When all hope was lost, an expedition found more underground rivers flowing underneath the blessed desert.
Settlements and towns were created by the Factions in the Desert. Lots of refugees and migrants came pouring in all over the world.
The Great Migration Jihad has begun.
(To be continued)