Time:0800 Hours, December 24, 2012
Location:City of New Mathdon, New Falcanian Isles
Situation Overview:
The small city of New Mathdon, was, in fact, at war. No actual fighting was taking place, but the city was besieged. Valanora had moved a fleet of it's finest naval vessels towards the small colony city to stop the transfer of much needed supplies from the rest of the World. The city is preparing for the worst. Small substance gardens had been built to help sustain the civilians, but they would only do so much. The mines in the outskirts of the city were being stripped for iron and uranium, and the countrymen desperately awaited any supplies that might be slipped through the blockade to their assistance.
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"Luke, are you ready for school?" An older woman pouring milk into a bowl of cereal called up a flight of stairs.
"Almost!" The young boy was going to attend his local school, even though it was Christmas Eve, he still had school to go to.
The young boy was a Leorudian/Inevitable Syndicate mix whose parents had taken him to New Mathdon. Sadly, both of his parents were killed in a freak accident, and his Grandmother was forced to be his caretaker. Their small country home had two stories and a small yard where Luke would play football with his friends in his spare time. He often wondered about the World and why things happened. A conversation in his classroom about the subject came up later:
"Why is my dad saying that we need to be ready to leave?" One child asked a teacher.
"Why is Valanora trying to kill us?" Another student asked.
"This is a scary situation children, and Valanora is being agressive." The teacher said calmly.
Luke self-consciously blurted out:"Why?"
The teacher turned and looked at him.
"I think that some countries do not look at people as people, but instead they are just pieces of a game."
Luke had no idea what that meant, but he nodded anyway.
As he walked home that day, passing the signs advertising the resistance, he thought about everything that was going on, and he promised himself he would never get involved with those sort of things.
----
Back in mainland Leorudo:
In was a rainy day in the metropolis that was Leorudo. But the weather was of little importance to Michael Strelle, who was going to see his older brother for the first time in many years. This brother had left the homeland to make a fortune during the New Almintoran Economic Boom, but he only got as far as a short run as a up and coming shipping company before Morcavi Industries bought all of the ports around them, forcing them to close. Not long after, the older Strelle had to leave New Almintora and head for home. Despite all of that, Michael Strelle was riding in the Metro Train to LIA(Leorudian International Airport) where he would be more than excited to greet his brother. Michael was fifteen, old enough to go through out the town on his own, yet still his parents had been expecting him back by the evening, so he had to hurry. Because he was alone, he had also just picked up one of the latest World Cup-themed football video games for himself, which he intended on playing later while his older brother and his parents talked about his enterprising practices and how his life would be intact after everything. His mind wavered as the city's Industrial District was rushed by the window. Eventually, the driver came to stop in front of a fountain near the airport.
"How much do I owe you?" Michael asked the driver.
"Fourteen Units." The driver responded, rolling down his window so he could catch the money that would be thrown at him.
Michael paid what he owed an walked the rest of the way to the airport. It would be a while until-Shooooh His thoughts were interrupted by a jet flying over the area. These had become a commonplace in Leorudo in the last couple of months.
"Just another parade." He murmured to himself as he kept he head down and walked into the airport to his brother's flight's bag pick-up to wait.
After a few minutes of waiting, he pulled out his phone and started playing music through his headphones. Rage Against the Machine started blaring, and he was at peace.
It must have began to rain outside, because the thunder was cracking every so often to the rhythm of the song.
Finally, the song stopped, and he did not feel like to turning it off, so he slowly drifted off into a nap to the next thing on his play list.
.
.
.
"Michael!"
He awoke to the sound of his name.
Snapping to life, hastily shoving his phone and earpieces in his pockets, he returned the call.
"David!" He was addressing his brother for the first time in a very long while.
"How are you, buddy?" David said in the voice you would expect from an older brother.
"Fine, and yourself?" Michael responded as smoothly as possible.
"I would not be back here I was doing great Michael, but I'm doing alright to buy you a burger. Is Lenoli's still around?"
"Yep, not much has changed around here since you left." Michael stated.
"No? Wow, maybe it is just blowhards who moved out to the colonies." David was, of course, referring to the Leorudian Expansion, but Michael was not interested in the world of politics much, and from what he understood was that his country was trying to become richer, and hurting some people like his brother in the process.
"Oh, you know I'm not into that stuff." Michael stated.
"You haven't changed much?" David asked, questioning if Michael had any new hobbies.
"I like to think I have. Anyway let's go, Mom and Dad want me home by sun down." Michael said, picking up one of David's bags and turning towards the grand terminal.
"Do we have time to stop for a burger?" David asked.
"Sure, but you pay." Michael replied as he waved for David to catch up.
"Yep. You haven't changed one bit." David muttered to himself as he quickly walked to catch up with Michael.
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