Aviator
all colors lead to gray
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The year is 2189. The past two and a half centuries were marked by political upheaval, terrorism, disasters both manmade and natural, technological innovations, and epidemics the likes of which mankind has never seen before. A combination of bioterrorism and gross overpopulation culminated in the eruption of World War III during the tempestuous summer of 2051. But conflicts did not just remain international; anarchy abounded in all of the world’s most formidable superpowers as the working class, oppressed minorities, and victims of conscription rebelled against the bourgeoisie that had exploited them for uncountable centuries.
Together, the deadly duo of international warfare along with internal unrest pushed these once-dominant forces—the United States, China, Russia, India, and England—to nearly their breaking points. In a desperate bid to reclaim the power that was slowly but surely trickling away from them, the richest families of each of the five aforementioned countries allied together and came down on the revolutionaries with everything they had. The final battles were quick but brutal, and in the end the Five Families prevailed twelve years later, in 2063.
Perceiving their own citizens’ uprising during a time of global warfare as unforgivable betrayal, the Five Families were unwilling to surrender the power that they had shed blood to retain. Together, they decided that democracy had been a failed experiment. The people had been given the privilege of partial say in their government, and they had spit it back in their sovereigns’ faces. As punishment, this privilege would be permanently revoked. The Five Families installed themselves in seats of absolute power; the United States, China, Russia, India, and England transitioned into hereditary monarchies with supreme autocratic authority. The era of the modern monarchy had begun, a new experiment in the works.
Perhaps surprisingly, the Five Families enjoyed a period of unprecedented peace in the following decades. With their alliance still mostly intact, no opposing nation could hope to make a stand against them. And you know how the old saying goes: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, and that’s exactly what the majority of these other countries did. 126 years later, just about every independent nation is ruled by its own monarchy, too.
126 years is a lot of time for things to change, though, and as we all know, history tends to repeat itself. Within the past fifty years, not one but several wars have erupted over resources, territory, and access to cutting-edge technologies. While hostilities are not as fierce as they were during 2051, an escalating conflict between China and Russia is forcing other countries to take a side. In a last-ditch effort to create a truce before skirmishes boil over into yet another outright World War, the monarchs of each family have consented to allow their adolescent heirs to study together on the same ground at the same school, with the hopeful goal of forming alliances, marriages, and healthy relations among the next generation of rulers as they further their educations in the lap of luxury. And then there is the unspoken fact that these adolescent heirs essentially function as political hostages to discourage the outbreak of war, but no need to dwell on that. The Academy for Young Royals is where our characters’ stories intertwine.
The year is 2189. The past two and a half centuries were marked by political upheaval, terrorism, disasters both manmade and natural, technological innovations, and epidemics the likes of which mankind has never seen before. A combination of bioterrorism and gross overpopulation culminated in the eruption of World War III during the tempestuous summer of 2051. But conflicts did not just remain international; anarchy abounded in all of the world’s most formidable superpowers as the working class, oppressed minorities, and victims of conscription rebelled against the bourgeoisie that had exploited them for uncountable centuries.
Together, the deadly duo of international warfare along with internal unrest pushed these once-dominant forces—the United States, China, Russia, India, and England—to nearly their breaking points. In a desperate bid to reclaim the power that was slowly but surely trickling away from them, the richest families of each of the five aforementioned countries allied together and came down on the revolutionaries with everything they had. The final battles were quick but brutal, and in the end the Five Families prevailed twelve years later, in 2063.
Perceiving their own citizens’ uprising during a time of global warfare as unforgivable betrayal, the Five Families were unwilling to surrender the power that they had shed blood to retain. Together, they decided that democracy had been a failed experiment. The people had been given the privilege of partial say in their government, and they had spit it back in their sovereigns’ faces. As punishment, this privilege would be permanently revoked. The Five Families installed themselves in seats of absolute power; the United States, China, Russia, India, and England transitioned into hereditary monarchies with supreme autocratic authority. The era of the modern monarchy had begun, a new experiment in the works.
Perhaps surprisingly, the Five Families enjoyed a period of unprecedented peace in the following decades. With their alliance still mostly intact, no opposing nation could hope to make a stand against them. And you know how the old saying goes: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, and that’s exactly what the majority of these other countries did. 126 years later, just about every independent nation is ruled by its own monarchy, too.
126 years is a lot of time for things to change, though, and as we all know, history tends to repeat itself. Within the past fifty years, not one but several wars have erupted over resources, territory, and access to cutting-edge technologies. While hostilities are not as fierce as they were during 2051, an escalating conflict between China and Russia is forcing other countries to take a side. In a last-ditch effort to create a truce before skirmishes boil over into yet another outright World War, the monarchs of each family have consented to allow their adolescent heirs to study together on the same ground at the same school, with the hopeful goal of forming alliances, marriages, and healthy relations among the next generation of rulers as they further their educations in the lap of luxury. And then there is the unspoken fact that these adolescent heirs essentially function as political hostages to discourage the outbreak of war, but no need to dwell on that. The Academy for Young Royals is where our characters’ stories intertwine.
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