World Conquest Online

Dom listened as Camilla spoke, his mind imagining the past. He had read the history books and had seen some relics of the past in museum visits during his time at the academy, but his ears wanted to hear more about how the world of now came to be.

"Unlike a lot of the world that was changed over a longer period of time. The impacts on the Isles of Britainy were overnight. Around four hundred years ago, nearing the end of the twenty first century, a large piece of ice broke free in the north Arctic Sea, this piece of ice was the size of a small country. It had been tracked for a long time, with scientists creating counter measures, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. Nature had made it’s choice and it caused a tidal wave that was so high that all of coastal regions in the most northern countries were hit. The tidal wave was so swift that it drowned tens of millions across the northern hemisphere. Once the wave settled, the ice chunk quickly deteriorated and separated in to further pieces, that melted over an extremely short period. Causing water levels across he globe to rise by around fifty metres, keeping those coastal towns under water permanently." Camilla explained, "Cities and Regions were lost over night and in some cases, whole countries. The once great nations of Holland, Belgium and Denmark for starters. However, this was just the first step in a large decline."

"I heard about the floods, but I thought they settled much higher?" Dom asked, interested in the revelations that Camilla was going to share.

"I will come to that shortly, this is where history was written by the victors." Camilla laughed, "The Isles of Britainy were once a proud nation, but the Tidal Wave didn’t just hit the coast. No, the river’s rose and the country was rocked from all sides. The main river at the time travelled through the capital, but a wave travelled up the river and through the capital, destroying it and with it all of the countries leadership that were there. The nation was crippled as it was during a key meeting where all of the nations representatives were attending. All that remains of what was once the worlds capital now is small Hempstead Island where the Fifth Peak is based."

"What happened next?" Kish asked, ignoring that it wasn’t his question and wanting to know more. He had learnt a lot of it in history, but hearing it from someone who was senior and had much more information was a better source.

"The Isles of Britainy, formerly Great Britain and great it was, was one of many leading Nations that always supported the rest of the world when they struggled. You would expect then that now that they were in need as was most of the northern world, that those that they had helped in the past would return the past favours." Camilla continued, ignoring Kish’s interruption. "They were wrong to think that. Instead, it was seen as an opportunity from those weaker countries, an opportunity to change the world order."

Everyone listened intently, having not heard this part of history before. Most of them knew that water levels had rose and the world had become a dark place afterwards, little mentioned in history lessons, but the details they were hearing now where new to them. They knew that some catastrophic natural disasters had taken place and that the worlds order had changed after it, but this was much more detailed.

"Invasions began across the borders, with many of the nations based in our current Western and Eastern Kingdoms, being invaded by their southern Neighbours. Mighty Ancient Kingdoms that had stood for hundreds of years such as the Turkish and the Spanish, were suddenly attacked by those to the south of them. Even the Southern Empires we have now, were invaded by their neighbours, leading in to a world full of major territorial wars. The Southern Empire had a huge population, but the changes to the world had disrupted their communications, allowing historical enemies to return. The Isles of Britainy was lucky in one regard, they were a secluded island nation and wasn’t invaded, but the destruction to it’s major cities and infrastructure from the wave had caused internal chaos." Camilla explained, "Our neighbours across the Ocean, broke in to a civil war and couldn’t support us, and our neighbours in the Western Kingdoms were dealing with similar losses whilst having to defend themselves against nations who were land locked or greedy for an opportunity."

"But those Kingdoms are still the major Kingdoms now, so did they win the wars?" Diane asked, leaning forwards in her seat as the Car travelled across the central spine of the Isles of Britainy towards the City of Glossop.

"They did, but by a stroke of luck more than anything else." Camilla laughed bitterly. "The invading nations got greedy, forgetting that those they were invading were the leaders of the old world. They may have been hurt, close to extinction in some cases, but they still had strong armies and weapons. Those invading them were greedy for land, over extending and even fighting amongst themselves for the spoils. Some of the countries hurt by the wave had weapons that once fired, could destroy another country in it’s entirety. So much of their countries was already hurt, so why wouldn’t they use them." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"And those weapons were used?" Dom asked, interrupting the flow. Camilla looked at him with disappointment before continuing.

"Yes, they were fired, but it wasn’t the defenders or the invaders that fired them at first. It was here, at the Isles of Britainy. The British people were evacuated in advance to the central spine of the Isles, old underground shelters reopened and prepared. Their allies were informed of our intentions so that they could follow similar plans. They argued for Britain to not do it, threatened them even, but they had their own issues to deal with. The British leadership had been lost in the tidal wave and the surviving generals and admirals had taken control of the nation." Camilla continued, her tone changing. "They didn’t fire the weapons at the invaders directly, for their were too many to choose from. Instead they fired in to the sky, destroying the layer above the central mass of the aggressor countries, destroying the layer in the sky that protected them from the sun. Some others joined in the destruction, causing chaos across different parts of the world."

"The Isles of Britainy did what?" Kish exclaimed, his mouth aghast. Shocked and disgusted to hear that someone could cause so much destruction on the world. Even more so when it was his new home, a prestigious place that people would fight to come to.

"The layer above those countries fractured, causing the temperature of the world to rise, causing more of the ice to melt and the water levels to rise even further. The additional temperature caused the climate to react, with under sea volcanoes erupting, releasing under water reservoirs. Eventually the water had risen by over one hundred metres in total. Parts of the world were blocked from the sun in it’s entirety, with radioactive clouds causing crops to wither and die." Camilla explained, before pausing herself, unsure if she should continue. "The Ice has frozen again in the north, bringing in a small ice age to the extreme north. Some say it’s frozen too much, but the sea level has never dropped lower than the hundred metres higher it is now. I worry that if it does begin to melt again, there will be even less land to fight over."

"What happened to those countries?" Diane asked, aware that Camilla was thinking of how to respond.

"The countries that were beneath the broken layer burnt." Camilla replied bluntly, "Hundreds of Millions of people burnt, the land scorched for thousands of miles. Whole nations disappearing off the map in seconds. Some of them wanted to retaliate, use their own weapons of destruction in revenge but they never got the chance. Some of their allies were so disgusted they also tried, but they failed, the Isles of Britainy had been the worlds largest empire at one point and everyone believed it was a shell of it’s past, but the most important thing in any war is information. The Isles of Britainy had all the information they needed, making all other weapons of destruction pointless but their own."

"It sounds too easy for them to have been able to do it themselves?" Kish asked, "How could they do it alone?"

"They weren’t fully alone, some of their allies and even former enemies were begging the Isles of Britainy for support." Camilla explained patiently, "There isn’t proof, but there is a lot of suspicion that the other northern countries seceded their weapons so that the Isles of Britainy could be the villain. The former Great Britain didn’t have the most of these weapons, their Allies across the Ocean had the most, but they were too busy fighting amongst themselves. Even their former enemies to the east had more issues than most, some Civil War, Natural Disasters and Invasions from the south and west by former territories of their own. We believe both of these power houses seceded to Britain’s plan, with a hope that it would end the chaos and allow them to return to a status quo."

"So what did the world do?" Jessica asked, herself now pulled in to this new information.

"The North and South were flooded and recovering, the middle of the world scorched and destroyed. Over fifty percent of the human population dead or displaced, the world as they knew it over, all of this happening in less than five years, known as the "Desperate Ages". Some countries planned to leave the planet, the Combined States being one of them, having built machines that could take them in to the stars, but our older generations had filled the space beyond our sky with objects, and none of them could pass through the cage that we had given ourselves, the maps to the objects lost in the fighting." Camilla explained, "Over the next hundred years, Famine, droughts, more floods, extreme winds and weather patterns arrived. Technologies had been created before all of this happened to reverse any damage to the world caused by those Country destroying weapons, however most of the damage had already been done. The damaged sky healed quickly with the help of the technologies, but the internal shocks were too much in that initial period. Natural Disasters hit all over the world, meaning that everyone that had survived had to try and band together to help each other in what ever ways they could. Many technologies became redundant as natural resources couldn’t be gathered to maintain them. Our new nations were formed, whilst internal wars took place in the battle for shrinking resources and food."

"How did the Isles of Britainy fit in to this?" Diane asked, listening intensely.

"With a shrunken population and an ample supply of resources, they militarised the nation and concentrated on food production, either from the seas or the land, diversifying their crops. They may have been the Villain to some, but they created strong alliances and became a strong leader in the new world." Camilla grinned, "They lead the United Nations and Kingdoms, gaining control of all of the worlds Weapons of Destruction, and brought in the rules of removing dangerous technologies so that the destruction of the world couldn’t happen again. The former power houses supported them and even though they were shadows of themselves, their words held sway."

"But they caused a lot of that destruction?" Kish argued, surprised. His mind still shocked to hear of all of the destruction.

"The Winner writes the history, the loser has to deal with it. The Isles of Britainy were abandoned by their allies, their allies invaded by their neighbours. The world was chaos and they tipped the scales in their favour." Camilla laughed, "However, survivors guilt sank in and the younger generations decided to become the peacemakers of the future, removing technologies from the records and outlining the rules of engagement. Flying Machines were banned, weapons that used technologies such as gunpowder were destroyed and we reverted from hot weapons to cold weapons. When technologies are discovered, if they are deemed unsafe to the world, they are removed, and in some cases so are their inventors. Rules of engagement were agreed and anyone that broke them would be invaded by the peacekeepers. Sects were created to be separate from the nations to enforce the rules, with the Hundred Sword Peaks being one of them."

"Are their many sects like the Hundred Sword Peaks?" Diane asked, leaning forwards and intrigued to hear more.

"There are enough of them, placed across the globe." Camilla replied evenly, not revealing information that didn’t need to be revealed at this point.

"So our Technology is advanced in some stages, but not in others, and this is all policed by the collection of sects?" Jessica asked, her fingers combing through her hair as she listened.

"The Kingdoms rule the world, and the sects police the kingdoms. Neither can survive without the other, as the sects are made up of people from the Kingdoms." Camilla replied, "This is why the Hidden Peaks are key, as we can advise the Kingdoms to be as successful as possible within these rules. Technologies that help with medical care, promote agriculture, transportation on the sea’s or the ground, even entertainment functions such as game headsets like World Conquest Online. These are all positive technologies that pass and should be promoted."

"But why do wars keep happening between the Kingdoms?" Dom asked, changing the conversation’s direction, his heart hurting to think that these rules hadn’t kept his family safe.

"The rules of engagement allow wars that keep within a certain percentage of military and population loss, as well as a certain percentage of land lost or gained. As long as cold weapons are used and those rules are followed, then no rules are broken." Camilla replied, her eyes watching Dom’s. "It’s hard, but it keeps humanity alive. The Western Kingdoms have gone by many different individual names throughout history, but every seventy years or so there is some fight taking place amongst them. The only difference between now and then, is that those wars are now policed efficiently."

"My Lady, sorry to interrupt but we are about to arrive in Glossop." The Driver Hector announced, interrupting the conversation as they began to drive up a windy road towards a large city on the top of many hills.