War of Airborne Town

Prologue

Prologue:

Kaolta: a beautiful planet with two very different sides; the populated side, called Ali Yli, has the vibrant, energetic capital city of Kiir and the underground city of Maahan. The other side is called Luola: uncharted, wild, and no one dares to enter its forests and caves.

Kiir is ruled by the President, an elected official usually hailing from wealthy and powerful families. The President is kept in check by the Grand Congress of Kiir, or the GCK, consisting of 55 members. The President and the GCK, however, like most governments are corrupt and act only in their own best interests. Inhabitants of Kiir are called Surface-dwellers.

Maahan is ruled by the King, a man of absolute power, and what he says goes. He has ruled for centuries, and will likely rule for all eternity. The Parliament of Maahan helps some, but the King always gets final say. The population of Maahan are called Ground-dwellers.

Both cities worship the Weak Ghost and the Strong Ghost. They are said to have discovered and populated Kaolta millennia ago, and are immortal and omnipresent. The Weak Ghost is angry and always looks for any way to punish anyone who steps out of line. The Strong Ghost is benevolent, and always tries to stop the Weak Ghost when he goes on his rantings. The pair can be seen in the Great Seal of Kaolta and make an appearance once a year, on the last day of the year, to continue to prove their existence.

In the year -205, a member of the GCK released the Anti-Surface-dweller Manifesto. This man, Jeth Topper, a leading member of the GCK and is the second cousin of the current President, Pitl Lotte.

"I, Jeth Topper, hereby publicly denounce the President, the GCK, and the city of Kiir and its inhabitants," the first line reads. "They are corrupt, unfair and unjust, work in only their own best interests, and steal.

"The citizens of Kiir are no better," the manifesto continues. "They rob and beat, kill and steal, endlessly. Someone, sometime, somehow, needs to make a stand. That person is me."

It is first read when Jeth addresses the GCK on Founding Day, the holiday to celebrate when Weak Ghost and Strong Ghost discovered Kaolta. Jeth did expect some backlash, yes, but what he did not foresee was getting arrested and tried for blasphemy and defamation against the President and the GCK. He was imprisoned for 5 years, and was released in the year -200.

What he didn't know is, hundreds of miles from Kiir, a few thousand people who agreed with him formed their own territory; they called it Vapaa Maa. After somehow making it out of Kiir unscathed, Jeth finds Vapaa Maa and meets the people there. They greet him with open arms and make him ruler of the land. Jeth didn't want to just sit and wait while people in Kiir are still suffering, however. So he decided to do what seemed to him to be the only rational thing: he formed a small army and declared war against the Kiir.

This civil war stretched for months. Months turned into years and years turned into decades. Before they knew it, it was already 50 years later in -150, and they were no closer to a solution. Unfortunately, 4 years later in -146, Jeth Topper died in his sleep of old age. He was 181, an average age to die on Kaolta. Statues were erected and paintings were hung. Jeth was never to be forgotten; ever. His son Jett Topper took over as Ruler, and after a brief mourning period, the war waged on.

Jett was a great military leader and lead the army of Vapaa Maa to many victories. In the year -80, the end of the war was in sight. However, the army of Kiir fought back fiercely, and they fell back. Stalemate after stalemate, battle after battle, no one was getting anywhere. Finally, 80 years later in the year 0, Kiir finally overpowered Vapaa Maa and forced them to surrender. In the year 0, the Two-Century War was over. This would later be known as Great Civil War of the Surface-dwellers. Vapaa Maa was destroyed, and all remaining Anti-Surface-dwellers were either killed or went into prison camps in and around Kiir.

Jett was not going to take this loss lightly, however. He still wanted out of Kiir. Looking to the sky, he discovered the only place he and his followers could go for freedom: up. He secretly arranged an elite group of architects and engineers to design what he called the Disc. A city floating on a great disc in the sky, miles above Kiir. Over the next few decades, they secretly built the Disc, piece by piece. Jett grew weak and could only observe and plan, but his son Jent took over as lead builder. As Anti-Surface-dwellers got out of prisons and camps, they helped too. In the year 67, they started piecing it together in a plot of land not far from Kiir, but far enough to not be observed. Ten years later in 77, the engines were lit: liftoff!

The Disc lifted into the sky and finally made it to about 20,000 feet, high enough that they turn off the giant engines and let the atmosphere carry it. Over the next three years, they transported people to move into the new homes in the sky. They named it Airborne Town.

Finally, in 80, everything was finished. Airborne Town circled above the edges of Kiir, never going directly over it, untouched by their corruptness. His and his father's mission complete, Jett died in 80 at the age of 201.

With a population of two million and climbing, Jent established the government of Airborne Town. It would consist of The Board, a group of 5 in charge of everything about ruling and running the town. They would work in secret, far away from the eye of the public. Their works would be conveyed to the public by Jent, the Frontman. That role would be passed down to each of the oldest sons of each oldest son. The Frontman would have an Aide who would help him with anything that needed to be done, and would act as Frontman if he was unable.

The three territories; Airborne Town and its Sky-dwellers, Kiir and its Surface-dwellers, and Maahan and its Ground-dwellers, live untouched by each other for around 3,000 years.

Untouched by each other, that is, until now...