In the year 2038, the world finally went to war. After decades of disagreements and rising tension, the figurative dam had finally broken, and that dam had been holding back a tidal wave. Unleashing Nuclear warheads, a weapon that many had sworn never to use, upon an innocent world. Many nations died in mere moments; others held on to every last breath, desperate to preserve a semblance of who they once were.
America, once a superpower in the world had been reduced to an atomic wasteland, with most of its people dead or dying and it's government collapsed. But before the bombs fell the president fearing the worst ordered the construction of an underground bunker that would hold the collective history of mankind. Copies of documents, papers, and volumes were made and stored in vast databases. Hundreds of best and brightest staffed the bunker, making sure that even if thousands of years passed the world would still live on in some way.
Defending the bunker was a group of the best soldiers enlisted, a group answering directly to the president, Special Operations Group Alpha, aka SOG-A. A regular soldier looked up to the likes of SEAL team 6 and Delta Force, but they aspired to join the ranks of Group Alpha. A group of cybernetically and genetically enhanced soldiers, the best-kept secret of the US military, they were wholly unknown to the civilian world and merely a whisper among soldiers and politicians.
When the word was given the men and women residing in the bunker entered stasis pods that would allow them to wait out the nuclear apocalypse and attempt to either begin rebuilding or assist any new societies that would rise from the ashes of the Old World, but they never emerged. Their pods never opened keeping them trapped, suspended in time.
Years passed, and eventually, survivors began to emerge from the ruined remnants of the world. The name Earth was forgotten, and the world only became known as Remnant. Damaged and irradiated those that survived struggled to live. Humanity had devolved back into tribal societies, warring against one another for the limited resources remaining on the planet. Until one day two brothers descended from the stars.
The elder brother, the God of Light, reshaped the world and healing it of its cancer, but it was no utopia. The younger brother, the God of Darkness, had his own creations, the soulless Creatures of Grimm. Serving as his instruments of destruction the Grimm devoured human settlements by the hundreds. And when Humanity began to be overwhelmed the Brothers came together and granted them powers.
The Brother of Light gifted them the ability to use their souls as a method to empower them. Called Aura it was the manifestation of the wielder's soul, used to shield and enhance the user. Aura trained individuals would go on to unlock unique ability's known as semblances, a manifestation of one's innate power given form. Not to be outdone the Brother of Darkness granted humanity the ability to use powerful magic. Soon humanity began to create expansive civilizations once more and push back against the Grimm.
Yet humanity could never outrun their greed. Eager for more power humanity turned on the two Brothers, desiring to take their power for their own. The Brothers disappointed to see their works turn against them abandoned the planet, but not before the God of Darkness revoked his gift of magic and shattered the moon. Humanity was left broken, with many dead and all the great civilizations brought to ruin, their history lost, but Mankind is nothing if not tenacious. Once again they pulled themselves from the rubble and formed new settlements. Soon, however, they found that they were not alone.
Faunus, a race of people resembling humans but decorated with a differing variety of animalistic traits, soon appeared alongside humanity. And as the forgotten history of the Old World would've predicted the two races came into conflict with one another. People became disturbed by the human-like appearance the Faunus had, combined with animal ears, tails, or claws often drove Faunus from their settlements and hunted them down. Some however learned to coexist with the Faunus. Those that resided in the oases of Sanus banded together with the Faunus to fight back against the Grimm, while those isolated in the frigid mountains of Solitas never found the need to accept the Faunus.
Four kingdoms now stood on Remnant. Vale settled in the lush forests of Eastern Sanus, while Vacuo appeared among the sands of Western Sanus. To the North on the continent of Solitas, the kingdom of Mantle sought refuge in the towering mountains, and to the East Mistral dominated the continent of Anima. Each of these kingdoms developed their own unique cultures, which inevitably led to conflicting beliefs.
The creatures of Grimm remained the ever-present threat to the people of Remnant, drawn to feelings of negativity, and when it came to fending off the Grimm, some kingdoms adopted unconventional methods. Mantle, after experiencing brutal Grimm attacks resorted to suppressing its people's very emotions, by banning all forms of art and self-expression. Mistral, which was an ally of Mantle, soon adopted this belief of suppression, albeit to a lesser extent. This belief came into conflict with the views of the Kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo.
In an attempt to ease tensions with the two nations the Kingdom of Vale constructed a joint settlement with the Kingdom of Mistral. The road to Hell, however, is paved with good intentions. The clash of cultures soon exploded into rioting between the two groups of settlers, marking the beginning to the first battle of the Great War. Vacuo, fearing that if Vale fell that nothing would stop Mantle and Mistral from conquering them, soon allied themselves with Vale.
The Great War lasted for a long decade; no kingdom was spared from any of the brutality. Grimm attacks skyrocketed, and battles would be paused to deal with sudden hordes of Grimm. Eventually, however, Vale and Vacuo stood victorious and rather than punish Mantle and Mistral with harsh reparations the kingdoms gathered on the island of Vytal. There they signed the Vytal treaty, where the future of the kingdoms was planned — replacing the monarchies with governing councils, granting Faunus equal rights, and abolishing slavery. Possibly the most important addition was the formation of the Huntsman Academies. Institutions dedicated to training warriors whose task was to defend the kingdoms from the Grimm threat.
But soon Earth would meet Remnant, shaking the very foundations of Remnants history.
"Hello, I'm Lisa Lavender reporting to you live from deep in the Emerald Forest at what could quite possibly be one of the most important excavations in the history of Remnant. With me today is the famed archaeologist, historian, and professor of Beacon Academy, Professor Bartholomew Oobleck." The news reporter gestured to the tall and lanky individual standing beside her. With messy green hair and a disheveled looking appearance, most would have confused the doctor for an addict of some kind, Which he was if the frequency with which he sipped at the coffee in his hands was any indication.
Adjusting his glasses, Oobleck swiftly corrected the reporter, "Doctor, I earned my Ph.D. for a reason."
"Of course Dr. Oobleck, now what can you tell us about the excavation. What do you expect to find?"
Oobleck responded so quickly most would have struggled to catch anything he said. "Well, Miss Lavender I can tell you that we aren't quite one hundred percent sure what is down there. My colleagues and I have looked through hundreds of documents and ancient texts, but not once was there a mention of underground structures such as this one."
Lisa gained a confused look, "Then how do you know if this isn't just some cave system?"
Oobleck looked overjoyed at her question, "Excellent question Miss Lavender! First, it must be known that it was actually discovered by the SDC while looking for underground dust stores. Upon discovery, they initially believed it to be a cave system. On closer inspection, however, they had realized that the 'cave system' was too uniform to be naturally occurring. Thankfully they contacted an associate of mine who recommended me, and I immediately got to work on finding out any information I could on underground structures."
Oobleck paused to make sure the reporter caught everything he said, "And surprisingly I could find no such information, ancient or modern, I believe it may actually predate any archaeological site found to date!"
Lisa's eyes widened, "you think this might be the oldest human structure on Remnant!"
Oobleck readjusted his glasses; he was practically shaking in excitement at the academic opportunities the dig could provide. "Or Faunus Miss Lavender, but yes I do have some theories on what the structure will be, and that is most certainly one of them. And I would be more than happy to discuss them with you, but I must go and check how the drilling is coming along."
Lisa gave a disappointed sigh before nodding and smiling, "Of course Dr. Oobleck, and thank you for taking time out of what I'm sure is a hectic schedule." Turning back towards the cameraman ready to sign off when suddenly a chorus of shouts came from the direction excavation site. Suddenly Lisa found herself surrounded by a cloud of dust as Oobleck sprinted in the direction of the shouts. Coughing and waving the dirt away from her face she looked towards the camera to wrap up her report.
"Once again, Lisa Lavender reporting from the Emerald Forest excavation site signing off, and hopefully returning with another report shortly."
Unknown to the people above they were about to awaken a remnant of a world far older than they know.
Author's Notes:
Planned on this first chapter being longer but I felt like it had ended at a solid point. I plan on making the continuing chapters at least twice as long. I'm pretty new to writing so please let me know if something doesn't make sense or if there is something I can improve on.