A/N: So this is my new crossover story. For those who have read my previous I.S. story, this chapter and the next will look very familiar. Mostly because there are very few changes. Don't worry though, things will pick after Laura is added to the list of heroines. As it is currently past midnight here and I have to get up in only a couple of hours I am only posting this prologue. I'll try to get the next two chapters up tomorrow.
Prologue Start
Infinite Stratos, a mechanized exo-skeleton, was invented ten years ago. Through tests, it has been shown that the Infinite Stratos, or I.S. for short, can outperform any military in the world. While an exaggeration, that statement is more true than anyone would like to admit. Only other I.S. are capable of defeating an I.S. in single combat. When it was revealed, every nation wanted to get their hands on it. There was only one problem, no one knew how to create the I.S. cores, which provided power and massive computing capability to the I.S., except for its creator, Tabane Shinonono, and she was only willing to create 4,670 cores.
It all started in 2006 with the 'White Knight Incident'. An unknown person or persons, hacked the ICBM's of every nuclear country and launched them all at Japan. There were about 30,000 ICBM's capable of being launched. Luckily, all but about 2,600 were disabled or shot down soon after launch. Twenty-six thousand ICBM's would still be able to destroy Japan, though. With only one hour left before they hit their targets, the White Knight, the first I.S., appeared. In only half an hour, it had destroyed every ICBM heading towards Japan. By this time, the JSDF and America's 7th Fleet had mobilized and launched jets. The pilots were ordered to shoot down any remaining ICMB's and intercept and apprehend the White Knight by any means necessary. It was a one-sided massacre. Every jet was shot down, and over ninety percent of the combined Japanese-American fleet was destroyed. Surprisingly, there were no reported deaths. It was then revealed that the White Knight was an Infinite Stratos.
Within a year, all the first-world countries had received four thousand of the I.S. cores. Of course, nations such as the U.S.A., Russia, and China received more cores than the other nations. Five hundred cores were given to the major companies and corporations. The remaining 170 cores were given to the I.S. Academy after it was founded in 2008.
One interesting piece of information the world discovered was that only females could pilot Infinite Stratos. It is estimated that 50% of the world's females population could activate an I.S., but of that number only 10% would actually be capable of piloting one, and less than 1% of that 10% would ever actually have to opportunity to do so. Because women were the only ones capable of piloting an I.S., the social balance between men and women was turned on its head in favor of women. It became so bad, that in some places, men could supposedly be thrown in prison for not obeying a woman. However, it has not been confirmed if that's true.
To show off their newest I.S., the nations that possessed I.S. started a yearly I.S. tournament that they called the Mondo Grosso. The winner of the first Mondo Grosso and runner up to the second was Chifuyu Orimura. Because of this, most I.S. have a "sports" configuration. In only ten years, I.S. have gone from the first generation units to second generation units and even the rare third generation units.
Thanks to the Alaska Treaty preventing Infinite Stratos from being used in war, World War 3 has not broken out, yet. While there are still wars, they are fought "conventionally," though that isn't the same as it was ten years ago. Thanks to advancements made due to the I.S., technology has advanced faster than ever before. There are prototype powered exo-skeletons that anyone can use, and even man-portable Gauss rifles.
This relatively peaceful world ended 10 years after the I.S. was invented.
Prologue End