War Games

Chapter 1 - Indigo

She ran down the hall as fast as her short legs would take her. With her long brown hair streaming behind her and her black uniform providing little resistance, Indigo Corcra ran to her History of the Western Hegemony class, shouting apologies behind her to everyone she bumped into along the way. The young command student reached the classroom with a mere minute to spare and took a seat beside her friend, Kennie Krieg.

Kennie being short for Kendall, Kennie was a beautiful girl. She had light chocolate colored skin and black hair that reached her shoulders. She looked like a warm person, but Indigo knew better. Kennie's brown eyes were cold and unloving with a passion for fighting. The pale girl smiled at her darker best friend. "Did you complete the homework Professor Munsley assigned?" Indigo asked.

"Complete it? Honey, I never started." Kennie said in her southern drawl.

Indigo started to reply, "Damn, I didn't fin-"

"WAR!" Professor Munsley shouted as he walked in. "What is it good for?" Professor Whitney Munsley was the youngest teacher at the Fort Protz Military School, and one of the wisest. At the age of 18, Whitney Munsley earned a Purple Heart and was sent to spend the rest of his career teaching young military geniuses much like himself. His bronze (but not black) skin shined in the fluorescent lights and his brown wavy hair was so perfect that you'd think it was photoshopped. Professor Munsley was a mere 22 years old, unwillingly received googly eyes from a third of the student body, and was, by far, the strictest teacher Indigo had.

When nobody answered his question the Professor said, "The Western Hegemony. 150 years ago it was many different countries. I trust all of you know that the regions formerly known as North and South America banded together to form the Western Hegemony." Most of the class nodded. "Ah, but how many of you know about the Eastern Hegemony?" No one made a peep. He sighed and pulled up his holographic chalk board. "The Eastern Hegemony consists of Europe as a whole, excluding Ireland, alongside the middle-eastern region of Asia, India, and China. The former country of Russia houses their military schools and criminals. Though the continent of Africa is well within the range of the Eastern Hegemony, they do not attempt to control it. Why?" He looked at the students. "Mr. Romar, would you care to explain?"

A boy in the back of the class looked up. "Um...well...uh..." The boy next to him raised his hand and Professor Munsley nodded to him.

"The continent of Africa, formerly known for it's rich resources, has since run out of said resources. Now it is a continent mostly of third-world countries and disease. Controlling it would just prove disastrous." Said the boy sitting next to the Romar kid.

"Very good Mr. Falco." Said the Professor, "The Eastern Hegemony and Western Hegemony lived together peacefully for 50 years, but war can not be avoided." The Professor tapped his temple. "Humans look for conflict. It's in their genetic code. They have to fight. We evolved from an eat or be eaten world into society today, but we retain the conflict. Because conflict is human nature. The 100 years following the 50 years of peace were plagued with small scale wars. We are now on the verge of a large war, and the government is trying to sort out a peace treaty. They want me there as an advisor, so I won't be here next class. If I want to catch my flight I need to be on the plane in an hour, but there will be a test when I get back. Study. Work hard. No slacking off. I will hear about it."

Professor Munsley grabbed his black trench coat and walked out of the room. Indigo looked at her watch. They had 15 minutes to spare. Kennie turned to her, "What do you think the project will be this semester?"

"What?" Indigo scrunched her eyebrows.

"The project? Mr. Munsley assigns one every semester." Kennie replied.

"No clue."

"I heard last year that the seniors each had to plan a battle against an enemy in a war and each student got the same grade, depending on the outcome of the mock war." Kennie said, "Sounds awesome."

"Sounds awful." Said Indigo. She was a nice person, but she couldn't help eyeing the Romar kid in the back row. Indigo had never talked to him, but she knew he wasn't very bright. He never answered questions right in class. Then she turned and looked at the kid next to him. The Falco kid. He had bronze skin like Professor Munsley's, with a tint of African origins. His hair was short black and curly. The Falco kid was in most of her classes, so Indigo assumed that he was on the path to be a commander as well.

When the bell rung Indigo stood up with the rest of the class. She stopped for a split second. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that didn't bode well with her. To this day she still doesn't know why, but in that moment Indigo Corcra looked up and locked eyes with the Falco kid. And for a split second they knew nothing about each other, but understood that something big was going to happen and, for some reason, they both could sense it. And for some reason, neither confronted the other about it.

And for some reason, neither tried to stop it.