Prologue

War. War never changes. When humanity first mastered the power of the atom it had been to end a war. And for a time it did, but you cannot quell the flames of conflict by inventing new fuel for the fire. In the years that followed the first towering mushroom cloud, each nation sought the power of the atom for themselves. Humanity finally found the means to end all wars, by ensuring no one would be left to fight them.

What once required large vehicles to be transported became smaller, then smaller still. Until a single soldier could wield a power that no one person should have. While some only saw a way to vanquish their enemies, others saw the true potential of the awesome power of the atom. The power to free the world from want. From toil, from hunger, from the darkness that stalked humanity for millennia.

First came miniaturisation. Computers that needed entire buildings to house became so small they could fit on a desk, or even on your arm. This in turn, led to revolutionary breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, robotics, automation. No longer would humanity work the fields or build homes, or even serve others. The machines would do it, and do it without question.

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Humanity entered a new age, the age of the atom. An age of relative peace, uneasy, fragile, but peace all the same. No longer were wars fought on the beaches and in the towns. They were fought in secret, behind closed doors. Clandestine operations, deniable actions, the theft of designs. All happening in the shadows, yet it would not remain so for long. The fires of war cannot be contained, cannot be hidden. They spread, consuming all they touch.

New threats rose. Old adversaries became new friends, old friends became new enemies. All with the knowledge that they could wipe each other from the face of the earth in a matter of minutes.

Fearing the worst, some sought to survive the war to end all wars by moving underground. Safe from the radiation, that if unleashed would poison the air, the water, and the earth itself. These vast underground labyrinths became known as Vaults. A fitting name for something to keep safe the most precious thing humanity had, each other.

No one really knows how The Great War started, but when it did few were ready, fewer still survived it. Humanity went from billions, to millions, in mere minutes. Scattered, hidden, and relegated to a wasteland. The carcass of the old world. Fighting each and every day to survive.

Humanity entered a new age, the age of survival. And survival means fighting a war without end, and war…war never changes.