10101001 10101001's Journal: Vulp 1

Vulp looked at the metal crest on the armor. Armor, of course, wasn't made out of metal now days. But tradition dictated that the crest be made out of metal regardless. /Who started that tradition, anyways?/ wondered Vulp. The crest was a circle. Engraved in it were three concentric gears. In the very center was their world.

"The crest of a prince. Our prince." Vulp looked onward past the crested armor towards the rest. It had been many years of training, but he'd finally gotten this far. He'd be issued the latest of armor tomorrow and be stuck under Prince Edward's command. Royalty as a thing was dead, but the royalty lived on. And so Edward had received an honorary position to lead a brigade in non-combat. Oh, to serve under him was seen as a honor...for some. But Vulp knew that he wanted the leadership of more than a figurehead.

"Edward the Feline. Edward the cat-hearted. Edward the catnip addict." Vulp chuckled to himself. "If only catnip had the same sort of effect on evolved cats. That'd make for some great pranks." Vulp sighed to himself. Cat, jackal, whatever. He only cared about starting a life for himself.

Today was the start. The end would be so far away. But today was not the start that Vulp had hoped. It was not a start that many had prepared for. For in the early hours of that fateful day, a new type of royalty was born. He came riding on a chariot of destruction. His coup crippled the world. He was a human. His name was Eric.

What Vulp heard startled him. For outside the castle walls, the screams pierced through the concrete walls. As Vulp reached closer to the surface, smoke poured down the stairway. As he looked up he saw the sun blotted out. Forced to turn back as the smoke became suffocating, Vulp searched the armory for all of the gear he could carry. He travelled underground, away from the castle, to a nearby exit port.

Fleeing into the outside world, it would be many days before it became clear to Vulp and the others what had happened. What set their world ablaze was not an asteroid but a single man. The son of a famous general, Eric declared himself leader of the survivors. In stroke he destroyed their society and plunged it into the dark ages. Only the royal castle--Eric's new royal castle--still contained their advance technology; the exception being the few things that Vulp and the others had managed to save.

The one thing that was certain was that Eric had to pay for what he had done. But it would take time to find out Eric's true power. Vulp had found his new life.