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Story so Far...

The Iris Heresy
Around the year 2950, the United States had started to expand economically and physically, becoming the number one exporter of nuclear weapons to the third world, an act viewed as shocking and with suspicions by many of the civilized countries. In order to hide there assets from the other countries, the United States began to use the black market to further the export of there armaments. It is said that more than 1000 nukes had fallen into third world countries by these means around the year 2960. What led to the spark of conflict was the growing power of a certain country in Korea and the unification of Southern Korea and Northern Korea to a one unified dictatorship. Keeping to the anti-red mentality as applied by during World War 2, the United States decided to halt its illegal sales for the time being in order to focus on the threat on the horizon. However, because of ten years of illegal sales, The People's Republic of Korea had attained many nukes by the black market, which were all turned towards the United States without U.S. intelligence. The small Cold War that existed between the two nations erupted when the USS Grant exploded off of Korea's coastal waters around 2961. The deaths of 300 American Citizens sparked the conflict as the US declared open warfare on Korea. After two months of preparation, The United States flew off towards Korea with intent on dismantling the Communist Dictatorship.

During the war that has come to be known as The Iris Heresy, the Korean's drew first blood by slaughtering thousands. Using a new type of mind control gas called "Liberty", they unleashed the gas on the unsuspecting Americans, all who turned on each other and assaulted each other without regards to safety. The survivors were killed by the Koreans as they snapped out of the small mind control. The United States, fearing for more lives lost by such tactics, turned to nuclear warfare, where they turned all the nukes they possessed towards the small nation. With a push of a button, the United States emptied all of there stocks of nukes towards the island nation, exploding in a shower of radiation and off fire, killing millions in Korea and surrounding nations. With the death of the Dictator, the nukes of Korea were fired upon the United States, which landed and hit the mid-west of the nation. The killing of millions of Americans greatly wounded the United States, who viewed The Iris Heresy as the beginning of a new world order. With Korea blown off the book and half of United States blown to pieces, more power was given to a new form of government which would prevent outcomes like these. On September 21, 2975, The Allied Earth Olympus was founded by Great Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Japan and various other large countries. It was the beginning of a new world.

A New World Order: The Splicers and the Infected
The first task of the AEO was to track down all of the nukes that had been sold by the United States during it's illegal sales in the black market. What started out as 1000 had been lowered to 495 with the destruction of Korea. Tasked to the finding of nuclear weapons, a new directive called G.U.A.R.D were sent to the third world countries to find these weapons. What started out as easy pickings soon escalated into global war as a result of the Iris Heresy, with the radiation. With that large amount of nuclear weapons being destroyed in such a short time, most of the world has become radioactive. These radiation had drastic effects on the population and gave birth to the first infected, the first infected to be termed as Super humans by the AEO and the G.U.A.R.D. These super humans were able to fight off operatives with many forms of combat, from fire control to increased human strength and to split personalities bent on destruction and chaos. Faced with the seeming less impossible situation, the AEO started to do research on making there own form of Super humans. After years of research, on 2985, the G.U.A.R.D. were soon outfitted with super humans of there own, codenamed "Splicers."

The Splicers were sent to attack and destroy the Infected as G.U.A.R.D. operatives soon found out how easy the task was with help of this magnitude. The Missing nukes were founded and were destroyed as the Infected were wiped out as far as the eye could see, many of the Infected finding there war to the United States, where the Outlands, which were remnants of the Midwest, produced Infected of there own who blended with society. The AEO had successfully disarmed the nukes with the help of the Splicers, which were mixed with various of the nations as a police force to deal with Infected of any kind.

A New World Order: Darwin's Gene
The events that led to the discovery of Darwin's Gene are a bit hazy, but many people associate it with the Infected mingling with society and producing offspring with humans, since Splicers were not allowed to produce offspring by the AEO. With the speed of evolution quickened with the radiation, the offspring that were produced soon developed mutations of there own by the existence of an Infected's genes in there bodies, mingling with the genes of a normal human. Around the year 2998, the AEO began to classify these new offspring as "Meta-humans." The Meta Humans became a thorn on the side of the AEO, since they were children of the Infected and of a human. This double legacy led to various cities taking multiple stands on the account of Meta's, some legalizing and allowing them to live peacefully, others existing only to destroy Meta's. As the new century began in the year 3000, various organizations began to sprout up, all dedicated to the destruction of Meta's.

The major account that is fresh on people's mind is the incident on Japan, codenamed "Vanguard" by the AEO. During the Vanguard incident, Splicers and G.U.A.R.D. units were sent to rid Japan of the Meta's, which resulted in a Genocide of massive proportions on Japanese soil, the death of thousands of Meta's laid on the hands of the AEO. Soon, other countries took initiative on there Meta's, sending Splicers and G.U.A.R.D. units on the hunt for Meta's. The massive genocide was said to wipe out the world's Meta's, but in huge cities like New York in the United States, pockets of Meta's still operate underground, never at peace with Darwin's Gene in there bodies, always hunted. During 3010, various nations began to take a stand against Anti-Meta's, even going as far as protecting Meta's from the AEO. Without support of the countries, the AEO were powerless against the nations that took to shelter the Meta's, many nations like Russia, the United States, Great Britain, Canada, various South American Countries and China.

A New World Order: D.A.W.N.
After the deaths of many political figures, the AEO decided to take control of the nations that opposed them, establishing Martial Law on the countries and placing there own Generals in control of the Countries. The grasp of the AEO tightened on Earth as outspoken supporters of free world were assassinated and dealt with secretly by the Splicers of the AEO. Around 3015, the grasp on Earth was finalized with the unification of Earth under one banner and the AEO soon became ultimate power. With ultimate power achieved, the AEO soon dismantled the G.U.A.R.D. and created new super soldiers designed to eliminate the existence of the Infected and of Meta's still operating in the city streets. These soldiers, codenamed D.A.W.N., were outfitted with various anti-super weaponry, trained to be a threat to a high amount of super's. Almost all members of D.A.W.N. were Splicers, given extra augments for there bodies to work double time. D.A.W.N. were incredible at there jobs, destroying various Meta's and Infected in the world with indiscriminate efficiency.

Present
The year is now 3021, six years after the AEO had taken control of the world. With various Meta's and Infected all in hiding, they have been called the Outcasts. Splicers and D.A.W.N. troops are all on the bunt for said humans and society has mixed views on the Outcasts. What will happen during the struggle of humanity will be decided with the rise of a number of heroes, all under the teachings of one Professor Grayson.

In Afterdawn, RPers can choose to be a part of one of five groupings, all which posses different strengths and weaknesses depending on the group. Also, not to be confused with the grouping, the RPer can also choose to belong to either The AEO or the Outcasts. While no strengths or weaknesses are present for members of either, characters from the AEO will never be caught dead having idle chit chat with characters from the Outcasts. Think logically. The following five groupings are presented in detail below, listing a brief history, followed by strengths and weaknesses.

Infected
The Infected are the first enhanced humans to be recorded by the AEO. Generally, the Infected are exactly that: Infected. They received there gifts through exposure to radiation and through toxic wastes around the globe in due to the nuclear warfare. Although Infected have spread throughout the world, many Infected have either North American or Asian descent, being ground zero for many of the nukes that were set off. Other types of Infected are not unheard of, such as of African or European descent, but highly unlikely.
Strengths: Draws power from inside the body, has almost limitless energy because of the Radiation, has a broad spectrum of available powers.
Weaknesses: After a certain amount of time exposed to the radiation that they give out, hosts tend to become fatigued and must rest for a solid day before they can overexert themselves again, has a chance to get sick from constant radiation AKA Radiation Poisoning, can succumb to death if the Infected pushes past the breaking point.

Splicers
Splicers are the governments answer to the growing number of Infected. Taking from all walks of life and many volunteers, Splicers are humans who have been enhanced due to various chemical and genetic changes to there body. Splicers are always enhanced physically, meaning they tend to have enhanced senses and strength etc. Splicers are the more physical type of Enhanced humans than anything else. Splicers are various in look and gender, but many tend to have some sort of military training branching from there days as a servant of the AEO. Races vary depending on the Splicer. Splicers have the option of being a single Operative or a member of D.A.W.N.
Strengths: Enhanced physical ability heavily focused on combat and recon, Does not draw from a source but rather the body itself, Able to exceed normal human capabilities.
Weaknesses: Constant need of more serum that last for five years to m maintain powers, limited in capabilities to only physical activity, government control limits free-will.

Meta-Humans
Meta-Humans are the offspring of the Infected and normal humans. Meta's all have the Darwin Gene, whether be it small or large quantities of it. Meta's come in all shapes and sizes, most began to show there powers at a young age, around the time a normal human would hit puberty. Meta's draw there powers from the insides thanks to the Darwin Gene and many Meta's tend to have control of elements more than any other group. Meta's come from all walks of life, although most tend to be young and rebellious. Meta's are mostly numerous in big cities, where there presence cannot be detected as easily and many occurrences can be written off as anomalies.
Strengths: Wide range of powers available because of Darwin Gene, has almost limitless energy because of the power inside of them, does not have to rely on outer sources like the Infected or Splicers.
Weaknesses: Have a hard time hiding there powers in society, generally hated by the public as a whole rather than certain individuals, if repeated use of there powers occur Meta's need time to rest, ranging from two hour's to four hours, weaknesses vary on the power they possess.

Psi
Psi's are humans who have been enhanced due to experiments gone wrong. Psi's are what happens when scientists tend to push the limit of knowledge and science, only to have it blow up on your face. Because of the nature of Psi's, they tend to be incredibly intelligent and gifted individuals, capable of more psychic powers than physical. Although not official recognized by the AEO, psi's are numerous and abundant in the world, many working either in the government or under the radar in large cities. Race and gender vary.
Strengths: Wide range of available powers dealing with the mind, does not draw on outer reserves, capable of incredible feats of intellect.
Weaknesses: Vary on the power acquired, relatively new to there powers, unstable energy can cause backlash which can kill the Psi if not careful.

Mages
Ever since the dawn of time, Mages have existed and have blended in with society, whether the witch doctors in Africa to the Witches of Salem. Mages have since then evolved from there roots to become a more peace orientated group, focusing on keeping the balance between the various enhanced humans in the world and society itself. Mages all vary on look and credo, from the teenage Satanist to the older Druid. Race and Gender vary depending on locations; you will not find a druid in New York City or a Satanist in the Vatican.
Strengths: Draw from outer reserves and beliefs, powers depend on the training and the style of mage one is, Mages do not have the chance to overexert themselves, mages do not need a conduit for there magic.
Weaknesses: Mages can cause backlash playing with dangerous fires and ember, require a vast amount of concentration in order to preform much stronger spells, Depending on the spells that one use weaknesses may apply(Dark Magic users will succumb to paranoia, dementia, fragmentation of the soul etc. Fire Mages can cause combustion, burns etc.)

OPEN!

What had happened to make this once beautiful city such a sad, decrepit husk of its former self? Oh yeah. Some idiot dropped a freaking nuke on it. It honestly made one wonder who it was that suddenly decided to destroy so many lives on a whim and make so many lives a living hell. Or at least that was the way it felt most of the time anyway.
The soft purr of the engine made for a good distraction for those kind of thoughts. No matter how many times they cropped up, they were easy to eradicate by simply focusing on something else, even if you were one of the ones who had their life turned into the equivalent of the seventh circle of hell. Once you really stopped to think about it and take a proper look outside, some unique beauty could be found in the bleakness around one-self, although it did require a lot of looking.

"Jeez. I'm in way too deep." Kyana muttered, swerving around a corner and ignoring the angry shouts behind her. So she was a road hazard when a bad mood hit her. Who wasn't? Sighing, she shut off her mind. The CD that had been hovering next to her ear dropped to the floor of the car, thunking dully in the confines of the metal cage. At least she'd gotten the proper amount from the last job with no major problems this time. It still made her cringe every time she thought of the botched infiltration into the compound of what had apparently been a Splicer.
A sudden echo of bullets sounded over the noise of the car. Glancing out the window, she could see Central Park and someone running. "Great. Wonder who's getting their a** shot at today." A small smile made its way onto her face. She'd been in that situation one too many times for comfort. Still, she could enjoy the show.

Well, that had been amusing for maybe three minutes. In other words, over way too fast and not nearly enough excitement to break the monotony of this world. Everyone who had been in the crossfire or been watching had already gone back to their everyday way of acting. It was as if absolutely nothing had happened.
But that was the very essence, the lifeblood of a world where everyone was trying to survive with the leftovers of what used to be a beautiful city, now broken and hosting everything from corruption to those with powers you only saw in the cheesy sci-fi movies from the 1940's. Ugh, it was enough to drive anyone nuts or to at least consider destroying something.

Frustration, generally kept under wraps was evident in the frequency of Zan's foot hitting the wall. Losing control a few minutes ago had been fun for breaking the monotony of the lives around her but it hadn't left her feeling any different. And of course, she now had some authority figure breathing down her neck about recklessness and endangerment of human lives when it was his own fault for her loss of control over a complaint about a shooting contest.
"Give it a rest already. Rapping on me isn't going to compensate for your own incompetence." She snapped at him, fingers curling into fists as she felt her skin begin to solidify. Great. The last thing she needed when she was in trouble was for her body to become rock solid. He glared angrily at her.
Scowling darkly, she resisted the urge to change the air pressure around them. Shattering his eardrums wouldn't get her anywhere. "So can I phone someone or are you just going to stand there posturing the whole day?"
The guy visibly bristled, a cat encountering a snake hissing at it. Well, the snake could bite back if need be. He knew that better than anyone, having to deal with her so many times. Grunting, he gave a reluctant nod.
"About time." Zan muttered. Perfect. Now she was adding fuel to the fire. This was the last thing she wanted when she had a job tonight. Him keeping her in here for a while was something this moron had dreamed of for ages after she'd infiltrated a major facility on his watch. Her temper rising, Zan furiously stabbed in the numbers, listening to the phone ringing. "If you don't pick up, I'm destroying those cat ears." She muttered, fingers clenching and unclenching, restraining herself from causing a sudden rise in pressure in the room.

Slowly, Nessa and Ronin walked down a dark corridor in silence, the only sound there boots on the wet concrete below. This small hideout was used by many Mafia Bosses in the time when Manhattan was at its height of power and to this day, it still hid many people that were on the run. On the walls, small lights of yellow have some light, but only a small shine was in the corridor. Ronin took the time he had to examine the girl in front of him, the young freedom fighter known as Nessa. Out of all the young humans he had come to know on his days of running from the AEO, Nessa had become a close friend of his. Although she was a mere human, her knowledge on weaponry and the underground of the city had proven valuable enough to the organization known as The Mirage; an organization that were just as they sounded, a freedom fighting guerrilla unit that the Outcasts, reluctantly, found themselves associated with. Where the Outcasts did not like to use violence and destruction to further there own needs, Mirage reveled in causing attacks and on bombings on AEO-operated functions. Although this stopped many AEO functions from working, the negative light that it placed the Meta's and all of the other Infected was so great that D.A.W.N. seemed to be working double time to look for them. So, Mirage and Outcasts were always at odds, but at times like these, Outcasts always were welcome to Mirage HQ and vice-versa. With these thoughts in mind, Nessa had finally led them to another deadbolt door. She looked back at Ronin and gave him a small grin as her gloved hand held on the handle of the deadbolt door.

"Welcome to Mirage HQ...or as we like to call it, The Can." she said with a small voice as she opened the door and it slid on the ground with a metal scrapping. As soon as the door was open, Ronin looked inside to see a well-lighted room with various guerrilla fighters as well inside, sitting on small tables and sipping what looked like moonshine from mugs. They were all dressed like Nessa was: flak jacket with fatigues and combat boots. On there sides, Ronin saw various rifles and light machine guns on the ground, the operator still either sipping or talking. Ronin walked inside as the door closed behind him, Nessa going back to her station as Ronin was soon being noticed by everyone. They all looked at him with suspicions as Ronin walked inside, his hand going to the hilt of his blade. Although he may be an Outcast and they were in good terms, he was...a Splicer and Splicers were not really welcome into the underground for there alliance with the AEO and as military dogs. Before any action could happen, the doors on the outer side of the room opened and out stepped out two individuals, all who were well-known in the underground.

A tall and slim man in is late-forties, dressed in a black business suit and his eyes hiding behind spectacles. His goatee was well-trimmed and his hair was fashioned into a well cut shave, around his neck was a small pendant. This was Professor Grayson, leader of the Outcasts. Next to him, was a man in his late thirties, one of his eyes hiding behind a patch as his hair was long and graying. He was dressed in military fatigues and he gave off the stench of alcohol. This was Garret, leader of Mirage. The two walked in and all eyes turned on them. Grayson looked around the room until he saw Ronin. Excusing himself, he walked over to him and placed an arm around his shoulder as they turned there backs on the Mirage and had a small conversation.

"Didn't know you would be stopping by, Ronin. A Splicer here may cause uneasy tensions with these...para-military figures. Strife is waiting outside as well. Maybe...you should go see to him." he said. Ronin did not think twice. He nodded his head and looked back at all of the Mirage units as he took off down the same hallway that Grayson and Garret walked right out of, looking at Garret and meeting his eyes with a small glare. The tension could be cut with a hatchet as Ronin walked through the hallway and then out the main door that led to another alley as he looked for Strife.

Not a day went by in this god forsaken city, where a mission wasn't completely dramatic..The A.E.O's Super serum soldiers where not only dangerous, but always in the right place at the right time.. Having there advances in technology made it a pain just to try to get a bit of information.. An annoying chill went down his spine, as he could see the Leviathan raise up from the rubble and ash it left behind.. The high teach helicopter started to patrol the area of the city again..As it had seem to have lost one of there favorite targets to the Mirage..Safe haven for any Superhuman in need of shelter..Ronin was safe and that's all that mattered to Strife, but something had to be done..Strife never liked the A.E.O taking a shot at the Outcast and getting away with only a scratch..No instead of letting it fly away back to safety Strife wanted that stupid machine in broken peaces..As a warning to the A.E.O..

Strife jumped across from roof to roof following the Raven stealthy until he was away from Mirages safe haven..The alliance was important to him and the Outcast..He wasn't going to put there life in danger..After making sure the Leviathan was far way from the Mirage HQ, Strife popped out in front of the helicopter, looking down on it from the roof top of a building..He made sure he was at an advantage, when the helicopter had to submerged it self to a lower part of the city to find its prey..Leaving it at a weak point in its patrol.. Well a weak point to Strife or Ronin who spend most there times up top on roof tops.. Par-Coring wasn't only a hobby to them ,but a way to get a better look at the city..A form of patrolling, to save any super human that might show up in trouble, from the grip of the A.E.O..

Strife waited until the D.A.W.N helicopter pilot looked up, too see Strife waving at them, with a smile on his face.. A happy grinned from ear to ear, telling them ,hey your ********.. Strife jumped onto the heavy armored air craft ,as he powered up his fist with electrical energy.. Punching threw the Aircraft's front window, into the Leviathans control panel..This time absorbing all electrical power the Aircraft had into his buddy..The Leviathan span in the air as its powers went out.. Well good bye guys, this was fun..Send my respects to Bishop for me..I don't know tell him hes a d**k or something!!! Strife grabbed on the both D.A.W.N agents and pulled them out of the helicopter, that was now flying in circles out of control into a near by building..Then jumping onto the roof top of that same building, throwing them on the ground and punching them unconscious on the floor..Spiting at them as he walked away..

Strife started to run back toward the back alley of the safe house..Knowing that Ronin would be there soon looking for him.. Leaving the sound of the helicopter crashing behind him as he jumped from one building to the other..His headphones changing the song from "Whats up people?!" too "Koi No Mega Lover" by Maximum the Hormone..One of his favorite bands, and not to mention awesome song selection..He started singing along to the J- rock song as he jumped back down to the back alley of the Mirage HQ.. Right in front of Ronin who had been looking for him..Oh s**t hey whats up buddy!!! You okay that Leviathan almost got you?!But hey I toke it out for you.. Want to go raid it.. His grin with a please say yes expression on his face..