Red Tides A' Rollin' PROLOGUE //TW: Mentions of Violence and War

PROLOGUE 

When Russian Miners came upon a lot of stones in the old rickety mines of Siberia, they did not know what to think. They held the white stones in their gloved hands, and noticed a faint glow emitting from their core, as if a cluster of fireflies were stuck within. After showing their higher ups their discoveries, They sent these seemingly useless stones to the Kremlin, where scientists studied the stones' properties, until one day on May 7, 2005, these scientists would make the discovery of the century, and possibly the millennia. 

As it turns out, these stones had potent chemicals throughout their structure that, when burned, could be used as a source of power, potentially replacing coal due to how slow it burned, and how no toxic fumes were produced as they burned, and they also had a value to them that rivaled silver, gold, even platnium. After their vigorous testing, they named these stones Korsakovium-348, after the then-President, Alexander K. Korsakov. However, they would be given a shorter nickname that could roll off of the tongue more easily-- "Korsa". 

As a result of Korsa's Discovery, many more mines were opened in Russia, and many other countries followed suit, finding more and more Korsa as time passed. Many cities across the world made the switch from Coal and other power sources to this powerful stone. Everything was well until 2 weeks later on May 21st, when the United States discovered an island between Russia and Alaska that belonged to no nation and no tribe, which after 5 days of mining, they came upon the biggest lot of Korsa to date. Unfortunately, this discovery would start a long conflict between Russia and the United States, as Russia claimed the island belonged to them because they had discovered Korsa first, while America insisted that it was theirs because of how close the land was to Alaska. As a result, the U.S President at the time, Gerald P. Gomez, eliminated power bills, raised taxes and gave big Korsa rocks to cities and towns, which helped garner support from his followers while losing support from power companies and poorer states, while Korsakov used the rocks he had to upgrade the tanks and other machienery, which Gomez did immediately after. this tennis match of display of power would go on for 3 years, until that fateful summer day, when Korsakov had finally had enough. 

On August 12th, 2008, Korsakov would invite Gomez to Moscow to discuss a deal in which they would divide the korsa on the island amongst themselves, one half for Russia, the other half for the United States. Gomez agreed to the deal and signed it in front of national television, believing that the bickering amongst themselves was finally over.

 It was a fake document. No legitimate deal was made. it was a ploy to lure the rabbit Gomez from his safe little enclosure in Washington, D.C., and out into Korsakov's den in Moscow. 

After Gomez signed the "deal", he and Korsakov sat in the Russian President's office to share a drink of liquor, only for Gomez' glass to be laced with finely ground hemlock. 3 days later, on August 15th, 2008, Gomez would arrange a speech in front of millions of supporters and officials to celebrate the agreement, when during the middle of the speech, Gomez would drop to the floor unconscious, leaving attendees to faint and scream for their President while secret service and guards rushed him to the nearby hospital. Unfortunately, neither the doctors nor the surgeons could save him, and Gerald Gomez would be pronounced dead at 4:35 PM. The cause of death? Assassination by poisoning. all flags throughout the country would be lowered to half-mast, and Gomez's Vice President, Christopher J. Morales, would be sworn in that very night. After the Oath of Office was taken, the first action Morales would take as President was declare war on Russia during an address to the nation, a war that would last decades. 

But with this war, came scientific discoveries. newly invented chemicals, soundwave manipulation, wonder-pills that could replace meals, all of these brilliant findings were discovered within the labs scattered about the U.S in places like Dallas, Jackson, Raleigh, D.C, Halifax, but one lab hosted one project that could help the Military tremendously, and that was the Lab in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Project was codenamed Project Prometheus, lead by America's leading man in Robotics and Cybernetics, Fredrick Dell Johanneson. This project sought to upgrade soldiers with cybernetic arms, legs, eyes, whatever needed to be replaced in order to make them better after America's horrific defeat in the Battle of Baja in 2024, also known more accurately as the Slaughter of Baja, as more then 2,000 American Soldiers, 1,245 Civillians, and 986 Japanese Soldiers, whom were allied with America after a deal that they would support them, were brutally slaughtered by Russian soldiers, led by a man named General Ivan Sergei Malankov, known more commonly to civillians as the Russian Devil. 

Project Prometheus would prove to be a success, as Americans would win the battle of Siberia by a landslide after these cybernetic upgrades were instated, helping the men both on and off of the battlefield. for the first time since the beginning of the war, things finally seemed to be looking up for the Americans as they won more and more operations to come, but what they did not know was that Russia was cooking up something within their own labs that would help them take out the rest of the soldiers and would-be's.. 

Spikers. 

Spikers, named after the lead researcher Boris "Spike" Ivanov, were a horrific amalgamation of Jackal, Bear, and Mantis DNA, with fur as black as pitch or an oil slick, long pointy ears, piercing white eyes that glowed dimly along the treelines, pointed blood-stained teeth that could split an entire pig in half with one snap of its jaws, and claws as sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, spliced and bred for one purpose and one purpose only: To maim, maul, Mutilate, and k1ll Americans and her allies, and on December 31st, 2031, these creatures would do just that. 

They teared apart soldier and civillian alike where ever they were released, from the sandy beaches in California, the dry deserts in Arizona, the swampy wetlands in Louisiana, the snowy terrain of Wisconsin, to the snow-blanketed Washington D.C. No man, woman, or child was spared from the wrath and havoc that these horrors caused unless they hid and made not a sound. the Capital was hit the most by them, however, as they charged headfirst into the White House to eat its inhabitants. The Russians, seeing the carnage, were satisfied and confident that they had won the war, and that the island's precious resources were theirs for the taking. But no one would win, as in the moments before President Edward Wookfork and the First Lady Emilia Woodfork were eaten alive by the beasts, Edward would press the button that would launch the nukes towards Moscow and the other cities. Korsakov would attempt to retaliate, but to no avail, as the silos were inactive due to neglect. all that Korsakov could do now was to rush to his Fallout shelter and wait it out. 

The blast would destroy everything in its path. Windows were broken, buildings that could not withstand the nuclear fire were swept away along with their foundations or atleast broken in half, and anyone caught outside were either vaporized or burned, at the very least, poisoned by the radiation. 

Two days would pass, and Korsakov would emerge from his shelter wearing a heavy radiation suit, making way to the town of Zelenograd to see if anyone had survived. When he finally arrived, he found that there were indeed people living there. He took the helmet from his suit off, expecting to be greeted with open arms by the survivors, but instead, he was grabbed by the strongest men, stripped of his radiation suit, and tied to two streetlamps, one wrist tied to each pole. the survivors screamed in pain and agony and rage at the man while children, with arms, legs, and even eyes covered in bloodied bandages walked up to the man, asking "Why?". Korsakov did not have an answer for these poor souls, and remained silent. the teens and younger adults, however, threw rocks at Korsakov, and kicked, punched, slapped, scratched, and beat whatever part of him they could hurt, while taking pocket knifes and tearing Korsakov's lavish deep blue suit apart for bandages for them and their young. after 7 hours, he would succumb to his injuries, and on January 2st, 2032, Alexander Korsakov would pass away, still tied to those streetlamps as a warning. 

Two once powerful nations died as quickly as 2032 was born, and the world was forever changed. it would take 7 years for America to get back up and wipe the gravel from its face, but by then, no one was interested in becoming the united states once more, and instead, cities and communities governed themselves. in the end, all that the survivors wanted was a sense of normalcy, to have children, a stable job, food on the table. Fredrick Johanneson and the rest of the scientists were no stranger for this longing. In fact, after the war, he settled down in the town of New Arabi, Louisiana to take care of his 8 year old adopted daughter Olivia and to rest in retirement. For the first time since the spiker invasion, life seemed to finally be looking up for the man. 

...at least, thats what he thought.