And so it begins...

the setting for the story.

It was the year 2020. A massive meteor crashes into the earth at the Nevada desert. Upon further investigation it was presumed to be a spacecraft of unknown origin. The area was immediately quarantined and cut off from any contact with the outside world other than the CIA. A major find was discovered in what is now known as the 51 incident. It was an orb the size of an automobile called by scientists as the GAIA core. It produced a strange blue energy now known as G-energy at a constant rate and it showed no determinable signs of slowing down. Eventually the technology to manipulate it was deciphered from the strange yet eerily comprehensible software, of yet to be determined origin.

 

 Among its capabilities, what is considered the most significant way of utilizing the core was that its energy could be siphoned off and could be converted into several forms of matter, and the core being capable of supplying seemingly infinite energy, essentially meaning they can have infinite matter, even if only specific forms like matter found on the crashed spacecraft. Some of the new materials were metals that possessed incredible properties, such as one being feather light yet near invulnerable, another flexible yet hardened when passed with an electrical current, and yet another more difficult one to synthesize that reacted to certain brainwaves and in some cases were proven to be able to receive signals from thoughts as a sort of medium between mind and machine, albeit the feat being done only by people with strong mental capabilities (later known as psychics).

 

With time, some of the technology was disclosed to the public, and a new technological boom arrives. With the help of the GAIA core and the some of the new materials, several world problems like the energy crisis were solved; it was discovered that if you siphoned off and concentrated enough of the GAIA core's energy, you could create small sub-cores that produced less energy at a time, though still produced a seemingly endless stream of energy. These were kept in limited numbers per country.

 

The United States retained the main core as it was found that only the main core could create sub-cores. The telepathically reactive metal especially was kept a heavily guarded secret from the public. Many things in daily life became much more affordable with the infinite production capabilities of the cores, though production was closely restricted and monitored so as not to immediately affect the global market. At the same time several issues such as structural integrity of buildings and safety of vehicles greatly improved with the introduction of the new materials.

 

In time all that free matter started crowding the earth. Humans begin to build massive space colonies the size of large cities such as New York. These were powered by huge sub-GAIA cores much larger than the original, yet still unable to produce their own sub-cores. The colonies were cylindrical in shape, and rotated at a steady pace to simulate gravity. The sheer size of the colonies prevented people from feeling the constant rotation; somewhat similar to the Earth’s rotation, except that people resided on the inside surface.

 

Initially people had difficulty with the transition to life in space, but as the years went by human bodies adapted to the environment quite well. Crops and livestock adapted easily enough, and water was synthesized through a complex yet reliable method that tends to baffle most scientists and is so difficult to explain that the method is only discussed in the top scientific institutes around the world (by that time when you say around the world that also encompasses the multiple colonies encompassing the earth, some even interpret it as only the colonies).

 

Even the moon was colonized, and even if it was the base of operations for colonization, now it’s mostly used as a vacation resort.

 

 

Back on earth, built around the original crash site was a massive facility built entirely for the research and development of the discovered tech. The facility is known as T.E.R.R.A. (Target Essential Research and Restriction Area). TERRA is in charge of all research conducted around the world that involves technology salvaged from the 51 incident. They decide which technologies are ready for release to the scientific community, and which ones that need more investigation. More importantly, they decide which technology should never see the light of day.

 

Among the technologies not initially disclosed to the public were 20 meter tall humanoid machines armed with strange weaponry that were dubbed as GEAR frames (GAIA Exoskeletal Armed Robotic frames). These machines were initially modified for a human to be able to pilot them (surprisingly there were cockpits in the torso area), but the machines were almost immediately put into storage as they tended to go “berserk”, with the pilots losing control, the frames seemingly built with minds of their own (later discovered to be a sort of advanced artificial intelligence) and causing much damage to the facility.

 

 The second generation was built from near scratch with human developed software, parts of the alien software they could control, one of the alien alloys now known as alitanium (the lightweight super durable metal), and of course fueled by G-energy, they were proven to be quite successful and in a secret military anti-terrorist operation they practically turned the enemy to dust.

 

After the successful operation TERRA begins to research more into the application of these machines, and by the 8^th generation they become the mainstay of the U.S. military, even phasing out most tanks and fighter jets. Other countries make similar machines, yet none come close to the U.S. Military's GEAR frames, although Japan comes a close second, usually the first to experiment with new technologies. With time, some wealthier parties begin producing G-frames (gear frames) that battle for sport and leisure purposes. Eventually these mock battles are recognized by the government, given proper supervision, and called Gear wars.

 

These are competitions where usually two or more teams of three to six frames engage in various events to prove superiority. The main objectives vary depending upon the match type. Destroy or at least disable the frame of the opposing team’s captain (kill the king), capture the flag of the opposing team and bring it to their end of the field while defending their own flag (capture the flag), or destroying A mega frame (a G-frame that is usually much larger than a regular frame heavily armed and armored, though with the tendency to be slow) in the shortest time possible. These are the most common match types, though there are others. Not all competitions involve combat; some competitions are all about performance, such as races across obstacle courses.

 

The main difference between standard frames and sport frames is that the latter are controlled remotely in cockpits separate from the frames to ensure that the prize pilots (pilots who fight for the sport) aren't placed in harm’s way during combat. Sport gear frames vary a lot more in physical appearances, as they are designed primarily for competitions, therefore factors like the pilot’s preferences and combat styles are prioritized over camouflage and practicality in general.

 

 Despite the vast variety of frames, some pilots still choose to utilize slightly customized versions of the military's GGM-05 “Argonaut”, though one famous prize pilot, Jonathan Crusade, has had quite a lot of success even though his frame's only customization is the paint job, A custom rifle capable of quickly switching into a blade form, and modifications that can easily be done to the standard variant like hydraulic pressure, a custom operating system, and the cockpit controls. The gear wars are quite a popular sport with millions of fans worldwide. It has even become an obsession for some people, with merchandise like T-shirts, comics, television programs, plastic model kits and the like. These people are called by some as “Gearheads”. One high school student, Allen Frost, is one of them.

Author's Note

Message me if you don't understand something, I'll see what I can do.