Wargames
Wargames is a spectacle like no other. It is violence, it is glory, it is romance, and it borders on divine. It captivates anyone who lays their eyes upon the feats of superhuman combat on display. In a world of superhuman abilities known as Godsends, Wargames is a sport in which these Gods clash in visceral bouts of brutality, striving to be seen as the strongest of them all. It is a fight until one side can compete no longer, be that through submission or death, in front of screaming, bloodthirsty, and passionate fans.
The History of Wargames
Following the Age of Anarchy, which officially came to an end in 2245, society was being re-established, and there needed to be a universal factor, something that could bring the world together for a shared enjoyment. Through the hard labour of rebuilding a society with only thirty percent of the population remaining, there needed to be an escape for those that toiled to provide for the future generations. From the Reign of Raijin, Godsends had become more and more prevalent in the world, with vials of Ambrosia being discovered at a more frequent rate, resulting in hundreds of human beings possessing abilities akin to a God. Through the Age of Anarchy, these Godsend wielders wreaked havoc upon society, being used in the power struggle between nations and institutions to reclaim power of the fragmented population that survived the war.
Towards the end of the Age of Anarchy, it became apparent to all involved that Godsends had to be outlawed, they disrupted the order of society too frequently and upset natural balances that humanity had to put in place. Revolutions were started, coup d’etat’s arose, and innocent people were slaughtered at the hands of soldiers that could wield thunderstorms and wildfires at the twitch of a finger. Japan, China, America, the Kingdom of Espana, Russia and many more powerful nations came together and decided that Godsends were to be mutually criminalised, as well as outlawed from any military action.
During the Age of Anarchy, particularly within organised crime syndicates, the idea of Godsend-based combat for sport became prevalent. It was illicit in nature at first, but its popularity grew and grew, until it became undeniable. People wanted to see these titans clash. It was the Prime Minister of Japan at the time, Yuto Fujiwara, that noted the futility in denying those with power the ability to wield said power. And so, the sport of Wargames was the conclusive idea that he came to. He would create an arena at the heart of Tokyo to draw these Godsend wielders to compete and chase for glory and earn the adulation of the masses. This new sport would not only satisfy the needs of the individuals coined as ‘Gladiators’, but also provide a form of entertainment and escape for those that broke their backs daily to help restore the former glory of the broken world.
The Rules of Wargames
The Different Leagues of Wargames
As stated previously, Wargames is a form of combat between Gladiators wielding Godsends (superhuman abilities). Within the sport itself, there are three different classes of combat with different rules and stipulations. They are as listed below.
Solo – The solo form of combat is the most simple, but also the most popular form of Wargames, and often the most hotly contested. It is simply combat between two Gladiators that is contested until one of them is no longer able to continue. This can be brought about by either an admittance of submission from one of the Gladiators, or their physical death.
Tandem – This form of Wargames is a fight between two teams of two Gladiators. All four of these Gladiators fight simultaneously, allowing for coordinated team-based attacks, or even two individual fights taking place in the same arena. This form of Wargames operates as an entirely different league from solo competition, with Gladiators being ranked in their pairs, which are usually quite tenured in their partnership. A tandem fight is concluded once either one of the Gladiators on a team submits, or both are physically killed.
Faction – Faction combat in Wargames is once again a team-based event, much like tandem. However faction Wargames can be competed in one of two ways. The majority of the time, especially in the faction league, it is fought in a three-on-three style. However, for major tournaments such as the Galactica Invitational, faction Wargames is fought between all members of a faction. It is fought in such a way that the Ace from one faction will face the Ace from the other in solo combat, the Tandem pairing will face the respective Tandem pairing from the other team, the Second will face the Second, and the Fifth will face the Fifth. Should these four fights result in an overall tie, there will be a final tie-breaker fight, a tandem fight between the Ace of each faction, and a teammate of their choosing. Much like tandem competition, the three-on-three version of faction competition is concluded at either the surrender of one of the team, or at the physical death of all three.
Factions
Faction
ACE
SECOND
Tandem
Fifth
ACE
Second
Tandem
Fifth
When Gladiators began competing in Wargames, when only the solo and tandem leagues existed, Gladiators began banding together, forming alliances, training together, and before long, major money players wanted in. They began signing Gladiators to teams for branding opportunities and marketing for the sport. Before long almost all Gladiators had joined one of these factions and they became an integral part of the Wargames and soon, mandatory. The Faction league was established and every Gladiator was required to be signed to one.
A faction consists of five Gladiators. The first is the Ace, the leader of the team. Then comes the Second, generally the next strongest solo competitor. Then the Tandem team, two Gladiators that are tandem specialists and have great chemistry with each other. Finally, there is the Fifth, generally speaking the weakest, or lowest ranked member of the team. There is also an option for a floating Sixth member, who operates as a reserve for the team, however this position is not always utilised. On top of this, there is a team that works with the faction, including the owners of the faction who provide the financial backing, the manager who looks after the majority of the coaching and team management. There are also members of staff, such as healers, chefs, caretakers and various other people whose jobs revolve around the betterment and preservation of the faction. For a lot of the more prominent factions, they have widespread recruitment systems and even reserve teams under the same faction name that compete as a separate faction. Factions are businesses, they are empires, they are dynasties, and they are family.
Rankings, Ratings, and Tournaments
Solo League
Tandem League
Faction League
Solo Title Belt
Tandem Title Belt
Faction Title Belt
Solo League
20 Divisions
30 Entrants Per Division
Tandem League
15 Divisions
20 Entrants Per Division
Faction League
10 Divisions
18 Entrants Per Division
All three forms of Wargames competition, solo, tandem, and faction, have their own leagues. The solo league has twenty individual divisions, the tandem has fifteen, and the faction league has ten. These divisions each contain a set amount of entrants, with the solo league having thirty Gladiators per division, the tandem having twenty duos per division, and the faction divisions each containing eighteen factions. These entrants compete against each other to get promoted to higher divisions and avoid relegation.
Every Gladiator has their own rating from 0-15, which rates how proficient they are, but also takes into consideration length and competitiveness of fights, and who their opponent was. Each time a Gladiator beats another that is ranked higher, their rating increases, how high it increases depends on how convincing the win was among other factors. All of these factors are determined by a board of officials, as well as algorithms that analyse fights and determine ratings. The ratings are spread across all divisions, and as soon as a Gladiator from one division’s rating surpasses the rating of a Gladiator in a higher division, one is relegated to the lower division, and the other is promoted to the higher.
A quicker way to get promoted is also through tournaments. Each division holds tournaments throughout the year that are open to Gladiators in that division and certain high performing Gladiators in the divisions below. This gives lower ranked Gladiators a chance to face Gladiators with a much higher rating and therefore increase theirs by beating them. Winning a tournament grants a large cash prize, as well as a spot in the division that was holding the tournament, a fast way to get promoted for lower rated Gladiators. There can also be other prizes up for grabs such as the opportunity to fight the top of your division. The top ranked division one competitor/team/faction holds a title belt. So winning a division one tournament can give a Gladiator a direct shot at the belt.
Due to the overwhelming numbers within Wargames, each season, the bottom sixteen combatants are removed from the lowest solo and tandem divisions, and a giant tournament is held to welcome a new generation into the leagues. People who lose in the first round are not placed in a division, and each round that the entrants win puts them into a higher division as their starting point.
Pandora's Impact
If a fight is not concluded by the surrender of one of the Gladiators, as it often isn’t, Wargames is concluded at the physical death of said Gladiator. However, thanks to the class of Godsend that grants the ability to heal, these Gladiators are then able to be revived to fight again. This is down to the nature of how Godsends interact with the human body. The Ambrosia that grants a godsend is house within a segment that sits atop the heart. As long as this segment contains Ambrosia, and the heart remains intact, Gladiators are able to be revived at the hands of a healing Godsend.
This is all made possible thanks to Pandora, who work very closely with Wargames, providing everything from the battlesuits, to stasis devices, to heart protectors. These heart protectors are what keeps a Gladiator’s heart intact no matter the damage dealt to the body. It is formed from an alloy of gavantium, which is injected into the chest, and mixes to form an imprenetrable barrier around the heart. This barrier is not permanent however, and after the healing process, it is completely broken down, and harmlessly ejected from the body. As long as this heart protector is in place, the heart of the Gladiator will stay intact, and they will be able to be healed by a healing Godsend. However there are permutations on this. The more severe that an injury is, and the longer the time elapsed prior to the healing process, the more tedious it is to heal, and the higher the likelihood of a permanent injury, or even permanent death. For an injury such as decapitation, there is only a small window in which the healing Godsend can be used to regrow the head. If this time elapses, there will be a permanent death.
This issue of the time elapsing was made easier thanks to another of Pandora’s inventions, the Pandora Stasis Device (PSD). A PSD is a piece of technology that is able to create a cocoon around the body, and place its functions such as bleeding, and decay, in total stasis. As soon as a fight is concluded, medics will enter the arena, and immediately place a stasis device onto any injured, or defeated Gladiator, giving them the crucial time to heal the injury, resulting in a fuller recovery. There are limitations to these devices however, and if an injury is incurred where a leg is detached for example, it is likely that some physical therapy and aids will be needed for the subsequent days that followed.
The final major invention that Pandora created in order to support Wargames as a sport, is their battlesuits. A battlesuit is a skin-tight outfit of varying shapes and colours that a Gladiator wears when embroiled in combat. These battlesuits are tailored to each individual Gladiator, being interwoven with their DNA in order to operate cohesively with their Godsend. This meant that even Godsends such as fire and lightning wouldn’t damage the wielder’s battlesuit.
