A Dream Worth Dying For

An hour earlier

Dark & Unpleasant.

These were the two of many words one could describe the place known as the Undercity. It was where many criminals lurked in the shadows and the abandoned lives in its polluted, dangerous streets.

The Undercity is part of Piltover, but due to the greed of the rich, the accident happened.

A plan was carried out that involved using thousands of chemtech bombs to crack open an area of the land in the isthmus to create a cavern. This would connect the Northern and the Southern Continent, allowing for safe and short sea passage between eastern and western Valoran, and also a chance to tax ships that passed through the cavern.

Although the plan had worked, the result was catastrophic. The bombs triggered a series of earthquakes that destroyed the isthmus and sank large districts.

Thousand of lives were lost and poisonous gas leaked into the city's surviving areas.

Eventually, the Undercity was rebuilt and in order to regulate the oceanic passage, the Sun Gates, large accessways that forced all transport through the waters, was constructed over the Undercity.

This brought immense wealth and led to a new city's construction. It was built above the Undercity and was later named Piltover.

As a result, the Undercity was left to rot and Piltover thrived. The rich got richer, and the poor got poorer, eventually leading to where it is today. The people of the Undercity were abandoned, oppressed and treated like trash.

However, that was going to change today.

Located at the boundary between Piltover and the Undercity, an army of the oppressed, mistreated individuals and those who yearned for change gathered. Men and women took arms. A spark of flame was lit up in their hearts as silence reigned over them, waiting for their leader to speak.

In front of this army, a burly man stood. He had black hair, a full beard and blue eyes as he wore a crudely made power gauntlet on his hands.

The man's name was Vander, the leader of this army and next to him was his right-hand man, Silco. He had the same hair and eye colour as Vander, the only difference was in their physique with him being on the skinnier side.

They were like, no, they were brothers. In the depths of the Undercity, they were born and grew up together in poverty. Every day, the two lived in constant danger as wandering into the wrong area meant death, they were barely able to breathe and ate like dogs.

Over the years, the two and many people of the Undercity had enough. They had enough of being ignored and overlooked by those prospering above, had enough of the horrible living conditions and attained a dream to one day establish their nation, one that is separate from Piltover.

Vander and Silco planned what was needed to achieve their dream for years. They planned for an uprising as they rallied the people, built an army, and today was the day they were going to take action.

"Corpses litter our streets every day while those above continue to thrive, ignore us and dump their waste in our homes. Brother and sisters, we have endured for far too long," Vander spoke and the more he did, his voice filled with conviction got louder. "It is time for a change, it is time we act!

Listening to Vander, the small flame that lit up inside people's hearts had changed. It was now a raging inferno that threatened to jump out of their chests.

The plan was simple: to draw out the Enforcers using the bombs and then overpower them before going to the Council to overthrow them...

Vander did not want to kill, but sacrifices were necessary to achieve his goals. The only thing to make him feel less guilty was that most mortar shells were duds and wouldn't cause that much damage. It was only meant to scare the citizen and bring out the Enforcers.

So, Vander gave the order to fire the mortars, and a wave of guilt immediately came over him as he watched the mortar shells come down from the sky. He waited for the bombs to go off, but at that moment, the bombs stopped in midair and at a speed invisible to the naked eye, they collided with each other.

As a result, an earth-shaking roar resounded throughout the sky as the clouds blackened with smoke and blotted out the sun.

Vander should have felt angry upon seeing this, but instead, he felt relieved although it was only for a second as there was a more pressing matter at hand. Judging from the explosion, he was sure those bombs were far from harmless. He turned his head towards Silco and glared at him.

Vander knew this was his brother's doing who had always been ruthless and would do anything to achieve their goals. It was a side of Silco he hated and as someone who viewed him as a brother, it was something he wanted to change over the years.

However, this time, Silco had gone too far. If not for the mage who acted in time, thousands would have died from the bombs. Although Vander already knew the answer, he still asked. "What was that?"

"An unexpected variable in our plan," said the long-haired man calmly.

"Our plan! From what I remember our plan didn't involve innocent lives..."

"It would have been better. I made sure those bombs targeted Enforcers," Silco interrupted, "...no, never mind, it doesn't matter now. We have to move, the Enforcers will be here soon."

A honking sound resounded throughout Piltover. It was loud and ear piercing.

This was the alarm that signalled the Enforcers were coming. This was what they wanted; to evacuate/remove the citizens in the street that led to the bridge that connected south and north of Piltover to make way for their army.

Although it had been done differently than what they had planned, this did not mean they would cower as years of planning would go to waste. More importantly, the people of the Undercity may never get the chance to revolt again.

It was time to fight and Vander knew now was not the time to argue. "We'll talk later," he said as he went ahead.

Silco nodded and followed from behind.

And so, the uprising began.