The Amory Wars - Year of The Black Rainbow

Year of The Black Rainbow

Year of the Black Rainbow is the first part of the Amory Wars. The album of the same name was released April 13, 2010, and with it came a 352-page novel detailing the events of the story. It tells of how Wilhelm Ryan came to power by killing or abducting all the other Mages. A mysterious black rainbow also appears in the sky the day Ryan takes supremacy. A civilian, named Doctor Leonard Hohenberger, is dissatisfied with the Supreme Tri-Mage's rule and is inspired by the Prise to create three IRO-bots, known as the KBI: Cambria ("Knowledge"), Coheed ("Beast"), and Jesse ("Inferno"). While the KBI are out on the other planets of Heaven's Fence, destroying everything Ryan had made, Hohenberger's wife, Pearl, is kidnapped by Mayo Deftinwolf. Deftinwolf offers the Doctor an ultimatum; if the Doctor will help Ryan create a virus which has the potential to destroy Heaven's Fence (the Monstar virus), Pearl will be returned to him. If Hohenberger refuses, Pearl dies. Leonard creates the virus, but locks it inside the bodies of Coheed and Cambria so Ryan cannot immediately use it, giving the Doctor time to create a cure. Ryan takes Coheed and Cambria to his stronghold to figure out how to extract the virus. In return for his treachery, the Tri-Mage sends Pearl back with a gun, after telling her that Leonard had helped Ryan cause the downfall of the universe. However, back home, Pearl finds she cannot kill her husband, and instead kills herself. Leonard leaves a set of instructions for Inferno, and sets out to get revenge by attempting to kill Mayo Deftinwolf. The assassination fails, and the Doctor himself is killed instead. Meanwhile, Inferno follows the Doctor's instructions and discovers he has made a cure for the Monstar in the form of another IRO-bot, named Josephine. With new hope, Inferno flies to Ryan's stronghold, the House Atlantic. He breaks in and saves Coheed and Cambria, mutilating Deftinwolf in the process. While Inferno is gone, his troops rain down firepower on the House Atlantic from their ship, the Grail Arbor. After the KBI have left, the Grail Arbor fully destroys House Atlantic. Ryan himself almost dies, but is rescued at the last moment by Vielar Crom, a soldier taken from one of the opposing Mages' armies. Ryan vows for revenge as he flies off. The black rainbow also disappears once he is gone. Meanwhile, in the epilogue of the story, Inferno, still following Hohenberger's orders, wipes the minds of Coheed and Cambria to make them think they are an ordinary couple and Josephine is their newborn daughter. He wishes them the best as they begin their new lives with no memory of the KBI or the events of this story.