Gaump left immediately after.  He was unsure about the course of action Horatio was taking.  

There are too many precedents of the results of such murders, he thought.  Boston Massacre, The Holocaust, all three Euro-Wars, even The Cataclysm…  The Emperor is going too far.  Gaump walked down the stairs and took a left to climb the other set of stairs to the war-room.  He reached the door and was saluted by two more Praetorian Guards as he opened the door in front of him.


The war room was about the same size as the throne room, but had a large table in the center of it and a notable lack of windows.  The walls were literal computers and screens, all showing varying pieces of data and intelligence.  Numerous members of The Praetorian Guard were there.  Some were working on computers, others speaking with their compatriots about plans and tactics.  He spotted Kovius easily.  


Kovius was rumored to be descended from the very first two cockatrikin, Apothis and Asp.  There had been no proof to this though.  He was tall, like most cockatrikin, with dark hair and eyes.  The armor he wore seemed a little more ornate than that of his underlings, but matched that of all members of the Praetorian Guard.  His Kevlar cloak also had a more decorative outline.

“Lord Gaump,” he greeted.  “Good to see you again.”

“Likewise,” The Griffin-Lord replied.  They both saluted each other.  “What is it you wished to see me about?”

“Manhattan Island.”  He motioned to his superior to come to the table.  It was more of a large projector, showing a holographic image.  Kovius pressed a few buttons on one of the chairs and the projector created a detailed rendition of the island, complete with detailed color buildings.

“Impressive.”

“The technomancers just upgraded it.  Within a year, all war-rooms will be equipped with high-def color projectors and RTGP units.”

“Real-time Global Positioning?”  Gaump was impressed.  “Last I heard that project was cut because of lack of funding.”

“The technomancers made significant progress.  There’s still a gap of about ten seconds or so between what is shown here and what happened.”

“So, this image is old?”

“Yes, about ten seconds or so.”

“Kovius, your duties rarely extend beyond Haragath, but you should know, ten seconds on a battlefield is a very long time.  Lives and wars can be lost in a span of ten seconds.”

“They’re working on it.”

“Right.  So, what am I looking for?”

“Here.”  Kovius pushed one or two more buttons on the chair.  The map zoomed into an area, showing numerous PDF officers.  “Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan Province.  At about thirteen-hundred hours, PDF officers were doing a standard sweep-and-clear.  Omega-One.”

Gaump groaned.

“We all know you disapprove of such tactics Lord, but they cannot be shown mercy.  Then, they came to this building.  Was an inferior Opium Den and Harem.”

“What would warrant such interest?”

“What was inside.”  He pushed some buttons and he motioned Gaump to follow.  “We received this transmission at thirteen-oh-seven, audio only.”

“Code Avenger!” a man said.  “Repeat, Code Avenger!  Casualties are still low, but we expect them to rise.  Last-known heading: south-southwest, on foot.  All PDF units respond, SWAT is en route.”


The mention of such a code was never taken lightly.  Using it as a false-alarm could easily lead to an entire legion or PDF branch being decimated as punishment. “Avenger?” Gaump asked.  “Are you sure?”

“Yes, quite sure,” Kovius replied.  “That was the first one.  About five minutes later, we got another message.  It’s strange though.”

“What do you mean?”

“The location of this one was located in Massachusetts.”

“We know Massachusetts is a hotbed for partisan activity Kovius.  Always has been.”

“Here.”  Kovius typed into the computer and another audio message played.

“Code Avenger!” another man said.  “Repeat, Code Avenger!  Heavy casualties central, SWAT-121 has been lost, repeat SWAT-121 has been lost, oh, oh god!  He’s here!”  There was the sound of gunfire something that sounded like a flamethrower.  “No!”  There was some static and Kovius turned the recording off.

“There is no way the one in Hell’s Kitchen could have gotten to Massachusetts in ten minutes.”

“Have you brought this to the attention of The Emperor?” Gaump queried.

“Not the second one.  We’re still trying to determine if the partisans have managed to hack our communications and alter the previous one.  They are not above such deceptions.”

Gaump thought for a moment.  “That officer, he said ‘he’s here’ but, historical records and documentation clearly show The Avenging Angel as a woman.  Do you have any visual reports to back this up?”

“We managed to get one or two shots.”  He typed in the computer a little more.  “Here, the first one.”  An image appeared of a young woman, climbing up a fire escape.  She had white hair.

“Bring up a reference image of The Angel.”

Kovius nodded and typed a few more keys.  A second image appeared.  It was a young woman, who looked slightly like the one in the picture, but there were some noticeable differences.  The Angel was clearly taller, slimmer and was noticeably less endowed than the woman from Hell’s Kitchen.  She also wore an impressive golden armor, where the other woman didn’t.  Her hair was also the color of fresh mud.

“It can’t be her.”

“Why do you say that?”

Gaump pointed out something only a general would see.  “True, they look the same at a glance, but The Angel has a noticeable physical difference.  In the confusion of the raid, it does not surprise me.  Also, if she were The Angel, she would have torn through those PDFs.  This woman is clearly trying to get away.  The report also said they had low casualties, but expected them to rise, which would match with The Angel’s nature.  Did they?”

Kovius shook his head.  “PDF has commenced a dragnet of the entire Manhattan Province for her.  So far nothing.”


“What about the other one?” Gaump questioned.

“Just a moment Lord,” said Kovius.  He typed a little and the image of the woman from Hell’s kitchen vanished.  Another image appeared.  The figure wore similar armor to The Angel, but it was quite clear it was a man.  He was about as tall, but his face was hidden by a mask that looked like the head of an eagle, only far more skeletal.  He had two skeletal wings.  In one hand was a black sphere, while sick yellow-green flames burned around him.

“Do you have a reference picture of The Angel manifested and in similar armor?”

Kovius nodded and brought up another image.  The Angel’s face was hidden by a similar mask, but her wings were snaking green ones and there were bright jade fires around her.

“I see.”

“By The Emperor’s Claws,” Kovius gasped.  “There are two of them?”   He looked at The Griffin-Lord.

Gaump’s eyes focused on the two images.  He knew what The Emperor would order because of this.  “They have their savior now.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Echo sighed as she watched a PDF armored car roll past her.  She was hiding in an alleyway and knew they’d be coming that way soon.  As soon as the armored car had passed, she quickly ran across the street into another alley.

This is insane! Echo thought.  They’re gonna catch me and kill me!  I should just stay away!  She shook her head a little.  No, no, no!  Mom would want me to fight against them.  They’re doing all these things and no one can stop them!  Mom wouldn’t let these people suffer like this, so why should I?  She never backed down!  She looked around and walked down the alleyway, stopping as she neared the end of it, seeing a black man speaking with two PDFs.  He wore a knit cap and a tee shirt that at one time had been white, but was now another color entirely. He wore a dark jacket over the shirt and a small, shield-shaped hunk of metal around his neck by a string.  


“Yeah,” the black man said, scratching his beard.  “She come by every now an’ then.  What’s it to ya?”

“She is resisting arrest and is suspected member of the partisans,” one of the PDF officers said.

“Well, Cassie’s pretty feisty, but she ain’t no rebel.  You seen some of her work?”

“The only work I have heard of hers was around thirteen-oh-seven today, when a PDF was killed.”

“What?  Naw…  You’re joking me!  Look, she played the temptress in some of those films, but, she’d never kill anyone!”

“Listen, inferior,” the other PDF said.  “A friend of mine is dead because of her.  When a PDF is killed by a partisan, we find them and return the favor.  You can either help us, or be added to the body count.  No one will miss a human anyway.”  He raised his patrol rifle and pushed it against his gut.  “Can you get that through your inferior skull?”

“Hey man, I’m just worried about her.  She wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

“If she is innocent we will release her,” the first PDF said.  “If she indeed is responsible for the murder of two PDF officers, then justice will be served.”

“Alright, alright!”  The man sighed.  “Sometimes, she hits this one place.”

“Where?”

“Down the hill man!”

Both PDFs gave him an unsavory look.  “Good, carry-on.”  The PDFs headed down the street.  As soon as their backs were to the black man, he raised a fist and showed him his middle finger.


“Damn mother-fuckers,” he grumbled as it began to snow again.  “Drive away all my business!  Barely scrape by as I do!”

“Saint Jimmy!” Echo called from the alleyway.

He looked up and around, trying to decide if the voice was in his head.  “Who said that?”

“Jimmy!”  Echo groaned, seeing he was looking in the other direction.  She finally left the alleyway and tried again.  “Jimmy!”

The man jumped and pulled a particularly worn gun from a pocket and aimed it at her.  “God!  Damn girl!” he swore.  “What the fuck did you do?”

“What was I supposed to do?  They killed everyone!  Warrik, Terri, Wei, even Margo!  I could’ve joined them!”

“How’d you get two of those douches dead?  You don’t have gun, well, you’ve got two, but if…”

“…Looks could kill, I’d be public enemy number one.”  She sighed.  “I know Jimmy.  You’ve said that before.”

“Aww, sorry girl.”  He looked around.  “So, you back for another?”

She nodded.  “Yeah, but, I’m gonna need a lot more than usual.  I’ve gotta get outta here.”

“Outta here?  Like, outta Satan’s Sink or out-out?”

“As in, away.”  Echo sighed.  “Jimmy, I need your help.”

“Really girl?”  He motioned for her to follow him.


“I need to find my mom.”

“That all?”

She glanced down at her feet.  “Yeah…”  Again, Echo looked up at him.  “Listen, there’s something else you should know.  I can do these things.”

“Like?”

She raised a hand and clenched a fist.  An ethereal violet katar appeared in her hand.

“Jesus!”  Jimmy took a step back.  “What the hell are you, girl?  Some demon?”

“No!”  She unclenched her fist and the katar vanished.  “Don’t call me that!”  Echo looked away.  “I’ve always been able to do that.  I don’t know why either.”

Jimmy seemed to have recovered.  “That all?”

“Yes.”

He put a hand on her shoulder.  “C’mon.  Let’s get off the street.”


Jimmy’s home was small and ramshackle.  One or two changes of clothes lay in a pile in one corner, while a large plastic box, marred by age and vandalism was covered by a cowskin.  The bed was literally a mattress, nothing more.  There was one window in it, but no glass, only a thin fabric blind to cover it with.  The room reeked of strange and unpleasant odors, but Echo knew there was nothing he could do about it.  Jimmy looked around and pulled the blind down before kneeling down and pulling a wooden crate from under his bed.  In the dim light, he pulled the top off the crate and held up a small canister, designed to fit in an inhaler.  

“Just got it fresh,” he said.  “Purest stuff yet.”

She smiled.  “Purer than the stuff two weeks ago?” Echo asked.

“This is as pure as I can get it.”  He tossed her the canister.

She caught it skillfully.

“Take a hit girl, you killed two beaters, you deserve it.”


She examined the canister.  It was silver and metal, having some sort of black writing on it.  The writing was illegible, but Echo had seen similar writings, warning of certain things with canisters such as these.  The object seemed simple enough but she knew exactly what was inside it.  “So, how pure?” she asked.

“Any purer and it’d be illegal,” Jimmy replied.  “And I’m not talkin’ just illegal for us, I’m talkin’ illegal for uber opium dens!  You get caught with this shit, you’re dead.”

Echo smiled and was about to put it to her lips when she stopped.

“Well, go on girl!”

It was so tempting to do so, but she knew it wasn’t time.  There’d be time later to feed her addiction, but right now was not that time.  “Not yet.  I have to concentrate on getting out of here.”

“Fine.”

She looked over at him.  “How much?”

“Well, it is genuine, cost a lot, but…”

Echo pushed the hair out of her face.  “But what?”

“But… because I love you and you killed two of those ass-sucking PDFs, you can have that one free, others with a discount.”

She looked in the box.  “All of them.”

Jimmy blinked.  “What?”

“All of them.”

He looked at her closely.  “You crazy?”

“No, all of it.”

“Do you have enough coin?”

She looked around and pulled her pack off and looked into it.  All she had was the payment from the man from that morning.  “Um…”

“You don’t, do you?”

“Not, not… exactly.”

Jimmy sighed and looked to the ceiling for a second.  “Girl, you know I gotta eat too!”

“What, what about your other business?”

“Oh, that?  Well…”  He leaned in closer.  “Do you have anything?”


She nodded.  “Yeah, here.”  Echo pulled a pistol from her pack.  She hadn’t really examined it when she’d grabbed it from the PDF, but it was a lot larger than the small handguns most PDF officers carried.  It had a large grip and huge, box-like casing over the barrel and assembly.  There was no hammer on the weapon either.

“Whoa!  A real fifty-cal magnum!  Where’d you get this?”

“The PDF, from earlier today.”  She handed him gun and watched him examine it.  “It’s not a full clip.”

Jimmy pushed a button on the side of the grip.  A large clip slid out of the handle.  “Girl, I’ve been lookin’ for one of these bad-boys ever since those fags started using…”  He quickly slipped the clip back into the weapon.

“What?”

“Hide, now!”

Echo looked around, but it was too late.  The door broke down and two PDFs entered.


She quickly got to her feet and saw them raise their rifles.  Echo was quicker though and jumped them.  The ethereal katars appeared and she drove one into each of them in a flash of rage.  There were two loud whooping sounds as they died quickly.  There was also a deafening bang from a gun.   It echoed well in the alleyway.  

“FUCK!” Jimmy shouted, clenching his arm.  “Why didn’t you tell me this thing had so much kick?!”

“I didn’t know,” she sighed, unclenching her fists.  The katars vanished.

He screamed in pain.  “Fuck!  I think my arm’s broken!”

“Great.”  Echo heard the radios on the PDFs crack and words quickly come across on them.  “What, what should I do?”

“Just get the shit outta here!”

“But, but what about you?”  Echo knelt down and tried to touch him.

He backed away.  “Don’t fuckin’ touch me!”

“I’m tryin’ to help you!”

“Look, just get outta here!  I’ll be fine!”

“But…”

Jimmy threw the hand cannon under the bed and tried to get something from his jacket pocket.  It was the gun she’d seen him raise earlier.  It was a simple, snub-nosed six-shooter and had indeed seen better days.  “Just take this and find my brother!”  He tossed the gun at her.

She blinked as it landed in the carpet.  “You have a brother?”

“Yeah.  Bad-ass who goes by Saint Lenny in Boston.”

Echo picked up the pistol and checked it, finding it fully loaded.  “What?  That place is right by PDF Central!”

“Yeah, gets a lot of good business.  I’d go, but, someone needs me here.”

It made sense now.  “You’re a partisan, aren’t you?”

He spat some saliva from his mouth.  “Yeah, so?  Unless you worship the fucking ground those uber-fags walk on, you’re a type of partisan!”

She sighed.  “Thanks, but, what about you?”

Jimmy nodded.  “They’ll be here soon and get me outta here.  Just, just show that gun to Lenny.  He’ll know I sent ya.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, yeah.”  He groaned and pulled the cowskin off the plastic box.  He reached in and felt around, finding a large telephone receiver.  “Talk to Saint Harriet in the south.  She’s this real fine babe and can get you there no problem.”

“You sure you’re gonna be okay?”

He put the receiver to his ear with his good arm and hand.  “Git girl!”

She nodded and quickly left.