Echo and Ryan walked down another hall of the tanker.  It was in far better repair than how it looked.

“So, how’d you get into all this?” she asked Ryan.

“Family,” he said.  “The Makepeace family has always been in the resistance.  What about you?”

“Um… I don’t know.”  They turned a corner.  “Jimmy said you guys could help me.”

“Well…” Ryan was interrupted by a bang.

Echo jumped.

“Damn.  Kip!”  He turned and walked down the hall.  They turned another corner, entering a cul-de-sac of rooms.  Ryan pushed a partially open door all the way open.  Inside was a makeshift lab.  “What the hell are you doing?”

A young man looked up.  He wore a pair of goggles which were black with soot, like the rest of his face.  “It works!” he said, happily.  “Oh, I can’t believe it works!”

“Kip!” Ryan shouted.

The other man pulled his goggles off, showing the skin around his eyes was unscathed.  “What?  I’m busy!”

“Quit playing with the explosives!”

“I wasn’t playing with explosives.  I was testing the compressors.  They can’t hold explosives for some reason.”

“What?”

“Oh, it’s simple.”  The man picked up an object.  “Alchemy-charged crystals are put in here, and that is the battery.  This crystal,” he said, pointing at a disc, slightly smaller than the square.  “Is the focus…”

“Just tell me what it does!”

He sighed.  “Through alchemy, it breaks inanimate things down, and stores them in a buffer, at the microscopic level.  You can carry tons of stuff without a bulky backpack.  You don’t have to worry about weight either!  That’s ‘cause…”

“Alright, I get it.”

“I’ve gotten two done, but there are still a few bugs I’ve gotta work out.  Besides.  Do you know how hard it is to…”

Ryan sighed.  “I don’t care.  Just keep it down.  You’ve got a neighbor now.”

“Huh?”

“This is Cassandra, or Echo.”  He looked at her.  “Do you care?”

“Uh…” Echo said.

“Meet our resident alchemist and medic.  Peter Kipling.”

He blinked, looking at her.  “Uh… hi.”

Echo smiled shyly at him.  “Hi,” she said back.

“Hi…”  Kip looked around his messy lab.  “Uh, take a look around.”  He started for another table.  “If you need… whoa!”  He tripped and crashed into the table.  

She laughed.

Ryan couldn’t help but chuckle too.  “He’s a little scattered,” he said.

“I think it’s cute.”

“C’mon.  Your room’s right next door.”  They left.  Echo looked back.

“It was nice to meet you!” she said.

“And you!” Kip shouted back.


Ryan opened the door to her room.  A hammock on the left-half of the room and a simple chair and desk on the right.  There wasn’t much room, either.

“This is smaller than my room in Manhattan!” she said.

“It’s the only single we have,” Ryan said.  “Would you rather share a room with two very messy Orcs?”

“No.”

“Then be thankful.”  He stepped out of her new room.  “You need anything, just ask someone.  I gotta go talk to Harriet.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”  Ryan left.

Echo sat in the chair and tossed her pack on the ground.  There was a crash heard outside.

“KIP!” Ryan shouted.

“Sorry!” Kip called back.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gaump found himself going back to the Imperial Palace, to speak with The Emperor again.  He walked up the steps and was saluted as he passed by the four guards.

Four? Gaump thought.  Why the increase in security?  He soon entered the throne room again.  The Emperor was not there.  Two Cockatrikin turned and bowed.

“Lord Gaump!” one said.  “The Emperor told us to tell you he is in his office right now.  He said he did not want your conversation to be interrupted.”

“Thank you.”  He turned and walked through a door on the side of the room.


Inside was a waiting room.  At a desk, a Siren sat.  She was not like her sisters of the aeries, though.  She wore a deep blue robe, with green trim.  She was typing on a computer and was in her true form, feathers and all.  On the left breast of the robe, was a symbol Gaump recognized.  She was a sorceress.  Gaump was about to say something when she spoke.

“Arbiter Gaump?” she asked.

“Yes?” he said.

“He’s been expecting you, go right in.”

“Thank you.”  Gaump walked through the door next to her.  Inside was the office.  A large desk was in front of a window, giving a spectacular view of The Empire’s capitol city in the winter.  A banner hung on one wall, bearing the green and gold double helix.  Other objects adorned the walls as well.


“Welcome, Gaump,” The Emperor said.

Gaump bowed.  “What do you need?” he asked.

He sighed.  “The underbreeds have been proving far more trouble since Retribution fell.”  He stood up from his chair.  “Massachusetts has proven by far the hardest to eradicate.”

“Massachusetts has always been a thorn in our side, ever since the First Emperor,” Gaump said.  “We did not fire Retribution on the area because of the concentration of our own kind there.”

“I know.  But, it is getting too out of hand.  When Retribution was hit and word spread, it encouraged other resistance groups elsewhere.  Your Legions and PDF seem unable to fully eradicate them!  A more direct solution is needed.”

“Do you mean we devote more manpower and resources to the area for purging?  That would leave other areas exposed.  It would be hard to conceal such a maneuver.”

“I have thought of that.”  The Emperor lowered his head.  “Sadly, our time is running out.  Intelligence tells me the Necroplics are becoming far bolder in their actions.  We are fighting a war on two fronts, Arbiter.  We almost have won the first.”  He looked up.  “Know I did not come to this decision lightly, but the fastest and most efficient course of action is an unannounced, nuclear strike, on major inferior strongholds, such as Boston.”

Behind his mask, Gaump was shocked.  “There are tens of thousands of our own kind in some of those places!  To do so would…”

“That is enough, Arbiter.”  He walked around Gaump.  “Do you not think I have thought about that?”

“In Boston alone, there are at least fifteen-thousand Breed souls!”

“Silence!”  The Emperor stood in front of Gaump.  “If our new weapons program was working, it would be used, and many of those lives would be saved.  Because of the human scientists and the inferior sabotage, and raids, the program has been put off by at least a month.  The Necroplics are moving towards us, far faster than we anticipated.  They could strike at Haragath within a month.”

“Why not fire them on the Necroplics?  Slow their approach?”

“We cannot target them, due to their advanced ECMs.  You should know, Arbiter, the Necroplics are far closer to our level of technology than the inferiors.  The casualties would be far greater and we would waste the weapons.”  He sat back down.  “After the strikes, you will take Alpha, Epsilon and Tau on a sweep, to clean any other pockets.  Level the city if you have to!”

“And if I refuse to take part in this mass-murder?”

“You will be charged with high treason, and executed.  Any who refuse will be met with the same punishment.”  Horatio looked up.  “You should know war, Arbiter.  It is your business.  There will always be casualties.  It is better they die by our hand though, lest suffer the attacks and torments of the inferiors.  I have begged the Gods themselves for the safety of their souls and forgiveness for this act.”

“And you would still do this, even though the Gods would cast you into chaos?”

“The choice is made, Arbiter.  If I must suffer damnation for the continued survival of my people, I gladly do so.”  He turned in his chair.  “You are dismissed.”