What To Know Before Reading

 

- This episode continues where episode 2 left off, starting with Jason Remin (Lost Ages) in the capital building of the Nod Empire in Pearl, Dahkur.

- Cabal is the Nod's Artificial Intelligence program. It uses a hologram sometimes to move around a room with holoemitters.

- The police chase with Simeon and Isharu ends up without an outcome on purpose, so to be suspenseful as to whether or not Isharu and Simeon made it out. Luckily, they did by the next episode. It was not originally included in this episode because it was unfinished, but due to the wishes of Star, I have put it here.

 

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Jason nodded when the face of the AI Cabal appeared on the wall display again. "Emperor. I have identified the latest prisoners." It looked as though Cabal was rising a non-existant eyebrow. "One is a mercenary named Eridanni. The other is a Nod officer that was presumed killed in action during the Dark Chapters."

 

Yuri was the first to identify Licin more closely. He steps up to the wall display and carefully takes an observation of both. "Licin was a professional assassin. He is a danger, but why he is trying to steal from us... And why he is alive... Will have to be investigated further."

 

Jason agrees and Cabal continues. "I will ask you happily if you would like to interrogate them, Yuri Terrel. I have only studied your techniques in several log files. I would like to see what you and I can come up with."

 

That was one thing that Jason thought could be fixed on Cabal. Cabal was built only to bring destroyer for good reason, but the computer took a great pleasure in it. It was starting to freak Jason out. "Go ahead to the holding cells, Yuri. Find out what Licin is doing and check out that Eridanni's story."

 

Cabal abliged and was about to disappear before he said something, "He seems familiar, but my databanks do not have any clear information on him. I will investigate further."

 

Jason nodded as Yuri left and turned back to his studies. Maybe soon he can find a way to copy Gyro's disappearance in a way that could benefit the entire Nod.

 

Yuri entered the prison section where Licin and Eridanni would be kept for several more days. It was probably best to start early with the interrogation so as not to give the two prisoners any chances to escape or get comfortable. Every good interrogation expert would start off with an 'introductory' torture.

 

So it was that Yuri stood in front of the cell, staring in at the two unconscious men. "Cabal, activate your holoemitters."

 

Cabal didn't need to be told to do so but the download of his program to the system in that section of the building was going a little slow. But finally, a completely see-through hologram of a man with an army shaved cut and completely black eyes materialized beside Yuri. The holographic man wore a leather jacket and dress pants, in the same colors as the late Star.

 

"Let's begin shall we? Wake them up." Yuri didn't take his eyes off the two prisoners to look at Cabal, who readily abliged. The prisoner's 'collars' were activated, which should have sent a burst of pain through their nerves and make a loud screech in compliance with Cabal's command.

 

Licin rolled across the floor with a startled shock as something inside his head began to - as it felt like - scratch against his mind. "OW!!" Was the only thing he could yell as he pushed himself back up and whatever was causing the pain slowly subsided.

 

He finally got enough time to look around and focus on the man standing outside his new prison cell. When he noticed this he quickly searched for Eridanni, and when seeing him moved back towards the mercenary. "What do you want?" He spoke as he stopped against the wall sitting still.

 

The screech did little to move Eridanni, who was already awake and knew as soon as the name of Cabal came out of Yuri's lips what would happen. Holding his eyes tightly closed as the screech made it's way through his system, causing a sensation like thousands of tiny little needles poking into him, he opened them again to look at the man standing outside the cell as the pain begun to subside.

 

Eridanni propped himself back up against the wall and folded his arms in front of him as he layed stretched out on the metal platform that was jutting from the opposite wall. "Whatever you want from us, you can take it and shove it down your throat."

 

Eridanni smirks and looks over at Licin, then back at Yuri. He seemed almost completely defiant, which was odd for most people. But Eridanni wasn't just another person. He was a mercenary, and he wasn't going to let some self-absorbed Empire jerk push him around.

 

"You will find I lack the virtue of tolerance, but I have infinite patience." Yuri unfolded a small device that could almost be a laser scapel. "You will also find out how much pain you can endure before your heart stops beating."

 

But he lays the laser scapel to his side for a minute and pulls a metal chair over, unfolding it and slowly bringing himself down into it, staring at the two intuitevely and with a smirk that rivaled even Eridanni's. The laser scapel was in his hand once more and after deactivating it, he silently slapped the hilt against the palm of his other hand repeatedly to make a continous yet quiet sound resonate in the room. Cabal's footsteps creating little more than glimmers of the light particles that were forcing themselves onto the ground and absolutely no noise. Though his simulated breathing was something to be noticed... Yuri took into account that even the smallest sounds can make a difference in an interrogation.

 

"You will begin by telling me who you are." Yuri obviously wasn't self-assured but he certainly wasn't going to show weakness.

 

Yuri continued to sit in the seat with his arms resting on his legs, staring at the cell's occupants. He tried to put a face but didn't speak and neither did Cabal. Apparently outside the scope of the Empire, these criminals were probably with the Union. The intelligence agency CIA still existed, and probably always would, as Yuri had personal experience with the CIA more than once. Their agents were hardest to crack.

 

Cabal however seemed to be more patient than even Yuri who had trained so much for these moments... Interrogation. But Cabal was a computer and thus had all the time his circuitry could provide, which was much further than Yuri's own lifespan. Cabal's image flickered partly in and out but that was only an effect of the low lighting. No lighting is better than very little because then the holoemitters can run near perfectly, but if in the middle the holoemitters wouldn't accept it. Cabal's holomatrix was, however, resistant to light. It was his holoemitters that had problems every now and again.

 

Still, Cabal's holoprogram came straight from the mainframe computer of the capital building, but Cabal was unique from other artificial intelligence programs. He wasn't being recieved via any signals from the mainframe... Instead when a new computer is built, Cabal is downloaded via the computer matrix net that expanded even beyond the bounds of the planet. Any computer, whether connected to the Public Network (internet of Karaga) or not, could be accessed through this digital world. And Cabal was downloaded into all of it... A seperate dimension in the realm of physics.

 

Licin continued to glare at Yuri, returning the silent favor. In the back of his mind, he prayed that someone would appear and break them out. Luckily, Eridanni said he had planned this out too, and it only took a bit of trust in an old friend. Soon, however, Licin began to lose patience. "So aren't you going to interrogate us or what?"

 

Yuri didn't budge an inch, but Cabal cracked a smile. "If that is what you wish" The nanoprobes in Licin would be activated once again, a piece of cybernetic material covering part of their skull was furiously increasing the pace of the nanoprobes. "I hope the pain doesn't keep you from speaking. I would so hate to find out that you can't speak anymore"

 

Quickly reaching up to his head, Eridanni could feel the hard metal plating of some sort of cybernetic technology. He gritted his teeth hard before breaking down so that he couldn't even sit upright anymore. ~ I knew this would happen. I hope you like the taste of EMP! ~ Having planned out his capture with great clarity, Eridanni had taken great caution. Unlinking one of his cargo buttons and squeezing it gently, releasing a short invisible burst of EMP energy.

 

Cabal disappeared in a short flash and Yuri quickly stood, slamming through the door of the cage and walking up angrily at Eridanni. The nanoprobes may no longer be sped up, but they were still gathering information. He grabbed Eridanni by the collar of his shirt and put his face in front of the mercenary's. "Don't tempt me..."

 

Then gunshots echoed down the hallway. There was a small noise of acknowledgement, as though by well trained soldiers. Yuri was quick to turn at the sound, but kept his grip tight on Eridanni.

 

Licin stood and attacked Yuri swiftly, holding one fist in the curved palm of his hand and swinging it down towards the back of Yuri's neck, hoping his strategy would work. Even if it didn't, the men outside should be able to take Yuri out quickly and effectively, but Licin wanted him alive and he didn't trust those men outside would have any mercy towards Yuri. Not like it was mercy to keep him alive, however

 

The reaction to Licin's attack came a little late, but Yuri had noticed Licin's quick movement and turned to block, but only in time to swing his fist outwards at the man's face and pull back away from Eridanni, standing and quickly exiting the prison area, slamming the clear bulletproof glass door behind him as he took an offensive stance by the door, opposite from where it would swing open, waiting with increased calm for the men to enter.

 

One of the soldiers kicked the door open and had his Akira Neurolaser Rifle pointed through the door shortly after. His black helmet and suit were all electronically connected to the visor that the helmet afforded him, like an old SWAT uniform, and an attachment from a battery on his upper arm to the Neurolaser Rifle afforded him all the power the rifle needed to work effectively for the next twelve hours, at least until it was time to reload them.

 

Remembering what he learned when he was a child in the tutelage of Capoeira Angola, he shot one of his legs up as far as it could go to try connecting his boot into the soldier's visor. Moving his other foot backwards and then back to the base, he maintained enough balance for his next attack, in case it was needed.

 

The soldier didn't catch the movement quickly enough and the boot smashed heavily into the visor, causing the soldier to flinch and nearly drop his weapon as he reached up to shield his eyes, though he quickly turned to see who initiated the attack.

 

Jumping off his free foot, Yuri skillfully swung his other foot up to the soldier's chestplate, attempting to knock him back into any other soldiers that were entering. He landed with careful accuracy back on his feet and used the art of Hapkido to attempt an inhouse crescent side kick, which would hopefully get manuever the victim into the other soldiers.

 

The manuever worked for the most part, sending him falling back into the other soldier behind him, but the other soldier was much quicker, quickly strafing to the side and opening fire with his weapon, which was already aimed directly at the door, although with the speed he fired, he could just as easily sacrificed accuracy as he could have sacrificed range and power.

 

The beam skipped by the fallen soldier and burnt through part of Yuri's leg as he regained balance. Then he decided to try another tactic, perhaps one that he would have found much more easier. He slips his Glock 18 out of it's holser as he takes cover behind the door and flips the switch that would send it to automatic. He pushes back on the door in an attempt to close it.

 

The other soldiers with their combined strength charged into the door as quickly as they could. It would be because of their speed and not their strength that they got through the door before Yuri could close it on them. Turning their attention back to Yuri as fast as they could, they opened fire with their blazing light Neurolaser weapons.

 

Many of the neurolaser shots skimmed by him or hit him square on the sides or near his stomach, but he was already aimed at the soldiers when they came through the door and had already released a barrage of fully automatic fire from his weapon.

 

But Yuri's speed wasn't enough to get out of the way of one of the soldier's tactical moves, knocking the door back into him and then swinging around with his own rifle, which slammed heavily into Yuri's skull sending him crashing to the ground. Cabal quietly disappeared through the computer console to report this lapse to the Emperor, knowing he couldn't do anything to stop the intruders.

 

"About time you guys got here" Licin managed to speak through the pain that was left from Cabal's torture. When the hologram disappeared, the nanoprobes deactivated but that didn't lessen the pain already afforded to him earlier. The soldiers were some of Eridanni's mercenaries, wearing advanced armor and weapons.

 

The mercenaries broke through the glass using the neurolaser on a constant beam, cutting a hole through the glass. "They probably had a hard time getting here without being detected. Infiltrating the Nod Capital isn't something everyone can do without problems" Eridanni was the first to step out of the hole left in the glass and he took the neurolaser rifle offered to him by one of the other mercs. He checks the gun's power bar and finally satisfied says, "Escaping it is a whole different matter"

 

"Well, you had it all planned out when we left. I trust you and your team will have everything ready" Licin glanced at the mercenaries as he stepped out. He didn't normally trust mercenaries, but this was Eridanni's team, so he had no reason not to. He retrieved his own gun from the table and made sure it was loaded. "Let's just hurry while we have time. Retrieve the Ark and escape"

 

Eridanni smirked and was already out the door with his mercenaries following. His neurolaser rifle aimed down the corridor he slowly walked down the corridor until he came up to the lift doors. Slamming his fist hard into the panel, he could hear the elevator stop on his floor and he aimed his weapon at the doors. As they slid open, there were two Empire scientists standing inside, but they were cut down before they could even open their mouths in surprise by neurolaser fire from Eridanni.

 

"Get ready, this time we need to get the Ark and get out as fast as possible" Eridanni turned as the rest of the team squeezed in. "Team 4, stay down here and come up when we summon you. Everyone else, with me and Licin"

 

Licin also had to squeeze into the elevator, just barely fitting. "Do you think it's neccessary to bring all these men at once?" He supposed that the floor with the Ark on it would be heavily guarded, but sending in an entire army wasn't exactly his idea of a quick steal and getaway. "Nevermind"

 

The elevator stopped on the floor the Ark was located on and the doors slowly opened, revealing the same long room they were in, along with several guards walking around lazily.

 

Eridanni and Licin were the first to exit with the mercenaries hot on their trail. Their guns raised and firing, two of the guards were taken down and as the others prepared to fire off a few neurolaser shots at the two men, the mercenaries coming out behind them fired off multiple neurolaser shots themselves, taking down the guards and leaving a clear path to the vault. Firing at the camera, one of the mercenaries made sure this whole event wasn't caught just before the firing began.

 

Rushing into the vault, Licin quickly stepped up to the thick metal door and tried to hack into the keypad, though it wasn't very successful, and he ended up activating the alarm instead. "Dammit!"

 

Eridanni took one of the disentigration mines and slammed it's flat anti-grav surface to the door, small metal claws protruding from it that hooked up to the door's grey surface. He stood back behind the mercenary with the control remote. "Get back, Licin. Blow it now!" He yelled into the mercenary's ear, who quickly set off the mine, which instead of making a large explosion it sent out a large disintegration ray that cut through the particles making up the metal, leaving a giant gaping hole through the heavy door. "Thank god that wasn't duranium, or it would have made our job a lot harder"

 

Licin laughed as he jumped through the portal and quickly reached up to the Ark CD that was being held in anti-gravity by the computer. Another alarm went off and guards began to fill the corridors outside. "Take them out and let's get to the hovercopter pad!"

 

The mercenaries fired off rounds at the incoming guards, a furious battle taking place as a few of the mercenaries found themselves falling to the ground. Eridanni quickly put his wristwatch up to his mouth and called through it, "Team 4, come up now! Teams 5 through 8, get down here! Teams 9 through 11, clear out the hovercopter pad!" Sounds could be heard through the wristwatch even during the fierce gunfight of the mercenaries acknowledging his call.

 

Stepping ahead of the rest, Licin blew through the group of guards with his own weapon and quickly got to the elevator before more guards started appearing from the elevator on the other side of the room, the light of neurolaser fire lighting up the room again. As the lift doors opened, several more mercenaries stepped out, team 4 Licin could tell, and he rushed in around them. "Get your mercs out of here Eridanni!"

 

Eridanni followed shortly behind before calling out at the teams in the gunfight while he himself was letting off a barage of fire at the incoming guards. "All teams to the hovercopter pad! Our escape route will be waiting us!" The lift doors closed and finally let loose from the battle he turned to Licin. "There will be four hovertransports hovering over the pad on the top floor. They'll be enough to cover my entire team and get us out as well. We'll be heading to my old base of operations" He smirked as he threw on a pair of black leather gloves. "Just get ready for a bit of resistance on the way"

 

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A breeze was brewing in the midst of a giant city. Skyscrapers breached the clouds and peered out into the atmosphere above. Prevailing winds weren't relied upon to move boats but it certainly gave them a way to steer by when the stars weren't out. Trade winds coming in from the east signalled a start of major trade with Imaginaria in the once-proud country of Vinca and even stock market watchers could smell the profits to be made from making a venture in nearby Aura.

 

 

But on the old wooden dock of the Kragma biker club there was only the stench of cold blood seeping on the floor as Isharu stands above a freshly shot corpse that looked like it was dead before the bullet even hit it. On Isharu's face was written a dead seriousness as he waves the gun like a security shield which worked quite effectively, moving the biker gangs off. The corpse that was now lying fresh was that of a man who picked a fight with the agent.

 

 

No, this wasn't another James Bond. Isharu would prove he's as aggressive and non-forgiving as the other slums in the deepest parts of any city. He claimed he was Terry Trigan, a mercenary from Aura seeking a set of wheels. The bikers weren't willing to give him any kind of bike and when Terry tried to show he wasn't going to leave without one, the gang attacked.

 

 

It was a very short battle. Terry shot the man point blank and held out his weapon as a warning to the others that he wasn't joking when he said he was a merc. He stepped back out the door to the parking lot out front next to the docks where his submarine was easily disposed of in a cave Isharu decided to 'create' in the rocky underwater face.

 

 

Stepping closer to one of the bikes he noticed a sudden jerk from one of the bikers and then another biker through a pump shotgun out of his belt. Terry made quick work of the man but the other bikers generally ran out after him. He quickly straddled the bike and slammed on the acceleration while using his watch as a DNA encoder to falsify the fingerprint of the owner which was stored in a database on the bike.

 

 

Several of the bikers wielded weapons such as chains and old swords. One even had a large axe, what Isharu would come to later call a sledge-axe. Terry was pushed back into the seat of the hovercycle as it accelerated forward much faster than he suspected and he leaned extremely far to make a tight turn before it would hit the wall between the bikers.

 

 

Several of the weapons made well placed hits, one of the swords leaving a gash in Terry's flesh and the chains leaving extremely bloody spots all over. But as soon as the hovercycle screeched to a stop it pushed onwards again leading to three of the bikers being knocked violently out of the way by the hovercycle's increasing speed. Terry gripped the handles tightly as he made his way onto the mean city streets and began to handle the cars one by one, swerving in and out around them.

 

 

He knew at the speed he was going the police would be coming after him but that was the last thing on his mind right now. The first of the power blocks he spoke to Lance about yesterday was somewhere in this city, under a lesser known building in the sewer systems. He obviously didn't want to create attention by sneaking into the sewers the normal way, not like he could unless he used the laser feature of his watch to cut through the mechanical locks, so he was going towards a sewage plant in which he could easily make his way in without attracting any unwanted attention.

 

Simeon had been digging his way through the streets when he passed a club on the sidestreets. It looked like some bikers had gotten too drunk and their friends were helping them up from their daze. He chuckled and shook his head but then saw a hovercycle speed off onto the road in front of him prompting him to nearly put on his brakes but he stopped as soon as his foot came close to the pedal. The hovercycle was twisting and turning between cars and Simeon didn't recognize the driver but Simeon, with his competitive streak, saw this as a challenge and accepted it. Stepping hard on the acceleration he began to zigzag around the cars in chase of the hovercycle taking it as a race in which he had to run. When it came to staying low and keeping people from noticing he didn't fit that category and would be a terrible spy. He didn't care keeping his death glare focused on the hovercycle ahead as he tried to match the vehicle's speed.

 

Isharu noticed a car had begun speeding behind him, he could hear the all too familiar sound of wheels grinding against the road in a heartbeating race. He would have thought it was a police car had he not seen it through the mirrors, it looked to be an unmarked car. 'Ghosts' he thought to himself as he stepped down hard and released the speed suppressor, which unlinked it from the safety regulations the hovercycle had put on it and let the bike head to speeds over 100.

 

Eyes straight ahead focused on the road ahead he continued to weave around cars before the speed began to take his evasion out. He knew he couldn't turn in time to stop from hitting the car ahead of him so instead he pulled the nose up as he came closer and then pressed down on the rear turbo launch, which spewed a blue flame as it pushed the hovercycle up in a jump of sorts over the car. Aiming towards the top of a large commercial truck he looked up only to find that the truck was about to pass under a bridge.

 

'Damn my timing' he said as he pressed the suppressor on the left of the bike down and slid horizontally, smashing into a nearby car window while going under the bridge and literally sending the car into a dangerous flip that would ram it into the commercial truck starting a great explosion that would no doubt cause the other cars to stop soon after leaving the shadow of the bridge. Isharu held on tight as he spun into a crazy break. As the bike came to a stop facing the wreckage, the agent shook off the wear and tear that seemed to come with doing such a stunt and turned back to the main road, making sure the suppressor was kicked off the hovercycle as it was empty and no longer of use.

 

Isharu had seen the car through the rearview mirror again and watched in fascination as the unknown car kept a tight watch on him. It seemed as if it was trying not to let the agent get out of sight but he had other plans. He made a sharp turn and went up a ramp that would lead into the inner-city bridge-roadways that would take him up to the highest parts of the city. Unfortunately, the police did indeed catch wind of the stolen bike and the carnage that was being wreaked on the roads.

 

Isharu passed some on his way up the ramp, and the police cars then turned sharply to match the agent's direction. Several of them tried to turn in front of the hovercycle but Isharu made fantastic turns that no car could make, going so far in evasion as directing himself towards another commercial truck, leaning sideways, and then sliding underneath the giant truck making a huge jump from the bridge onto another bridge below in which he took off like a speeding bullet.

 

Simeon wasn't about to lose sight of this guy. He was like a mercenary from the biggest legends ever set out by the Mercenary Network, or he could be a member of the shadowy Assassin's Creed. Those assassins were considered to be the most dangerous and respected even though their existence was never proved. But according to rumors they could do some of the craziest shit Simeon ever heard of though they would usually do it in more secret. More secret than a spy agency. In fact, nobody but the Ghosts could keep their heads down anymore. The intelligence community was an open knowledge to the Network but Simeon rarely looked in on their operations. He never got a job to assassinate a Ghost and he assumed he wouldn't anytime soon. But on with the chase, he told himself, carefully avoiding the ramp with the police cars and instead taking an undercity street following the bridge roads overhead. How cities became so jammed with traffic to need roads on bridges going between buildings or through them was anyone's guess. How things changed since he was a younger merc at 22 years old.

 

The police cars seemed intent on keeping up with their target. Not many of them looked behind to see Simeon's vehicle speeding down the street but several squad cars had been waiting on the sides of the road. It wasn't but a few moments later during the chase that more squad cars joined, but these ones were chasing Simeon. Their eyes locked on Simeon's vehicle, they may not be able to notice things around them although they would be difficult to shake. There are 4 squad cars chasing Isharu and 3 chasing Simeon.

 

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"In other news, rebellions are being quashed throughout the continent. What little of them there are left have supposedly retreated into southwestern Meriopolis where both Nod armies and mercenaries were waiting for them."

 

Jason Remin watched the news through the front windshield of his new Mercedes as he drove down the road to his next destination: Alamance Laboratories which was near the edge of the city. Luckily it was nowhere near the deep districts where thugs and violent psychos lived.

 

Teris, the director of the laboratories for Nod use had based his true headquarters in Aura, taking over the old Perry's Labs buildings. That of course was because of an obvious rivalry between two scientists: One of Nod and one of the FSA. Aura however was far out in the desolated country of Vinca and it would be a trip of over 10 hours from Pearl, so because of the long distance, Teris also set up a laboratory in Pearl and all the other major cities of the Empire.

 

He slowed his speed down as he came up to the building and turned in to the public garage. This particular garage had six different chambers with cars lined all the way up to the top of the cylindrical building. Jason slowly pulled in to an open, unused lift and felt antigravs on the lift pull down on the car, locking it into place. The lift brought the car up and Jason watched out the window as he was quickly picked up and lifted to one free 'bunk' where the lift stopped right in front of. The forcefield blocking the bunk dissipated, the antigravs released their hold on the car, and Jason slowly moved it into place.

 

I will find out what happened to you Gyro... Jason thought as he stepped out of the car and walked to the clear triangular pod that would be his lift to the ground floor. And the mystery of two Gyros will be solved. Even if I have to bring you back...

 

Samantha Lirim hadn't been sent out with the other air force teams during the attack on the Union. It was a shame too, but her squadrons active time started in the afternoon and so most of her squadmates were sleeping or with their families.

 

The night sky reminded her of something her grandmother once told her, or at least her predecessor's grandmother. "A twilight night, when certain stars are brighter than others, is the sign of protection. The angel of the stars is flying over our village these nights and will protect us from the force of others" For some reason, the only "angel" she could think of was Star, Jerome Star. The man that always seemed to have a connection with the stars themselves and always fought for the will of the Union. Was that will for the people though?

 

Samantha didn't bother asking herself twice as she drove down to the national air base. She opened her cellphone and said "Jason" and the phone complied, dialing the emperor's own cell number. She knew the number because Jason trusted her.

 

She prepared to speak about the extermination of the union earlier that day.

 

A star shone brightly outside the window... It's light however did little to illuminate the already bright room, and it's presence went unacknowledged...

 

"So you think that the Ark was meant to be used as a visual historical database?" Jason stepped in front of the window as he walked down the corridors that would adjoin into various windowless labs. "What did you find?"

 

The man he was speaking to wasn't a man... But a woman. She acknowledged Jason's fears that the information wasn't as readily available as he thought. "It will take some time, but we need to experiment with it attached to a virtual reality set. Controlling the variables may help us come up with something."

 

Jason shook his head as they stopped in front of a sliding door with a card reader by it. As the woman slid a card into it, Jason wasn't through rambling. "Look, Palau..."

 

The woman, Palau, stopped as the door slid open. "I didn't know we were on a first name basis?"

 

"We aren't." Jason glared at her, but she merely ignored it and turned, walking into the labs with Jason following. "But I've known you for several years..."

 

"You've known my predecessor." Palau was quick to speak. "Palau Hichi was the daughter of Perry. She's dead and gone remember? I am merely her clone."

 

Jason wished he didn't allow the clones the freedom to know exactly what they were, but it didn't seem to bother them. Instead, it made them feel invincible, and that was what worried Jason the most. "Okay. Palau was once my..." He paused as they stopped in front of a table in which a clear flatscreen computer sat with running variables on it and a pair of sleek grey shades next to it. "You're planning on doing this now?"

 

Palau smirked and picked up the pair of glasses. "I was going to wait until tommorow, but now that you're here, you can get the information yourself. Besides," Her smirk became mischevious and dark in nature. "It won't hurt."

 

As Jason was about to reply, his cellphone rang. He chuckled and thought to himself, 'saved by the ring' as he excused himself and turned, flipping the cellphone open. "Terry Finnigan here. Who is this?"

 

"It's about time you told me the Union was going to be exterminated" Samantha growled through her end of the phone conversation as the sound of the highway was slowly replaced with the sound of a car door closing and jets flying close to the ground. "I'm at the airport. I'll be at the Fortress by this time tomorrow"

 

"Good. As you know, we have a resistance leader and two of his accomplices tied up down there" Jason spoke as he turned and looked at Palau, who was giving him another knowing smirk and an annoyed glance. "I believe the leader's name is Lance Kuster. Remember him? From the project we initiated several years ago?"

 

"Oh" Samantha stopped at the desk and placed her hand flat on a fingerprint scanner, which scanned all five of her left hand's fingerprints. "Then this should be interesting" Her smile was small but she knew exactly what he was saying. "It's a shame. If that project worked out, maybe we would have the real people back and converted"

 

A small chuckle escaped from Jason. "I don't think it would have helped. It was worth a try, but we have the Ark now and there's nothing stopping me from finding out more about Gyro's disappearance" Jason ignored Palau for a little longer and looked out the window at the shining star, finally affording it the attention it deserved. "Ulrich will be down at the facility with you. He will be interrogating another resistance member who goes by the name of Kayle. We don't know her true name so I trust Ulrich will get the information out of her"

 

"If you don't mind me asking" Samantha started, "What use was it to bring that experiment into being? I mean, you're not going to find out what happened to Gyro by looking into the past of the dead." She picked up her luggage and quickly started walking towards the tunnel that would let her board the flight to Erel, Imaginaria. "The Ark wouldn't have anything on him either, it's a piece of technology by the CIA. I know they kept a close eye on Gyro, but I doubt they kept THAT close of an eye"

 

"You're right. But the Ark does have clues as to Gyro's intent and plenty of theories to pick from. Seems the FSA and the CIA had a joint operation once, and through that they began theorizing the intent of Gyro" Jason could see Palau getting impatient, tossing the glasses onto the table and taking a seat in front of one of the computer terminals at the side of the room. "Did you know that our respected leader had once been a madman? It makes me wonder about where my priorities lay"

 

Samantha actually laughed at that as she found her compartment on the plane and took her seat. "I can believe that. But for a madman, he certainly was very patient. I wonder why he never attacked the Union while he had the chance" She took a look out the window at the piled runway before she threw her luggage in the top. Her luggage was small and it was scanned thoroughly before it went with her onto the plane. "Maybe there is a mystery behind that guy"

 

"I know, I realized that too" Jason signalled to Palau that he was just about done. "Anyways, get to the interrogation chambers. Palau here may have found the holy grail of information"

 

---------------------------------------

 

Adan was the first to speak in the musty bar. Lance and Jack had settled more at the abandoned counter with Jack holding his weapon at the agents cautiously. "Do you recognize me?"

 

Lance was quiet, trying to place his face. Suddenly, another flash entered his memories...

 

A space station... Standing in the clear hallways of one. I could see the stars everywhere, on the floor and the outer walls... There was Adan running towards me with a Jericho pistol pointed directly at me. Words rang through my head and they were spoken in Adan's voice... "This is who I am!"

 

Then with another flash of what seemed like white light to Lance he came back to the present but was so confused with just what it was he saw he didn't answer Adan's question. Adan on the other hand seemed content, "Then you do know. It worked."

 

"What...?" Lance put a hand to the side of his head in question as he kept his eyes fixed to Adan.

 

"You don't know what you are... Do you?" Adan didn't smile or show an ounce of emotion, almost like Lance. The similarities between the two were striking. "You are a military product for the Nod. Jason had high hopes for the project... Looks like he gave up too soon"

 

Lance's eyes darted around the room for a minute as he tried to understand what it was he was hearing. "I can't be... How?... Why?"

 

Adan nodded and leaned back against the bar. "No, it's true. I don't know the specifics but those memories you keep getting that you're almost certain aren't your own..." He sees Lance's eyes open in surprise. "They're not. You carry the memories of a certain Union agent that was an important factor to the Nod before he died"

 

"... Who?" Lance spoke after a period of silence. "And..." He looks back at Jack. "Why were you after my friend?"

 

"We don't have any interests with your friend there. We were hoping to lure you out in the open so I could tell you this." He takes a moment to look back at Jack who still has a gun pointing at him. "That's not important anymore. All that's important is why... I told you because the Nod will be after you shortly. As your friend Isharu could probably tell you," He sees Lance suddenly get agitated. "The Nod is fractured. It's our job to repair it."

 

Suddenly one of the watching customers at the bar (there were several but they weren't near or around the counter) pulled a Jericho pistol out and shot Lance square in the shoulder as Adan pushed Lance into Jack.

 

Jack stumbled back unexpectedly and dropped his gun, which went off loudly scaring the rest of the true customers off. As he pushed back he tried to regain his stature.

 

Before Jack could make it all the way there, a fist smacked into his jaw nastily and knocked him into unconsiousness. The other agents pointed their weapons at Lance and Jack. Adan spoke to one of the men, "Take them to the car" He said as the men pulled the two unconcious fellows out of the bar. Adan eyed the old man in the corner who hastily took off to the back exit but as soon as he reached it three distinct gunshots rang out and the old man fell to the ground smearing his blood on the door.

 

As they left, another man in a full length black cloak stepped out from the shadows of the unlightened room behind the counter. His arms were folded over one another under the long sleeves of his cloak and his face was hidden under the shadow of the cloak's hood. He watched from the counter to the open front door of the bar as the car took off.

 

Jack was the first to wake up in the back of the car. He didn't know where they were headed but he could tell it wasn't first class. He sat up and rubbed his sore head where it had hit the floor and looked around. The back of the car was a separate compartment probably because those men had planned this all along. He tried to look out the windows but they were so dark he couldn't see anything, probably another safety precaution set up by the men in the front compartment.

 

He looked down to see Lance still unconscious in the bottom of the vehicle. He tried to kick him lightly in the shoulder to wake him up and without checking to see if it worked or not he sat back as a voice came through from somewhere in the car, like a speaker.

 

"Make yourselves comfortable. We won't arrive for a while."

 

Several hours later, Lance awoke to find him and Jack in the middle of a black room. The only light was shined above him and Jack, a cool light blue amidst the nearly impenetrable darkness. It was odd, as though a form of holographic technology was helping in keeping the rest of the room cloaked from his vision. But why? Is someone trying to hide themselves from him? Suddenly, it all came flooding back to him... The strange flashback and the men at the bar.

 

He struggled with his arms wrenched to his sides, trapped by two dark grey metallic braces that used anti-gravity reactors to link his arms to an anti-grav reactor on the sides of the chair. An interrogation room, Lance thought.

 

Footsteps echoed in the room, giving a sudden chill to Lance's spine as he heard it moving closer. His breathing was quite stressed for someone who just woke up from being knocked unconcious. Something abou the footsteps were familiar, but Lance was sure he's never heard them before...

 

The footsteps moved closer as I sat at the head of a desk, reading a biofile on someone. It distracted me until I looked up...

 

Forward stepped a figure clothed in black leather pants with a utility belt attached to the waist, carrying two sheathes that clinked very lightly against the figure's thighs. I looked up and saw a woman, brunette, dark green eyes...

 

Lance snapped out of it as he saw he was incorrect in assuming who it was. He didn't even know who he just saw in his vision a moment ago. The person that stepped forward lightly was a woman that looked exactly the same... But she had shoulder-length blonde hair and a smile that gave off an assassin's flare. Just like her...

 

"The drugs in your system will be enough to slowly open your mind to the nanoprobes we're about to activate." Lance could see clearly as she stepped forward. She was clothed in a Nod Empire senior officer uniform, black with crimson red streaks down the sides and arms, the patch of a falcon grasping the world in it's claws, and the places where the claws were sinking into bled bright red blood. "Just sit tight. I don't have anything personal against you. But the Empire can't have the resistance running around forever, now can we?"

 

Lance growled angrily as he looked down, the drugs making him feel kinda loopy. Her voice...

 

"You!" She scowled. What happened? I thought. It was as if I knew her... And knew who she used to be. "I thought you were dead?!" She pointed what appeared to be a pump shotgun at me... But I didn't flinch...

 

Jack woke up not too long after the unknown lady stepped in. His breathing was raggedy at best, but he was breathing. His eyes dilated as they were engulfed in a sea of light and he quickly threw his furred arm over his eyes to protect them. He heard the last thing she said, something about the resistance running around forever. He then partly uncovered his eyes and squinted through the light. "Lance? You there?"

 

He finally sat up and leaned back on his elbows, noticing how less the light was when he stared out into a long abyss of darkness surrounding him and Lance. He could see someone through the slight glow of the light that left a soft ray of light over her features. The uniform looked like nothing he'd ever seen before, but he could tell who she was aligned with when he noticed the patch. "Nod..." He said almost to himself

 

Her hair did flow over her shoulders but was still short. Blonde, curled locks fell over her face and her lips were twisted in a seductive smile. "I see Jason was wrong to give up on you, Lance." She didn't want to give everything away because she was almost certain he would be released after this, or he would escape. Whichever was the case she wasn't going to let him leave with all the information he probably would have liked to know. "Adan told me he's given away enough about your past to let you figure it out on your own. But it doesn't matter." She shrugged, her hair folding to her shoulders. "You can't do anything to change the past unless you conquer the future."

 

"But maybe you would like to know... Wouldn't you? Keeping it all to myself seems pretty selfish. Besides, I would love to hear his voice again." She stared at Lance for a little while longer and realized out the corner of her eye that Jack saw her. "You may call me Lirum. Or Samantha if you must. Just don't make it personal." She looked at something in the darkness that the two prisoners couldn't see. "Cabal, would you like to say something to these two before we have to begin the extraction?"

 

"I can only say what an honor it is to be extracting information from his genetic coding." Cabal's face appeared through the darkness on one of the consoles out of sight from Lance and Jack. "New tricks, old foe. Just like old times" His glowing blue face hinted at a devious expression, it's mouth moving up in a slight smirk.

 

"Don't let me stop you. Dig away" Samantha said as she turned to look Lance in the eyes before he would close them in agony. "Don't worry, the pain is a price to pay to return the legend's memories to their rightful resting place" She didn't try to seem devious, but her neutral expression exuded a dark quality in it that she found had attracted her rival many years before. Her blue eyes searched Lance for any sign of the man she once knew, a friend from before things became so complicated, but she found herself unsuccessful. "Do it" She commanded.

 

"With pleasure" Cabal's echoed voice spoke slowly before he activated the circuits connected to both men's brains. The mechanisms were designed to enhance the extraction of information from the nanoprobes by forcing them to exceed their normal speed, causing a flood of information to enter Cabal's data storage in a few split seconds, though it would cause quite a headache to the prisoners.

 

Lance quickly stood as if challenging Samantha, but not before a loud ringing noise tore through his mind, ringing through his ears though nobody else could hear it. He quickly put his hands to his head and could feel the metal plating of a cybernetic device covering part of his skull, churning with electric power as it did it's job well, though Lance closed his eyes tightly and tried to ignore it.

 

Jack too was falling under the screeching spell of the nanoprobes as they quickly worked to suck up as many neurons as they could and spit them out with terrifying bullet-like quickness. At the same time, it was tearing through Jack's head, and he had a hard time not yelling out in pain. He gritted his feline teeth and took the punishment. Better to bear the pain than to give in to the enemy.

 

The computer quickly started showing figures of memories and other such information that was stored in their minds. Samantha watched this eagerly waiting for the possibility of Star's memories. The secret agent may have died but his memories never escaped the DNA he left behind, though Samantha could have guessed exactly what his DNA did give up.. And that may have been what caused Gyro's disappearance.

 

"I hope you remember your mission" Cabal says in a threatening tone. "We are to find the location of the ambassador. Then use him to get the decoder of the Ark for the Emperor"

 

"I haven't forgotten. Don't lecture me, machine" Samantha spoke in an equally threatening tone. ~Well, my day was just ruined once again by one of Nod's stupid inventions~

 

"Hmm, this is interesting" Cabal's voice resounded across the confines of the small room. The display screen began showing some of Star's memories along with Lance's, albeit a little blurry. One of them was offering a ring of marriage to a woman with long dark red hair. Another was of a fight the agent had while holding on to the side of an ongoing train going through a tunnel, fighting someone with a machette. "The memories of Star are growing quickly. We must present him to the Emperor, as Star's memories may aid him in his search for the Great Liege Gyro"

 

Samantha pondered this for a few moments as she watched the scenes and then she saw scenes of Lance in his headquarters, talking to Kayle. "We could, but what would that do? The day Star died, he certainly wouldn't remember what happened right after he died, would he?" She spoke in her british accent, but stopped when she noticed the ambassador being held in a small interrogation chamber. "Look, there he is" Then she watched as Lance turned and walked towards a door as a gunshot rung out in the background. She stood so quickly that it knocked her chair down. "What???"

 

"It... Seems..." Lance spoke through his slow breaths as he looked up at Samantha, a smirk crossing his face despite the pain. "The Emperor's... Going to be... So dissapointed..." He laughed a little before grunting at the heaviness that was growing in his mind, heading down through the rest of him, as though increasing his muscle's weight far beyond that of deuranium... Though that could have just been Lance's mind tricking him.

 

-----------------------------------------

 

Ulrich paces the confines of the small interrogation chamber in which Kayle was linked up to a chair tightly. He was waiting for her conciousness to return. There was something about her that seemed familiar. Maybe she was one of the Nod's prisoners at one time, but there was a nagging feeling underneath that made him wonder who she really was.

 

Was she resistance? What was she doing in the Union? The resistance were normally too stubborn to leave their villages. Maybe this one was ordered to aid the Union? Whatever the reason, he needed to ask her some questions. Then the rest is up to the emperor.

 

"Wake up" Ulrich spoke with force as he sat across from her in the shadows, the only light in the room glaring down onto Kayle.

 

Kayle winced as the light peered down through her eyes. Then she heard a loud voice that opened her eyes to look ahead. Despite the headache she struggled with the binds behind her. "Who are -?"

 

Before she could finish a memory engulfed her, one she was sure she never had.

 

"What do we do?" I asked frantically to the man beside me, as we ran down an alleyway with footsteps following close behind.

 

She turned to look at the one running beside her but just as quickly as a twinkle of an eye in which she barely got a glimpse, the memory faded away.

 

Kayle was in a trance the entire time but when she snapped out, she gasped and sat back, but when she realized what she had done she tried to force a sense of courage into her and sat up straight, waiting to see what he would do.

 

Ulrich was sitting in a chair not too far from Kayle, his arms folded in front of him, hidden under a black leather coat and gloves. The chamber was a lot more lighted than the one Lance and Jack were in but it wasn't very bright. Flat computer screens flashed and changed with new information all the time as scanners collected data from the nanoprobes in Kayle's mind.

 

Kayle groaned for a minute as she forced her groginess away. The man sitting in front of her tried his best to look intimidating, but no Nod officer was ever going to intimidate Kayle. She saw the Nod Empire as nothing more than cowards and she refused to believe that they could ever one day become a peaceful union like Vinca once was. ~It's about time things changed for the good~

 

"Who are YOU?" Kayle countered as she glared at the man, matching his intimidation as best she could while being locked up on the chair. He seemed familiar, but she really couldn't place a name. ~It's just my imagination playing with me. I should have gotten more sleep before trying to defend Xonra~

 

"A name means nothing on the battlefield" Ulrich stood, as though having been offended by her question, but he clasped his hands behind him as he stepped around her. "Why don't you answer my question first. Who are you?"

 

There was a short silence as Kayle wondered how to respond. ~If I tell him my real name, things could get messy if he discovers anything about me in the Empire database~ She opened her mouth to lie, but stopped as she turned and looked back at him. ~But then again, if I don't, and he has the rest of the team imprisoned here, he could harm them~ She stopped for a moment more and only looked up at him blankly.

 

"I asked.." Ulrich turned and grabbed her jaw with his powerful fingers, his stare becoming more icy cold than before. "What your name is" He slowly released the jaw but didn't move from his spot standing nearby.

 

"As you said" Kayle smirked as she looked up at him through the small light. "A name means nothing on the battlefield"

 

Ulrich turned around and smiled back. "Cute. But if I need sarcasm, I'll talk to the children at the orphanage" The orphanages in the Empire weren't very well structured as most money had to be placed in military and putting down rebellions. That was why so many people lived in the Deep Districts and were poor, because the Empire didn't have a lot of money to begin with. "Now once again I'm going to ask you patiently. What is your name?"

 

Kayle scowled before she finally took a deep breath and replied truthfully, "Kayle. Kayle N Reman. There, now can you just take me to my cell? You don't need any information from a resistance member like me"

 

"Kayle." Ulrich spoke the name slowly as it crossed his mind who this was. Finally, taking one more look at her he realized who she was. "Kayle? Wait a minute. Do you recognize me?" He could remember her being held in the cryostasis pod where the DNA rearrangement process was taking place. He remembered being so optimistic about the project until they discovered it didn't work. Maybe it did, but at a later date. Ulrich was going to find out.

 

"No" Kayle quickly spoke. "Why should I?" She gasped suddenly as an image flashed into her mind..

 

Standing in the clearing of jungle at night, she could clearly see the one shining star over the others and the two moons. But her attention focused on something more immediate, something much closer. Surrounded by men in long black trenchcoats and similar black uniforms, all of which were carrying thick black pistols, she stepped back once and nearly bumped into someone who was standing behind her.

 

Slowly turning to see who it was, she recognized the man who looked back at her. It was Ulrich, younger, and smirking as though he knew they would be escaping out of this alive. Though her heart was beating, she nodded and held down her adrenaline as she turned to look back at the surrounding group. Finally, when Urlich yelled "Now!", she swiftly crouched and threw her hands into her belt holsters, removing two fully automatic Glock 18s and knocking off the safety, spraying bullets in a semi-circle around her at the guards.

 

Reality seemed to return too fast, leaving her slightly dizzy as she took a deep breath and looked up. "Ulrich" She could still see him out of the corner of her eye since she was looking directly away from him. "It was you? You saved me?"

 

Ulrich didn't expect such a straightforward answer so it caught him off guard. Was it possible? That the experiment the Nod performed on her shortly after the Empire's victory those four years ago? "Re-Rebecca?" He trembled as he looked into Kayle's eyes. It wasn't the same person, and yet her voice, her memories. He nearly forgot he was talking to a resistance member. "C-Can you hear me?"

 

Kayle stopped for a minute, looking off into the darkness. She remembered that memory as though it was her own, but when Ulrich called out another name, she knew it wasn't hers. She was probably more scared now than when she was dragged out of her home at a young age by Empire soldiers. Was there someone inside of her? "I.." She turned to look at Ulrich, her expression one of fright. "How do I know you?"

 

"We had to fight those attackers off remember?" His hand reached out to hers, but he realized her hands were locked behind her, keeping her trapped in the chair. He slowly folded his hands back in front of him as his eyes never diverted from hers. "I told you to run, remember? After I escaped them, I tried to find you but never could. Instead I found Jason. The Nod offered to help me find you"

 

This part of her memory still wasn't fresh in her mind and Kayle could barely remember anything about having run from the conflict. But although she hated Ulrich immensly, something inside her told her to trust him. "Did they?"

 

"We searched for years. During the war, I searched every town for signs of you, but failed" Ulrich knew this was a resistance member he was talking to, and like all resistance members, he despised them. But Kayle was different. The experiment left her holding the memories of his best friend, the woman whom he met when... somebody... was looking for them. "You were in danger. I had to tell you to leave, to run"

 

"Why?" Kayle asked, interested as this wasn't Ulrich's normal way of talking to resistance members. But she didn't feel like talking to him as though he was a serial killer. That memory made her feel more comfortable talking to him, like she'd known him her whole life. "You didn't have to tell me. We were in it together, remember? Our attackers weren't just after you, they were after me!" Kayle gasped as there was so much emotion in that, but it wasn't hers.

 

Ulrich broke into a smile after hearing that. So the experiment did work. The memories may not affect the personalities of the subjects, but it apparently affected their views. As if they were two people put together, one who remembers one set of events, the other remembering a completely different set. It must be confusing, but Ulrich could already tell that depending on the situation, certain memories will rise up. "So you are still alive" Ulrich reached forward, imagining it was Rebecca, and carressed Kayle's cheek. "They told me you were dead. But I knew you could never die"

 

Kayle sighed, her memories mixed together with the memories of this other person. She took it harder than she thought, she was starting to believe she was Rebecca, yet she knew she wasn't. Two memories, living in one mind. She was two people, still herself and yet also Rebecca. "Ulrich, I.. was found by Central Intelligence agents and they helped me. I looked for you too, but couldn't find you" The memories of Kayle and Rebecca both were similar in one aspect, "But I've been fighting the Nod for a long time. They tried to kill me, so many times"

 

"Rebecca, I.." Ulrich paused, taking short and shallow breaths. "I don't want you involved. Not with the Nod, not with anything going on right now" He quickly stood up and wrestled a small blue flat crystal device and stepped around behind her, unlocking the antigravity chains that bound her hands. "Promise me" He whispered shortly before the antigrav locks deactivated. "That you will find a place the Empire hasn't touched, and you will stay there and make a life for yourself"

 

Her hands unchained, Kayle almost considered making a break for it, her stubborn resistance side flowing with the adrenaline of excitement at the possibility of an escape. But Rebecca's side overpowered her and she could still remember Ulrich's help with great clarity. She slowly turned back towards him and looked into his eyes. "I can't leave you. Not now" She reached up and took his hands into hers, her eyes never straying from his.

 

"No.." Ulrich choked. This couldn't happen, she was too valuable to him. After parts of Rebecca's DNA was implanted into Kayle, she held the last piece of life that remained of Rebecca. "Just go" Tears slowly welled up from inside him and he quickly put his lips to hers until he was afraid Empire soldiers would enter the room. "I'll cover your escape. Just don't get mixed up in this again, alright?" Before she could say anything else, he unholstered his fully automatic pistol and walked to the door, slamming it behind him before she could get up and follow.

 

The sounds of gunshots rung through the corridors outside, loud automatic weapon fire. Guards hit the wall and grunted as they slipped into unconsciousness. Kayle ran towards the door and looked out, her hands planted on it's cold metal surface. Her resistance side became even more anxious to leave, but Rebecca's side was screaming through her head.

 

-----------------------------

 

The light blue glow of the console screen left a soft color on Nora's face. She stared out at the star-filled sky as the hovercopter transport flew over the billowy clouds. Her hair was smudged in several spots by the debris left from the battle and small gashes of dry blood scared her cheeks.

 

Not but an hour ago, Alissa had visited the ruins of Xonra during a battle to retrieve and escape with Nora, who was queen of the Vinca Union at the time. Now with the capital city destroyed and many Union citizens lost, she was queen of nothing, and that thought terrified her, leaving her contemplating how she could have saved the Union had she taken more action.

 

But all she could think of right now was Alissa. Nora had refused to leave the battlefield and Alissa wouldn't leave without her. When that neurolaser orb exploded nearby, it injured Alissa and Nora found it hard not to blame herself.

 

The door seperating the two compartments of the transport slid open and a light on the side of the flat crystal screen went off for a second, before lighting back up as the door slid closed behind the man who stepped out. "She'll survive. A few cuts and bruises weren't enough to stop our Minister of Defense."

 

Nora smiled, not tearing her eyes away from the sky for one moment. One star shined down on her as though trying to reach her, to talk to her. "That's good to hear." She turned around and uncrossed her arms, focusing on the man. "Thank you Banjo."

 

"You're welcome, Your Majesty." Banjo held up a hand before Nora could react. He knew exactly what she was thinking. Without a Union, there could be no queen. But he disagreed. "It's alright. It'll take a while to learn not to call you queen anymore. But you'll have your kingdom back in no time, I promise."

 

Banjo remembers how Star recommended him to the FSA a long time ago. It was because not only was Banjo talented in medicine, but his personality was far from pessimistic. His confidence was a trait one could rarely find outside the assassin guilds.

 

He walked over to the console, a flat crystal touch-screen with a black background, and lightly tapped a series of buttons to show a body scan. "I mended the light cracks of her bones here." He indicated the lower back. "It's not major, she'll be fully healed in a few hours and I can wake her up. By the way, where are we going?"

 

Nora swept her hand over the console and lightly hit one of the flashing buttons on the screen. The body diagram was replaced with a map and a preplanned route, a light blue dot running along a red line stretching from Xonra to a small town in western Meriopolis. Even now, the ability to retrieve location information without the use of a satellite intrigued Nora, but she didn't know all the specifics.

 

"A small town called Siem. Apparently the Nod haven't touched that town, but there are also no reports of a rebellion." She felt the transport rock slightly and she quickly grabbed onto an overhanging rail. "Must be turbulence. I'll go check with the pilot."

 

Alissa slowly awoke as she felt the transport rumble under her. There were no other doctors or nurses in the room, and it looked like a hastily constructed medical lab, built from a cargo room, with shelves on either side holding strapped down vials and other containers of medicine and medical technology.

 

Slowly rising from the bed, she touched her face. It was numb, but she could feel the roughness of the dry blood through her fur. Another rumble in the transport made her grip on the metal bed even tighter, before she took in a big gulp of air and left her chamber.

 

Exiting into the longer - but still relatively small - passenger compartment, she found nobody there. Three flat display screens gripped onto the corners of the walls, glowing blue and white. Tiny buttons on the screen flashed on and off at seemingly random intervals, their tiny text hurting her eyes.

 

She turned from the console just in time to feel the transport rock once more and see the clouds smothering the window. No sky could be seen and the room became slightly colder, sending a chill through her spine. "Where are we?"

 

Finally the transport touched down in a field outside the town. The hovercopter's armor gleamed a cold white after a radar cloak was activated from the cockpit, keeping the Empire's satellites from detecting their landing point. It was activated during flight as well, but wasn't as strong, so when it came to a halt, it became more invisible than just a faint reading.

 

Nora quickly left the cockpit and found Alissa standing in front of the hastily constructed medical compartment. "Minister" She became more formal when she realized she may have caused the accident. "I'm sorry. I should have listened to you."

 

Alissa's head became slightly clearer and she realized it was Nora talking to her. "No.. It's okay, Nora. And please call me Alissa."

 

Banjo was in the compartment with the two shortly after checking the sensors. "Don't worry, the Empire hasn't det-" He stopped when he saw Alissa in the compartment. "Um, Minister." He walked up and helped steady her as her mind cleared. "You should get some rest"

 

"I've had plenty of rest during the transport, thank you doctor." Alissa denied his offer of help and instead walked to the door. "We should be departing if the Empire hasn't followed us. But first." She stopped at the door and turned to look at Nora. "Where are we?"

 

"In western Meriopolis, Siem. A town untouched by the Empire, at least as far as reports show" Nora replied.

 

"That's hard to believe. Not one village in Meriopolis has went without contact with the Empire, whether it be friendly or hostile" Alissa opened the door, which folded out a set of steps leading down to the wet grassy terrain. She reached back to a panel near the door and pulled the latch down, then forced it open. Wrapping her fingers around one of the Seburo AP-9, she took it with her when she stepped out of the transport. "Everyone be on guard."

 

After stepping off the transport, Alissa cold clearly smell the scent of nature as the stars shine down quietly over the treetops. She felt tense at the quiet of the forest. After stepping down completely, she turned to look at Nora and Banjo. "So where is this town?"

 

Nora followed Alissa closely behind as though being protective, with her gun scanning the edge of the forest. "I had the pilot put us down in a part of the forest where the villagers wouldn't see our landing. But just in case" She turned as soon as she stepped off and looked back at the transport as it began silently shimmering until it finally disappeared, leaving only a clear transparency from where it once was. She turned back to Alissa and walked up next to her. "Just in case, the pilot's going to stay with the transport. We'll use it is a base of operations, but we should see what we can find from the town"

 

"Day will break soon" Banjo stepped off the transport as well, carrying his scanner. The scans weren't bringing up anything in the quiet woodlands, nothing Furcadian. He put his gun back into it's holster, trying not to disturb the peace of the forest. When he was young, he could remember traversing long distances through the woodland of Meriopolis. That experience could still come in handy. "I could probably navigate us through these woods"

 

"Go ahead" Nora stepped back and let Banjo take the lead as her breath became slower and more relaxed. She was still tense, and the cold of the night was giving her breath a grey mist. "Hurry, we should try and get out of this weather"

 

There was noise from the edge of the woods, Amy could hear it. She navigated her scanner towards the source and quickly masked her own signature using a small field that would block out active scans, though passive scans still had an effect. Luckily, nobody suspected she was there. She discovered three people and by the voices and what they were saying, they were from the Union. But she still couldn't be sure, so she turned and ran back as silently as she could to her own base of operations.

 

Alissa looked over at Banjo's scans as she began to follow him through the thick woods, every step they made resounding against the bark of the trees. Her breathing became harder with every step. The cold really wasn't helping her in this condition, Jack Frost's nipping at the wounds on her arms and neck making the pain even worse. She made a good effort at masking her pain as she walked in front of Nora and tried to keep up with Banjo.

 

The steps from the leader slowed down as they began to exit the forest edge to the small town. He could see a few light shining from the windows of several buildings and he crouched down behind a bush, signalling the others to do the same. "Looks like we found the village" Banjo whispered. "Are you sure there are no Empire soldiers here?" He glanced back at Nora.

 

"I'm certain. Look, there's no military barracks or any signs of military here" Nora's eyes skimmed over many of the buildings as she identified every one of them as civilian homes. "Just a bunch of houses. There could be a resistance force in the area, but I doubt it"

 

"Careful with your doubts" Alissa said as she also looked through the city streets at the inactiveness of it's homes. Many of the people were probably asleep or at least in their homes, nowhere outside in this kind of cold. It was strange for Meriopolis to be so cold, but some things had changed since the introduction of so many far-away megacities that dotted the landscape, putting the climate into a mix. Or maybe it was just today's weather that was cold. "I don't think the rebellion will believe we're survivors. They may think we're Ghosts, remember the stories the Empire started spreading at the end of the war?"

 

"I remember" Banjo slowly began to move out from behind the bush, his scanner still busy identifying where everyone was. "We should move quickly and quietly. There may be an abandoned building somewhere with some items that could be of use, or maybe a market we can steal from"

 

"Steal, Banjo?" Alissa raised an eyebrow at the notion and looked at him as though a mother scolding her child with a single look. "What is it the Union was always trying to prevent? What do you think it is we stood for?"

 

Banjo sighed and stepped out of the woods. "I guess you're right" He was never one to argue with a higher official like Alissa, but he still was skeptical. The Union was gone, so why couldn't they steal for survival? He knew what the Union stood for, but this was no time to let elementry school lessons get in the way with a revolution. "But we need to get supplies somehow"

 

Nora saw Banjo's skeptisism and had to admit, stealing sounded like a plan right about now. But she too stood by Alissa. "Then we'll scavenge" Nora spoke clearly, though she didn't mean to be so sharp. "What if someone recognizes us? Would we be making a good impression on them by stealing?"

 

Suddenly, out of the forest behind them, several people with Seburo SAR-21 assault rifles jumped out of the bushes and pointed their weapons at the group. There was no war cry or anything, just silence until they ambushed them. Their uniforms were varied, mainly civilian outfits, some men with brown heavy jackets for the weather, and the women with similar black leather jackets and other assorted clothing amongst them. But all in all, the group outfits looked untouched by weapons fire.

 

Alissa quickly turned and looked at the people, noticing their uniforms weren't Nod, which relieved her just a bit. Their weapons were the same that the Vinca Union military had used during the dark chapters war. All of this she processed in a few moments, but she couldn't tell which one was the leader. She quietly said nothing but didn't turn to run either.

 

As for the queen, Nora was surprised by the sudden ambush and her weapon was already in her hand the moment she heard movement in the woods. She was still uptight and tense during the entire situation, but her gun wasn't aimed at any of them as she knew she wouldn't have time, their own guns already pointing directly at them. "A resistance team?" She glanced over at Alissa and sighed, a smirk crossing her face as she dropped the weapon. "Okay Alissa, you're right. Sorry"