BZPB REBORN

[Shuttle, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy, Unknown Space]

*Without a need for further prompting, Gene lines up the shuttle towards the hangar bay exit before executing a rolling exit, using the roll to accelerate into space. The pilot let the shuttle roll a few more times, helping dissipate built-up heat to avoid the craft radiating a noticeable heat-signature, in addition to getting a feel for how the craft handles as it speeds through space. Sometimes, that's just the best way to see how it would handle high stress turns.

Next to and behind him, in the co-pilot's seat and the passenger compartment respectively, he could hear groans and other noises of discomfort from his co-pilot and passengers. Apparently they didn't appreciate the fine art that was a rollback exit from the frigate's hangar bay. Or perhaps Gene wrongly assumed that they were safely strapped in.

Either way, the pilot knew his job, and right now that was to get the shuttle through the convoy's defensive elements and into the main transport ship in the middle of the flotilla in once piece. He started piercing the corvette line guarding the left flank of the convoy, activating the shuttle's built-in ECM suite to avoid passive sensor detection as well as taking care to stay out of effective physical line-of-sight of the warships.

In a few short but nerve-wracking moments, they had managed to pass safely through the defensive line, somehow managing to escape a couple of close calls. In front of Gene, the main objective of their mission loomed, the cargo hauler the size of a standard military cruiser. This is a blockade runner transport, one of the fastest types of industrial ships available. Utilizing sturdy but lightweight construction materials and sacrificing some cargo space, these haulers are able to reach speeds greater than those of a cruiser while withstanding heavy fire - factors which make them ideal for zipping through dangerous territories with valuable cargo.

The pilot slowly powered down the engines, letting the shuttle come to a coasting speed as he carefully manoeuvred it into the ship's hangar bay. He keyed the button to override the lock on the doors of the shuttle.*

Gene: Alright, ready up, guys! We'll be in combat range in a couple of minutes.

-------

[Blockade Runner Transport, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy, Unknown Space]

*The engineer suit-clad wolf was enjoying a nice sandwich and a good view of space from a large balcony overlooking the spacious hangar bay when he notices a shuttle entering and starting to obnoxiously land in the middle of the bay.*

Wolf: That's weird. I didn't think we'd be having any visitors any time soon. 'Sides, that ship looks different than the others here, almost like they're...

*The sandwich slips from the wolf's grasp and falls unceremoniously to the ground as his mind immediately goes into high-alert. He unholsters a Takashi APP-3 compact .45 pistol and takes cover behind a stack of heavy metal crates near the edge of the balcony.*

Wolf: Dammit. Why do things always go to hell with me?

<Vongola, Uteriach's Palace, Day of Yuy's Assassination>

Uteriach: "Good, because I was kidding about selling it. My motivation is change. I shall bring justice, like you, but we differ on the means. My people were wronged, many peoples were. I shall put them in their rightful place. Are you with me, Emperor? Perhaps you'd prefer a simple trade deal. Or...are you against us?"

---

<Vongola, Burjua Sector, The Next Day>

Most of the sector was burning, with many houses reduced to a smoldering heap. An hour had passed since Cromwell gave her information to Rahksha, and he was getting desperate. Meanwhile, a group of soldiers escorted the wealthy individuals and families loyal to Uteriach to a nearby transport ship. They were to be brought to the palace for sanctuary, and to discuss the economy and finances of the Vongolan People's Republic moving forward.

Rahksha: "The things he does to avoid capital flight."

The K'thaanic walked up to Joshua Kozín, and grabbed his shoulder. The group stopped and observed.

Rahksha: *whispering menacingly* "This goes for you, and your fellow gentry. Memento mori. This protection is temporary. Uteriach and I can only keep the masses at bay for so long, especially those driven solely by ideology. You see, they laud you because you are their ally, but make ONE mistake...."

He snapped his finger in front of Kozín's face, startling him.

Rahksha: "And they will eat you alive, like a traitor. Watch yourself, Kozín."

Joshua scowled at Rahksha, and nodded his head.

Josh: "Thanks for the advice."

Rahksha: "Keep them moving!"

---

<Malchior IV, the Norman's house, five days after Yuy's assassination>

Klak woke up that morning feeling a lot stronger than he did after the incident with the Craft of Laigula. He got up and prepared himself for the day. After all, it was the penultimate day of his holiday. It was a miracle that the department did not call him in for duty after the assassination. Thankfully, their jurisdiction remained relatively calm after the news broke out; no riots, just sadness.

Klak silently prayed that Yuy's assassin, Figlio, and Caiaphus all be brought to justice as he pulled out a cork board full of pictures and notes.  

---

<Pi'lar frigate #1, FDAYA>

Regina Faral: "Roger that, Ash."

Lalli: "Yep. Ladies first."

Lalli smiled at Regina, and stared intently at Ashton, almost as if he were calling him a lady.

Meanwhile, Regina rushed down the bay and saw a handful of guards cradling blasters walking down a nearby corridor. She quickly fired her pistol at the guards, dispatching them in seconds. They all had to be fast, precise, and clean to avoid anyone in the convoy being alerted to their presence. After all, this was a false-flag operation.

Lalli Cain: "Keep going. The closer we can get to the control room, the closer we are to hacking it."

Regina Faral: "Right. Ashton, Fourteen told me he implanted the schematics of the ship in your mind. You'll be our guide."

Lalli Cain: "Freaking telepaths."

Fourteen: "*telepathically* I heard that."

They silently dashed into the corridor, looking around to see if there were any hallways that led to the ship's control room. Lalli looked at Ashton in the midst of this with a confused look on his face.

Lalli Cain: "I know I ask this every time we're on a mission together, Ashton, but what kind of a last name is "Carney"? Were your ancestors carnies?"

Regina Faral: "Shut up, Lalli."

---

<Shuttle, Pi'lar IV Blockade Transport, Same time?

Fourteen: "Ta, Gene. Sruban, you're with me. Gene, take Dreis to the next ship."

The pirate contacted Lincoln through the shuttle's communications device.

Fourteen: "Lincoln, you'll meet Dreis on the ship I just marked in your mind. You both will work together to get rid of everyone on board. Make sure to disrupt their communications. You get to blow it up after you're done."

Fourteen rushed out of the shuttle and brandished his own rifle.

Fourteen: "Let's 'ave some fun."

He sat down and attempted to reach out to one of the guards on the ship to take control of his mind. Fourteen intended to use him to cut off the blockade runner transport's communication from everyone else. It'd allow them to get rid of all witnesses, plant explosives, and search for any cargo on board. Suddenly, he sensed someone in the area. Fourteen pulled out his gun and looked around.

Fourteen: "What the? Sruban, heads up, we're being watched!"

---

<Malchior IV, the Presidential Estate, five days after Yuy's assassination>

President Howard was visibly shocked as he saw the intelligence before him. His eyes darted to Secretary Krieger, who had a worried look on his face.

Sec. Kreiger: "One moment, Ambassador Eachan."

They both stood up, and walked to a corner, whispering to each other.

Howard: *whispering* "You were at that briefing. Our agents assessed with moderate confidence that hadrium was even around this part of the galaxy. How did we miss Coridan getting them?"

Kreiger: *whispering* "I don't know, this must have been a well-kept secret. I'll see if our agency can learn anything about it. Anyway, Tanari's driving a hard bargain"

Howard: *whispering* "What am I to do? If I say no to the deal I might be endangering Malchiorian lives with a war that's twice as deadly. If I say yes, then Pi'lar is doomed, and we are complicit in our operations."

Kreiger: *whispering* "We took an oath to protect the Malchiorian people, both of us. But if it's that much of a decision, why don't you give it a day?"

Howard nodded and sat back down. Kreiger remained standing.

President Howard: *to Silver* "What's the price?"

<Tanari cruiser, escaping Pi'lar IV>

As Edward raged and seethed about his setback, it suddenly occurred to him that he would somehow have to deal with the diplomatic blowback from the incident. He immediately reached for the comm and dialled his new press secretary.

"Hello, Evander? Allman speaking. I need your help. I need you to help explain a... unilateral foreign intervention to the galactic community. I'll send you more info in a minute."

-----

<Malchior IV, the Presidential Estate>

Silver smirked as he watched the two confer. His trump card had worked as intended, and it was now time to up the ante, but not too much, so as to not scare Howard off.

"Well, Mr. President, since you asked so politely." he smiled. "The veto, obviously. We remain adamant on that point. And, perhaps, if you were to consider sending us any secret intelligence you may have collected on Sefer Yetzirah and Prime Minister Long Shortman. I know I'm asking a lot," Eachan sat back in his chair, still smirking. "but if I were to commit us to military exercises which will tie up a portion of our fleet, and hand over so much high-level intelligence without securing adequate compensation, the President would crucify me. You understand, Secretary Krieger." he winked.

-----

<Pi'lar frigate #1>

Ashton glared back at Lalli, as if to say "ha ha, fuck you, bitch", and followed Regina. He noticed the guards when she did and was about to open fire on them, but Regina was quicker on the draw and dispatched them first.

"Nice." he said, not without a hint of disappointment, and followed them through the corridors. Upon hearing Lalli's joke, he pretended to laugh and fired back.

"Hilarious, Cain. Tell me, did any of your ancestors betray their brother?" he said.

-----

<Kyras>

The ambassador nodded, and quickly left the room, eager to return to his embassy and rest.

-----

<The Marunaka, in orbit of Nil'nara>

A small Tanari shuttle docked with the Marunaka. A tanned woman with platinum blonde hair got out, and approached the alien guard.

"Take me to Serecio." she demanded.

-----

<Vongola, on board a ship somewhere>
Thomas P. Kane stood on the bridge of his personal space yacht, waiting for a reply from one of his friends. He'd spent the last few days sending out messages frantically, hoping to build a government-in-exile and discredit the so-called "People's Republic". Pah!

A republic. How could it all go so wrong? Not so long ago, he was a wealthy industrialist, and a member of the King's cabinet. He was lucky enough to be off-planet when the revolution began, which Asved him from the fate of most of the elite.

"Should we leave without them?" the pilot asked.

"No!" Kane barked. "We will wait. This ship is well-hidden. We can wait as long as it takes, and not another drop of noble blood will be spilled if I can help it."

"...Very well."

<Abandoned Tanari Air Base>

Veras grinned as they heard the arrow come loose. "Good!" they shouted, raising their sword. A great gust of wind blew forth from the very ground where Veras stood, scattering the arrow to the side and sending Yenot flying onto his back. "But not good enough. Twas a good plan, Yenot, and a good duel, yet twas not good enough."

Veras stepped forward, as Fragarach blew Yenot to the edge of the steel platform. Black waves that crashed wildly against the edge of the old launch pad, eating away inexorably at its foundation. "You forget Fragarach's other ability - in legend, the sword was said to grant power over the very wind itself. Well, Yenot? Do you have any other tricks up your sleep, Magus of Iron?"

---

<Malchior IV, Palace of the Red Queen>

Cassandra raised an eyebrow, their lips twitching up in a smirk.  "Oh?  Pray tell, where would ones such as you acquire the blood of dragons, long since dead?"  Her face twisted into a frown, her blue eyes glaring into those of those who would approach her.  "I do not kindly to wasted time, nor to empty promises.  Lest you can provide me with proof...Ophelia?"

From the mist, on the other side of the two newcomers, appeared Ophelia.  "My lady."  Her very presence radiated malice, filling the two in there with a cold dread...

---

<David Robert Jones's Quarters>

The machine raised its arms.  "We are no friends of Edward Allman - rather the opposite.  Nor does this unit come here armed - it is merely a messenger for one known as the Magpie.  She wishes to contact you, with a proposition of an alliance."  It paused.  "The Magpie wishes to contact you herself."  It lowered its arms, its chestplate unfolding to reveal a high-tech speaker at its center.

A voice spoke out from the speaker - garbled, of course, giving no indication to its identity.  "Hello, Jones.  You do not know me, but I know you, and I know that you are no friend of Edward Allman.  I am here to give you a proposition which will be beneficial to both of us."  The voice continued, "Our deep-cover agent - codenamed "Raven" - is even now procuring information of Allman's campaign plans - and such, we require one of your expertise.  We are called the Blackwing Group, and it is our offer that you join us in our crusade against Allman."

---

<Makaul, Capital of Corrantia>

Seeing the guards open fire, Azrael raised his hand, and the very shadows on the wall moved to intercept it, creating a wall of purest darkness, the surface of which rippled with each impact.  Azrael knew the barrier would not hold for long - yet it bought him precious time - time with which he could scan the room for.

Ah.

There it was - a flash drive, exactly like the one in the photo Blackout had sent him.  He took it from the table, inserting into a computer another one.  Now, any copy of the data - or anything pertaining to Allman in general - would be destroyed.  He stepped into the shadow once again.  When the barrier of darkness inevitably broke, Azrael was gone.

---

<Bridge of the Cethlenn>

Fergus slapped his knee, laughing uproariously at Ciro's japes.  "Your tongue has not lost its cleverness since the last time I've seen you, I see.  A pleasure as always."  He stopped, looking back down, all business again.  "You are correct, I have no claim on these Golden Boats.  Have you heard of a man known as Ozar?"

<Pi'lar IV Blockade Transport>

Sruban spun around and raised his weapon, alerted by Fourteen to the presence of an observer, yet he could see none.

"Show yerself!" Sruban growled, loud enough for anyone nearby to hear but not loud enough to alert the rest of the ship. He moved forward down the corridor and tweaked the red LED on his weapon to brighten the area in front of him. As he waved the light in front of him, it revealed a crate, a toolbox and a futuristic trash can in front of a garbage chute. As Sruban approached the trash can, he heard frantic munching and slurping noises coming from it.

"What the hell?" Sruban muttered, and screamed when an alien face burst out of the garbage. The face was orange with opaque black eyes, and had thick, featureless tentacles where the lips and hair should be. The alien's eyes widened when it saw Sruban, though it was more surprised than scared.

"Hello."

Sruban stared at it with his mouth agape, and the alien breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh. You're not one of the guards," it croaked. "Good."

The alien then dove back into the trash, and Sruban backed away towards Fourteen. When he bumped into the reptilian pirate, he told him that it was a false alarm and that they could continue with their operation. Sruban then shot a couple of mines onto the walls of the corridor he came from, and primed them with the control pad on his weapon.

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

<The Marunaka>

The Arokazek nodded and smiled at the Tanari agent, revealing two rows of silver teeth. It gestured her to follow it with one of its four purple arms, and strutted off towards an elevator. After a long elevator ride, and a journey down a series of winding corridors, the two finally arrived at Serecio's location. When the doors opened, the woman found herself faced with an unusually messy room, with the floor littered with mechanical parts and discarded pieces of armour. She carefully crossed the floor, being careful not to step on any sharp objects that would pierce her shoes, towards the Dachori, who was sitting in a large black chair against a wall. Several Arokazek workers were operating on him, fusing his flesh with armour, while he sat in the chair and looked bored. When the agent grabbed his attention by clearing her throat, Serecio waved the Arokazek away and leaned forward forward on the chair, resting his head on his hand.

"I am Serecio di Romulo. What brings you to Nil'nara?"

< Shangri-La, Sefer's House >

Sefer smirked. "Uteriach, if you had actually wanted a trade deal, you would've phoned Shortman. Even you're not that stupid."

She stood up, walking to the window. Through the open portion of the colony wall the Melchior 07 shipyards were visible; the partially built Divine Providence sat at the center of it, surrounded by the Dai-Takemikazuchi Tenkoku Kaigun's Seventh Fleet, which had recently returned to the homeland for mass refits.

"Now, the other alternatives you proposed were an alliance, or animosity. The Takemikazuchi make no secret of our isolationism, Uteriach, which makes your suggestion of me 'standing with you' somewhat... curious. Perhaps you hoped to intimidate me into an alliance with a mention of your weapon of mass destruction... in which case, you have failed." she said, leaning against the wall, still looking out of the window. "Being able to destroy 'entire star fleets' is the basic combat rating for one of our Akatsuki-class Destroyers. You might have known that if your little revolution hadn't torched every government intelligence report it could get its hands on."

She looked away from the window, leaning with her back against the wall.

"So, let's revisit the situation. Alliance, or animosity. You know the former isn't - and never was - on the table. On the other hand, I don't particularly want to go to war with you, Uteriach - I generally try to avoid it at all costs. But, I'll leave the final decision to you - as they say; suicide is the ultimate expression of free will." she said, hanging up.

Lilith shot into the room, a horrified look on her face, just as Sefer threw the phone in the general direction of the door, narrowly missing her.

"What's wrong?"

---

< Shangri-La, Melchior 07 Spaceport, fifteen minutes prior >

Al-Shariz looked across the rear of the van, at the rest of the occupants. They were all dressed in white; Al-Shariz wore a white turtleneck and loose-fitting white slacks, under a similarly-colored longcoat. His silver hair was slicked back over his head. The rest of the men wore similar clothing, with the unifying factor being their white longcoats, and the LMGs they carried across their laps. They sat in silence, waiting for their signal to move out.

It came. An explosion rocked the van, and the doors flung open. The facade of the terminal had been leveled by a car bomb, and panic ensued as pedestrians fled the site of the explosion. The men pushed their way through, entering the terminal through the shattered glass doors. They stood in a clearing, across from a mass of scared civilians who had fled deeper into the terminal complex, away from the bomb-laden doors. The men stood in a line formation, racking the bolts of their guns, and aiming them towards the crowd.

"So that we may be free."

---

< Shangri-La, Melchior Central News, four hours later >

Aberhart stood behind the podium, dressed in a black suit and tie. There was no flag hung behind him, and there was no ambience in the conference hall. Only silence, as he collected his words.

"Citizens of the Empire. Today I'm... I'm short for words on how to address this tragedy. Never in the history of the Empire has such a tremendous, devastating loss of innocent life occurred. And never has one so easily preventable occurred. Shortman's administration has stripped the Shinsengumi of the powers it needed to prevent this kind of atrocity - in the name of privacy. In the name of ideals - well, citizens of the Empire, I ask you - what good are ideals when six-hundred men, women and children are dead?! You may look down on me for politicizing such an issue but the simple truth is that Shortman's liberal agenda has, today, cost lives! Innocent, Takemikazuchi lives! And for what? Did-"

Reed turned off the television. The room fell dark. He looked across to LaFayette, who was in a state of mild shock.

"He'll never recover from this... we're done for."

Reed smiled, walking to the whiskey cabinet, and pouring himself a second glass. He gently sipped it as he paced the room. "Aberhart's done his job excellently."

"What?"

"The seed's been sown. The people are angry at Aberhart for politicizing the crisis, but more importantly they're angry at the fact it happened in the first place." he said, taking a sip. "He's given them a target to vent their rage at. They may hate the man, but they'll accept the message - unquestioningly."

"The meme?"

Reed nodded, somewhat impressed. "Aberhart's crafted it, and now we'll ride it all the way to the top. Increased security spending, more surveillance, and greater powers to enforcement agencies. The unenlightened masses will happily sell both their privacy and their liberty if someone promises them that nostalgic feeling of security in exchange."

"And you're going to be that someone?"

"As you said, Aberhart will never recover from this. He'll have to step down as Republican Party leader... and at that point, there'll only be one person amongst their ranks brave enough to try and clear up the mess left by his departure." said Reed, grinning.

<Tanari Air Base>
Yenot laughs it off, "Hard to forget something I never knew. I've done a multitude of research on a number of subjects. Magic swords wasn't one." Vaulting back to his feet, he dusts himself off, and extends his hand for shaking, "But all that means is I have my next subject top look into."

---

<Pi'Lar Frigate #3>

With a clang, thud and then silence, a hole is torn in the bridge of the frigate, the crew being sucked out. Lincoln enters the hole and seals it, removing his space suit for his dress suit, "I'm in."

<Malchior IV, Palace of the Red Queen, Day of Yuy's Assassination>

Keichi pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Ophelia. He slightly shivered.

Keichi: "Stay back, or I'll kill you! I've dealt with your kind before!"

Treskis laughed heartily at Keichi, and patted his shoulder. The latter lowered his weapon, and seemed to mumble an apology to Ophelia.

Treskis: "How fortunate for you that you know your history, because we are not selling that!"

Keichi smirked, and knocked on a nearby wall twice.

Keichi: "Ever heard of The Craft of Laigula?"

Treskis: "A Rider artefact. It is your ticket to power, my lady. And a friend of us is stealing it right about now. We're acting as his mediators, because he intends to sell it. He sends his regards and regrets that he couldn't make it."

OOS: DUN DUN DUUUUUN!!!

---

<Vongola, Uteriach's Palace, Same Day>

Uteriach cackled like a jackal when the enraged Sefer hung up. He stood up, and put away the bottle of whiskey. He called for his attendant to come and take the cup away, and prepared to go to bed.

Uteriach: "And the plan moves forward. One empire, great and free."  

---

<Vongola, on board a ship somewhere, The Next Day>

A hologram sputtered to life aboard Thomas P. Kane's ship. It was Joshua Kozín, hiding in a bathroom at Uteriach's palace.

Joshua: "Kane? Come in, Kane! The infiltration has been successful."

((Came up with this recently, if you don't want it to happen I'll edit it out.))

---

<Pi'Lar Frigate #1, Five Days After Yuy's Assassination>

Lalli Cain: "Well, technically-"

Regina: "Shhh. How close are we?"

Lalli Cain: "Close enough. I'll start hacking into the ship's mainframe."

He suddenly realized that this would result in pairing up Regina and Ashton to place the explosives on strategic locations throughout the ship. Cain noted that he made a huge mistake, and started to hack into the frigate's controls using the datapad on his wrist.

Regina: "Shall we?"

She walked down the hallway and placed a mine. Suddenly, five guards yelled and came down the corridor, shooting at her. Regina fired at two of them, but had to take cover. Another group of soldiers attempted to flank her, coming around the other way. They were behind Lalli and Carney, but Cain was able to hear them, and turned around and shot one in the head.

---

<Pi'lar IV Blockade Transport (Frigate #2), Same Time>

Fourteen nodded at Sruban and gave him a thumbs up. He assumed that the coast was clear and started passing by Wolf's hiding spot, unaware that he was there. Suddenly, the Liquid Metalliconite's head perked up, as if hearing something.

Fourteen: *telepathically to all the mercenaries* "Lincoln, did you just blow a hole in the ship?"

He laughed loudly, and continued communicating to his crew.

Fourteen: "Dreis, you're gonna have fun with this guy. Get a space suit, and keep it moving. Gene, get him there before Lincoln takes out the whole bloody fleet on his own!"

The pirate turned to Sruban and smiled, baring his unkempt and razor-sharp teeth.

Fourteen: "I love demolitions experts. Let's go!"

OOS: Waiting on Red and Clay for the rest.

---

<Malchior IV, the Presidential Estate, five days after Yuy's assassination>

President Howard gulped as he considered the offer. Eachan drove a hard bargain, and it was time for a serious cost-benefit analysis. But he would need time.

Pres. Howard: "Give me a day, and I'll come up with a response. How does that sound, Ambassador?"

Secretary Krieger nodded.

---

<Malchior IV, 6 miles/10.5 km from the hamlet of Prem, Same Day>

Caiaphus was sitting on a mountain, silently observing his surroundings. He had spent the last few days in the area after Paul had dropped him off there. Occasionally he would obtain food and water to nourish his body using money that Paul had so generously donated, but today was a day of fasting. A day of plotting.

---

OOS: Start remembering what you read.  

<Malchior IV, Klak's House, same day>

Dr. Pa Vell entered the room, noticing that Klak was feverishly at work. He smiled at the cork board. Although it was a little old-fashioned compared to the technology available throughout the galaxy, it was an effective method of figuring things out.

Vell: "How is the investigation holding up?"

Klak: The person that stole the ship may be connected to the new government in Vongola, but I'm not entirely sure. It can't be a coincidence that a day after a Rider comes into power on a distant planet, another one that looks similar to him shows up looking for an alleged weapon of mass destruction.  

Vell: "Well, no such thing as a coincidence."

Klak: Indeed!

Dr. Vell noticed something on the corner of one of the photos. He leaned forward, and saw that it was an "M" that had been printed in dark red ink. Next to it was what looked like a half-printed "A".

Vell: "What is that?"

Klak glanced at the marking from his chair, and shrugged.

Klak: Watermark, I suppose. Or I accidentally wrote on it.

He moved closer to it, and nodded.

Klak: Definitely a watermark.

Had he been more perceptive when he woke up, he would have noticed that his red pen was not in the same place as it was where he remembered leaving it the night before.

---

<Ortmoq Ship Graveyard, A week after Yuy's Assassination, three days before the near-annexation of Pi'Lar>

The Craft of Laigula slowed down several parsecs away from the graveyard, arriving at a full stop. Inside, a crew of Vongolan special forces buzzed around, making the necessary preparations. Figlio adjusted his usual armor, making sure he looked prim and proper for the show that was about to begin. One of the crewmen turned on a camera to begin the broadcast. Meanwhile, a small drone stationed on one of the derelict ships sputtered to life, and turned on its optics.

Crewman: "5...4....3....2....1."

Major news sources throughout the galaxy suddenly had their programs interrupted. The message would also be sent to several major leaders.

Figlio: "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Figlio di Armechio. My father is Generalissimo Uteriach di Armechio of the Vongolan People's Republic. I have a message for you all, a warning to some, and a call to action for others. For too long, the peoples of the universe have been oppressed, but the time is ripe for reform. We can bring meaningful change. Unfortunately, as a man once said, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. I am standing inside that very gun."

The camera zoomed out, showing the control room of the Craft.

Figlio: "Like it? It is known as the Craft of Laigula. An ancient weapon built by my ancestors, known to you as 'The Riders'. It is capable of destroying entire fleets. But how does this differ than, say, an Akatsuki-class Destroyer? Well, Laigula can take on entire planets, or, if you're ambitious enough, entire solar systems. I know you're probably confused, so I'll clarify. A few parsecs away from my location is the Ortmog ship graveyard, one of the biggest dumps in the galaxy."

The camera cut to the drone's vision, showing a variety of derelict ships from scores of different states, corporations, and fleets. Figlio's voice could be heard over the visuals.

Figlio: "Observe. Note, I'm no quantum physicist, so I have no idea how this works."

The Craft's systems hummed angrily, and minutes later, shrieked as they fired a blue bolt. Once the bolt hit one of the abandoned ships, a wormhole of sorts opened. The drone was sucked in, along with several other derelict spaceships. The footage cut back to Figlio as the "wormhole" closed.

Figlio: "Do not take this as a threat, my friends. The Craft of Laigula will not be used with malicious intent. We merely wish to illustrate a point: all those who oppress their people will regret doing so while they are being dragged through the streets by their countrymen. To all those who hold political power: We are a force to be reckoned with, but merely ask for change and peaceful relations. To those who are subjugated, remember the slogan: until victory, forever. The Generalissimo looks forward to a wonderful relationship with everyone."

He grinned smugly, and placed his hand on his chin.

Figlio: "Oh, and the Craft is on sale. Starting bid is 3 billion credits. Go nuts. We stand united!"

The transmission ended.

OOS: Waiting on Paws for Allman.

<Pi'lar frigate #1, five days after Yuy's assassination>

Ashton spun around, cocking his gun, and fired twice, killing an incoming soldier. He then took cover around the corner, next to Regina.

"I told you!" he yelled, as he fired at another soldier.

-----

<Malchior IV, the church>

Jones' frown began to turn into a smirk as he listened to "the Magpie"'s message. "That's all very well and good, Mr, or is it Miss 'Magpie'," - one could hear the scare quotes falling into place - "But what proof do I have of your sincerity? You have no reason to hide your identity from me, a man whom Allman has tried to kill so many times - so, who are you, and why should I believe a word you say?"


Meanwhile, Aster and Richard arrived at the church, and began looking for Jones.

-----

<Malchior IV, the Presidential Estate, five days after Yuy's assassination>

"One day, Mr. President." Silver smirked. "Well then, my business here is done. Goodbye, gentlemen. I'll see you again soon." He got up, and left the room and the Estate. He got into the limousine waiting for him, which headed for the Tanari Embassy.

As he sat in the back of the car, he received a phone call. "Ambassador Eachan here." he answered.

"Ambassador Eachan." the man at the other end of the line repeated. "Not anymore."

---

When Eachan arrived at the Embassy, he was in a joyous mood, to the relief of the staff, who nicknamed him "The Screamer". He practically ran into his office, and hugged his secretary (and secret lover).

"My dear, we're moving. I'm the new Foreign Minister." he said, and kissed her.

-----

<Tanari Embassy, Kyras, five days after Yuy's assassination>

"Mr. President, is it... wise to give Ascheron something as powerful as the Key to Silence?" the ambassador said as Edward Allman's hologram stood before him. "He may be friendly, but he is still incredibly dangerous. Should he decide to betray us..."

Allman dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "He will not betray us. And in any case, one Key is all well and good. I have two, not including this one, and I will soon have four. I can counter anything he does."

"If you insist..." the ambassador sighed.

-----

<Makaul, capital of Corrantia>

Puzzled, the guards called their superior. Within an hour, the fortress had been locked down and every soldier and police officer in the capital had been discreetly put on alert. The search was on, not that it would do any good, of course.

-----

<The Marunaka>

The woman cringed slightly at seeing the workers operate on Serecio, and tried to focus on the Rider's face. "I know who you are. My name is Olivia Horwath, and I'm here on behalf of the Tanari. How are your experiments progressing?"

-----

<The Craft of Laigula>

A hologram of Silver Eachan, the new Tanari Foreign Minister, almost immediately materialised in front of Figlio. After seeing the transmission, he had immediately received a call from President Allman demanding that he bid on behalf of the Confederation.

"Greetings, Figlio. I am Foreign Minister Silver Eachan of the Tanari Confederation. Our bid is 3.1 million credits."

-----

<Another dimension>

Artrix sat on a rock in the middle of what appeared to be a lush forest, staring ahead into a portal. On the other side were Veras and Yenot, shaking hands. She couldn't walk through the portal, of course; she could only watch, or sometimes project her spirit across the dimensions for a brief while, but never actually cross over.

She had been watching Veras for months now, per Allman's orders, and she was beginning to grow bored with it. She could just give up, of course - she was far beyond Allman's reach, but she felt obligated to continue. After all, the future of her kind was at stake.

She was of a species the people of our dimension sometimes called 'Voids', because the few records of their appearance often spoke of them rambling on about being trapped in "The Void". They had no real name for themselves, and so they were happy to use 'Voids' when speaking to those from our dimension. They had been trapped in the Void for centuries after a war with an ancient enemy who had mastered the Keys of Silence, and they dreamed of returning to their own world one day. Until Edward Allman, the general from a distant land who had found two Keys of Silence, made them a promise to help them do just that.

Artrix would do whatever it took for that. And if planets had to burn and stars had to scream for that to happen, then so be it, she thought.

<Abandoned Tanari Air Base>

Veras reached out their own hand, taking Yenot's.  "Perhaps you'll find one of your own," they said, as Fragarach dissipated back from whence it came.  "You are resourceful, clever, and while not one who could challenge me now, certainly one who has the potential to grow.  So I must ask you this - why do you wish to work for a snake such as Edward Allman?"

They glanced upward, waiting to feel Artrix's eyes upon them.  Fortunately, wherever that Void was, they were being lax in their duty.  Or Allman did not deem them dangerous enough to do more than keep a cursory eye on them.  Veras mentally noted the insult.

---

<Malchior IV, Palace of the Red Queen, Day of Yuy's assassination>

"They speak the truth," called a croaking male voice from the other side of the room.

"When did I give you permission to speak, Cagnazzo?"

"You did not - however, I have information that you may wish to know regarding this craft."

She paused a moment, then nodded.  "Speak, silver-tongue.  If I feel your magic upon mine or the others..."  She gave a meaningful glare.

He nodded, shakily.  "The weapon is powerful, yes - more powerful than any other in the ancient Rider Empire.  Yet I would advise against its use.  It was the crowning achievement of the Rider Empire - a weapon that used the very space between space as a vector of destruction.  It is through that very same vector that ou-" he paused, "that their home was destroyed.  It was their pride that was their downfall, the object of their pride that they offer you now."

Cassandra nodded.  "Very well, Cagnazzo.  I'll feed you a few more scraps with tonight's dinner."

"My mistress is too kind," he said, shuffling off.

She turned to Ophelia.  "Ophelia, there are none but you I can entrust this to.  Acquire the Craft of Laigula, whether by money or by force if necessary."

Ophelia nodded, heading off in another direction.

To her guests, Cassandra smiled.  "But you pay me with my own coin.  This artifact you mean to sell me is the one that Figlio di Armechio means to auction off even now, and I do intend to participate.  As such," she said, her red lips pulling into a wicked smile, "you must have yet another reason to have come before me."

She waved her arm, and the statues of inert iron began to glow with a red light, their black helmets turning to face the duo.  "So I ask again.  Why are you here?  And answer me with honesty, this time."

---

<The Craft of Laigula, a week after Yuy's assassination>

At Cassandra's behest, a hologram of Ophelia Valentine appeared before Figlio, draped in black cloth that hid her face and form.  "On behalf of a certain private investor, I bid 3.4 million credits."

---

<Malchior IV, the church>

She paused.  "Very well, Jones, I'll play your game.  I prefer not to show my face to people who haven't proven their loyalty to the cause, but your logic is sound."

The machine's chest cavity closed, and it turned around.  "The Magpie wishes for you to follow me to a location of her choosing," it said, in its own voice.  "When one is in her line of work, one knows that no channel is truly secure."

<Tanari Air Base>
"We have history, mostly. He found me back when I was nothing, a nobody. Slowly, though, he has been making me question his motives," Yenot replies, a note of sadness in his tone. "The last job I did was to either get a treaty signed, or kill the diplomats. Unarmed civilians, man. I was all but ready to quit, but then circumstances changed." With a flick of his wrist a small dagger materializes and flies a couple feet off to the side, embedding in the ground. "The diplomats weren't there to talk treaty, but instead delay me on my lonesome until a double platoon of soldiers could 'apprehend me'. Whoever Blackout's dealing with, they may be just as devious as him."

<Pi'Lar Frigate #3>

Lincoln strides over to the control console, disabling communication, and a few other systems. "Too easy. I'm going to enjoy this." He switches on his own Com, "Dreis, where are you?"

<Tanar Executive Mansion, two days after the assassination of Yuy>

From a shadow on the wall, the dark figure of Azrael stepped out, clad all in black as per usual. "The data has been secured, and erased from their systems, my lord." He bowed, presenting the drive to Allman. "I suggest you be more careful with things this important in the future."

---

<Abandoned Tanari Air Base>

Veras nodded. "Then I will tell you the truth of the matter. I do not serve that snake willingly - I only remain at his side because he holds the chains that bind me." They sighed. "It's a regretful thing. I once held true power, the greatest magus of the land, and now I'm chained to this imbecilic tyrant and his petty games of power."

OOS: Jumping ahead with Eva's plotline a bit for this one, as it's set some time later.

< Shangri-La, Shinsengumi cruiser Midnight of Solipsism >

The Midnight of Solipsism, like its sister vessel the Kusanagi, had started life as a testbed for the planned Shiranui-Class, the Takemikazuchi Empire's first ship class purposed exclusively for anti-fleet combat. Unlike the Kusanagi, which was designed to test the feasibility of mounting a Gufdrive to an active spaceframe, the Midnight of Solipsism was created to test the Takemikazuchi's new stealth technologies - a role it had exceeded in. After the retirement of the seven Shiranui testbeds, the Shinsengumi had requisitioned the Midnight of Solipsism for their own, active use, just as Emperor Sefer had requisitioned the Kusanagi - which had previously been named the Dawn of Interdiction. LaFayette preferred the old name.

He entered the hangar, receiving salutes from the Separatists he had recruited for the upcoming mission. The Shiranui-Class, when completed, would be capable of being piloted by a single operator - the testbeds didn't quite have that capability, but could still be operated by a skeleton crew of around 10 people. It had been easy for Reed to recruit that many to his cause - the men and woman loyal to him were primarily composed of the remnants of the faction that had tried to overthrow Emperor Shingen during the succession crisis, as well as a few of the Shinsengumi agents who harbored negative sentiment towards Sefer's rule. For this particular mission, he had also managed to recruit help from outside Shangri-La - a detachment of Tanari shapeshifters, who were accompanied by the all-female Lurian Lycaon squad, and a few independent mercenaries. Eva, who had recovered from her fight with DD, regarded Reed's representative coldly as he approached. She disapproved of the Lurians being involved in such intrique in this far corner of the galaxy, and was only here on her father's orders - which made her even less happy to be here.

"Sefer's out-system." said LaFayette. "A show of force in response to Figilo's broadcast - just as we expected. We-"

"Please." Interrupted a thick South-American accent, accompanied by a series of slow, metallic footsteps. The group parted as a menacing cyborg approached. His body was fit and lean, with a clearly-defined underlying muscle structure resembling a Greek statue, interrupted only by segmented, angular plates of matte gunmetal nanomesh armor, which itself seemed to highlight the shape of his figure. The only elements of his original body that remained were his head - save for his lower jaw, which was covered in a single, angular V-shaped plate of armor almost resembling a stylized beard - as well as left arm, which still featured the same armor as the rest of his body grafted on to it. His feet were split into three large toes, resembling the feet of a dinosaur, though the final phalanx of each toe was composed of a serrated combat blade; a final blade shot down from his heel, giving him the appearace of wearing a very dangerous pair of high heels. His white hair was pulled back in a samurai-style ponytail. Finally, a Katana hung from his waist, in a high-tech sheath which LaFayette figured made it look more like a railgun than any reasonable means of storing a blade. He came to a stop before LaFayette, gesturing with his arms. "It is Figlio di Armechio - not a particuarly hard name to pronounce, even for you Takemikazuchi."

"And who are you?"

"I am Ra'an Dempsey." replied the vampire, grinning. "I am here on behalf of Assassins Sans Frontieres. Emperor Sefer recently wronged my master, and as a Samurai, it is my duty to seek out revenge."

"A Samurai?" replied Eva, frowning. "I thought this was going to be a serious mission."

"Oh, it will be." replied Ra'an, drawing his katana and casually spinning it around in his hand. "There is no point in performing any art without looking to the masters beforehand. The same is true of revenge. Always, I have had an appreciation for Japanese culture... especially the Samurai. So, whilst it suits my purposes, I shall become one." he replied, grinning.

"A weeb. In Shangri-La." replied Eva, sighing. "What a surprise."

"A pirate, on a ship?" retorted Ra'an. Eva looked on in confusion, before realizing he was making a joke about her eyepatch, which she had forgotten she was even wearing.

"Oh, no," interrupted one of the Lycaon soldiers, pulling down her blue scarf from over her mouth. "She's not a pirate. She's just wearing that because her dad hit her."

Silence fell across the hangar. Eva turned, enraged, to the red-haired soldier, who nervously stepped backwards, raising her hands in a defensive gesture. Ra'an chuckled.

"And you are?" he asked.

"Farr. Lucy Farr." replied Lucy, shooting a confident wink towards Ra'an, before returning to nervously retreating from Eva. Between the non-regulation blue scarf she wore over her uniform (which wasn't even buttoned up), the unsecured chin-strap dangling from the side of her helmet, the fact that she had scratched the words 'Rules of Nature' into the side of her rifle, and her long, messy, untied dark red hair, it was surprising that she hadn't stood out from the rest of the Lycaon squad sooner. She was spared Eva's fist thanks to a loud cough given by LaFayette to draw the group's attention back to him.

"Now, for the details of the operation. The warship Divine Providence is currently sitting in the Malchior colony cluster, under construction. The teams working on it operate in shifts, and are switched out every two months. Using this ship and its stealth abilities, you'll intercept the next construction crew in transit, hack their ship to disable the life support, and get onboard. Then, you'll disguise yourselves as the construction crew, get onboard the Divine Providence, and then hijack it. The timing has to be precise - we've scheduled a test of the gamma ray burst weapon used to plug the entryway to Shangri-La in case of invasion, which means said entryway will be deserted for a few hours. You can sneak out with the Divine Providence."

"But won't we get hit by the gamma ray burst?" asked Lucy.

LaFayette frowned. "There's... no actual test, Lucy. We've just put one on the schedule. It's a ruse."

"Oh, I see."

"After that, you'll head to SR2XA - it's a planet on the far reaches of the Tanari border. Then, you nuke it. Don't worry, it's deserted."

"I see." said Ra'an, looking over to the Tanari shapeshifters. "A false flag attack? Oh, good." he added, chuckling. "Why, that's very good. Yes, I like that."

"And then we surrender the ship to the AKD navy. That was the price of our involvement." said Eva, aggressively.

"Yes." replied LaFayette. "Of course."

---

< Takemikazuchi carrier group Perfect Order, approximately 2 AU out from the Ortmoq ship graveyard, just within detection range >

The carrier group emerged from hyperspace, their hulls crackling with sub-material charge. First to emerge were the Akatsuki-class Battleships Infinite Justice, Vanguard Astray, Aegis Rising, and Elysium Lost, followed by the Katsuragi-class DND Assault Frigates Blade Providence and Fate Zero, and finally the Haduko Maru-class Assault Carrier Perfect Order. Sefer stood on the bridge of the latter, her arms folded. Captain Ichigo Ginyu sat in the command throne next to her, which turned to face her.

"Your orders, Emperor?"

She closed her eyes as she contemplated her options. "I'll leave the fleet maneuvers to your discretion, Captain." she said, sternly. "You have more experience in these matters than I."

"Very well." he replied, turning back to the viewscreen. He began issuing orders, as Sefer walked to the rear wall of the bridge, leaning against it. An Akatsuki-class, she thought, remembering Figlio's broadcast. Shortman's right. He wouldn't have name-dropped the same class I brought up with Uteriach unless he wanted to target the threat - and despite what Figlio had claimed, Sefer had no-doubt that he was making a threat - directly at us. She felt uneasy. Figlio's speech would have little effect in Shangri-La, where the populace adored her, and his weapon of mass destruction barely registered as a threat to the Dai-Takemikazuchi Tenkoku Kaigun, even given the demonstration of its weapons that had been offered. But they wouldn't sell the Craft if they didn't think they could take us without it, she thought. So they must have something worse up their sleeves.

Ultimately, that was what frightened her; the unknown. Sefer was a psychic, and quite possibly the most powerful one to ever exist, so the implications of there being something she wasn't aware of - let alone something so important - were utterly terrifying to her. Perhaps, subconsciously, she had ordered the show of force as an attempt to bait Figlio into a direct confrontation, at which point she'd be able to scan his mind for the answers. She smirked at the possibility. Is that what I am?, she thought. Someone who puts lives at stake to alleviate my own personal fears? How disgusting.

[Shuttle, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy, Unknown Space]

*The frigate came into view as Gene guided the shuttle on an approach vector, taking care to avoid detection by utilizing a mixture of piloting skill, the craft's ECM suite and, of course, blind luck. As they neared the ship, Gene couldn't help but smirk in amusement as he notices a figure, presumably Lincoln, penetrate the frigate's bridge section.

Like before, the pilot carefully brought the shuttle to a coasting speed as he carefully manoeuvred it into the frigate's hangar bay, disengaging the shuttle doors in anticipation for disembarkment.*

Gene: Alright, Dreis, was it? I hope you're ready, 'cause its departure time.

-------

[Blockade Runner Transport, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy, Unknown Space]

*The wolf let out a sigh of relief as the two intruders continued their sweep of the hangar bay, completely oblivious to his presence. He mentally berated himself for being caught unprepared, not having anticipated one of them being a telepath. Taking no further chances, he psionicly raised a mental shield to prevent any more detection or mental attacks.

As the two intruders unwittingly passed the stack of crates he was taking cover behind, the engineer suit-clad wolf seized the opportunity and immediately jumped out of cover, aiming his Takashi APP-3 .45 pistol at the back of their heads.*

Wolf: Freeze!!

<Tanari Airbase>

A wistful look consumes Yenot's face as he stares off to the sky, "Perhaps you will be again, in time. Until then, I want you to consider something. You teleported me here without prior warning. So the question becomes...." The spot where the arrow was lodged in apparently nothing slowly warps, a small ship appears, "How was my ship already here?" As he finishes, he's teleported on board, and the ship flies off into the horizon.

[ Malchior IV, Slums: ]

In a dirty, moldy, particularly odorous hotel, a suspicious figure waits. His large, oddly-proportioned frame features white hair, an impressive mustache, and a curious watch-like eyepatch. He stands guard outside of the front door, poised for an unknown visitor. This takes the form of a freckled, redheaded girl with a most beastly kind of mohawk, and with strange golden-green eyes. Dressed in a sleeveless black vest with a huge, flared fur collar, not to mention some striking fluorescent yellow snakeskin-patterned pants, she carries with her a suspiciously unmarked case. Laden with with label-less bottles full of a mysterious green liquid, nothing about this six pack screams ‘legal beverage.’ Perhaps to check the viability of these potables, the hulking suit-dressed being holds out a hand to stop her.

Before he can get a word out, though, he’s promptly punted through the glass doors. These doors which are meant to be pulled from the outside are bent in reverse, snapping the hinges after a brief squeal of complaint, and the figure has been very seriously wounded. He’s left one leg in the lobby, while the rest of him seems distributed about the area which opens out into a bone-dry swimming pool. “Shouldn’t have slowed me down, bitch,” she comments, heading up the stairs; “I got shit to do.” She finds her way to the right room by its suspicious lack of a door allowing an ominous giggling to be heard.

The source is a petite female with pale skin, silvery-blue eyes, and glossy brunette hair with a bluish-purple tinge to the silky black locks which are styled up in twin drill-style anime ringlets. She also wears a dopey little tilted white top hat, a plumped-up jacket with scalloped hem and cuffs, and a tiered skirt over her blue, green, and neon purple argyle leggings. “Zorn, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bust open my toys like that,” she sighs. “It’ll take me, like, six hours to get his mustache the way I wanted it again. Seven if you did a number on his face.” She kicks her legs idly as Zorn smacks the six-pack down on a table so she can brusquely rip one bottle free with a muscular gloved hand.

Zorn promptly yanks the metal cap off so she can take a gulp. Following a loud belch, she finally deigns to respond. “Don’t give me lip, Zoe. It ain’t like you don’t have twenty more of those revenants lurching in the dark, ya damn warlock,” she snaps at the tittering girl on the couch. “And yeah, I know you don’t drink; I wanted to get the good booze so at least I could party it up right.” To wit, she promptly knocks the bottle back; chugs it in under 30 seconds; and tosses it over her shoulder with another belch so it breaks somewhere out the door.

Zoe sighs, “Oh, Zorn, you always are good for a laugh. Whether you want to be or not.” Nodding to acknowledge the middle finger Zorn twirls in her general direction, Zoe picks up a newspaper. “Fast times and faster deals are going on in the government,” she winks, waving the paper playfully. “Allman and Ascheron have gone steady! You know what this means?” Zorn grins, and they both exclaim at each other with their own versions of glee:

“War for fun and profit!” Zoe promptly swings herself up off the couch, producing from her jacket pocket a roll of dollar bills. She explains, “Fresh from being used to slap a traitor across the face whilst we…Readjusted them to our way of thinking, heh heh heh. This is just the beginning of our pay-off for this little finances project.” Zorn grins at that, and both promptly decide to go shopping. Might as well blow this cash away when a few blood-soaked checks are in the mail.

<The Marunaka>

Serecio held his right hand up to his face and inspected the metal bracing, admiring the Arokazek's craftmanship.

"As expected. Every day a ship is sent to the surface, and every day the ship returns with subjects. Some of them are... repeat customers, and thus have learned to be subservient, while others are new to alien abduction and cause my workers trouble. One of the Tekku has become so ingrained with the idea that the modifications being made to his body will make him a god, that he actually waits for us to collect him on the same hillside every day and gleefully submits himself to them. So, you could say the operation is a success, with my goal in sight. Soon I will have reached the maximum augmented potential for a Dachori... after which, well, I don't know. Perhaps the Tanari have something that will interest me."

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

<Pi'lar IV Blockade Transport (Frigate #2)>

Sruban skidded to a halt, and dropped his gun behind him before he put his hands to his head.

"Don't shoot! I'm... a new engineer! Yeah, I was just on my way to fix a coolant leak with my friend here, who is... visiting. He's called Four- dammit, uh, Thor! He has Viking ancestry."

<Earth, Unknown Location, After Figlio's Address>

A man wearing colonial dress (for some reason) smiled as he finished viewing Figlio's broadcast on the Internet. He adjusted his glasses and looked to his friend, who was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, as well as his own pair of glasses. The latter smiled with a toothy grin as they formulated their a plot to bother a Dachori. The colonial man smiled once again, and spoke.

???: "We're well on our way!"

---

<Malchior IV, Palace of the Red Queen, Day of Yuy's assassination>

Keichi was disturbed by the Red Queen's treatment of a Dachori. He leaned over to Treskis and whispered in his ear.

Keichi: "That was friggin' weird."

After she used her magic on the statues of inert iron and brought them to life, the pirates looked at each other. Each raised an eyebrow in confusion, and smirked. They both looked to the Red Queen with confused looks on their faces.

Treskis: "Sorry, my lady, but you must be mistaken! We only came here for that. You just didn't let us get to the part of what this information will cost you."

Keichi: "Come on, we're all businesspeople! Basic rule of economics is that everything has a price."

Treskis: "This information comes with a cost: you must listen to our next deal."

Such sophistry was typical of Pirate Lords.

Treskis: "We wish to sell items of....illicit nature on Malchior IV. Items that are exclusive to Liquid Metallicon and make a killing on other worlds. These items will guarantee customers, and they'll come back for more very often. You receive a substantive share of the profits, and agree to only do business with the crew of Pirate Lord Treskis. No one else, not even Akzer or Ozar. How does that sound, my lady?"

Keichi grinned avariciously.

---

<Vongola, TPK's Ship, The Next Day>

Kozín continued attempting to contact Thomas P. Kane, hoping to show that his efforts had been successful.

---

<Blockade Runner Transport, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy, Five Days After Yuy's Assassination>

Fourteen: "Sruban, I think he's sort of figured out I don't have any Viking ancestry. I'm a lizard with a metal exoskeleton."

The pirate moved his head so that he could see Wolf out of one of his eyes. He attempted to launch a mental attack against him, but realized that he was blocked.

Fourteen: "How did you...? You're pretty smart, Pi'lar must train you well. I didn't know they hired wolves. How's about I pay you to reconsider your employment, and leave? Otherwise, we'd 'ave to fight, and Sruban here would get a new pelt....or you'd get crocodile shoes. Fair chance of either."

---

<Pi'lar frigate #1, five days after Yuy's assassination>

Four guards ran at Ashton and Regina, all firing their weapons. One of them threw a flash grenade in their direction. Regina leaped out of the way and fired at them.

Lalli Cain: "Almost done!"

---

<Pi'lar Frigate #3>

Three soldiers wearing space suits arrived at Lincoln's location. They had coincidentally been lounging near another part of the ship when the mercenary blew a hole in the cockpit and disposed of the crew. They quickly put on their suits and sprang into action.

The soldiers fired their weapons at Lincoln, hoping to hit his helmet.

---

<Malchior IV, Klak's City, Same Time>

Klak went outside to jog and work out. He hoped that the others would soon contact him.

---

<The Craft of Laigula, A Week After Yuy's Assassination, three days before the near-annexation of Pi'lar>

Figlio raised his index finger up to both Minister Silver and Ophelia Valentine.

Figlio: "Hold on."

He turned his head to the Vongolan soldiers surrounding him, who were all running around attending to different calls while wearing yellow armbands.

Figlio: "Who's bidding?"

A woman away from the view of the holograms spoke up.

???: "Sir, we have a Martin Rasmus bidding 55 million."

Figlio: "Tell him I don't take drug money! Who else?"

???: "Brad Latza and Paul Jones have pledged 521 credits."

Figlio: "Ugh."

???: "A John D. Lancy says he might be interested. Oh, and a D. Walker and a Noah Antwiler have each bid 100,000 credits."

Figlio: "Tell them to make better bids. The whole point of this thing is that they pay so we don't have to! Who's next?"

Another soldier comes up with a flustered look on his face.

???-2: "Sir, a Duke Newcomb says he wants the ship for free, and he wants your woman."

Figlio: "Are you serious? I'm single! Cut him off."

The man on the hologram was visibly angry, and threatened to harm the soldier by ripping his neck off. The soldier shook his head, and blocked all communication from Newcomb. A crewman of the ship rushed up to Figlio, shaking in fear.

Ensign: "My lord, the Takemikazuchi Empire has assembled a fleet not far from our location! Do we engage?"

Figlio: "Do not come to me again unless they fire on us, or intend to bid. It's a show of force, an attempt at intimidation. We panic and fire at her, start a war, and lose. But she forgets a minor detail. I am a Rider, my people were raised in war. I am not intimidated, the worst you could say is that I'm concerned. Are you, ensign?"

The ensign was about to speak, but Figlio raised his fist, interrupting him. He angrily grit his teeth, and grabbed the ensign by the collar, bringing the man's face closer to his.

Figlio: "Control your fear, ensign, or I'll send you to her fleet myself. I'd love to see what the Takemikazuchi Empire does to its prisoners. If they're too soft on you, I'll have to take you out of there. Maybe you'll find out what I do to my prisoners."

The Dachori turned his head to the holograms of Silver Eachan and Ophelia Valentine. He sighed and rolled his eyes, letting go of the ensign.

Figlio: "Sorry, busy day. Anyway, you both are shooting far too low. I said that the starting bid was 3 billion, not 3 million! You're low-balling me! In order to make up for what you lack in credits, I'll accept your current bids with a more substantive offer. Any caveat works: guns, military training, artefacts, the works."

He leaned in closer to the holograms, as if he were with them in a conference room. He smiled.

Figlio: "As you can see, I've been receiving some horrendous offers. So, impress me."

At the corner of their eyes, both Eachan and Ophelia could see someone with a blank sheet of paper passing by with a suspicious look on their face, as though they were about to learn of a terrible secret.


OOS: Waiting on Clay for the rest.

< Shangri-La, The Divine Providence, Bridge >

The doors flew open, and the assault team stormed in. As expected, a few mechanics had remained behind to continue work on the more delicate systems of the ship; they were quickly overwhelmed by the attackers, and as such surrendered. Ra'an entered after them, slowly clapping.

"Well, then. The ship is ours?" he asked. Eva, who was cable-tying the hostages, look up at him with disdain.

"No thanks to you."

He shrugged. "A drawn blade demands blood, little girl. Speaking of which..." he said, stepping forwards and sliding his Katana from its sheath, showing a quarter-inch of steel. Eva stood up, sliding her pistol from its holster and centering it on his forehead.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"Just tying up loose ends." he replied, gesturing to the hostages.

"We're not killing civillians."

"Oh, what, Princess Leia is having a change of heart, eh?"

Lucy frowned. "Have you ever actually seen Star Wars?"

"It's not a change of heart. Look at her name-tag." she said, grabbing one of the mechanics by the collar and lifting her to her feet. She was blonde, with her messy hair tied back in a loose ponytail. A pair of goggles were pulled up over her forehead, and her skin and overalls were stained with mechanical oil and grease; in spite of this, her beauty was still apparent, and her purple eyes seemed strangely familiar. Ra'an stepped closer, inspecting her uniform.

"Heyerdahl? Oh, yes, good. Why, that's very good."

"The Emperor's hardly going to blow up a ship that has her girlfriend's sister on-board." replied Eva, smirking. For the first time, Ra'an felt some appreciation for the woman.

Selena Heyerdahl gritted her teeth. "What the hell are you guys trying to pull?"

"Honestly, It's probably better if you don't know." replied Eva, almost reassuringly. She turned to the rest of the Lycaon squad, issuing orders in Lurian. "Get the hostages to a maintenance hall or something, and post guards. The rest of you, set up machinegun positions in the corridors leading to the bridge. For the preservation of the ideals of Luria."

The Lycaon squad saluted, and moved out, taking the hostages with them. Ra'an sat down in the command throne, as many of the ASF mercenaries took up positions at the bridge consoles. Eva stood next to him, her arms folded.

"Let's go." he said, clapping.

---

< Shangri-La, Shortman's office >

Shortman looked on in disbelief at his aide.

"It's been hijacked?"

She nodded. "And someone had edited the gate defense schedule to include a gamma ray burst firing, so it was undefended. They managed to sneak out with no opposition."

Shortman slammed his fist on the table. "They played us like a damn fiddle! Where are they headed?"

"The... Tanari Confederation, sir."

Shortman stood up, his eyes widening. "If it crosses the border, It'll mean war... the Kusanagi's docked at Melchior 07, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

He reached into his desk, drawing a pistol and checking it. "Get a Shinsengumi strike force on-board, and quick. It's the fastest ship we have - it might be able to catch up to it in time. And send a message to Sefer's carrier group - they might be able to intercept." he said, running towards the door.

"Sir, you can't go yourself. You don't have any combat training!"

Shortman grinned. "I played 'ball in college, you know!"

---

< Sefer's carrier group >

The holographic message finished playing aboard the meeting room of the Perfect Order. Sefer frowned, standing up.

"I'll go."

Captain Ginyu frowned. "Emperor, we should divert the entire carrier group. We've been here long enough for the VPR to get the message."

"We can't risk going up against that thing in straight combat." replied Sefer. "It was built to take out entire carrier groups - even if it's only half completed, it'd wipe the floor with us. I'll sneak on-board before it can cross the border, and disable it."

"I'll go with her." replied Lilith. Canaan Jones and Israel West stepped forth from the corner of the room.

"Us too." said Jones.

Sefer turned to them, and nodded. "We'll take the Blade Providence - it's the fastest ship in the group. Captain Ginyu, please have that ship's crew evacuate to the other vessels in the fleet." she said, walking out. A few minutes later, Sefer and co. were aboard the bridge of the Blade Providence. Lilith, Canaan and Israel had changed into black military getup and body armor, and were carrying rifles; Sefer's appearance remained unchanged. The ship entered hyperspace, leaving the carrier group behind.

<Blockade Runner Transport, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy (Frigate #2), Five Days After Yuy's Assassination>

Sruban took a few steps back and knelt down to pick up his mine-launcher without turning around. He then slipped it into the pocket of his baggy trousers underneath his robes and walked back to Fourteen's side. He looked at Wolf, Fourteen, then back again to Wolf, and gave a confident smile.

"He's right you know!"

<Tanar Executive Mansion, two days after the assassination of Yuy>

Allman scowled at Azrael, and practically grabbed the drive out of his hand. "If you must know, Azrael, this happened before I came to power. The previous government were just too spineless to do what I just had you do." He dropped the drive on the floor, and promptly smashed it under his heel.

"Welcome to the team, Azrael the Darkened. Do you have any questions?"

-----

<Tanar Executive Mansion, some time later>

Edward was working late into the night, filling out paperwork. If conquering worlds and rubbing shoulders with the galactic elite was the part of being a dictator he looked forward to, this most certainly was not. However, somebody needed to do it.

Thankfully, this unwanted drudgery was interrupted by the appearance of an aide. "Mr. President? The Divine Providence is en route."

Edward immediately rose from his chair. "Is the flotilla ready?"

"Yes." the aide confirmed.

"Excellent. Tell them I'm coming with them."

-----


<Pi'lar frigate #1, five days after Yuy's assassination>

Ashton sighed, took a small disc out of his pocket, and threw it among the soldiers. It shot out electrical bolts at everything around it, hopefully electrocuting some of the soldiers.

Seeing the grenade, Ashton suddenly ran towards Regina and tackled her to the ground, hoping to protect her from the explosion, not recognising that it was a flash grenade.

-----

<Malchior IV, the church>

"Very well, then." Jones took a small purple disc off the table and slipped it into his pocket, hoping the machine wouldn't notice.

As he and the machine headed for the exit, they bumped into a very confused Aster and Richard. "Jones? What are you doing?" Aster asked, worried. "What is this thing?"

"Apparently, this is a messenger." Jones replied. "I'm going to meet someone opposed to Edward Allman. Come with me. If this is a trap, I'd rather not be in there alone"

Aster and Richard both sighed deeply, and followed Jones and the machine out the door.

-----

<The Marunaka>

"We might." Olivia said. "How does one case of experimental reconstructive nanites sound?"

-----

<The Craft of Laigula, A Week After Yuy's Assassination, three days before the near-annexation of Pi'lar>

"Million? I said 'billion'!" Silver shouted. "Are you deaf, or is there a problem with your connection? Anyway, 3.5 billion."

-----

<Vongola, TPK's Ship, The Next Day>

"Ah, Josh." Thomas Kane answered. "How are you doing? How'd you even get into the palace?"

-----

[ Malchior IV, Klak’s City: ]

Having finished their shopping trip, Zorn and Zoe sat on a bench looking over what they’d acquired. Zorn was getting a kick out of the silly faces Zoe had made in a photo booth — eyes crossed, tongue hanging out, and more — whilst Zoe inspected different varieties of hygiene products, music discs, and some cardboard boxes marked ‘presents for the others, do not open.’ Content with their purchases, Zoe raised her eyes, then paused. Quirking her head, she asked Zorn, “Do we know that guy?” Raising her hand discreetly, she indicated a certain off-duty lawman jogging down the street.

Zorn paused, furrowing her brow. “No, we don’t,” she hummed. “But my ‘intuition’ tells me it would behoove us to change that.” So, just like that, the two rose from their bench, and made their way over to get Klak’s attention. Zorn did this by yelling, “HEY! RUNNING MAN! WHAT’S UP?” Zoe elbowed her, sighing with an exasperated kind of smile.

[Blockade Runner Transport, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy, Unknown Space]

*The wolf kept his aim level in the direction of the two pirates as he assessed the situation. He couldn't help but let out a smirk as he felt the telltale sensation of a mental attack being blocked.*

Wolf: Heh. I'm a psionic. Your mental attacks won't work. And sorry to break it to you, but I don't work for Pi'lar. Name's Raigen.

*Raigen relaxes a bit but doesn't go out of his combat stance, still keeping the gun aimed at the the two intruders in front of him.*

Raigen: Now, who the hell are you, and what do I get out of this?

-------

[Saana Station, Saana System]

*An inconspicuous-looking ship is preparing to embark, having docked at the large space infrastructure earlier for refueling. After final preparations are complete, the mysterious frigate finally undocks, heading off towards its intended destination, known only to those on board*

< SR2, aka The Sundowner Expanse >

The Blade Providence emerged from hyperspace, the lower half of its sleek, angular hull cutting through one of the rings of the system's sole gas giant. Her engines flared, pulling her up and out of the planet's gravity well and towards its moon. The front half of the ship appeared to split in half along the length of it, energy crackling between the two segments as the ship's central mass accelerator cannon charged... and fired.

The dendrobium-nuclear-tipped warhead shot forth like an arrow from God, exploding a few hundred kilometres in front of the Blade Providence, the explosion dyed a startling pink by the dendrobium particle concentration. The Divine Providence was torn out of its hyperspace pathway by the dendrobium charge, emerging from within the explosion, its outer hull battered by the nuclear fireball as it listed towards the gas giant, smoking. Sefer wasted no time in bringing the Blade Providence around whilst the crew of the Divine Providence were still stunned by the surprise attack, coming in fast towards the latter ship's engines. Armored ports shunted open along the portside hull of the Blade Providence, revealing banks of nuclear-tipped missiles, which shot forth in a salvo. The rear half of the Divine Providence was engulfed in a tremendous fireball as the Blade Providence shot away from the blast, struggling to hold itself together as the shockwave violently rocked the ship and its inhabitants. Then, after a few seconds, the battlefield fell silent.

"Jesus." said Canaan Jones, pulling the weapons control optic away from his head, and turning to Sefer. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

Sefer smirked, unstrapping herself from the ship's pilot seat and standing up. The Blade Providence had taken a beating from its own nuclear attack; warning alarms were sounding across the bridge. On the plus side, the artificial gravity had been deactivated, which to Sefer was always a welcome sensation. "The Borderlands war. I'll teach you it later, if you want." she said, kicking off from the floor.

"Visual feed returning." said Israel West, as the view-screen flickered back into being, the radiation interference subsiding. He sat at the operations console, manipulating the view-screen feed so that it zoomed in on the Divine Providence. Her engines were completely destroyed, but the rest of the ship was barely scratched, though heavily scorched by the various nuclear explosions it had endured.

"Motherfucker!" said Canaan. West hurriedly tapped away at the operations console.

"We've barely dented it. No sign of reactor meltdown, either - but its engines are completely offline, and it's fallen into an orbit over SR2GG. It looks like-"

West stopped, glaring at the console. Sefer kicked off the ceiling, floating towards him.

"What is it?"

"SRX2A... It's Tanari Confederation territory. Emperor Yetzirah - we don't know the motivations of the hijackers. Without wanting to sound like some conspiracy theorist, we should consider the possibility that-"

"-That they're trying to start a war with the Confederation, right?" asked Sefer, solemnly. West nodded, as she sighed. "All the more reason to take it out quickly, then."

"The Divine Providence doesn't have any BVR nukes, so if it wanted to attack SRX2A, it'd need a direct line of sight. Given that SRX2A is currently hidden behind the gas giant, it'll be about another hour or so before the Divine Providence has that opportunity." said Lilith, climbing up from the navigator's seat. "So... we've gotta fuck it up, and fuck it up fast."

Sefer nodded. "West, can you make the Blade Providence look like it's out of commission?"

"My pleasure." he said, activating various subroutines. The lights on the bridge sparked out, followed by the controls, as the air circulation system cut off. "I think we should get out of here before we, uh, run out of oxygen."

"You think?" asked Canaan, jeering. Sefer smirked, as the bridge was engulfed in a burst of red light.

<SR2>

As the Divine Providence hovered in orbit, a series of hyperspace windows opened up 'above' the two ships, shimmering brightly. Seven Tanari warships exited the windows, one after the other, and immediately opened fire on the Divine Providence, rattling the cruiser but doing little else. They circled the cruiser, bombarding it with ion blasts and missiles. It was having no effect - and they knew it. They were only doing it to fool the crew of the Blade Providence.

On the bridge of the flagship, Edward Allman smirked. "Sir, just scanned the other ship." a crew member said. "It's empty. They must've teleported onboard."

"Very well. Cease fire." said Allman. The never-ending torrent of artillery from the Tanari ships immediately slowed to a trickle and then stopped. Allman stepped over to a console and sent a brief radio message to Sefer and the others.

"Edward Allman here. Shame about both of your ships." he said in an unspeakably soft tone. "Shall I join you?"

-----

< The Sundowner Expanse >

Sefer raised a finger to her earpiece. The team had materialized within one of the ship's many mess halls; so far, they had gone undetected, though Canaan and Israel were holed up behind overturned tables, covering the doorways with their rifles.

"Allman?"

What could she say? She didn't want Allman involved; in fact, there was nobody she wanted involved less than Allman. Still, given the precocious situation she was in - on board a prototype Takemikazuchi warship possibly about to launch a nuclear attack on Tanari sovereign territory - she figured anything less than her absolute compliance would spell out Casus Belli quicker than any Latin major could ever hope to. Plus, whilst she didn't like the thought of it, she could live with having worked alongside Allman - she probably couldn't with having started a major interstellar war. She'd probably still need a few showers afterwards, though.

"We'd appreciate any help you can offer." she replied, swallowing her pride. "We don't know the affiliation of the hijackers, but I doubt they're here for a sightseeing trip."

< Pi'lar Frigate, Transport convoy >

Dreis winked at Gene, racking the slide on his shotgun before diving from the shuttle to behind a pile of crates. Plasma bolts seared across the hanger, splattering against the shuttle and Dreis' cover. Dreis toched the mic on his throat, opening the channel with Lincoln.

"I'm down you sunnuvabitch. Where are you at?" Dreis popped out of cover for a second to lob a grenade across the hangar floor, clearing the door to the next deck.

-----------

< Outer 7, Military Complex >

Dallas flexed, the bullets lodged in his chest pushing out with a pop and a spurt of blood. The holes began sealing, Dallas grimacing as the healing nanites in his blood did their work. He gritted his teeth, but grinned at the prostrate Eva all the same, motioning for her to come at him again.

<The Sundowner Expanse>

"They're missing out, I hear SR2XA is beautiful this time of year..." Allman joked. "We'll be over in a moment."

Mere seconds later, Allman, Veras, and a squad of about fifteen heavily-armed Tanari soldiers appeared next to Sefer and company in a flash of light. "Good morning, Emperor Sefer."

As he said this, the Divine Providence started to shake again, as the Tanari ships had begun firing on it again.

< The Sundowner Expanse >

"Allman." replied Sefer, sternly. She looked over to Veras, raising an eyebrow. "And... Veras? Can't say I've heard that name before. Surprising." she added, in what was probably as much of an appreciative tone as she could manage. "We should probably split up into teams if we want to take this thing out as quick as possible."

"Agreed." replied Allman.

"You'll come with me." she said, folding her arms. "We'll head to the bridge and see if we can't solve this in a way that doesn't involve polluting an entire system with warship debris. Distribute your soldiers as you see fit. Veras, Lilith, you two head to the reactor core. If our plan fails, just blow it all up."

"With pleasure." she replied, practically cuddling her rifle.

"We'll accompany you, Ma'am." said Canaan Jones. Sefer shook her head.

"No. You and Israel should head to the weapons control room. If both teams somehow fail, you should at least be able to stop them firing anything." she said, turning back to Allman. "At that point, your fleet should be able to finish the job."

"Very well." replied Canaan. The two activated their active camouflage systems, disappearing from the room. Lilith shot forth, wrapping her arms around Sefer. The two hugged for a few seconds, before stepping backwards.

"I love you." said Lilith.

"I know." replied Sefer, smirking. Her, Allman, and a squad of soldiers turned and left the room. Lilith turned to Veras, looking up at them nervously.

"So, uh, we haven't met. I'm Lilith Heyerdahl. My hobbies include homosexuality, firearms usage, and generally being the most attractive individual in any given situation." she said, her faint smile turning to a frown. "Though, I guess that last one doesn't really apply under the current circumstances. Heh."

---

< The Divine Providence, Bridge >

One of the bridge technicians spun around on their seat. "Commander Dempsey! Intruders!"

"Intruders? Where are they?"

"Inside the ship, sir."

Eva stifled a chuckle. Ra'an sighed, standing up. "Well, you've got to be a bit more specific than that. No, forget it. They'll only be heading for one of two places. Eva, be a good little girl and secure the reception hall, will you? We've sealed all the other bulkheads - if they want to get to the bridge, they've go to go through there. I'll secure the reactor hall."

"Very well." replied Eva, walking out. Ra'an grinned, drawing a cigar from within his armor and lighting it.

"Muchachos. After we pull this off, it will be like the glory days after Khamsin Assah's colony drops, all over again. It will be the fiercest fighting the galaxy has ever seen, and mercenaries such as ourselves will be in high demand from all sides involved in the conflict. But remember; that is not why we fight. We fight because men like Ascheron and Allman, because dogs like Sefer Yetzirah create men like us to fight their wars, and then leave us out for the dogs when they have exhausted their need for us. And this is considered civilized, and enlightened, eh? So then, the burden falls on us to create that sole environment in which men like us can survive; War. Perhaps, then, we can be accused of perpetuating the cycle, to which I would say-"

He took a deep draw from his cigar, blowing out a cloud of smoke across the bridge. A grin formed beneath it, as his arms slowly opened in a wide gesture

"-If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" he said, as the bridge crew nodded in approval. He threw the cigar to the ground, stomping it out, before returning to a serious posture. "A Dios rogando y con el mazo dando. Hold fast through this battle, brothers, and tomorrow the promised land shall be ours." he said, walking from the bridge as the crew saluted him.

---

< Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap >

Vance sat on the bridge, surrounded the crew of the advanced battleship. The AI Podium next to his command throne flickered into life, and a holographic representation of a young, attractive woman appeared.

"Commander Vangelis." said Hayley, drawing Vance's attention away from the viewscreen. "We've recieved a message from Commander Dempsey. The ship is in their hands."

"Right on." replied Vance, standing up, and grinning. He pulled a microphone from the command throne, and began broadcasting to the entire fleet. Beyond the Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap lay a fleet numbering in the hundreds; not just ASF ships, but ships from dozens of various mercenary and PMC companies, unified together under a common goal. The staging area was filled with ships of different classes and sizes - the Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap being undoubtedly the largest, its gleaming silver hull drawing all eyes to it through the mass of ships, but with such a medley of designs and even basic standards of construction it was truly a sight to behold.

"Mercenaries. Fighters. The all-singing, all-dancing crap of the galaxy! Never in human history has an endeavor such as the one we are about to undertake been attempted. Tonight, we have reconciled our collective differences in pursuit of the common good. When we fight, tonight, we do not do so for honor. We do not fight for glory, or ideals. We're not even fighting for money. What we are doing, though, is fighting - and remember, children; at the end of the day, that's all that counts! Now, let's go set the goddamn galaxy on flames!"

At that, the individual ships of the fleet began to disappear into single points of light, hyperspace jumping to the Sundowner expanse. One of the last ships to leave hung behind for a just a few moments; A sleek yet powerful vessel. The paint on its hull was faded, with its name - the Stairway to Heaven - barely visible. Yet what was as clear as crystal was the logo next to it - one of legend, instantly recongizable to any mercenary worth their salt. The best of the best - warriors without equals. Diamond Dogs.

<Vongola, TPK's Ship, A Day After Yuy's Assassination>

Joshua Kozín: "I payed a million credits to the revolution, but that's another story. Uteriach plans to meet with us in the coming days, and I will keep you posted. How goes the operation? Burjua is being purged, and other areas are likely to follow. I'm afraid the violence will begin to become more systematic in the future."

---

<Pi'lar frigate #1, five days after Yuy's assassination>

The flash grenade exploded, but did not harm any of them.

Regina: "Thanks."

The soldiers were dispatched by Ashton's disc. Regina stood up, and nodded. Their efforts had been successful.

Lalli Cain: "I'm almost done! It's taking a little while to disrupt the ship's systems. Don't ever call the Pi'lari technologically incompetent."

Suddenly, a beeping sound came from one of the corpses behind Lalli Cain. The mercenary stood up, holding his armpad upright as though he were holding something delicate on it. He walked back to the source of the noise, and leaned towards the soldier's body.

Lalli Cain: "What the....?"

He began to tap onto the soldier's uniform, and felt a small round object that was similar to a communication device. He widened his eyes, and checked to see if it was on the other guards. None of them had it.

Lalli Cain: "No...no..."

He flipped the body of the soldier with the device, and raised the back of his shirt, showing a tattoo on the area of his latissimus dorsi. Cain recognized the marking from a previous mission.

Lalli Cain: "Damn, DAMN! CRAP."

Regina Faral rushed over to him with Ashton.

Regina: "What is it?"

Lalli Cain: "We shot a Malchiorian spy."

Regina: "WHAT?! Malchiorian Intelligence?"

Lalli Cain: "No, those guys are too flashy, and they like to make their presence known. Plus he would have shot us before kicking us out of the ship. No, this guy was part of a special unit called "September Dawn". I'm not sure what agency they're a part of. His tattoo has an insignia that only people that have encountered them can recognize. He must have been deep undercover."

Regina: "Hmm, what a shame."

Lalli Cain: "You don't understand. The Malchiorians feverishly protect their own. That beeping was an alert signal. It must've detected his vital signs and been a secret communicator. I thought I had heard a few taps coming from him, maybe it was Morse Code. Now that he's dead, they're probably sending reinforcements. I've never even heard of this technology but I'm willing to bet my left arm that I'm right."

Regina: "Crap. Should we tell Fourteen?"

Lalli Cain: "No. We just need to hurry up before the calvary arrives."

His device started to beep, signalling that the ship's systems were compromised.

Lalli Cain: "Let's plant a few more mines and get the hell out of here!"

He ran down the corridor with Regina and (hopefully) Ashton.

--

<Blockade Runner Transport, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy (Frigate #2), Five Days After Yuy's Assassination>

Fourteen: "A psionic, eh? Nice. I'm a telepath. We make mental attacks. My name is Fourteen, and I'm with the Pirate Lords of Liquid Metallicon. I'm sure you've heard of us. This here's Sruban, a mercenary, your kind. I take it your looking for something on this ship, well so are we. How about we make a deal? We help each other, and I pay you for your troubles. Easy money on the side."

--

<Pi'lar Frigate 3, Transport convoy>

The soldiers in space suits were killed by Dreis' grenade, but another group came through the blast hole and fired at Dreis.

OOS: Waiting on Ynot for the rest.

---

<Malchior IV, Klak’s City, Same time>

Klak stopped, sighing. He was used to longer distances, as his augmentations enabled him to run many miles. This jog was merely a warm up. He looked at Zoe and Zorn, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Klak: Uhh, hello, how may I help you?

Zoe could feel something strange about Klak, as though he was unintentionally hiding something.

---

<The Craft of Laigula, A Week After Yuy's Assassination, three days before the near-annexation of Pi'lar>

Figlio smirked and rubbed his chin.

Figlio: "Good offer, good offer. Any competing offers?"

He pointed at Ophelia, daring her to pay more money. Suddenly, a hologram of a man wearing white armor and a white trilby appeared.

???: "Starting an auction without me, hmm?"

Figlio: "Ah, Louis L. Lovhaug. What do you bid?"

Louis Lovhaug: "4.5 billion credits. This is where bad offers burn!"

Figlio sardonically winced, and looked at both Ophelia and Eachan.

Figlio: "Sorry, I'm hard of hearing, but I could have sworn I've heard a better offer. Neither of you have impressed me just yet. Get to it!"

Meanwhile, someone at Eachan's office received a communique from the President of Malchior IV. The planet refused the Tanari Confederation's offer but claimed that if they ever needed help, they would scramble a fleet of spaceships to aid them.

---

<Krustallos, Same Time>

Julio sighed as he made his way up the steps of the crystalline mansion. Not long after his mission in Burjua he had been tasked with leading the preliminary security sweep of the resort that Generalissimo Uteriach di Armechio and President Edward Allman would use to publicly sign their treaty in less than a week. Of course, this was just a front for a more secretive operation that would go on behind the scenes.

Krustallos was an intriguing world full of crystals and exotic rock formations. It was owned by a resort corporation that was small compared to intergalactic giants like Atlas, but important enough to have uncontested control of the planet. Tourists flocked in and out, enjoying the scenery and everything that the hotels and attractions had to offer.

The soldiers surrounding Julio opened the door for him, allowing him to enter into the hotel's lobby. The K'thaanic made his way to the front desk and shook the hand of the attendant.

Attendant: "Ah, you are Vongolan security! Our manager will be with you shortly to give you a tour of the hotel. Please, do not be afraid to go to our bar and enjoy refreshments!"

Julio: "Can I see your owner?"

Attendant: "I'm sorry?"

Julio: "The owner of this hotel's company."

The attendant looked confused and stuttered. Julio's brusque actions had surprised him.

Attendant: "I....well....you're in luck. He happens to be here, but I'm afraid he-"

Julio: "Good, let me see him. The Generalissimo wishes to speak to him."

The attendant hesitantly nodded, and left to find his supervisor to tell him of Julio's request.

((What could they be plotting? ))

OOS: Waiting on Mally for the rest.

<Malchior IV, Palace of the Red Queen, Day of Yuy's assassination>

Cassandra raised an eyebrow.  "Oh?  This deal seems almost too good to be true.  In my experience, such deals most often are."  She flicked her finger up, causing her two guests to tense...

And then her guards stood down.  "Luckily for you, what you are offering is valuable enough that I am willing to accept your deal.  Of course, if I find out my suspicions are correct, and you have been playing me, well..."  She trailed off, leaving the threat implied.  The doors to her palace creaked open.  "Goodbye, and thank you."

---

<The Craft of Laigula, a week after Yuy's assassination>

From behind her hood, Ophelia glared.  This man looked like trouble.  And also, what was he wearing.  Seriously?  Who wears a trillby these days?

"Six billion," she said.

---

<Malchior IV, Leaving the Church>

The machine led those people down dark alleys and backwoods roads, avoiding sight at all costs - one could never be too careful, particularly when one was inducting a few into a revolutionary cell.

They came to a small, unassuming house on the edge of the city.  "The Magpie had to leave Tanar after Allman's rise to power," it explained.  "Elsewise, she would have been killed."

"Indeed I would've.  It was a miracle I even got off-world."  The voice belonged to a relatively young woman, who opened the door to the house.  She was rather unassuming, with long, messy hair that she clearly hadn't properly brushed in a while, thick glasses upon her small, mousy face.  She was short, as well, only coming up to Jones's chest, and a little chubby.  All in all, she most certainly did not look like the impressive and shadowy revolutionary they were expecting.  "I'm the Magpie, by the way.  I've been watching you for a while now, David Jones."

She extended a hand to shake, looking up into Jones's eyes.  For indeed, the two had met before, albeit briefly.  The woman who named herself "Magpie" was in truth the computer genius Aria Nashton, daughter, of Senator Anthony Nashton, a progressive and prominent senator who most actively worked against Allman's encroachment onto the Senate - and was thus eventually, rather forcibly, removed by Allman.

And now, his daughter stood here, running a massive spy network, with the stated goal of taking down Allman and his cronies.  Like father, like daughter.  Except not really - as Anthony was a tall, broad-shouldered specimen of a man, fond of track and activity, rather the opposite of his daughter.

---

<The Sundowner Expanse>

Veras looked to Lilith, frowning.  "Veras.  Magus of ancient times.  My...hobbies, I suppose you could call them, are the acquisition of ancient knowledge and the collection of powerful artefacts."  They shook her hand.  "A pleasure, Miss Heyerdahl.  However, I suggest we stay focused on the mission."  Their lips curled into a playful smirk.  "After all, what would Miss Yetzirah say were she to find you fraternizing, rather than accomplishing your objectives?"

<The Divine Providence, bridge>

"We'll block off the north corridor, sir." one of the Tanari shape-shifters said, in an unexpectedly deep voice. She had not assumed a male form in a long time, and couldn't quite get the voice right. She and a few other Tanari shape-shifters set off down the corridor, not realising they were on a collision course with one Edward Allman.

-----

<The Sundowner Expanse>

Allman and the soldiers tried to stay behind Sefer, realising that she probably knew the ship better than they did... and of course, they were happy to let her take the inevitable first shot.

Hearing footsteps from further up the corridor, the soldiers suddenly stopped, crouched, and charged their weapons. Surprised, Sefer and Allman also stopped, just as a group of strangely-dressed soldiers ran towards them, all guns blazing.

"See that man?" one of the shape-shifters telepathetically asked the others.

"Allman. Fucking Allman's here..... Careful!"

The shape-shifters did their best not to hit their commander-in-chief, but the brief distraction was enough for them to be outflanked by their fellow Tanari soldiers, who managed to gun them down.

"Well." Edward said, standing among the corpses as if they weren't there. "That was exhilarating."

With that, they moved further up the corridor, and they were at a safe distance when the corpses began decomposing into a sort of gelatinous silver mass.

-----

<Pi'lar frigate #1, five days after Yuy's assassination>

Ashton blushed, realising the rather ambiguous position they were now in, and that he had just made a fool of himself. He quickly got up, dusted himself off, and recovered his disc.

Upon seeing the tattoo, though, his face went pale. "Shit." he said. "Okay, let's hurry."

-----

<Blockade Runner Transport, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy (Frigate #2), Five Days After Yuy's Assassination>

At the same time, a scientist walked through the cargo hold, which was full of assorted solar panels and other parts that only he recognised as pieces of a satellite. A small patch was imprinted on one of the solar panels; a picture of a mushroom cloud, and the word "ICARUS".

-----

<Malchior IV, Leaving the Church>

"Aria? Aria Nashton?" Jones said, sounding relieved. He had worked with her father before - in fact, he had been his staunchest ally on the other side of the aisle in those dark days when Allman had become a real threat - but he was certain that Anthony had been killed by Allman. Now, he had some hope left. "You're alive! Did your father get off-world too?"

-----

<Vongola, TPK's Ship, A Day After Yuy's Assassination>

"Even more systematic than now?" Thomas asked, aghast. "We are already witnessing the extermination of the ruling class, Joshua. Anyway, I'm now waiting for a family who were supposed to meet me here so I could get them to safety. The rendez-vous was set several hours ago, and I'm worried about them." he said, pacing up and down the bridge, making the pilot uncomfortable.

"Very well then. I won't keep you long, after all, it would be a waste if you were caught by someone who really needed to pee. Goodbye, Josh, and keep me posted."

-----

<The Craft of Laigula, A Week After Yuy's Assassination, three days before the near-annexation of Pi'lar>

Six billion?, Silver thought. Who are these people? No matter though, he had the entire Tanari black-ops budget at his disposal.

"10.5 billion." he quickly fired back. "And one Olympus-class fusion reactor."

-----

[ Malchior IV, Klak's City: ]

Zoe certainly noted Klak's palpable mystery; specifically, the mystery of someone who is hiding something, you can feel it, but cannot place your finger on. Nonetheless, she hushed Zorn and responded to Klak politely. "Apologies for bothering you," she responded sweetly, respectfully, "but we - 'we' being myself, Zoe Gissier, and my ever-so-tactful friend Zorn here - recently moved to your world, and feel a bit overwhelmed by this simply faboo city of yours! Do you have any recommendations for what to see and what to do while we're here?" She certainly asked sweetly, but something was off...Something like honey being used to hide something very, very poisonous.

Every second that trickled by, Klak became more and more aware of something not quite right with these two. Namely, Zoe was certainly polite to him, but it felt like a deliberately obvious mask. Something in the way she talked and postured radiated a facetious respectfulness that hid some kind of disdain for him. As for Zorn, her posture was relaxed enough, but Klak knew enough about people to see that she was on-guard; for what, he did not know, but there was something else in these two that bothered him.

Zorn was very clearly 'human' on the surface, as was Zoe. But it only took a minute for Klak to observe that this was probably a front to something...Else. The bags under Zoe's eyes, the startlingly pale flesh of her fingers, the flippant way she checked her nails all suggested something troubling, a certain who-knew-what that set Klak's teeth on edge. Zorn, on the other hand, had less the persona of a rowdy punk and more the demeanor of a wild kind of creature forced into unnatural settings.

As if registering that Klak could detect this quality, Zoe asked sweetly, "What's the matter, sir? Do you have any recommendations, or should we find a way to make our own entertainment?" Something in the way she said that was mockingly indirect, yet so tangibly threatening...

< Bridge of the Stairway to Heaven, Diamond Dogs' Flagship, Sundowner Expanse >

Dallas Dalton stood ahead of the command console dressed in a white evening suit and a crisp cream shirt, his black mac draped over his shoulders. Breaker stood behind him, at the console, clad in beige fatigues tucked into cowboy boots, a black shirt and bandana. An orange flight jacket was slung over a chair, but Dallas knew that, like him, Breaker abhorred the gaudy colour. Dreis sat picking his teeth with a flickblade; Calm and Kehoe played cards in a corner. Holbach stood by the 'window', dressed in a navy jumpsuit and black tactical-harness. He stood with one hand on the butt of an M82A2 like one would rest with their hand on the pommel of a sword. Dallas didn't particularly care that protocol dictated no firearms on the bridge; he assumed Holbach cared even less.

From the front viewscreen Dallas could make out the hazy specs that were the Divine Providence and the ships surrounding her- like pilot fish around a shark, Dallas thought. He grinned before motioning over his shoulder with one hand. Breaker pulled a lever and the Stairway to Heaven shot forward.

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

OOS: Sorry it took so long for me to get around to this, Maly.

< Bridge of the Typa Gypsy, FDAPYA >

Ciro grimaced. "That bastard's caused more trouble for me than even you have Fergus. What's he gone and done now? Blown up Liquid-Metallicon? I wouldn't put it past- thank you Swane," She looked to the side as the Quartermaster handed her a daintily floral cup of tea, " - the thick fuck."

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

< Pi'lar IV Frigate #3, FDAPYA>

Dreis shot back behind cover as the guard's rounds ripped across the hall. He popped the pin of another grenade, lobbing it far left; the blast caused the guards to duck into cover, and Dreis vaulted over the barricade, sending a guard sprawling with a blast from his shotgun. However, the other three guards were more careful, and sprayed from cover, forcing Dreis to slide along the polsihed floor to meagre cover behind a bulkhead. He touched his throat-mic, bellowing some inaudible slur to Lincoln, before stepping out directly into the fire, dropping the shotgun and pulling twin 12.7mm Revolvers from underarm holsters. He cleaved through the cover of one guard, a spray of blood shooting high into the air. Another guard popped his head out of cover, so Dreis popped his head. The remaining guard threw down his gun, stepping out from cover with his hands raised. Dreis holstered his pistols and flicked out a switchblade, throwing it at the guard. The blade slid between his chin and his adam's apple, and he dropped, gurgling on the metal in his esophagus.

Dreis touched his throat-mic again, and this time no gunshots masked his words. "LINCOLN YOU FUCKING LEPRECHAUN WHERE IN HELL'S NAME ARE YA?!"

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

< Outer 7, FDAPYA >

Dallas ducked away from Eva's sweeping hammer-fist, shooting a kick out and breaking her shin with an audible crack. Eva yelped as she fell, meeting Dallas' knee with her chin, She stood momentarily, carried by the momentum of the blow; Dallas delivered three short elbows to her upper chest, before darting left and slamming her kidney with a sidewinder. Eva shot across the chamber, impacting a wall with a thud, dust rising from her clothes in a short puff. She flopped to the floor where she remained still for a few seconds before stirring. Dallas crouched beside her and lit two cigarettes, placing one between her blood-flecked lips. She inhaled, coughed; the cigarette fell from her mouth. Dallas made no attempt to retrieve it.

"You know why we're here?" Dallas asked shortly. Eva nodded slightly.

"You know why I do this?" Eva made no move this time.

"I do it because I want to. Try fighting for what you believe some time." Dallas stood, and strode away, joining his remaining troops and Kehoe, who muttered something about "...help the girl up?"

< The Divine Providence, Corridor >

Sefer walked to a closed bulkhead, entering her security code into the computer panel. It was rejected. She tried again.

"They've sealed all the bulkheads leading to the bridge." she said, frowning. "We'll cut through the reception hall."

After a few minutes, the team found the reception hall, and walked in. At first it appeared as if they has stepped through a portal into a different world, though Sefer instantly recognized it as a holodeck, and Allman no doubt quickly deduced as much after the initial surprise had worn off. The setting was a romantic Japanese landscape; they found themselves within a vast field, on the outskirts of a village, facing a small wooden bridge leading over a small stream.  Cherry blossoms drifted slowly through the wind, and the setting sun framed their opponent, who was standing on the bridge, a sword slung across their back.

"Sefer... Yetzirah."

Sefer raised an eyebrow, not recognizing the woman; a quick scan of her mind using her psychic abilities solved that issue.

"Evangelise Ascheron." she replied, smirking. "At least I know who's behind all this, now."

Eva frowned. She couldn't attack Allman, nor could she let Sefer know Allman and her father were allied. She regarded him coldly, yet knowingly, before turning her gaze back to Sefer.

"I'm afraid I can't allow any of you to pass." she said, sliding Claiomh Solais from its sheath. Sefer frowned, materializing the Lance of Astraea in her hand.

"You can't take both of us, Eva."

Eva's brow twitched at Sefer's use of her nickname. "I have a duty to try, anyway."

"Are you seriously willing to throw your life like that?"

"Enough! I'm sorry... but I didn't come here for a discussion, Yetzirah."

Sefer sighed, readying the Lance of Astraea. "Let's make this quick, Allman."

---

< The Divine Providence, Mess Hall >

"She probably wouldn't say anything, she'd just... smirk." replied Lilith, seemingly deep in contemplative thought. "She has a habit of doing that. Anyway, let's go."

-

Veras and Lilith arrived at the reactor hall shortly after. The hall itself was like a vast chasm, cylindrical in shape, the rear wall barely visible. Six tremendous reactor towers stood in a hexagonal formation, linked by a serious of high walkways running between them. Veras and Lilith stood on the walkway leading from the wall of the reactor chamber, to the closet tower. Ice had formed over the bridge like a spider's web, connecting it not only to the walls but the other reactors, and the surface area had been increased to that of a large, multi-lane freeway; the same ice cascaded up the reactor tower, giving it the apperance of some ancient fantasy tower. Ra'an stood at the top, on a ledge, before jumping down to the walkway, across from Veras and Lilith.

"Do you like what I've done with the place? A little bit of redecoration." he said, grinning.

"Ra'an Dempsey!" replied Lilith, gritting her teeth. "I thought Sefer killed you!"

"Oh, Sefer?" replied Ra'an, stroking his chin in thought. "So you must be the lovely Lilith Heyerdahl."

"Damn fucking right." she replied, lightning sparking about her body as she clenched her fists. Ra'an grinned. He flew upwards, shooting his hand out as if to cast a spell.

"Frigidus, mea glaciem." he whispered, as dozens of spikes shot upwards from the ice, rapidly exploding. In their wake, they left a group of humanoid beings forged from the ice, which surrounded Veras, Lilith, and their escort of soldiers.

"Elementals-!"

Ra'an grinned. "If you thought I was going to give you a fair fight, then you were a fool to come here." he replied, drawing his katana with his cyborg arm, whilst his natural arm became suffused with an icy glow. Lilith drew two combat daggers from the back of her armored vest, their blades crackling with electricity before a blade of pure energy engulfed them, increasing in length until they appeared to be flat-bladed lightsabers.

Ra'an readied his blade, an icy glow suffusing it. "Let's dance!"

---

< The Sundowner Expanse >

As the mercenary fleet emerged from hyperspace, Vangelis looked on in horror at the sight of the Tanari ships attacking the Divine Providence. He stood up, drawing the microphone to his mouth.

"Those bitches are scratching up our prize! Let's fuck 'em! In the ass! Metaphorically!"

At that, a wave of projectiles shot forth from the mercenary fleet towards the Tanari; missiles, lasers, plasma bolts, railgun slugs - weapons as diverse and varied as the makeup of the fleet itself, as well as fighters, bombers, interceptors and even smaller corvettes and frigates charging towards the attackers. Vance sat down in the command throne as the Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap assumed its position at the rear of the formation, sortieing various fighters and bombers from its massive runway facilities. Vance grinned as the chaos evolved on the viewscreen before him.

<The Divine Providence, Corridor>

Edward shot a glance at Eva from across the room, briefly looking her right in the eye, and shook his head. "Yes, Sefer. You're absolutely right." he said in an unsettling tone. "Let's make this quick." He stretched out his hand, palm facing outwards towards Sefer.

As he spoke, the lights seemed to dim, and both Sefer and Eva could feel a slight tingling sensation on their skin. Sefer began to turn around to see what Allman was doing, only to be struck by a bolt of purple shadow energy that threw her off the bridge and into the stream. Stunned by the attack, she tried to use her telekinetic power to simply fly out, only to take another shadow bolt to the chest and fall to the ground, smoke rising from her now burning clothes. The last thing she saw before finally blacking out was Edward walking towards her, smirking.

"Eva Ascheron, I say?" he said, standing over Sefer's unconscious body. "I hope there are surveillance cameras here, because your father will definitely want a copy of the tape."

-----

<The Sundowner Expanse>

The Tanari ships were surprised by the sudden attack, and a few were somewhat damaged before they could mount an effective counterattack. The fleet broke off from the Divine Providence and opened fire on the merc ships.

<The Divine Providence, Reactor Hall>

Veras let out a low, dangerous chuckle.  "Elementals, Mister Dempsey?  How droll."  They raised their hand, a runic circle of light appearing in front of them.  "Ádón", they intoned, and for a moment, a rune flared over the elementals of ice, causing all of them to vanish.  "Very well, Dempsey.  I will dance for you - but first you should know who you face."

Veras grinned wickedly, pulling Fragarach from the runic circle once again, a marvelous storm of wind erupting forth from the blade.  Veras rose up, their snow-white hair and robes billowing about them.  "I am Veras, the Wudurose Albe, Magus of Space and the Wind.  Wielder of the great sword Fragarach, bearer of the Pearl Crown, and master to the Hound of Chulainn.  I was a king, nay, a god among men when you were nary a twinkle in your mother's eye, and yet here you stand, attempting to bar my way?"

They raised their sword, the wind beginning to blow towards Ra'an.  "Very well, Ra'an Dempsey.  En garde, and may you provide me at least a trifling amusement."  They swiped their sword forth, and a blade of purest wind short forth to slice Ra'an.

The Tanar soldiers noted that Veras had deliberately left an opening for them to continue through to their mission, while Veras fought Ra'an.

---

< Divine Providence, Reactor Hall >

Ra'an grinned, and shot towards the blade of wind, his Katana held high above him in an executioner's stance. As the blade of wind closed in, he drew the sword down, slicing the wind itself in half as he passed through the separate halves, unharmed. Lilith looked on in shock.

"What the hell was that?" muttered Lilith, gritting her teeth; she realized the answer before the question was even out of her mouth. Of course. His sword is enchanted with ice, so he froze the water molecules in the air of the wind blade as he hit it. Infuriated, she jumped upwards, blocking his blade before it could reach Veras. The two shot away from the explosive impact of their blades; Lilith landed just before Veras, whilst Ra'an flew high into the air, hovering once again above them.

Lilith climbed to her feet. "He's far too reactive for any fancy long-ranged attacks." she said, pulling her armored vest off over her head and discarding it. "He's a master swordsman, so his strategy revolves around drawing his enemy into a close-quarters fight with him. Unfortunately, that's probably the only way either of us could land a hit on him."

"What are you talking about down there, children?" called out Ra'an, from high above. Lilith looked up at him, almost remorsefully.

"I'll... engage him in a duel - lock down his movement options. You hit him with whatever you've got when I've done so. Try not to hit me." she said, looking to Veras with a half-smile. She flew upwards, shooting towards Ra'an, her blades clashing against his.

---

< Divine Providence, Reception Hall >

Evangelise looked down angrily at Allman, yet sheathed her blade. "Allman... even in war, there are basic codes of honor one must follow."

In the fields surrounding the bridge, the remainder of the Lycaon squad decloaked, their rifles still trained on the bridge. Eva held up her hand, signalling for them to stand down.

"You and your men should leave the ship. You've got what you came here for." she said, turning to leave. "We'll finish the mission."

Eva and the Lycaon squad left the holodeck for the bridge, leaving Allman alone with Sefer's unconscious body.

[Blockade Runner Transport, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy, Five Days After Yuy's Assassination]

*Raigen cocks his head to one side as he considers the offer for a second, before abruptly raising his pistol and firing. The bullet streaked between Fourteen and Sruban's heads and embedded itself into the head of a blade-wielding Pi'lar marine who had managed to sneak up on the two while their attention was focused on the wolf.*

Raigen: Deal.

-------

[Frigate #3, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy, Five Days After Yuy's Assassination]

*Gene took a deep, calming breath as the stray shots impacted the shuttle's shields, the ship guards thankfully focusing their fire on Dreis, the mercenary persistently holding his ground outside. As more reinforcements swarmed into the Frigate's hangar bay, troops from the ship's marine contingent, Gene assumed controls of the shuttle once more, priming the weapon systems and leveling the shuttle out towards the marines storming the hangar bay.

The shuttle was equipped with missiles, though firing them off in such a confined space was probably not a very good idea. So he didn't use the missiles and just activated the turret cannons. Twin barrels spat shots at the enemy troops as they scrambled for cover, the turret able to hit any angle that wasn't directly above the cockpit.

Still keeping his finger on the trigger, Gene spoke over the wireless.*

Gene: Well, how was that?

-------

[The Sundowner Expanse]

*The Sundowner Expanse painted a perfect picture of a chaotic warzone. The space between worlds was filled with countless ships exchanging weapons fire with no quarter given. Even without an IFF, it was plain to see the combatants, a collection of ships noticeably different from each other, typical of mercenaries or pirates, as well as a battle group of Tanari warships, all centered around the famed Takemikazuchi Super Dreadnought Divine Providence.

Unnoticed by either side was a slight shimmer in the darkness of space: a tell-tale sign of an active camouflage system. Its source: the Atlas Galactic Securities Apollo-class Covert Operations Frigate, Hades' Ultimatum.

-------

[Atlas Covert Ops Frigate Hades' Ultimatum], The Sundowner Expanse]

*On board the ship, the entire system and the battles taking place were displayed in the bridge as a real-time 3D holographic projection. In front of the projection, analyzing the images with cold and calculating eyes, stood a male gryphon smartly dressed in Atlas Coporate Agent attire. Ralek's coat feathers were a deep shiny black, his wing feathers were much the same but tinged with silver along the ends, his fur was a light shade of grey which compliments his dark plumage while both his beak and talons were cold steel grey, and his eyes a piercing crimson.

Ralek: Status on our cloak?

Ship tactical officer: Board shows all green. All emitters and heat sinks are engaged and in the green. We're as cold as space, sir.

Ralek: Status on our weapon systems? Are the engineers ready with the 'package' yet?

Ship weapons officer: Weapons all operational. Engineers report 'package' will be prepped in five minutes. Repeat, five minutes.

*The 'package' had been placed on the ship several days ago and Ralek had strict orders pertaining to its deployment straight from the higher echelons of the Atlas corporate hierarchy.*

Ralek: Mark which world has the most developed infrastructure and population in this system.

Ship tactical officer: Roger that, sir. Updating battlefield info.

*On the 3D holographic projection, the battle shrunk considerably as a group of planets were included in the display, one of them, a lush garden world with a sizeable civilian population, being highlighted in bright red. A feral grin crept across Ralek's face.*

Ralek: Excellent. Helm, set course and find a drop site for the 'package' on that planet.

-------

[Planet SR2XA AKA Olson Prime, The Sundowner Expanse]

*The planet of Olson Prime was a relatively recent colony of the Tanari Confederation, having been set up with the intention of being a regional trade hub due to the system's location at the fringe of Tanari space and bordering the territories of several other star nations. The name of the planet is derived after the former Tanari president who authorised the colony mission and the establishment of the trade hub as a means of fostering friendly relations with their galactic neighbours. Because of that, the planet of Olson Prime has a rather sizeable civilian population despite being a recent colony, with a population of several hundred thousand, many of them traders and merchants seeking to make their fortune as well as farmers vital to the sustainability of the population.

The relative peace of Olson Prime was abruptly shattered, however, as an unknown object fell towards the planet, slamming right into the middle of New Olson, the planet's capital city. As the populace started to either crowd around the object in curiosity or evacuate the city in panic, the crater formed by the object suddenly started gushing out flames. Afterwards, the planet itself could be seen shaking, violently. The oceans on the planet began forming huge tidal waves, that evaporated seconds after they formed. The geysers of fire, from the bomb's underground detonation reached dozens of kilometers into the sky, and magma started pouring out from the crater, engulfing the city, as the planet continued to shake. The continents were being horribly deformed, volcanoes, mountains and enormous fissures were forming, as the planet seemed to be shaking itself apart, but the damage didn't end there.

After a couple of minutes passed, the planet itself simply gave up, and with an enormous explosion, so violent that the shockwave in its rapidly deteriorating atmosphere could be seen clearly through the vacuum of space. An especially large chunk of the rapidly fleeing pieces of planet slammed into the planet's primary moon, and the chunk broke into millions of smaller bits, while the moon, damaged as it surely was, was knocked severely off course, due in part to the now lack of a gravitational field holding it.

In a few moments, Olson Prime was no more, the planet literally turned to space dust, and enormous, shattered husks of debris.*

<The Sundowner Expanse>

On board the Tanari ships, the crews watched in horror as Olson Prime was simply vaporised. They had been told that the Takemikazuchi were planning a surprise attack, but they simply couldn't believe that they could ever go that far.

"Hammer those bastards!" someone screamed over the comms, as the Tanari cruisers continued to fire on the mercs and on the Divine Providence and deployed fighters.

-----

<Divine Providence, Reception Hall>

Allman looked at Eva, and raised his eyebrow. "Honour, Miss Evangelise? I am a soldier. I fought the Vrai for six years, and I survived. I won." he said calmly. "Do you think I did that by bowing to them?"

As he spoke, the soldiers behind them struggled with the unconscious Sefer, fitting handcuffs around her wrists and a bulky black device which looked alarmingly like a collar around her neck. When it locked around her neck, it activated and started projecting a field which suppressed her psychic powers.

Once Eva left, Edward took out a small walkie-talkie and turned it on to send a message to Veras and the other soldiers all over the ship. "I've got her. Now, kill them."

-----

<Divine Providence, weapons control room?>

The soldiers tailing Israel and Canaan heard the message, and immediately opened fire on the two.

-----

<Divine Providence, reactor hall>

The soldiers there also heard the message, but didn't open fire on Lilith just yet, instead choosing to wait and see what Veras would do.

-----

OOS: Posting this on Paws' behalf.

-----

<Evander's apartment, a few days ago>

It was just past 03:00 local time when the metallic buzz of the telephone in the front room filled the dark silence of the apartment. Evander had been sound asleep in the next room over, and a phone call in the middle of the night was not what he needed. With a moan, the gryphon lethargically made his way out of the bedroom, snatching the horn from its stand just as the nuisance rang for the third time. He wasn't surprised when the voice of President Allman boomed over the other end, but it didn't make him any less irritable.

"Hello, Evander? Allman speaking. I need your help. I need you to help explain a... unilateral foreign intervention to the galactic community. I'll send you more info in a minute."

Another groan left his beak as he took in the president's words. As Allman's press secretary, he was in charge of the news for the empire, and what he was describing was a spin doctor's worst nightmare.

"A unilateral foreign intervention?! Dammit Allman, that's a fucking INVASION! At three in the morning, the last thing I need to hear is that I have to spin some bloody damned war of conquest as something it wasn't!" The words flew out of the gryphon's beak in a flurry of irritation and confusion. For a moment after, Evander paused, taking a deep breath.

"Fine. Send me the details. Next time you decide to fuck with another planet, at least clue me in to the most public level information you can give so I have an idea of what the fuck you're up to." he said finally, before unceremoniously clacking the horn on the stand. He'd need some sleep for this job.

-----

<Tanari cruiser, same time>

Allman ended the transmission and sighed. This... gryphon was slightly insolent, but as far as he knew, he was the best in the business, and he needed nothing less to get out of this mess.

He got up to pour himself a drink, and then returned to his chair, colour returning to his face with each sip. He reached for his computer, and wrote a text message for Evander, outlining the situation and attaching a few secret documents to boot.

-----

<Blockade Runner Transport, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy, Five Days After Yuy's Assassination>

Sruban breathed a sigh of relief, and reached into his back pocket. To his surprise, he felt that he only had three mines left, including the one currently mounted to his gun.

"Er... it seems I might have been just a bit too eager back there. Don't 'spose you have any explosives on ya, wolf? if so, we could use 'em up ahead."

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

<The Marunaka>

Serecio's eyes widened, and the Dachori leaned forward on his throne. "One case..." he murmured, while tracing his fingers over a mostly-reconstructed part of his chest, "...will be fine. In return, I can offer you an Arokazek worker or two... or some Tekku. How does that sound?"

<Pi'lar Frigate #3>
As the grenade exploded, Lincoln pulled a metal pole from his pack, dodging the gun fire with a flip and twist. "About time. I'm is on the bridge. I cleared out most of the crew with a few stragglers. Get up here to help me take care of them so I can plant these suckers," Lincoln responds to Dreis. As the second wave of mooks arrives, his pole extends to about seven feet long, capped with a hook on one end, and a spear on the other. With a flash and flurry of furious slides and steps, he subverts the gaze of the mooks long enough to close the distance, tugging one towards him with the crook of the cane, flinging the fellow fervently. Planting the pylon, he pivots mid toss, hammering with his hooves into the misfortunate mooks now misshapen forehead .

OOS: Finally, after all these things occupying my time and after taking so long to work on this, I have posted.

<<Malchior IV, Palace of the Red Queen, Day of Yuy's assassination>

The pirates nodded and left. Once outside, Keichi shook his head angrily.

Keichi: "Why does she keep threatening us?! We're Pirate Lords!"

Treskis: "Never look a gift horse in the mouth. We've just expanded to Malchior IV, who cares if she keeps threatening us or gets angry? Tell the crew and let the rumors spread. We will leave our competitors in the dust."

They cackled and walked away.

---

<Pi'lar frigate #1, five days after Yuy's assassination>

Lalli and Regina nodded and started walking down the hallway, preparing to place mines in different locations. Regina was walking in front of Ashton, and Lalli leaned over to him and whispered in his ear.

Lalli Cain: "Eyes on the mission."

Suddenly, a few drones similar to these flew towards the mercenaries, firing at them with lasers. Lalli Cain takes cover near a doorway, while Regina throws a sticky grenade at one of the drones after taking cover.

Lalli Cain: *telepathically between all mercs* "Yeah, Fourteen?"

--

<Blockade Runner Transport, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy (Frigate #2), Five Days After Yuy's Assassination>

Fourteen laughed and turned around, jutting out his hand to greet Raigen with a handshake.

Fourteen: "Raigen, was it? Nice meeting ya. Why don't you help Sruban out here, and let's get going?"

He checked his ammo, and started contacting the other mercenaries. He had recently heard commotion on Dreis's end of the comms, while Lincoln sounded cool and collected.

Fourteen: "Dreis, Lincoln, stop screwing around and focus on the mission! Kill everyone who's left on board and look for some cargo. Lalli!"

Lalli Cain: "Yeah, Fourteen?"

Fourteen: "Status report!"

Lalli Cain: "Kind of busy, we're being attacked by drones."

Fourteen: "What? You were supposed to disable the system!"

Lalli Cain: "How was I supposed to know that the drone module was militaristic? I cut off all intraship communications and the other ships think they're having technical difficulties. I cut off their alarms so they can't alert more guards on this ship. But we have a slight problem."

Fourteen: ".....What did you do?"

Lalli Cain: "I shot a Malchiorian agent and there may be reinforcements."

Fourteen: "YOU WHAT?! MALCHIOR. WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING HERE?! Great, just great, Lalli Cain screws up the mission! What are...why am I getting a feeling of deja vu? Anyway, we still have time. Hurry up, and get rid of that frigate. GENE! Get ready to pick up Cain, Faral, and Ashton!"

Fourteen then focused his telepathy on searching throughout the ship. He captured the mind of one of the Pi'Lari crewmembers and forced him to disrupt communications from within and outside of the blockade runner. It was now successfully cut off from the convoy. He turned to Raigen and Sruban and nodded.

Fourteen: "Let's get going, we can't waste time. We still have to get rid of witnesses, take some cargo, and find your scientist!"

Fourteen ran out of the docks and into the corridor. Several soldiers were approaching him.

--

<Pi'lar Frigate #3, FDAYA, Lincoln's Location>

Another group of mooks wearing space suits arrived, and they fired their lasers at Lincoln's head, hoping to hit him.

--

< Pi'lar IV Frigate #3, FDAPYA, Dreis' Location>

The guards had all taken cover due to Dreis and Gene's attacks. One lobbed a sticky grenade onto the shuttle, hoping to blow away its turret. Another threw the same grenade near Dreis.

---

<Malchior IV, Klak's City, Same time>

Klak eyed Zoe and Zorn suspiciously. He cautiously reached to his side.

Klak: There's lots of good restaurants here, and you can go to the local theater. Then again, it all depends on what entertains you.

Klak faked a smile.

---

<The Craft of Laigula, a week after Yuy's assassination>

Lewis L. Lovhaug frowned. Those bids were extremely high.

Figlio: "Ooh, this is getting interesting."

He looked over to Ophelia and Lovhaug, and grinned.

Figlio: "Can either of you compete with that? Oh, and please, remove the hood! This is a shameful act here, so if anyone reveals your identity, you can blackmail them."

---

<The Sundowner Expanse>

A Malchiorian battleship known as The Xīng Zhànshì arrived. Inside of its bridge sat a humanoid wearing an eyepatch. He smiled and connected to the Tanari ship, his hologram appearing on that ship's bridge.

???: "This is Captain Perseus of Malchior IV Starfleet and Air Force. How may we be of assistance?"

< The Sundowner Expanse, the Stairway To Heaven >

The sleek craft pirouetted, Breaker pulling the control stick in a perfect arc. Inside the bridge, the Diamond Dogs were strapped into G-Couches, watching the viewscreen with baited breath and exhilaration. Breaker was the best pilot the Diamond Dogs had ever recruited, and he was the only person Dallas trusted to pilot his father's ship.

To the bow side of the Stairway to Heaven, a Tenari light frigate emerged from a cloud of debris and rubble, hot gasses streaming from it's prow like tendrils of seaweed. Breaker adjusted the nose of the Stairway, presenting the entire side of the craft; The peripheral display showed the Tenari craft, which Stairway identified as the Longfellow, flare it's engines in an attempt to ram the far smaller and lighter Stairway. Breaker flicked a switch of a side panel of the command console; a panel of the Stairway's hull folded up and backward, revealing a rack of squat, cylindrical missiles. The racks slid forward, reveealing more missiles behind them, and then that rack too fell forward and up, revealing a third, identical rack. The salvo that Breaker unleashed used a half of the missiles, reducing the Longfellow's prow to a warped and melted stub. Breaker rolled the Stairway, avoiding the Longfellow's attempted mega-particle strike, and presented the starboard side of the craft to the still approaching Tenari vessel. Another panel slid away, but this time no missiles shot forth; instead, a glistening beam of energy glanced toward the Longfellow. The Tenari vessel deployed anti-beam particles, but it was too late; the reduced armour of the ship afforded no protection to the Stairway's beam attack. The Longfellow erupted in huge gouts of purple flame, melting and warping the debris around her as she expanded into a nova of hot gas and warped metal composite.

At the command console, Breaker grinned, while Dallas nodded, before looking at his pilot. "Let's not stall, Buster. We've got a ship to catch."

The Stairway shot forth once more, rapidly approaching the Divine Providence.


---------

****THEME****

< Pi'lar Frigate #3, FDAPYA >

Dreis stuck a thumbs up at Gene before rolling from cover once again. He dumped the cylinders of his revolvers into six guards, double tapping each, before he threw the pistols down. He shoulder barged one, breaking two of the guard's ribs, before dumping him into another guard. Two more guards rushed Dreis from behind, their plasma weapons not suited for such close quarters. Dreis kicked one in the knee, providing a compound fracture and a blood-curdling scream. The other guard swung at Dries' head, but the merc dropped, grabbed him around the thighs and then dumped him to the deck, knocking him unconscious. Dreis had just lit a cigarette as another squad of guards rushed into the hall, but Gene had left to go and pick up the other mercenaries. Dreis turned toward them as they formed a semi-circle around him, weapons trained. Dreis offered his hands up, grinning from behind his cigarette.

"Sorry to disappoint boys, but this mission... well, it's Money for Nothing."

The squad leader froze, a shocked look distorting his features. A long silver blade protruded from his chest, surrounded by a faint blue glow. The blade remained there for some few seconds as the guards looked on in horror; a somewhat skeletal face appeared behind the Sergeant's shoulder, grinning menacingly at the squad. The blade tore left, decapitating the guard who crouched there wholly. Money for Nothing danced away from the panicked hail of plasma bolts that the guards now cast in its direction, chopping and slicing with the twin switch-blades the Animus had for arms. In a matter of moments, the squad was disassembled quite literally; their body parts littered the hangar bay like the limbs of dolls cast away during play. Money for Nothing shifted over to Dreis, where it de-materialised, sliding back into nothingness like a genie from a lamp.

Dreis looked around, surveying the damage. He picked up his shotgun, dropped his cigarette, and moved off to find Lincoln.

OOS: Ynot, you can have Dreis find Lincoln next post.

<The Divine Providence, Reactor Hall>

Veras's smirk became a frown as they heard Allman's orders. As they thought, that snake was totally and completely without a hint of honor. No doubt that Allman had captured Sefer Yetzirah, leader of an empire that might, with her leadership, challenge the Tanar, perhaps even defeat that wretched snake. With both Sefer and Lilith gone, the Takemikazuchi would be headless, and Allman would be free to wreak havoc.

No. This must not come to pass.

Veras raised their hand, a sphere of purest light appearing from their hand. "Léoht!" they intoned, and the sphere exploded, filling the entire room with blinding light. All save Veras themselves were blinded. In the confusion, they uttered another word - "Bregdan!"

When the light cleared, Lilith was gone. Veras sighed into their communicator. "A shame, Allman. She escaped. Perhaps next time, you will use a more secure channel." They looked to Ra'an. "And so, it comes down to just the two of us." Their mouth turned up into a smirk. "Well, Dempsey. Shall we?"

---

<The Craft of Laigula, a week after Yuy's assassination>

Ophelia shook her head from beneath the hood. "I would prefer to remain anonymous in this bidding. And no, I cannot compete with that monetarily - however, I can offer you access to numerous resource deposits in the Malchior system, which normally would be barred to outsiders such as yourself, Armechio."

---

<Malchior IV, Magpie's Hideout>

Aria closed her eyes. "Sorry, Jones. He didn't make it. The bastard had him killed first - even before his attempt on your life. Mom died as well, and our baby brother." She shuddered. "Just...all of them. It was so brutal. He sent his professional butcher, Robert Clinton, after us. Nearly got me too, good thing that Dad's liner has the fastest engine this side of the galaxy."

She sighed. "But that's not why you're here. Come on, Jones, I got some stuff to show you." She stepped inside, waiting for the others to follow.

[ Malchior IV, Klak’s City: ]

As if by flipping a switch, Zoe’s vaguely threatening demeanor jumped straight to an aura of menace at Klak’s utterance of ‘entertainment.’ Zorn perked up as well, going from actively ignoring Klak to riveting her attention on him. Zoe drawled, “Well, speaking of entertainment, there IS some fun we’ve been looking for…Some excitement that we are anticipating just rolling into town.” She smiled at Klak, and the implications of ‘fun’ and ‘excitement’ had never seemed more jarringly threatening to him. “Let me just propose a hypothetical situation: that in a few places in your city, there are certain high-power agents of a certain organization who are waiting for a signal to cause a little excitement in everyone’s daily doldrum. Could be half-a-dozen of those agents, could be several dozen, you know? And that signal they’re waiting for just might never come, and after a certain time, they’ll just sift their way out the way they came, no fuss needed. But if the signal does come, who knows what could happen! And that signal might come in a few months, might come in a couple of weeks…You know, it even might be on its way right now! My question to punctuate all of these hypothetical guess is a simple one, sir.” She was all of a sudden leaning in, not from five feet away as she had been a moment ago, but from right in front of Klak.

“What are you going to do about it?” Eyes narrowing slightly, in such a way that the bags under her eyes were accentuated, Zoe continued to talk. “I mean, really think about it. You have reason to suggest that this threat is real, and can report it to your superiors — even if they do believe it though, then what? Maybe they’ll have enough time to prepare…And maybe the intruders will learn of their presence being revealed with enough forewarning to escape. And what if you attack myself and Zorn now? You have no idea what we’re capable of, and if we play our cards right, we can play you off as a cop going psycho or some junk!” She began to walk away, but quickly stopped, and turned back on her heel with a flourish so as to face Klak once more. “I just want to say, though…There seemed to be something unusual about you, y’know? Something kinda cool! But nah, you’re just boring. Totally boring, depressingly boring. It’s just a crying shame, a total wash.” She looked over her shoulder at Zorn, and abruptly asked, “Getting to be about that time, isn’t it?” They both then looked up, as an ear-piercing shriek could be heard.

There was something in the sky — a hazy, grayish smear streaking its way along, occasionally shifting with a tinge of red or blue or green or something else. As it approached a spot over Klak’s city, it suddenly ruptured, sending a number of sickeningly colorful projectiles down into different locations. There were six in total, two of which landed in the upraised palms of Zoe and Zorn. The disturbing melange of colors seeped into their hands, and quickly caused a pattern of veins to glow on their skin. Sounds of distress could be heard all over, but Zoe just smiled at Klak. “Well, this is kinda where we part ways, isn’t it? Parting is, as they say, just the pits ain’t it?” Behind Zoe, Zorn conjured a seething flare-like mass of smoking red energy in her hand, before throwing it past Zoe and in Klak’s general direction.

< The Divine Providence, Reactor Hall >

Ra'an grinned, giving his blade a twirl before pointing it towards Veras. "We shall. Infinitus Umbra."

At that, Ra'an dissipated into shadow, reappearing directly behind Veras, with his sword drawn upwards, once again, in an executioner's stance.

---

< The Divine Providence, Trash Compactor >

Lilith sprung up from the swampy water, her dagger held out in front of her in a reverse grip as she gasped for air. Once she had ascertained the situation, she sheathed her dagger, sighing. Is that how it is, Veras?

She trudged towards the door, sliding it open with a forceful tug. As she stepped out something snagged around her ankle, and she tripped, falling out and onto a soldier who had been standing in front of the door, with their back turned to it. Lilith's dagger was out and at the back of their neck before the two even hit the floor.

"What the fuck, scrub? Why are you on top of me?" asked Lucy, the side of her face pressed into the cold floor below.

"Why were you standing in front of a door?"

"I was keeping an eye on the hostages!"

Lilith looked around. The various mechanics who had been on the ship were tied up in the storeroom she now found herself in. She looked back down to Lucy, infuriated, before looking back up again, realizing she recognized one of the mechanics.

"Selena?"

Her sister looked back at her, slightly confused. "Lilith?"

Lilith flipped Lucy over, holding her dagger to the underside of her jaw. "Did you take my fucking sister hostage?"

"No!" replied Lucy, raising her hands in a defensive gesture. "I mean, I was complicit in the act." she added, before realizing that didn't help her situation. Sighing, Lilith electrocuted her, knocking her out. She then stood up, and began cutting the cable ties off the hostages, finishing with Selena. Her sister shot up and wrapped her arms around her.

"Let's save the fancy reunion speech for later." said Lilith, pulling away. "You need to get everyone off the ship. The long-range bombers in the hangar have FTL drives, right?"

Selena nodded.

"You and the rest of the grease monkeys need to take one and head back to Shangri-La." said Lilith. "Don't trust anyone you meet on the way there - even the Tanari. Especially the Tanari."

"And what about you?"

"I'll find my own way off." she said, picking up Lucy's rifle and handing it to Selena. "I've got something to take care of, first."

---

< The Divine Providence, Corridor >

Canaan and Israel turned as the soldiers fired at them, rushing towards the gunfire. They drew their katanas, deflecting away the rounds as they shot towards them, before cutting clean through the squad in succession.

"What the hell was that?" asked Canaan, sheathing his blade.

"Betrayal."

The two Shinsengumi agents frowned, and ran off to find Sefer.

<Divine Providence, Reception Hall>

Edward hissed into his walkie-talkie, trying not to curse at Veras, that soft, self-absorbed, incompetent twat.

As he was about to lose his patience and unleash a torrent of epithets into Veras' ear, he heard another voice coming from the walkie-talkie. It was the commander of one of the Tanari cruisers, and his voice was shaky. "Mr. President," he stuttered. "Olson Prime... it's gone."

"Gone?" Allman repeated, baffled.

"It just exploded. The Takemikazuchi must have fired off a weapon."

"Damn it!" Allman screamed. His anger was genuine; they had arranged to nuke a fake military outpost, not to destroy an entire inhabited Tanari planet. "Those conniving, murdering fuckwits can fucking burn in hell!"

He then stopped, and tried to collect his thoughts. There was no reason for the Lurians to do this, and as far as he knew, the ship wasn't able to fire at Olson Prime just yet. Someone else had to be meddling here.

And when he found out who they were, Edward promised himself, they would burn.

-----

<The Sundowner Expanse>

"Oh, thank god you're here, Xīng Zhànshì." Perseus soon heard. "We've got a whole lot of problems! There's a Takemikazuchi battleship in our system, and it just blew up a god damned colony! And to top it off, they brought mercs to help them out! Help us clean up this mess, please!"


Meanwhile, half a dozen fighters began chasing the Stairway to Heaven, firing off missile after missile.

-----

<Pi'lar frigate #1, five days after Yuy's assassination>

"You do realise you two have broken up, right?" Ashton whispered back. "So this possessive boyfriend thing you've got going on... it's not just creepy, it's really late."

Just as he finished his sentence, Ashton immediately twirled around and took cover behind a stack of crates. A laser blast from a drone hit the spot behind where he had been standing a second ago, leaving a nasty scorch mark on the ground.

Ashton sighed with relief upon seeing the scorch mark, and took a small ninja star out of his pocket. He threw it against the opposite wall, and upon impact, it bounced off, heading towards a drone, and its edges started glowing with green energy.

-----

<Blockade Runner Transport, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy (Frigate #2), Five Days After Yuy's Assassination>

A soldier chewing on a cigar approached the scientist in the cargo hold, and greeted him. "Professor Komolovsky, we have a problem. Our communications have malfunctioned."

"A communications disruption can only mean one thing..." Komolovsky said in his strange Russian accent. "That your ships are totally unreliable."

The soldier sighed. "Beggars can't be choosers, Professor. Let's hope that this is just an easily-fixed minor malfunction." He then left, leaving Komolovsky alone in the cargo hold.

The professor walked away from the solar panel he had been sitting on, and brushed a sheet of tarp from another piece of equipment, which turned out to be a stasis pod containing a young, blonde woman clad in a reflective silver jumpsuit. On the side of the stasis pod, in white, were written the words "SUPERSERUMS" and "DO NOT FREE UNTIL PI'LAR"

"Soon, Amelia. Soon..." he whispered.

-----

<Malchior IV, Magpie's Hideout>

"I'm so sorry, Aria." Jones said, as a chill ran down his spine after hearing the name Robert Clinton. After all, the man who'd tried to kill him had also introduced himself as Robert.

"I'm Aster, by the way." Aster said suddenly, wanting to introduce herself. "He's Richard."

-----

<The Craft of Laigula, a week after Yuy's assassination>

"Nonsense!" Silver laughed. "Somehow I doubt you've got anything, ma'am. My bid is 11 billion, and one vial of teral poison. A substance most vile, and most importantly, most rare and as of yet, impossible to synthesise. Virtually priceless. I'm sure you can find a use for it."

-----

<The Marunaka>

"You'll want to give us more than one Arokazek worker when you hear about this." Olivia raised her eyebrow. She found this man irritatingly aloof, somehow. "They can bind to one's neural patterns, and once applied to the skin or ingested, can refashion tissue and bone into a chosen shape... and back, of course. Mr. Serecio, this technology took considerable effort to create. We want two Arokazek workers, and a copy of the results of your current experiments. Is that an acceptable bargain?"

< The Divine Providence, Bridge >

Eva walked into the bridge, which was deserted - save for a figure seated in the captain' seat. It spun around to face her, revealing a woman in a suit sitting in it, her legs crossed. Eva's hand coiled into a fist.

"Danger. What does Reed want now?"

Danger stood up, smirking. She casual - and dismissively - inspected the state of the bridge, before turning to Eva.

"There's been a complication in the plan. Someone's... blown up the target planet."

"The... whole planet?" replied Eva, shocked. "Who?"

Danger shook her head. "We don't know. Regardless, our mission here is done. Allman and your father will have the war they want."

"And the ship?"

Danger locked her eyes with Eva's. "The Tanari population will want vengeance for Olson Prime. The Tanari will look weak if they can't take out a single warship. Reed ordered me to destroy the ship."

Eva reached for her dagger. "We had an agreement. The ship goes to Luria."

"And the Lurians field a ship known to be responsible for an attack that served as Casus Belli for a full scale war - one which both the Lurians and the Tanari stand to benefit from? You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to connect the dots there, Eva. Besides - debating this point is futile. I activated the self-destruct ten minutes ago."

"Xenos scum!" roared Eva, lunging towards Danger. The older woman smirked, disappearing in a burst of red light and reappearing behind Eva. She shot her palm forth, catching Eva in the center of her back; as she did, the Lurian's arm turned inwards, driving the dagger into the center of her own chest. Eva gasped, jerking forwards as the pain shot through her torso.

"What the... fuck?"

"Psychic powers, Eva." replied Danger, grinning. "I have more control over your body than you do. Observe."

Eva pulled the dagger out of her chest, dropping it as she grimaced in pain. She then pulled a hypospray of medical nanopaste from her vest, injecting it into the wound. After this, she raised a finger to the comm-piece in her ear.

"All squads, fall back to the primary extraction zone. We're leaving."

"There." replied Danger, pushing Eva forwards, where she fell into the Captain's chair. "Wasn't that easy?"

"Fuck you." she replied, clutching at her chest.

"Don't worry. It'll cauterize soon enough."

"I know how nanopaste works, profligate."

"Very well. Tell your father what you wish; he will understand the importance of what we've done here today. Personally, I'd follow the orders I just gave to your squad, and leave the ship." replied Danger, offering a mock salute. "For the preservation of the ideals of Luria, and all that." she added, disappearing in a burst of red light. Eva sighed, climbing to her feet, and accessing a nearby terminal. The self-destruct countdown was displayed clearly on the screen - the delay was just long enough to put the Divine Providence in a feasible firing position before its destruction. She smashed her fist against the screen in anger, as Canaan and Israel stormed into the room. She turned, raising her hands in a defensive gesture.

"A Lurian?" asked Israel, aiming his rifle at Eva's head.

"I don't want a fight."

"Where's Emperor Sefer?"

"Sefer? She was captured. By Allman."

"By Allman? You mean... You Lurians were working with the fucking Tanari?!"

"Were. Sefer's not the only one who's been betrayed."

"Well, you'll forgive me if I don't shed any tears." replied Canaan.

"Look - I won't try and justify my actions. All I'll say is this; our plan - the one Allman gave us - was to nuke an uninhabited part of Olson Prime. That plan went out of the window when someone blew up the entire planet. Millions of innocent people are dead. The second that planet was destroyed, this stopped being a false flag and started being a massacre. Now, as it is, the Divine Providence's location means it's physically impossible for it to have fired on Olson Prime. If we can destroy it before it clears SR2GG and has a line of sight on Olson's former location, then the whole operation falls apart - it'll be obvious it wasn't the Divine Providence which destroyed Olson Prime, and the perpetrators of this massacre can be brought to justice. Otherwise, you can just shoot me, and this flashpoint will escalate into a full-scale war, where even more people will die - Tanari, Takemikazuchi - you name it."

Canaan smirked. "Justice? What would a Lurian know about Justice?"

"Stick around." replied Eva. "Maybe I'll surprise you."

---

< Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap >

"Commander Vangelis. Our forces are taking massive damage from the Tanari assault."

Vance looked to Hayley. "Is that it, huh? Those magnificent bastards. It's like they're actually aiming. HAYLEY!"

"Yes, Commander?"

"Prepare my personal machine."

-

The RX-AU resembled a fairly standard mech, falling into the 18m range, with a humanoid design. Its body was entirely gold, save for the blue bands on the head armor which gave it the appearance of an ancient pharaoh. What was most interesting about the mech was the assault speeder it sat upon; it resembled a motorbike sans any wheels, with a large railgun running through the length of it, and featured a massive thruster array at the rear. Behind the RX-AU's seat were dozens of hexagonal missile pods fanning out in every direction, making up the majority of the vehicle's bulk. Vance secured himself in place inside the cockpit as the flight crew finished loading the RX-AU's ammunition, and the hangar doors before it opened, revealing the battlefield beyond.

"Hayley!"

"Yes, Commander?"

"Would you be a darling and put my battle theme on?"

A thunderous uproar emerged from every single radio device in the system as Hayley broadcast the signal on all frequencies, and the RX-AU shot forth like an arrow from god, darting away from Vance's ship. Cutting between the burning hulks of two mercenary ships, it emerged into the fore of the battle, missiles shooting away from it at blinding speed. A ripple of explosions cut through the space between the two fleets as a swathe of Tanari fighters were wiped out by Vance's missile salvo. He drew two submachineguns from the sides of the RX-AU's legs and swept in low over the hull of a Tanari cruiser, narrowly dodging CIWS fire as the emptied the weapon's magazine into the bridge of the ship. He pulled upwards, jumping off the RX-AU's assault speeder, but reaching a hand up to grab the underside of it. Turning around and wielding the assault speeder over his shoulder like a bazooka, he fired its railgun clean through the ship, sniping its reactor. He turned as cannon fire diverged on him, throwing the assault speeder towards a second ship like a javelin; it accelerated of its own accord, smashing into the hull of the cruiser in a massive explosion. Relying on his mech's own thrusters, he flew upwards, linking the submachineguns front-to-end to form a powerful sniper rifle. Darting between blasts he spun elegantly, sniping individual turrets off the various ships in the fleet as he passed through it, heading towards the lead ship.

"I am vengeance! I am hellfire! I am really peckish - Hayley! Hayley, why are there no fucking nachos in the cockpit?!"

"You hate nachos, sir."

"Oh. Yeah." replied Vance, dropping down onto the hull of the lead Tanari vessel and sliding along it, sparks showering out from underneath the RX-AU's feet. He pressed his rifle against the bridge of the vessel as he came to a halt, the music blaring on the radio frequencies cutting out as his voice interceded. "Tanari Fleet! I have your flagship hostage. Surrender, or die! Or even better; both!"

[ Location:  Blockade Runner Transport, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy ]
[ Date:         Five Days After Yuy's Assassination ]

As the first squad of soldiers reached the mercs' position, Raigen swiftly unholstered a second Takashi APP-3 .45 pistol, letting off four shots from the dual pistols in quick succession, four soldiers dropping with holes in their heads, before the remaining one brought his assault rifle to bear and fired. Dodging the burst, the wolf rolled forward, his Atlas "Archon" combat knife plunging into the unprotected section of the soldier's neck. Raigen's hands slammed his wrist, forcing his gun to fire into the ceiling. He gurgled and went quiet soon after, falling limply to the ground. The other four had long since stopped moving.

"We should stop by the crew quarters along the way." The wolf grinned as he sheathed the blade and broke into a run alongside Fourteen and Sruban. "I have some ordnance in my room that might even up the odds."

-------

[ Location:  Frigate #1, Pi'lar IV Transport Convoy ]
[ Date:         Five Days After Yuy's Assassination ]

Gene was not having a good time. Unknown to the lizard-like pilot, a guard in the last frigate he just flew from had managed to attach some form of explosive device to the shuttle, which activated as soon as he took off from the ship's hangar bay. By some miracle, the shuttle remained intact but the engines were damaged enough that it started to rapidly lose power.

As Gene carefully guided the busted shuttle into the hangar bay, trying hard to assert his dominance over the non-cooperative flight controls, he soon found himself in another dire predicament. The emergency landing gear had stopped working. As the floor of the hangar bay rushed towards him, the shuttle being too close now to attempt a proper crash land, Gene only managed to utter two words before his vision abruptly went black.

"Fuck me."

-------

[ Location: Athena Prime, Athena System, Atlas Corporation Space, Xaldari State Territory ]

A lone figure is seated, the back of his luxurious executive chair directed towards the extravagant pure ebony executive table and the front of it towards the large window wall of the lavish office overlooking the city skyline of the Atlas corporate capital of Athena Prime. The effect of the breathtaking view was lost on the figure, however, as his attention was dominated by the holographic tablet computer currently in his hands.

"Interesting." The figure remarked as he read aloud the contents of the tablet. "The collateral damage is indeed regrettable. However, Agent Ralek acted within the bounds of his mission and the resultant war that shall occur as a result of his intervention is predicted to yield a favourable amount of profit."

At this, Donovan Hock, CEO of the Atlas Corporation, one of the galactic megacorporations that make up the 'Big Eight' of the Xaldari State and part of the State's Practicals power bloc, swiveled his chair back to face the Atlas Agent-attired gryphon sitting attentively across the desk from him.

"After much deliberation, it has been determined that out of the two main instigators of the conflict, the Tanari Confederation would be the most amenable to arrangements as the Takemikazuchi Empire's pride and isolationism makes them naturally suspicious of any offered foreign aid." Hock concluded as he placed the tablet onto the ebony table before taking a sip of fine wine from the glass at the edge of the table and focusing his attention to the rather nervous gryphon. "And so, Agent Ralek, in light of recent events, you are tasked with accompanying an Atlas representative to the Tanari capital of Tanar, where an offer of alliance shall be discussed with President Allman. If the negotiations prove fruitful, you are to remain there as an official Atlas liaison until such a time when you are re-assigned."